Democracy or Sham?

While its good to see that the authors of worldaudit.org paint India with the same color as they have painted the ‘free’ world with, the truth is that there are many more colors than just the 3 shown here.

I also got a shock when I read that the economist rates India as a ‘flawed democracy’ hoping that it will give the giant democracy some credit for keeping itself a democracy for much of its time after freedom from the British.

And then I got hit with one news after another on the state of affairs in India’s democracy – a few of those are chronicled here..

So here is the latest news from the world of Indian Democracy.

For lack of motivation to connect the dots and make a paragraph using these stories, I am simply putting the headlines as they are. You can make what you want out of the stories. You can, laugh, cry, detest, dismiss, decry….. call your congressman, resign from citizenship …..debate, create, salivate, procrastinate or just ….deflate..

1) CPM finally cedes Arunachal to India http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/564017.cms or here.

Where else could this happen – but India. A national mainstream political party hesitating to call a part of India to be just that, a part of India. There is no cry of unpatriotic, irresponsible behavior, just dismissive nonchalance.

2) Birthday bash on the wrong tracks http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Lucknow/Birthday_bash_on_the_wrong_tracks/articleshow/533975.cms or here.

Till shameless leaders and there followers do such things, till there are enough and more people who stand and watch the other direction when such things are taking place, there could never be hope for the common man in the world of India and its politics.

So you see – World Audit and The Economist are not entirely off the mark – in fact they are pretty lenient – don’t you think so?

One from the ages!

Stumbled upon this photo in an old zip disk of mine. This photo of The Sydney Harbour Bridge was taken in August of 1999. Yes - that long ago. Taken from a ferry hauling me from Circular Quay. Where it was taking me - I dont remember. It was one of the last sight-seing trip of Sydney before embarking on a long flight to Washington DC. This photo was taken by an SLR camera - an analog one, I should mention. Canon Rebel XT to be precise.
This article in the NYT prompted me to go back and look at some of my own photos. But for the photos, and an occaissional email/phone from my friends and co-workers - that era is all a distant dream for me.
Sometimes I just wish I can go back again and see all the things that I saw in those 4 years of my life. Walk all those miles I walked to go do groceries at Franklins, catch the trains from Kingswood to the City, take the bus to North Ryde and back. Who knows - that chicken man might still be serving the most delicious chips and gravy. Who knows - I might bump into someone who recognize me there. Who knows ..
Sometimes when someone asks me my zip code - I, unconciously, blurt away - 2747. 

Drink more wine

“Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging report that a natural substance found in red wine, known as resveratrol, offsets the bad effects of a high-calorie diet in mice and significantly extends their lifespan.”

Read here http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/science/02winecnd.html or

Here http://allthingsuseless.blogspot.com/2006/11/substance-in-red-wine-extends-life-of.html

So – eat more curry and drink more wine. Great!!

Eat more curry

http://health.yahoo.com/news/168241

Curry Ingredient May Help Fight Alzheimer's

October 27, 2006 08:42:38 PM PST
By Angela Pirisi
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Curcumin, a component of curry and turmeric, seems to help the immune system get rid of amyloid beta -- the protein that builds up to form damaging plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

The findings build on previous research linking curry consumption to reduced Alzheimer's risk, including one study that found that only 1 percent of elderly Indians developed the disease -- a quarter of the rate seen in the United States.

Now, preliminary findings from the University of California, Los Angeles, suggest that curcumin comes to the aid of immune system cells called macrophages to clear away amyloid beta.

"We know that macrophages aren't working properly in Alzheimer's patients, since they seem to be defective in cleaning amyloid-beta from brain slices", explained lead researcher Dr. Milan Fiala, a researcher with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System.

"We have found that curcumin can help some macrophages to function properly in a test tube," Fiala said. He said more work is needed to see if the spice works similarly in the human brain, however.

Curcumin is already known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Earlier research by another UCLA team found that curcumin-fed mice with Alzheimer's plaques experienced a decrease in inflammation and reduced plaque formation.

The new findings are in current issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

In the study, the UCLA researchers obtained blood samples from six Alzheimer's patients and three healthy controls. They next isolated macrophages and treated them with a curcumin solution for 24 hours, then added amyloid beta.

Macrophages from three of the Alzheimer's patients were observed to start ingesting the plaque-forming proteins.

Over the past five years, Fiala's team has studied the immune function of over 100 Alzheimer's patients. Last June, the team helped establish the immune system's key role in Alzheimer's disease.

"Our research has helped to identify why the brain isn't being cleared of amyloid beta in Alzheimer's disease patients," Fiala said. "The immune system can attack and remove amyloid-beta from the brain, but the job is not done properly in Alzheimer's patients."

Fiala said macrophages may be as important for Alzheimer's disease as insulin is for diabetes. "If we can improve the immune system, we can help the body's natural ability to clear damaging plaques," he said.

"In terms of treatment implications, it's very interesting that curcumin seems to help the brain clear away beta amyloid," noted Dr. Sam Gandy, chair of the medical and scientific advisory council at the Alzheimer's Association.

"The study also shows an additional mechanism [besides curcumin's anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties] that looks at the actual clean-up of plaques," said Gandy, who is also director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Fiala believes his team's research into the role of macrophages in Alzheimer's disease patients may one day point to new approaches for diagnosing -- and even treating -- the illness.

Testing immune-cell response may also offer other researchers a novel way to assess the effectiveness of drugs in clearing amyloid beta from the brain. It might also help doctors individualize treatment, Fiala said.

Curcumin appears to have few side effects, if any, he added. "We can only say what we see in test tubes, but we don't see any toxic effects with curcumin, even administered in high doses," Fiala said.

Curcumin's health benefits may extend beyond Alzheimer's disease. One recent six-month study, carried out by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, found that daily doses of the spice were associated with a nearly 60 percent lower risk for colon polyps, a known precursor to colon cancer.

So, experts say, while it may be too early to recommend a dish of curry to help stave off cancer or Alzheimer's, it nonetheless appears healthy -- and tasty -- to add curry powder to your spice rack.

Arizona 3

Here is the complete album of our trip to Arizona. Use the slide show button to get the best result.
Enjoy!

Arizona

Arizona 2

A night shot of the cacti in our hotel campus with the beautiful night sky as the backdrop. Click on the photo to enlarge. (No - that's not a spec of dirt on your monitor - it's a star!)

Arizona

Beautiful blue skies, warm soothing fall, open countryside, neat roads, elegant mountains, un-imaginable cacti, nice people, cool red rocks, Grand Canyon. That, in a few words is Arizona. We happen to spend a few days in Scottsdale Az and we really liked it there. 

Washington Post profiles India/Indians in the DC area

“While noting that their affection for India has never flagged, some Indians say they now feel more proud of their heritage. More immigrants who planned to stay in the United States for good are reconsidering. And as India sprouts Western-style shopping malls and gleaming outposts of U.S. companies, a small but growing number of Indians -- particularly affluent male technology workers and retiring baby boomers --- are leading dual lives in the countries.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/08/AR2006100800844.html

Daily Show: What Exactly Is President Bush's Job?

This has got to be the most hilarious of Jon Stewart's show.

About myself

For those who don’t know me. I am a graduate student – pursuing a PhD. My PhD is in the area of Computer Engineering and when people ask me what I do or what my future work would be like – I ask them first if they know what a chip is – depending on their answer – I go a further. If they say that the only chip they know are the potato kind – I tell them I help their cell phones work well or I help digital signals go from point A to point B without getting lost or get degraded.

There is neat little snippet of a signal integrity (SI) engineer’s business card and the questions he asks during his ‘therapy’ sessions floating around in the SI discussion forums.

-"Arthur Fraser Transmission Line Therapist"

It always conjured up what the Therapist would be asking the signal:

"How long have you had these paranoid feelings that you will be

terminated?"

"Have you always felt there are aggressors out to get you?"

"Have you always coupled with your neighbors?"

"And could you describe in more detail all this ringing your

experiencing - is it like church bells?

"And you say that no matter where you go, you always experience a delay

in your travel?"

"This ground bounce you mention, is this related to a seismic event?

"As your therapist I am concerned you always refer to yourself as a

victim, do you always see yourself as a victim?"

"And you say you feel you are just meandering through life?"

On Pluto

For several days now – I wanted to write about this planet – more like an apology that we owe to it. Here’s my declaration to the astronomical, physical, aeronautical, or any other fancy scientific body that concerns itself with Pluto. In the common law legal system, there is this wonderful thing called ‘The Statute of Limitation’. Do you guys have anything like that? It’s been what – three quarters of a century since you classified Pluto a planet – and suddenly you yank the title from it? C’ mon – even the IRS has more heart!

Just leave it like it is – who cares if you want to call Pluto a planet or a dwarf planet – or a Macaca planet – does it make a difference? Like some astronomical body in Andromeda is going to say – hmmm – the idiots on Earth have deemed Pluto to be a non-planet – so now we cannot plan an attack on it. Leave it as it is – and move on – do something that changes the way we live and use your brains to try and improve global warming or glacial erosion and Ozone depletion.

The book

So the book is released. In some way it’s very much an eye opener. From now on the general cannot claim that he is ideologically on the same side as the rest of the world is concerned in this war on terror (WOT). He became allies with the US/sane world because, in his own word, “if we do not join them, can we confront them and withstand the onslaught? The answer was no”. As a matter of fact, he “war-gamed the United States as an adversary”. Then he/they figured out that it was like committing suicide. It would have been a very interesting scenario if the war games would have resulted in any other outcome. For example, if, say his country would have had .. maybe .. a 25% chance of coming around and defeating the mighty armies of the world – what would have he chosen then? Maybe then there would never have been an unwilling ally in this WOT and maybe his country would never had to answer all the hard question – like ‘why don’t you capture OBL’ or ‘why do you have thousands of terrorists camps’ or ‘why do you let militants cross over to your territory’ and ‘why do you have thousands of madrasas teaching hatred for others’ AND it would have been much easier for the rest of the world as well – they would not be hard pressed to think which side, truly, is he on?

So the next time you say that you are not on the side of the terrorists and fighting with the world as allies in this unconventional war, watch out – we know whose side are you really on and why you are sitting on the same table as us.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

My decision was based on the wellbeing of my people and the best interests of my country — Pakistan always comes first. I war-gamed the United States as an adversary. There would be a violent and angry reaction if we didn’t support the United States. Thus the question was: if we do not join them, can we confront them and withstand the onslaught? The answer was no, we could not, on three counts.

First was our military weakness as compared with the strength of the United States. Second was our economic weakness. We had no oil, and we did not have the capacity to sustain our economy in the face of an attack. Third, and worst of all, was our social weakness. We lack the homogeneity to galvanise the entire nation into an active confrontation. We could not endure a military confrontation with the United States from any point of view. The ultimate question that confronted me was whether it was in our national interest to destroy ourselves for the Taleban. Were they worth committing suicide over? The answer was a resounding no.

In some ways I think he does not even know what he is writing - and for whom – for surely – there are 2 very distinct groups of people who will read this book. One at home and the other outside. Instead of doing the book tour in the US, he should have done it in his hometown – and if I were him – I would have done something, anything that would have prevented anybody else getting a hand on the book. This book is purely meant to be for local consumption – to bolster his image, to improve the image of his country in his own people’s eyes – a lot to do with self esteem – really.

Fact Check

So.. let’s get a fact check here.

A military general who takes over a country’s administration in a coup writes a book about how he did it all.

- About how he planned and launched an attack and then retreated (due to foreign pressure, after obtaining his objective) on a neighboring country – and then brags about it in the book.

- Calls secessionist movement in his own country 'terrorism' and the same in his neighbor’s country ‘freedom struggle’

- Blames the neighboring country’s Prime Minister (PM) ‘squarely’ for any failure of peace talks.

- Says that the power of the current PM of the neighboring country has ‘diminished’as a result of the country's establishment.

- Bashes all the other previous rulers of his own country.

- Justifies why he overthrew the previous, elected ruler.

- Advertises about his book with the President of US standing next to him.

- Creates media hype by declaring that a high up in the State Department threatened to bomb his country ‘back to the stone age’ – three days before his book is due out.

So – he goes and writes a book about all these characters. He, never himself elected to any office in the government – collects cool million dollars for this book.

All the other people he talks about – could never get their grey cells together to write a line about their own experiences with the dictator amongst other things.

Cheers general – you are the man.

Is Lalu changing the Railways?

Seems like he has found his niche – after all.

He has started from the top – where it should have been started.

The ministers, a plethora of them, their family, their friends – everybody should be given a quick fact check on who they are – not who they think they are. Ok now I am sounding like Rumsfeld.

Soren's wife, son caught without ticket, fined

By IE

Wednesday September 20, 12:47 AM

Following the directives of Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to initiate action against all the ticketless travelers, including politicians, bureaucrats and others, Railway staff at Kanpur detained three members of Cabinet Minister Shibu Soren's family and fined them.

According to reports, Railway staff detained Soren's wife, son and a relative, who were traveling on New Delhi-Howrah bound Rajdhani Express (2302) on Railway passes of the minister and MP S Marandi late on Monday night.

Railway staff at Kanpur got information about three passengers traveling on the passes issued to MPs. Under the leadership of Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM) Rajesh Kumar Srivastava, ticket checking squad gheraoed the first AC coach of Rajdhani Express on platform number 6. Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Railway Police Force (RPF) were also deployed at the platform in order to prevent any untoward incident.

It was found that Ruby Soren, wife of Shibu Soren, his son Swajit Soren and a relative Mini were occupying seats in cabin 'A'. When the squad enquired about their status and asked them to deboard the train, they got annoyed and warned the railway staff of dire consequences. Later, they accepted that they were traveling without ticket but were refused to pay the penalty.

Ruby Soren also allegedly misbehaved with the Railway staff and warned them of dire consequences.

Srivastava, then, directed the female staff and GRP constables to forcibly bring Ruby and Swajit down. Realising that there was no escape, they paid the penalty of Rs 14,260, after which they were allowed to continue their journey. Talking to Indian Express, Srivastava said that the passengers were traveling on MPs' identity card numbers 159 and 303. "They were considered ticket-less and therefore railway realized fine from them," he added.

Meanwhile, Ruby Soren said that her husband had to come along but could not travel due to some engagement. She also said that Railway staff misbehaved with her and co-passengers. However, the train got delayed by 20 minutes due to scene created by ticket-less passengers.

In another incident, two ticket-less persons were caught traveling in first AC coach with BSP MP from Eastern UP Kailash Yadav in Delhi-bound Shiv Ganga Express late on Monday night. When the railway staff detained them, they warned the staff of complaining to railway minister Lalu Yadav. However, when the railway squad directed the GRP to put both ticketless persons in jail, they paid Rs 16,335 as penalty.

Ah... The Summer is Over.

This is what we’ll do the next summer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/opinion/04lutz.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

or

http://allthingsuseless.blogspot.com/2006/09/september-4-2006-op-ed-contributor.html

Sad Day

Today I woke up to read about the sad demise of Steve Irwin – who died doing what he loved – and killed by one who he liked. I was a huge fan of him and truly and greatly admired his free will and contagious enthusiasm for life and all things living. His confidence was legendary as was evident by his dress – khaki shorts and shirts – which he discarded for no one – not even for heads of state.

We will miss you Crocodile Hunter.

Ustad Bismillah Khan

“Build me my ghats, the river, the life as I know it, in the backyard and may be I will stay back”

-Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916 – 2006) - turning down an offer of an American connoisseur to stay in the US

Wazzup Macaca

Following American politics is so .. how should I say it .. educating – or entertaining – or both.

Day before yesterday – I never knew that Macaca existed.

Today I know that Macaca is not just a word that means a genus of monkeys in Africa – but is also a word made up by My + Caca.

My is my, Caca is kuku, you know, yes that.

So Sidhart, you have become the caca of Allen. Hmm .. but you have caused the downfall of a young/bright/racist senator. But then again – maybe not. Can’t trust the voters here.

What’s with the haircut anyway?

BTW Maybe Senator Allen is a Mallika fan!

After all – Mallika --> Mallaka --> Makaka.

I think he is getting targeted unfairly. And maybe he should stop apologizing.

Heat Wave!

As the eastern seaboard is getting baked, here are some tips on how to remain safe and enjoy the ‘sunny’ weather.

• Do not leave infants, children, or pets in a parked car, even for just a few minutes. Car interiors can quickly heat up and cause serious injury or death.
• Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water but avoid alcohol and large amounts of sugar. Do not wait until you are thirsty to drink.
• Heavy sweating removes salt and minerals from the body. If you exercise or work outside, drink two to four glasses of cool, non-alcoholic fluids each hour. A sports beverage may replace the salt and minerals you lose in sweat. However, if you are on a low-salt diet, talk with your doctor before drinking a sports beverage.
• Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing. Protect yourself from the sun and keep cool by wearing a wide-brimmed hat along with sunglasses and by putting on sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher 30 minutes prior to going outside.
• Stay indoors and if at all possible, in an air-conditioned place. If your home does not have air conditioning, try to find a neighbor, relative or public place that does. Just a few hours spent in air conditioning can help your body stay cooler when you go back into the heat.
• Take a cool shower or bath.
• Avoid, as much as possible, using your stove and oven. This will help keep cooler temperatures in your home.
• If you are 65 years of age or older, have a friend or relative call to check on you twice a day during a heat wave. If you know someone in this age group, check on them at least twice a day.
• If you must be outdoors, try to limit your outdoor activity to morning and evening hours. When working in the heat, have plenty of water available and monitor the condition of your co-workers and have someone do the same for you. Heat-induced illness can cause a person to become confused or lose consciousness.

Manoj Night Shyamalan

Its fascinating to watch and observe the fights critics and fans/moviegoers are having over the latest movie (Lady in the Water) from Manoj. Sounds a wee bit weird to start off with Manoj and not with Night or M. Night or just Shyamalan. Who knows why he doesn’t prefer to be called what he was supposed to be called.

Well – what’s in a name – as long as you are good at what you do.

There are distinctively 2 camps of people – he would say – in this world. Those who can see dead people and those who cannot – just kidding

Rather – those who like him and those who despise him – and I don’t mean like – ‘hey I don’t like the movies he make’ over a cup of tea kinda hate – but like ‘hey I’ll suck his blood dry’ hate. I don’t know – I like his movies – though I haven’t seen Signs – but the other 3 were nice and watchable films. People don’t usually have any problem with Sixth Sense – so let’s leave that out – but Unbreakable and The Village were not completely trash and were actually, quite enjoyable. His way of story telling is kind of weird and, I must say, unique – which might be a reason critics absolutely love to hate him. After Sixth Sense, they all compared him to the next Spielberg – so he did have the bars raised pretty high for him. I must say, though, that he is one of the very few in the industry today who has had 4 movies in a row that had some ripple or the other.

For Lady in the water, it’s a pretty much split decision. IMDB, where reviews are by readers have a much higher rating than Rotten Tomatoes – which tracks the professional movie critics – so early indications are that there is a huge divide b/w the critics and the end user – well - numbers will tell who’s right – as for me – I would be going to see it soon – and will write about what I saw.