We the People, have spoken...

This past Tuesday, the American people stepped up to vote in the mid-term elections, to determine their future for the next few years, and maybe more.

The Republican majority in Congress went into the election with some confidence, yet the inner circles maintained otherwise (which reminds me of India's BJP re-election bid in the last general election which they underestimated the people's real feelings). The GOP's greatest fears were realized when the votes started to be counted Tuesday night. Governors, Senators, and Representatives of the Republican affiliation started losing their seats one by one especially in states where they had built a strong presence.

So what made people change their stance in voting for the GOP in these mid-terms? Well national issues played the major part in the decision making. President Bush's failures with certain policies and with Iraq, along with recent scandals seem to have sealed the fate of the end results.

At the end, the Dems gained control of Congress, splitting the power of the US government. With the House and Senate in Dem hands the GOP now only controls only the presidency. The split control now remains in effect until 2008, the next Presidential election.

A possibility of a lame duck president for the next two years? Perhaps. But Dubya is now doing his best to counter that situation from arising. Today Bush extended an olive branch to the Dems to "work together". This is something similar he had done in Texas, and it worked. Now it is on a national stage, but a little too late.

Some GOP leaders also felt it was time for Bush to make changes. Even Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger, Governor of "KHALI-FONYA" said that the change was needed , "I think it is good that there are new ideas and new blood because Washington was stuck. They could not move forward, not much was accomplished; I think it was terrible."

Even Bush was taking blame for the defeat. And rightfully so.

Currently Bush is also open to the Dem's suggestions for putting together an exit strategy from Iraq. The departure of the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, also signals a big change that the Bush administration is looking for in its strategies in Iraq. The resignation came a bit too late in my opinion.

Other policies might be changing too. UN Ambassador John Bolton, who is up for renewal with his position, is finding strong opposition from not only the Dems, but also some leaders within the GOP. The nuclear deal with India, amnesty for illegal aliens, tax incentives, and other issues will come up into question when the new Congress takes over.

The balance of power has virtually been put into 'balance' with this election's results. Bush's final two years in power will be a real challenge for him, as well as the Democrats, as policies and ideologies will be put into question. The general American populace, tired of the Bush adminstration's ineffectiveness, and the constant scare propoganda finally took a firm decision in their hands, and their votes spoke for it.

It will be an interesting conclusion to Bush's tenure as El Presidente.

Truths about dieting....

A nice article I just read on SanjeevKapoor.com, who is India's celebrity chef. Some myth-busters on diets and misconceptions about foods: http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/monthsp/monthsp.asp

God is not a Republican.....so is he a Democrat?

For the past few general elections in the States, the Republicans have been using religion as way to get into the voter's hearts (more than their minds). Knowing that this wildcard didn't exist in their back pockets, the Democrats lost some considerable amounts of the voting population.

Well now the Dems have decided to use God as source to get voters on their side. Candidates like Bob Casey, who is running in for the Senate in Pennsylvania describes himself as a "pro-life Catholic".

Harold Ford Jnr, a young black Democrat in Tennessee, is drawing on his Christian faith - even recording a TV ad in a church.

Senator Barack Obama has been also been wearing his religion on his sleeve as he campaigns on behalf of fellow Democrats.

In a recent survey though only one in four voters saw the Democrats as "friendly" towards religion.

Since the last 20 years the religious right has, portrayed God as a Republican. But in the wake of sexual and corruption scandals, evangelical enthusiasm for the Republicans has dropped, and the Democrats see an opportunity to bridge what has been dubbed the "God Gap" in political circles.

I'm not sure why politics in America are being geared towards this 'Godly' feature, when in fact there are a lot of issues that don't even have to do with religion. It is true that the country was founded on non-religious grounds (seperation between church and state) yet by some puritanical leaders. Yet over the years since that proclaimation, politicians have used religion to their advantage.

The common man does believe in God, and that is good, but sometimes I wonder if the God fearing people who base their votes on such, really know the reality of what's going on? Just because your candidate's talk about his closeness to God, or being a born-again Christian or what not, does that make you a better person? I mean I could lie for all that matters before the elections, and when I get voted in just forget about God in total.

I've had friends who during high school and college used to say that the Republicans are good cause they believe in God. My question to them always was, so does that make the Democrats devil worshippers? And when quizzed about the issues at hand, they had no idea on what was going on. The sad part was some even sounded like in-the-closet Dems who were agreeing to whatever their parents were telling them at home or worse their pastor. But all in all their viewpoints sounded like they were anti-GOP.

To me neither a Republican nor Democrat should be using God's name in vain for their political purposes. With a diverse country like the USA, God has no business in being in politics.

All you can eat seafood....till 2048!

Nah...It's not a new marketing scheme by Red Lobster, Long John Silver's, Captain D's or even McCormick & Schmicks.

According to a current report, if the current trends of overfishing and pollution continue, the populations of just about all seafood face a collapse by 2048, a team of ecologists and economists warns in a report in today's issue of the journal Science.

So if this hold true, a lot of us seafood lovers will be left with a few options in about 40 years.

Currently the consumption of seafood brings in about $80 billion dollars a year to the industry worldwide. The USA alone has helped these figures grow, since the recent trend of eating healthier alternatives has come into play. Many countries like Japan, Indonesia, China, and India have a major stake in fishing, providing many countries certain types of seafood.

But with overfishing and pollution, the ecosystems are being harmed with the certain fish populations dwindling. So what do the ecologists suggest?

They suggest a need to shift from a single species management to an ecosystem management. They also called for new marine reserves, better management to prevent overfishing and tighter controls on pollution.

In the 48 areas worldwide that have been protected to improve marine biodiversity, they found, "diversity of species recovered dramatically, and with it the ecosystem's productivity and stability."

So this means that there will have to be a worldwide consortium to balance the fishing of certain seafoods in certain regions. That will be a tough thing to do, due to governments being a little reluctant to hurt their general population who rely on this industry for their livelihood. But it can happen if this finding is held to be more than a theory.

If the worldwide fishing community is put under one umbrella, then of course we will see a dramatic rise in costs of seafood. Why? Well for one thing, the quotas of certain types of seafoods being fished, and over that the allocation of those fishes to be imported to certain countries would be affected quite considerably. That would also lead to having the operating costs of the fishermen and the distributors to go up as well. With seafood being expensive already, this will make it more like the rich man's food.

The researchers points on this doomsday of seafood are well taken, and I would hope if their theory is true, then the worldwide fishing community will take heed and do something, BUT it is a huge undertaking. With about 40 years of supply left, to get something like this up and running will take years.

I rather be an optimist and say that some good people will step up and save the fishes for our palates. But for now eat as much as seafood you can by 2048.....We may not have some afterwards!!!

Living with a different beat....

Not many in the "Desi" or South Asian community in the USA venture out of the typical fields of medical sciences or engineering, but it seems the trend is pretty much going into different directions. Here is a girl with an identity that beckons a career behind the 'tables':

Click here to view the video

This Week in Bigotry

Since 9/11, an awareness of our surroundings was brought on to our attention by our 'faithful' leadership in DC. That awareness included looking for suspicious people, namely terrorists.

With that being said, a thought of fear and hate has permeated through American society in some circles, especially against minorities. One dressed in non-Western attire, or speaking in different tongues gets a look (Spanish excluded, as it has become a norm nowadays), one too many, and not in a good way, mind you.

An instance of this is from my cousin's recent visit to her daughter's pediatrician in New Jersey. My cousin was telling her 2 year old something in her mother tongue, where upon a man approached her and told her to speak in English with her daughter, as she will be able to speak something everyone will understand. My cousin gave an answer quite sound, telling him to mind his own business, and figure out if he had better English speaking skills than she did. Knowing that my cousin has excellent speaking skills, and went to the top English-based schools in Mumbai, India, and has worked with a couple of international airlines in the recent past, it's safe to say she has a good command over her English, and rightfully made that comment.

I don't understand it, but what is this assumption that everyone in this country should be speaking in English, with whomever and whatever at all times? English is not the national language of this country (and I sure wish it would be), so that fact alone doesn't give anyone any right to challenge who should speak what. Agreed, that the de facto language of everyday life here is English, but as a free country a person can speak in any other tongue with their family or friends.

One other thing is the hatred of the South Asian community, especially Indians, due to IT and customer relations jobs moving over to India. The resentment is strong, and the blame is being given to the wrong group. I have heard many saying that Indians are to blame for the current IT downturn in this country. So, instead of blaming the companies who move these jobs, these people blame the ones who get those jobs.

Well with that, with those who have narrow minds, they lump everyone together regardless if you are from India, or if your origins come from there. Case in point, is what happened to me this past week. This is not the first time I have faced racism, or more like foolishness, but I never imagined it would happen at a job interview.

I received a call for an interview with a company I had applied for some months back, Sanger & Eby, here in Cincinnati, Ohio. So I decided to give it a go, and see what was in store.

The hiring manager who I met, Mike, seemed to be a very nice and honest man. He asked how I had a great American accent, and if I come here as a child. Of course I told him my birth country is the good ol'USA, and have been in Cincinnati all my life, to which he seemed a bit delighted about.

As the interview went on, he asked if he could make a suggestion. Open to the advice, I gave him permission, where upon he told me, "Well I suggest you change your name.....to Andy or something.....It would make it easier for HR people and hiring managers not to skip your resume if it came through the applicants stack...". The comment confused me. What did my name have to do with me getting a job based on my skill sets and basic personality? I asked, "Why?".

The next set of comments upset me the most, "Well see....since a lot of IT jobs are being sent over to India, it's creating a bad impression on people to hire people with foreign names. You know, I had an Indian friend where I used to work at, who told me that Indians are not to be trusted". Either the guy telling him this was a sellout, or the words from Mike's mouth are his own feelings.

I ignored that slight aberration, but more and more I thought about it as the interview went on, I just got restless within. I wanted that interview to end, as soon as possible. The basics of the job description kept me interested, as I questioned Mike on the opportunity, but my gut instinct was telling me it wasn't the right opportunity.

The interview ended, and as I said the typical goodbye with a handshake with the interviewer, Mike, he addressed me by saying, "Well hope we can meet again Mr. Andy Jones!", with a slight chuckle. I gave him a dissatisfied look, and walked away.

It then hit me. I didn't want this job. It wasn't what I wanted, cause maybe I wasn't wanted. Maybe I was brought in to match some equal opportunity numbers to satisfy the government for Sanger & Eby's sake.

Ironically I was called about thirty minutes later to see if I was interested in coming in for meeting another person who Mike somehow forgot to have me meet that very day. I put it off, and told Mike I will let him know next week as I had family coming in that very night, so I had to think about it.

I realized that even if this interest was being shown, and if I got the job, my life at this company would've turned into some utter hell. The manager's idiotic opinions would've driven me out of this place very quickly, and most likely me getting into a shouting match with him.

I politely (however I didn't want to be polite) declined the revisit, and wished them good luck in their search, as one would do in a typical response in pursuit of an opportunity.

I'm sure though that the management at Sanger & Eby would've seen this through in a professional manner, but avoiding a fire when you have been initially stung by flames is much more beneficial.

These two examples of odd behavior, call it bigotry if you wish, really seem to be prevalent in our society nowadays. Me and my cousin aren't the only ones I'm sure seeing the upsurge in such incidents. Even Senator George Allen called out on an Indian-origin journalist at a recent public rally calling him a monkey. And he gets away with an apology??!?!?!?

If our leaders lead with such examples, what do you expect the general population to do?

G.O.P. (Gay Occassional Party) : Foley's Folly

This has to be the most ironic and hypocritical thing I have been seeing about the Republican party. First of all the party has its politics with an anti-gay stance, but at the same time we have Jim Kolbe, an openly gay Republican Congressman.

Then the past 2 weeks we see Mark Foley, another Republican representative, getting caught for sending inappropriate emails to a teenage congressional page, resigning, and then telling everyone that he is gay.

Hmmmm.....I wonder why gay people, when they get caught for lewd behavior, suddenly feel its necessary to tell the world that they are gay (i.e. George Michael).

What's even sickening is that Foley was one of the main congressional leaders who has done work in child protection laws, especially a ban on child pornography on the web. Hypocrisy at its best.

And now more stuff has surfaced that Rep. Jim Kolbe and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert knew about Foley's dealings.

Even former pages said that it was common knowledge in their groups that Foley was to be avoided cause he had a tendency to act inappropriately toward young male pages.

So, the GOP stands to lose some face considerably with such things happening at the wrong time (mid-term elections). And now they are blaming the Dems for trying to take advantage of their unfortunate turn of events. I'm sure they would do the same if the Dems had such an issue brewing as well.

And now the GOP is not knowing what to do. It surely doesn't look good for W's party for the elections in November.

Halloween being just a few weeks away, the nightmare has already started for the GOP. Well then....so what other skeletons do we have in the closet? A hauntingly odd time for the government.....

Brangelina in India!

Yes, it's been a couple of days since they arrived, but it's still fresh news. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have set up camp in Pune, India for the next few weeks for a movie based on slain journalist Daniel Pearl.

The media frenzy in India for the Brangelina invasion is quite amazing. Following each and every move of the 'first couple' of Hollywood in the land of Bollywood is a special thing you know.

We now know what they ate for their first meal in India:

Chicken biryani, steamed rice, tandoori chicken, dal tadka, mutton rogan josh and bread. Hmmm...as as side point, why is it that the western visitor is always given the typical North Indian style food.....they are currently in the Heartland of Maharashtra, and they should be trying awesome Marathi food. But then again, they will be there for some time.....and that menu mentioned above does still make my mouth water!!!!

And now the news is that instead of staying out of the 5-star plush hotel in Pune, they will be shifting to a bungalow. The bungalow, is spread over 12 acres of lush green land and includes a clubhouse, helipad/hangar, and is also one of the locales for the big budget film.

Well now the family is set to visit the Katraj snake park Sunday along with the children's nanny. Hmmm......may we know when Brangelina will go visit the bathroom as well?

Anyway, I hope Brad and Angelina will have a good time in India while they are there.

Stay tuned to the Read My Mind blog for more Brangelina in India coverage.......

Silly-gone Valley of India....

The southern Indian state of Karnataka, where the tech city of Banglore is, has decided to implement a law that was passed in 1994, but never enforced till now. This law states that primary schools should teach their curriculums in Kannada, and not in English.

The plan is to shut down schools who have not implemented all their curriculums in Kannada.

Naturally this plan is finding opposition, especially when it is being enforced now by politicians who woke up from their comas of 12 years.

Hmmm.....now let me get this straight.....the state which prides itself in having Asia's IT capital, and a major center for IT development internationally, is giving English the boot as a part of school? That is a shame.

I am not saying that Kannada shouldn't be there, but I feel both languages should be taught simultaneously. Heck it seems everyone I know from India, knows more than 2 languages, and that while learning more than one language at a time.

So what is this government in Karnataka thinking? Maybe they are setting themselves up to lose the next election.

We didn't do it......but we did.....then again we didn't.....but maybe we did....

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, made a statement during a lecture at Johns Hopkins University that all too clear points the finger directly at the culprit in the insergency in Kashmir. Well it's not hard to guess who......

"Jihad, insurgency or whatever you want to call it in Kashmir...Yes, Pakistan may have helped the jihad at some time but it was not started by us and now we are trying our best to stop people from crossing."

I just love it when the admission of guilt is filled with the idea of doubt and some wiggle room when you say the word 'but', everybody's favorite 'excuse' conjunction. Here he states that Pakistan had a hand in the insurgency, BUT now is trying to stop it. Well I'm sure you are, after the USA started twisting your leader's arms! Yet arms supply and the continued existence of Pakistani based militant groups in India/Kashmir is still fact.

But when you make such a statement, I don't think you should be returning to Pakistan any time soon with Mush still in power.....he might have your head, Mr Ali Durrani!!!

Who bribes the most?

According to an anti-corruption organization, Transparency International (TI), India and China are the top 2 countries of the top 30 exporting nations when it comes to giving you 'extra dough' under the table.

It comes as no surprise with India, as there is a method to that madness, be it in the lowest levels of society, to the highest. And in China, corruption is something that is there by default when you have Communism as your method of governing your people.

What's even more telling is that there are MNC's in those countries which are willing to pay bribes, even though in their respective countries they have a strict following for their code of ethics.

So who has the lowest corruption? It's Switzerland!!! Yes the Swiss are a desirable lot when it comes to chocolates, watches, places to ski, and place your money. But now we can look up to them as very ethical nation when it comes to bribes.

But one thing for sure you have to look at is when was the last time did the Swiss have a population problem? Moreover, when did the Swiss have a poverty problem? I don't know myself, but I highly doubt there is a 'survival of the fittest' mentality in the great country of the Alps.

Anyway, if you are tired of corruption, you can move to these countries as well: Australia, Austria, Canada, and Sweden.

As for the USA, it came in 9th place tied with the Belgians for the least corrupt. Hmmm.....did the TI group forget about our government?

Why the ISI prevails.....

Referring to the previous post, the ISI's involvement in the terrorist campaigns, and controlling of the Taleban is quite easily understood when some of your 'public' is kept a certain way for your objective gains. Here's a small anecdote that the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones had reported about, which gives a good idea on one reason why:

Soon after Pakistan won its independence in 1947 the young government turned its mind to the issue of increasing the disastrously low literacy rate - to this day, by the way, most tribesmen can't read or write.

Educationalists travelled to the most remote corners of the country and one ended up right by the Afghan border in the tribal belt where the local chief, the Nawab, was a huge landowner with political power to match. A man with a really small kingdom.

"I have good news," the civil servant told the Nawab, "the federal government has allocated funds to build a school in your area."

The Nawab's response was brusque. "I don't want one," he snapped." The educationalist looked confused. "Come with me tomorrow morning" said the Nawab, "and I will show you why."

The next day the Nawab gave his guest a gun. "We are going hunting," he said, "for duck." And after a few hours the chief had bagged his fill and the ducks lay dead, many floating on an ice cold pool. Then he whistled.

It was a command. Suddenly tribesmen who had been watching the shoot hurled themselves into the freezing water, thrashing their arms, swimming and retrieving the ducks; then with their salwar-kameezes clinging to their skin they brought them back to the dry land for the Nawab's inspection.

The Nawab turned to his young idealistic visitor. "I am sorry to disappoint you," he said, "but do you really think that these men would be willing to fetch my duck if they had been to school. Just forget it.

The sad fact......this kind of attitude still remains.

"Brought to its Knees"

Musharraf was asked by the British media about the ISI (Pakistani Intelligence Agency) link with Al Qaeda and the Taleban. Musharraf countered with a comment, which displays his arrogance in this whole 'war against terror' campaign. He said, "You'll be brought down to your knees if Pakistan doesn't co-operate with you. That is all that I would like to say. Pakistan is the main ally. If we were not with you, you won't manage anything. Let that be clear. And if ISI is not with you, you will fail."

He also claimed that the US and Britain had a historic debt to pay since Pakistan had helped "win the Cold War" for the West.

OK....even though the comments exude arrogance, it is true that the West (or more like the world) cannot win its peace against Islamic terrorists without Pakistan being involved in it directly. Mush isn't wrong, in one way, as the ISI is a integral part in this fight.

The ISI is the primary force behind the formation of the Taleban and the allowance of Al Qaeda to gain a foothold in the northern provinces of Pakistan and into Afghanistan. And as all Indians know, the ISI is involved in plots that involve terrorist activities in Kashmir and most recently the bombings in Mumbai. What scares me is that the ISI is most likely playing with a double-edged sword in this whole 'game' of theirs.

Mush's comments that the West will fail if the ISI isn't with them is very true. As long as the ISI keeps its links with the wayward idealists in Pakistan, the root of the problem will always remain.

You are right Mushy....the ISI isn't with us!

Let's make money!

And guess who's the main driver calling for it.......why it's President George W Bush.

Man, it seems these days my blog is being heavily dominated by the news that Bush and Mush create. As I told you guys, there is this "Busharraf Conspiracy" going on. Anyway....

W wants US companies to put their 'weight' behind the rebuilding efforts in Lebanon since the Israeli offensive against Hezbollah has stopped.

"Our goal, and our mission, is to help Lebanese citizens and Lebanese businesses not only recover, but to flourish, because we believe strongly in the concept of a democracy in Lebanon," said Mr Bush.

Hmmm.....our mission? Again the call for 'democracy' by W. Can we not just say that we are coming in so we can set up some 'stock' for economic gain in the future since the big oil bonanza in Iraq is going down the drains? Maybe it would've been better, and quite 'endearing' if you would've said this is a humanitarian mission given to you since God told you to do so. Remember God talks to you!

More Mushy Revelations....

A topic about kissing, right? Not quite....

It seems Musharraf is at it again, and since his current 15 minutes of fame isn't up, he's adding more to it. Well most importantly, the 15 minutes of fame is for his upcoming book, "In The Line of Fire".

He now says that he and both the former Indian PM Vajpayee were 'humiliated' at the Agra summit back in 2001. According to him it was by someone "above" the two of them.

Someone 'above' them???? Who is he talking about? Is it God????

The other revelation is that Pakistan was paid millions of dollars by the CIA to hand over close to 400 Al Qaeda suspects.

And as usual, the US gov't says, "We didn't know about this. It should not happen. These bounty payments are for private individuals who help to trace terrorists on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted list, not foreign governments."

Again, someone's lying here....either the USA is now in the habit of giving out 'lottery' money or......hmmm.....Mushy might be telling the truth.....

Also, a senior CIA official added, "Nor do we expect these leaders to do so." Musharraf's claim came a week after he said that the Bush Administration threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the Stone Age" if it did not cooperate with the US after the 9/11 attacks.

Whatever the case, Mushy has a book to sell, so he's out to make money, insurance if he gets kicked out of power or if he decides to retire.

If you understand Hindi/Urdu you can take a look at this parody vid of Musharraf.

Restrictions on liquids lifted......

Yeah! Now I can take my water bottle, soda, coffee or what not on the flight......

As long as I pay premium bucks at the stores inside of the airport past security:

Click here to read more.

Chelsea a la Bollywood

No, I'm not talking about Chelsea Clinton in a Bollywood movie (and and I don't think it will sell your movie). I'm talking about the Chelsea 'Blues' Football Club.

England internationals John Terry and Frank Lampard, and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will be taking part in the movie Jhoom Barabar Jhoom featuring Abhishek Bachchan, and Preity Zinta.

I wonder, knowing how egotistical Mourinho can be, how he will interact in this movie with Abhishek, who in real-life is a Chelsea FC fan. But this is a first in B'wood, and it is a welcome inclusion into a film, and getting away from the typical world of cricket!

It's slipping away......

The mid-term general elections in the USA are just a little more than a month away, and the members of Congress are in doubt of their relection bids, especially the Republicans. The worse part is that the recent agendas, immigration reform and interrogations, put up by the President are being rejected by either the House or the Senate, who pretty much are made up of the Republican party.

With the president's approval ratings low in the polls, it is easy to surmise that he is no help to incumbent Republicans, even with the dissent on issues being put aside. Not only that, but the incumbents are even less popular than W in the public.

Well the push for campaigning starts now. And with W being of 'no-help', your days as a Republican Congress leader could be numbered......

Bush being Mushed!!!!

Now the story takes a different twist....

Now President George Bush says that he is unaware that any threat was made to Pakistan after the attacks on September 11 2001.

“I don’t know of any conversation that was reported in the newspaper like that. I just don’t know about it,” Bush said at a press conference with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

In the meantime the other person involved in the fiasco, Richard Armitage, has denied threatening Pakistan, telling CNN on Friday that he had a “very straightforward” conversation conveying the US requirement for Pakistan’s cooperation.

“Never did I threaten to to use any military force, I was not authorized to,” Armitage said.

During the press conference with Bush, Musharraf refused to elaborate on his allegations, saying he had a book deal prohibiting him from discussing it further.

Hmmmmmmmm.....OK.....someone's lying here....and telling the truth.....oh wait....both leaders know how to lie.....so who is telling the truth???? Man this is confusing.....

This "Busharraf Conspiracy" is really annoying me.....here is a nice article explaining the similarities between W and Mush.

Cricket: Aussies do it again......

......at the expense of India.....which is the usual.

This pivotal match in the DLF Cup in Malaysia was for India's taking.....after restricting the OZ's to a low total, the run rate being asked for was easy by ODI standards, and that the game should've ended with no real drama. Instead, as foolish as team India can be, they were trying to hurry the victory, with the exception of Dinesh Mongia. The 'clutch-hitter' stayed on till the end, but couldn't find a partnership worth finishing with. Dhoni was the only vital one, but played an unnecessary shot for a six, which pretty much spelt doom for the Indians.

Which brings me to a point........why does India play with their heads down when they play the Aussies???? It seems that aggressive spirit just doesn't exist when the guys from down under appear on the field.....

Oh well....West Indies v Australia in the DLF Cup Final on Sunday......

Mush getting Bushed!!!!

According to "President" General Pervez Musharraf, in a recent interview, stated that the US threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" if it didn't join the fight against al-Qaeda. Musharraf adds that he felt it was in Pakistan's national interest to join. Well of course it was if someone told you you would be living like a cave man in a few days if you didn't cooperate.

It seems the US gov't even asked Mush to suppress anti-US views being displayed in Pakistan. Mush, crying under the pre-text of progressing into a 'democracy' said "If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views".

Hmmm....I'm lost......aren't we in the States a democracy? Why are we asking a so-called democracy with a totalitarian president to suppress views, when in fact we are trying to make world governments into democracies!?!?!?!?!?

Then again we wanted an ally against the Taleban and al-Qaeda, who in this case supported both to coming into power in Afghanistan and the Northern areas of Pakistan. I could go on on this issue.....

I'm not against Pakistanis, but the gov't of Pakistan is totally wrong for their country....and the USA wanting support from a country that can switch allegiances is quite odd.

Yes, Pakistan traditionally has not been against the USA, but when your actions and dealings are done with factions that want the US to be destroyed, there is a question of integrity in Pakistan's relationship with the USA and the rest of the world.

More of this stunning interview with Musharraf will be aired on CBS TV's 60 Minutes this upcoming Sunday.

Foodies....you gotta love this site...

For those like me, who love food.....eating and concocting it, will love this site. I had come across this site a year back, and thought it was one of the best I had seen, especially being a blog.....unfortunatley I lost the link....

But just yesterday I came across the site again. This time the site has grown big time. It's called One Hot Stove, a blog that keeps in touch with Nupur's (the site owner) culinary skills and finds. Her main forte is Maharashtrian cooking, which appeals to me very much, since I am Marathi as well. It's a library of many common Maharashtrian as well as other Indian/non-Indian recipes.

To me this girl needs to get her own cook book going!!!!!

Piggy Chops at it again....

My current Bollywood fave, Priyanka Chopra, was named Asia's sexiest woman of 2006 by Eastern Eye, an Asian newspaper published in Britain. Priyanka is having a great run with films like Bluffmaster, Krrish and Aitraaz doing well at the box-office. Her forthcoming releases include Don and God Tussi Great Ho. According to the grapevine, she's even being considered for Wonder Woman! A desi babe as a Super Greek Amazon! Heh.....PC can do it.....but I don't know how a Western audience would react to that.....

Eat Your Spinach.....

...it's not good for you!

Don't get me wrong here. I love my spinach....Palak Paneer, Palak Chicken, and what not....but now we have a huge crisis on our hands over here. Since last week, grocery stores have been throwing out spinach leaves galore since some people have fallen sick or even have died eating the E.Coli contaminated greens.

Initially, as our silly media here in the States assumed, that it was a possible terror based attack. At least the FBI struck that rumor down very quickly (btw...whatever happened to the mysterious Anthrax cases???). But that does bring into question.....why would terrorists pick spinach to kill people? Yes, the food chain is vulnerable to a terror attack, but of all things these fanatics can pick, do you think they would pick spinach???? It is a healthy, and tasty (my opinion) green veggie, but knowing that it isn't a favorite or common staple on the general population's dinner tables, I don't think this food item would be on the top of the list to be 'infected' by terrorist means. Nowadays, it's become easy to get people's attention with the word "terrorist". So any crisis or calamity that strikes can easily be pinpointed at 'terror suspects' and voila! You have your news media attention.....and of course our truthworthy gov't is no less of a supporter in that rhetoric.....

But for right now, I guess the other person who should be scared of no spinach is Popeye the Sailorman.

Can't Thai-me-down

No, I'm not talking about wild sexual escapades in the sin city of Bangkok (and how appropriate the name of the city), but I'm talking about the almost non-event coup d'etat that took place just last night. And what a way to pull it off General Sonthi Boonyaratglin!

First, wait for the leader of your country, who is a good for nothing in reality, to go abroad.....then creep into the streets of the country during the late hours of the night when nobody notices.....then all of a sudden proclaim that this is what the people wanted, and that you are gonna setup a new government and constitution....all with the blessing of the King of Thailand....

Reading these events, it makes me think of some of my buddies in High School
who would pretty much do the same thing when their parents went out of town for the weekend or for some function.....throw a party while they are gone....have ur friends sneak around the back into the house and bring in the booze.....and when the parents find out about it, blame your friends for the party, cause they are the ones who asked for it! The only thing missing is the King......

Be-Deviled

Yes, finally I am back after a long long long long long long (I can carry this on forever...) layoff....

In the meantime I have been layed-off from work, and "settled down" into the world of independent consulting....not my career path choice, but something I need to pay the bills, and fill my stomach.....outsourcing zindabad (revolution)!!!

Well let's get on with my blog, as I had promised to do.....so long ago.....as it is a significant day....especially when world leaders are calling each other names.....

Today at the UN General Assembly, the infamous leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, called our 'beloved' leader, George "W" Bush, the devil. Chavez's comments pretty much were a downright attack on the President, "The devil came here yesterday," he said, referring to Mr Bush's speech on Tuesday. "It still smells of sulphur today," he added.

Now the question is who is more of the idiot in this tag team name-calling match....man would I love to see both of these guys get into the ring.......add Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Fidel Castro, and you would have a match of the "Politically Insane".....HBO, where are you???????