Miscellaneous Stuff
A timely reminder of our place in this universe :
What a beautiful shot! This is a picture from the craft Juno on it’s 5 year journey to Jupiter where it will explore how the planets were formed, amongst other tests. Carl Sagan’s words come through loud and clear :
Right Wingers Come In All Forms
The group demanding an end to Muslim Friday prayers at a Toronto school is militantly anti-Sikh and anti-Muslim.
Canadian Hindu Advocacy’s director Ron Banerjee has said: “In its entire history, Islam, the Islamic civilization has invented and contributed less to human advancement than a pack of donkeys.”
He wants to “fight the Islamization of our society” and, lately, of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). He’s demanding that Valley Park Middle School in Flemingdon Park stop giving space to Muslim students in the cafeteria after lunch on Fridays.
He does not live in the area but claims to have “received many complaints from terrified Hindu students and parents (who) felt that the TDSB was so thoroughly infected with Islamist sympathies that they would suffer consequences for speaking up.”
He does not say how many parents complained. Nor does he identify them. When I asked him that by email, and also inquired how many members his organization has and who funds it, he did not respond.
“Frankly, I don’t believe what he says,” principal Nick Stefanoff says. “I’ve not had a single complaint from any non-Muslim parents. We have dozens of Hindu students and we have a great relationship with them and their parents. When the Indian cricket team played Sri Lanka in the World Cup final (in April in Mumbai), Hindu and Muslim kids came to the school at 4 a.m. to watch it together. They had a great time.”
So, as you can gather, some students who on Fridays, instead of going to a local mosque, use the school canteen to pray. This is being done so that they avoid missing out on classes.
I am afraid that’s a big effing no!
If a student (or his/her parents) think that praying is more important than attending the classes, then please by all means go ahead and pray. But you cannot use a school for religious purposes. Period.
Now, regarding this person, Ron Banerjee who bought this whole issue to light. Haroon Siddiqui is bang on target when describing Banerjee and his activities. A racist to the core and one who proudly wears it on his sleeve. This guy is one of those low life parasites who has probably too much time on his hands and not enough distractions. Sounds like a typical mind set of a delusional right wing politics of India.
Mumbai Attacked, Again
Another day, another attack.
Another mindless bombing, innocent people dying.
It’s become the circle of life in Mumbai. I wonder how much can that city take before the psychosis of living with the fear that a bomb could go off next to you drives people over the edge. Already there are statements appearing on the web that border on mob mentality where you go where ever your anger leads you. Here are what some of my close friends are posting on their wall on Facebook :
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Time to get up and take control. If you agree let’s make this a movement. Hang that Kasab (Pakistani Islamic terrorist who was involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks) or I am not paying taxes to the government for them to sit and feed the man who injured the soul of Mumbai!! An appeal KILL THAT KASAB OR CHANGE THE GOVERNMENT!!
I understand you are angry and upset but I do not understand how killing Kasab will stop terrorism? Once Kasab is dead will the terrorists just stop? It did not happen when US go Osama Bin Laden so why would it work in this case?
And if the person is saying that we should hang Kasab because he is guilty and the government is just dithering by not hanging him right away, then I have to ask, do you want to be like the terrorists? In other words do you want to take Kasab in the back and shoot him just like the terrorists do or do you want to go through a process that are entrenched in a democratic society. Yes, they can be slow but that’s why it’s called a due process. Leave no stone unturned. That’s how you fight terrorism.
I have been very disappointed by the response to this later attack from fellow desis (some of them are my very friends). There have been shouts across the board for more security. What does that mean? Do you want an Orwellian police state? Do you want to be told what you can do each moment you step out?
If yes, then may I suggest you try North Korea.
I was also disappointed with the response to the bombing by the authourities. I mean, I do not expect them to have a police presence at every corner (I would hate that kind of society). My problem is that I saw pictures of injured being carried in the back of delivery vans, injured lying about with no professional help, no fire men, nothing. WTF! I thought after repeatedly being bombed, the authourities would have learned by now how to RESPOND to a bombing even if they cannot PREVENT one.
And the media. Oh my god! What is wrong with the desi media? The hyperventilating reportage from the scene of the blast with no concern for the privacy of the victims and their loved ones makes me want to puke.
I have no idea how to end this post on a positive note because there is nothing positive about this tragedy. It’s happened before and it will happen again.
The Technology In My Life
In our household, we have the following items:
1) iPod
2) 3 Laptops
3) 1 netbook
4) Phone
5) iPhone
6) Play Station 2
7) Wii
8) Xbox
9) Runner’s GPS (Garmin 305)
10) GPS
My family (yes, that includes my 7 year old) ask why I think I need a new gadget in my life (more on the gadget later), I decided to explore the technology in my life.
So let me explain each and everyone one of the items on the list above.
1) iPod : This is basically as useful to me as my right hand. I am a big music fan and I need to listen to music during all my activities (except when I am reading), in fact I am listening to music right now! The iPod really comes in handy during my long runs. I listen to podcasts, new music and books so needless to say without an iPod I feel naked.
2) Laptop #1 : My Windows 7 laptop is my workhorse. It’s the one where I run my web server, stores my photographs, acts as my entertainment centre and acts as my education centre.
3) Laptop #2 : My wife’s Mac book. It’s my wife’s workhorse. It’s the one she always uses for her minimal internet usage.
4) Laptop #3 : My old laptop. This is the one I use for experimentation. Although the last time I switched it on was about a month ago, I install everything and anything on it. I have Ubuntu and Vista. It’s a super slow machine but it helps the learning process.
5) Netbook : This one was purchased for my daughter. We were getting into dangerous territory when my daughter started using laptops. She would either borrow mine or my wife’s when we wanted to use it at the same time. As a pre-empt exercise, I bought a netbook for my daughter. Although I use it most of the time on my commute as a learning tool. I am practising MySQL and PHP on it at the moment.
6) Play Station 2 : Oh man!! The fun times I have had with this electronic piece! I remember staying up till 4am playing games :), all before my daughter was born!! Since her birth in 2003, I have not spent more than a few hours on the device. Time to sell it.
7) Wii : My daughter’s entertainment centre. She uses it regularly. In fact I have to cajole and threaten her to get off the Wii because she spends an inordinately long time on it. This is a keeper for the moment.
8) Xbox : Borrowed it from my friend to play Halo a few times. But ever since he upgraded to Xbox 360, he told me to keep it along with the games (apparently, Xbox games will not work with Xbox 360. How stupid is that???). But I have played it to my hearts’ content and it is now time to get rid of it.
9) Runners’ GPS : The reason why I cannot spend too much time on video games is mostly my daughter takes up my time and I have started running. I need to balance out my time so I decided it’s best to focus on what keeps me healthy (for the time being ;D ). This is a great piece of equipment and gives great data in real time! I have used it on my occasions including my first marathon run.
10) GPS : Well, this is a given. Everyone needs this to save arguments with your ‘better half’ when driving in a new part of the town.
So when we started to discuss about the iPad (the new gadget), I could not counter any argument put up by my family as to why I needed it. And I agree, for the moment, the iPad is basically an idiot laptop. Not of much use if you have all the above.
FOR THE MOMENT!!
Hmmmm……but what about a kindle?
Skeptics = Religious????
Here is what I see when I try and go to the site : Skeptics Guide To The Universe at my work place. I think Steve Novella will blow a fuse when he sees this :)
Sometimes People Are Just Assholes
Here is a news item sure to boil your blood. This is an example (horrifying pictures in the article, not for the squeamish) of why it’s become so easy to hate people with authority :
“BHAJANPURA, AN obscure village of Forbesganj town in Araria, one of the most backward districts of Bihar, has unwittingly become the epicentre of communal politics. On 3 June, police bullets and atrocities took four lives, including an seven-month-old baby, a pregnant woman and an injured man, who was heinously stomped to death. In a statement that makes a mockery of the irrefutable evidence against them, the police are justifying the killings as an act of “self-defence”. The silence of the Nitish Kumar government is also raising several uncomfortable questions especially since all four people killed in the firing on 3 June belong to a minority community.
The residents of Bhajanpura could never have imagined their demand for a road could take such a tragic turn. The brutality of the police emerged in a blood-curdling video of a cop, Sunil Kumar Yadav, literally jumping on a prostrate and injured man, pummelling him to death. This two-minute long video footage is so disturbing that one shudders to think of those who saw it with their own eyes. Fatkan Ansari, father of the deceased Mustafa, breaks down while talking to TEHELKA. “Who killed him? Why was he killed? How was he killed? What do I tell you? This will not bring back my son,” is all he can mutter, before lapsing into silence.”
And yes. There was a video. And yes the police man actually jumped on an injured man’s face killing him. And yes, the jumping and kicking lasted for 2 minutes. Not sure why the police had this need to pummel another human being to death. I think the police faced some amount of resistance (in the form of uppity language from the villagers or something to that affect) had to come back with “who’s the boss now” attitude which somehow culminated with them stomping another human being to death.
Why?
Is power so intoxicating that people will use it to justify any illegal activity by those in power? I guess so. This was demonstrated during the G20 summit here in Toronto where the police, normally a highly regarded law enforcement agency, went ape shit for a period of 4 days when they were given unprecedented power to arrest whomsoever they felt like in the name of security.
This case is disturbing mostly because there is an element of communal violence by police against minorities who also happened to be poor opposing the rich politicians. And then the public has the temerity to ask why is there terrorism in India.
Add to the fact that there is video evidence you have to wonder how many such cases have escaped scrutiny because there was no evidence? This is India we are talking about. The police there, with blessings from the politicians, have and will go to depths of in-humanity again and again. I can only hope the fucking mainstream media pays some attention to this problem.
