Mumbai Under Siege

[source]

Mumbai wakes up to the worst ever morning.

Late last night a band of terrorists consisting of kids as young as 22 in sweat shirts and backpacks executed a well orchestrated attack on of the most most upscale and important localities in South Mumbai.This area houses the state assembly, naval head quaters, a very important research center and is home to most of the elected state representative.Three hotels, a Jewish house and one womens and children hospital have been taken over.

Mayhem consisted of unwarranted and numerous rounds of automatic weapon firing on by-standers, people in cafes and hotels; hand grenades were hurled like water balloons.

Three reasons political and other wise that might have triggered this attack are:

a. Retaliation to the huge number voter turn out in the Jammu and Kashmir state elections. Separatists/fundamentalists never wanted a election in the first place.

b. Recent seculation over the involvement of Hindu individuals who have been linked to the Malegaon Blasts which killed about 40 Muslims in Maharashtra.

c. Retension/questioning and alleged mal handling of muslim community by the anti-terrorist wing during investigations.

Question is, how big should India’s retaliation be?  This strongly is  the mother of all attacks.

18 pounds of RDX explosive materials have been found in immediate vicinity of the targeted areas.

Obama and the Civil War

A few pictures from a recent civil war re-enactment  that I visited. Amongst the bonnie blue flags, ball gowns and cannon balls, it was a pleasant surprise to hear Obama’s name not just once. That really tells you a lot about the contemporary national sentiment

If…

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream–and not make dreams your master,
If you can think–and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings–nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

–Rudyard Kipling

On Gandhi

Here are two quotes with a stark contrast.

Mandela on Gandhi–’India gave us M.K. Gandhi, we gave you back Mahatma Gandhi’.

Reporter–’ What do you think of  western civilization?’ Mahatma Gandhi: ‘I think it would be a good idea.’

Things to Ponder about!

Haven’t been blogging for sometime now, but here are some things that really bother me

1. Palin and her folksy values about guns, foreign policy and global warming. Palin is becoming more of an issue, not due to her inferior competency but due to the fragility of McCain. Incase of any eventuality (McCain and his old age) folks would definitely hand over the baton to the hockey mom. (remember how bush got his second term!) She thinks global warming is the wrath of the Gods. Foreign policy skills acquired by her states proximity to Russia.
2. Download caps by internet service providers, unconstitutional moderation over p2p file sharing. [link]
3. Google’s domination over the internet.[now that chrome is out]
4. The frail capital markets; now that Merrill Lynch and WaMu are taking the worst ever hit.
5. Nuclear arms race in the India sub continent and Alien contact
6. India accepting [Pakistani] terrorist bombing as a way of life [source]

1. 7 Mar 2006 @ Varanasi

2. 14 Apr 2006 @ New Delhi

3. 21 May 2006 @ Srinagar

4. 1 Jun 2006 @ Nagpur

5. 11 Jul 2006 @ Srinagar

6. 11 Jul 2006 @ Mumbai

7. 8 Sep 2006 @ Malegaon

8. 18 May 2007 @ Hyderabad

9. 26 May 2007 @ Guwahati

10. 29 Jul 2007 @ Srinagar

11. 12 Aug 2007 @ Assam

12. 23 Nov 2007 @ UP

13. 13 Dec 2007 @ Assam

14. 17 Dec 2007 @ Manipur

15. 1Jan 2008 @ Rampur

16. 13 May 2008 @ Jaipur

17. 25 Jul 2008 @ Bangalore

18. 26 Jul 2008 @ Ahmedabad

19. 13 Sep 2008 @ New Delhi

CNN Citizen Journalist

CNN recently launched ireport.com dedicated for user produced news. This has taken blogging and user involvement to a new level.

CNN executives acknowledge that iReport.com’s openness is something of a departure for a news organization that prides itself on accuracy and editorial judgment. But iReports have become increasingly popular, and in many cases have even proved beneficial in the reporting of breaking news. Some of the most compelling footage from last April’s shootings on the Virginia Tech campus came from the 420 user-generated video clips CNN received, while last year’s California wildfires yielded more than 11,000 submissions.

Ethics and content values in this experiment have to be evaluated but it this exercise will no doubt reflect the society’s demand for the kind of news they want to hear/see.

Clinton Lecture at UVA

A day before the primary at Virginia, noted political scientist invited all the presidential candidates to deliver a guest lecture to his class at the University of Virginia. The first to accept would be invited to speak and it was Clinton’s camp.

Clinton spoke for 10 minutes, after which the conversation turned into a question and answer type forum ranging from taxes to stem cell research.

But the moment that seemed to capture students’ attention more than any other was when, in response to a question about who was the most influential figure on her political career, she told a story about representing the U.S. at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as president of South Africa. “He said, ‘I would like to personally introduce you to three guests of mine,’ and it was three of his former jailers,” she said. “He was telling us that in order to move forward, you have to give up your hate and you have to learn to forgive.”

I think she did a great job in answering questions and what particularly impressed me was her response to a why she voted against a bill making English as the national language. Being from NY, she had the opportunity to witness firsthand the immigrant diversity who in spite of living in the states for 40 years and being American citizens spoke poor English. The bill would have forbid the government agencies to pay for translators or print voter registration forms in Asian or other languages. She in the end fortified her support to make English a common language and called for federal funding for English education like it was once in the 70’s and 80’s.

Read full report here.

Listen to her PodCast here.

On Kidney-Snatchers and Guns

Dr. Amit Kumar, the kidney king-pin managed to make it to CNN.com’s front page as he was nabbed in Nepal.

Elsewhere, in Missouri, a gunman shot down 5 people as he stormed into a city council meeting.

Wonder where the world in going!

Blogging and Weight Loss

Blogging can do wonders..organize and mobilize junta during calamities, help disseminate information and make voices heard, serve as a parallel universe for the journalists and now weight loss…… as a recent article suggests where Lynn lost a staggering 168 pounds.

Initially, she started “Lynn’s Weight Loss Journey” to keep herself accountable and update her sister and friend on how she was doing. It wasn’t until she started receiving comments from people she didn’t know — thanking her for sharing her story — that Bering began to realize she might empower others.

As she blogged, the pounds melted off.

Share in with your views as to how blogging helped you.

Testing ‘Prologue’ now!

Testing ‘Prologue’ now!