Another forwarded SMS that makes a lot of sense:
"Don't worry about those who came through boats, our forces can defeat them.
Worry about those who come through votes. Those are real enemies."
I know all of us are angry. I know all of us want to do something about this. I know all of us are feeling helpless.
But if we want to show the politicians, who don't step out without the protective ring of their escorts, that we mean business then make sure you vote only for those who you think will make a difference.
Visit http://jaagore.com/ and make sure you are registered.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Critical – by Robin Cook
Menisci, femur, tibia, anterior cruciate ligament, fulminant postoperative course, staphylococcus aureus, bronchioles! What would you do if you opened a novel and found words like these staring at you in the face? You would do a double take and have second thoughts about continuing with it, isn’t it? That’s what I thought of doing too – except that I was too lazy to make another trip to the library so I dug in my heels and refused to quit until I turned the last page of Robin Cook’s “Critical”.
I had already met Dr. Jack Stapleton and Dr. Laurie Montgomery - forensic pathologists at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – in another Cook book (!). The difference this time is that they are now married. Jack has suffered “anterior cruciate ligament” – whatever that means – during one of his basketball matches and decides to go for an elective surgery for the same at one of the newest specialty hospitals by Angels Healthcare.
But Laurie is disturbed because she has been autopsying quite a few apparently-healthy people who died of severe staphylococcus infection after some routine uncomplicated surgery. The twist in the tale is that a number of these cases have been from the 3 Angels Healthcare hospitals!
Enter Dr. Angela Dawson, the CEO of Angels Healthcare LCCC, who is worried because her startup venture is just 2 weeks from IPO but the drug resistant infections are keeping the ORs closed resulting in negative cash flow which needs to be reported to the SEC. And her accountant, Paul Yang, looks all set to do it despite its potential serious implications for the IPO.
I am glad I wasn’t put off by the heavy-duty words in the Prologue. For those of you who might want to have a peek at the world of pathologists from a safe distance, this book is a must on the reading list!
BTW, Mr. Cook - GAAP doesn’t mean “Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures” – it means “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” :-)
I had already met Dr. Jack Stapleton and Dr. Laurie Montgomery - forensic pathologists at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – in another Cook book (!). The difference this time is that they are now married. Jack has suffered “anterior cruciate ligament” – whatever that means – during one of his basketball matches and decides to go for an elective surgery for the same at one of the newest specialty hospitals by Angels Healthcare.
But Laurie is disturbed because she has been autopsying quite a few apparently-healthy people who died of severe staphylococcus infection after some routine uncomplicated surgery. The twist in the tale is that a number of these cases have been from the 3 Angels Healthcare hospitals!
Enter Dr. Angela Dawson, the CEO of Angels Healthcare LCCC, who is worried because her startup venture is just 2 weeks from IPO but the drug resistant infections are keeping the ORs closed resulting in negative cash flow which needs to be reported to the SEC. And her accountant, Paul Yang, looks all set to do it despite its potential serious implications for the IPO.
I am glad I wasn’t put off by the heavy-duty words in the Prologue. For those of you who might want to have a peek at the world of pathologists from a safe distance, this book is a must on the reading list!
BTW, Mr. Cook - GAAP doesn’t mean “Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures” – it means “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” :-)
Can someone please tell Bush, Obama and company that the biggest help they can give India is to stop helping the beggers next door? And while you are at it, please ask Zanab Zardari to stop saying they don't have a hand in the Mumbai attacks and start explaining how they manage to find money to fund all sorts of terrorist-e-Islams and yet claim to be on the verge of defaulting on their national debt!
There have been lot of angry comments on lot of blogs about declaring a war on Pakistan. I don't think wars ever solved any problems. I think India should sever all diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with Pakistan. I am not sure of the details. But we should close down their embassy and consulate here in India and send their staff home as soon as possible. Close our embassy and consulate in Pakistan and bring our people home. Send back all Pakistani nationals currently in India and ask Indians there to come back or stay there at their own risk. Stop all imports from (if there are any!) and all exports to Pakistan immediately. Terminate all air service to and from Pakistan. Close the land route too. Start securing all porous borders on war footing.
And if anyone protests about this, put them on the Wagah border and kick them into Pakistan!
There have been lot of angry comments on lot of blogs about declaring a war on Pakistan. I don't think wars ever solved any problems. I think India should sever all diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with Pakistan. I am not sure of the details. But we should close down their embassy and consulate here in India and send their staff home as soon as possible. Close our embassy and consulate in Pakistan and bring our people home. Send back all Pakistani nationals currently in India and ask Indians there to come back or stay there at their own risk. Stop all imports from (if there are any!) and all exports to Pakistan immediately. Terminate all air service to and from Pakistan. Close the land route too. Start securing all porous borders on war footing.
And if anyone protests about this, put them on the Wagah border and kick them into Pakistan!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
When is it that the Media is going to get it through that thick head of theirs that one aspect of their job is not to spread panic and another is to report only confirmed news? Anyone who switched on their TV yesterday would have been numbed by their sick race of giving the most “Exclusive” news.
One channel, I think it was Zee Business, was reporting blasts and firing at places like JJ School of Arts and Napean Sea Road. I gasped when I watched another reporter, I think from India TV, walk all over the crime scene at CST. He was picking up bullets and thrusting them in the face of the camera. I don’t have any homicidal tendencies but when he pointed twice at an unexploded grenade I wished it would explode in his face as a lesson to other overzealous reporters. And he had the nerve to say that they can’t show any more blood on TV even as the camera was rolling on pools of clotted blood on the ground!
Times Now was flashing the news that the Taj Hotel was “gutted” yesterday as a result of fire. Did anyone stop to check what the word “gutted” means? It means “burnt to ground”. The Taj is still standing the last time I checked - thank God for that! But what would this ‘breaking news” do to someone who just switched on the TV?
Sure, these news channels have a job to do. But there are some ethics in every profession and day by day the Media are crossing the line.
One channel, I think it was Zee Business, was reporting blasts and firing at places like JJ School of Arts and Napean Sea Road. I gasped when I watched another reporter, I think from India TV, walk all over the crime scene at CST. He was picking up bullets and thrusting them in the face of the camera. I don’t have any homicidal tendencies but when he pointed twice at an unexploded grenade I wished it would explode in his face as a lesson to other overzealous reporters. And he had the nerve to say that they can’t show any more blood on TV even as the camera was rolling on pools of clotted blood on the ground!
Times Now was flashing the news that the Taj Hotel was “gutted” yesterday as a result of fire. Did anyone stop to check what the word “gutted” means? It means “burnt to ground”. The Taj is still standing the last time I checked - thank God for that! But what would this ‘breaking news” do to someone who just switched on the TV?
Sure, these news channels have a job to do. But there are some ethics in every profession and day by day the Media are crossing the line.
I wish, for the first time in my life, that I had powers like Superman. Then I would have bundled all these weird Mujahideens infesting various parts of the world in a giant net and thrown them on a planet where they would rot for centuries praying for death!
I am not trying to put a funny spin on the ghastly attacks on Mumbai. This is what I genuinely feel. I am more angry than sad.
You would think that anyone with even an ounce of brain would realize that God – whether you call him Christ, Allah or Bhagwan – cannot condone killing anyone. But these assorted terrorists-e-Islam have proved again and again that they don’t have even that much of brain. One meaning of the word “Holy” is “righteous” so their “Jihad” or “Holy war” has to be something that’s fought face-to-face with an equally armed opponent who is not caught unawares. If barging in on unsuspecting people who haven’t done them any wrong and spraying them with bullets is their definition of “Jihad” I think even Allah will find it hard to support them.
I have some news for these terrorists – they are not the martyrs here. The martyrs are the innocents who died in these attacks and the cops who died saving them. Nope, there are no virgins waiting at the doors of the heaven for these cowards. There are only bullets for them on earth and raging fires of hell thereafter. And I hope to God they roast for eternity. Inshallah!
I am not trying to put a funny spin on the ghastly attacks on Mumbai. This is what I genuinely feel. I am more angry than sad.
You would think that anyone with even an ounce of brain would realize that God – whether you call him Christ, Allah or Bhagwan – cannot condone killing anyone. But these assorted terrorists-e-Islam have proved again and again that they don’t have even that much of brain. One meaning of the word “Holy” is “righteous” so their “Jihad” or “Holy war” has to be something that’s fought face-to-face with an equally armed opponent who is not caught unawares. If barging in on unsuspecting people who haven’t done them any wrong and spraying them with bullets is their definition of “Jihad” I think even Allah will find it hard to support them.
I have some news for these terrorists – they are not the martyrs here. The martyrs are the innocents who died in these attacks and the cops who died saving them. Nope, there are no virgins waiting at the doors of the heaven for these cowards. There are only bullets for them on earth and raging fires of hell thereafter. And I hope to God they roast for eternity. Inshallah!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
When I read about how the Indian naval warship INS Tabar sank a pirate mother ship after a fierce gunbattle in the Gulf of Aden, I wondered which Bollywood moviemaker will be the first to think of a movie based on this :-)
I hope no one thinks of casting Himesh Reshammiya in the role of the Captain. My sympathies would then be entirely with the pirates. :-) Himesh has to only open his mouth to sing and the pirates would torch their mother ship themselves ;-)
I hope no one thinks of casting Himesh Reshammiya in the role of the Captain. My sympathies would then be entirely with the pirates. :-) Himesh has to only open his mouth to sing and the pirates would torch their mother ship themselves ;-)
Evan Almighty
I seem to be watching a lot of movies these days – a good half an hour or more later after they begin. I guess that should disqualify me from posting reviews on any of them. ;-) But hey, this is a blog – not a column in any of the newspapers. So, I will go ahead and post this one anyways.
Many of you must have seen “Bruce Almighty”. If so, I am in a minority – I purposefully keep away from any movie that stars Jim Carrey because of the firm belief that when it’s time for Carrey’s shot the directors must be running for cover. If not, I wonder why they allow him to twist and turn his face in so many permutations and combinations. It, no doubt, does credit to God for sending us down with so many facial muscles, and also to Carrey - for demonstrating it all to us. But what has it got to do with acting? The only exception I made to the rule was “The Truman Show”.
Anyways, so here I am talking about the sequel to the movie – Evan Almighty. It’s about Congressman Evan Baxter who is being harassed by Congressman Long to co-sponsor a bill to allow development in US national parks. But God (Morgan Freeman again!) has other plans for Evan – such as building an ark. Evan is one Doubting Thomas alright but he sees clearly that he is waging a losing battle with the Almighty when right in the middle of a session about that bill, Evan’s clothes change to something straight out of Noah’s wardrobe. His hair and beard have already assumed matching proportions. He starts construction even as he becomes a laughing stock of Washington (with a capital D!)
His domestic life falls apart when his wife and 3 kids walk out on him. But they walk right back in after a “divine intervention” in a fast food joint! Thanks to the helping hand that Evan gets from his family as well as the animal pairs that have arrived on the scene, the ark is completed on time. The only problem is that the whole of DC is experiencing a drought when God has predicted a flood! You gotta see the movie to find out what happens. :-)
I had heard that when Bruce Almighty got released there was some outrage over a “Colored” God. I didn’t see anyting wrong with it though. Maybe as a Hindu I am used to Gods depicted in many different forms – with 4 or 8 hands, with 3 or 4 heads and even with an elephant head. So what if He has a skin that’s a shade darker than some of his children on Earth? I have always believed that it’s better to think of God in a form that’s approachable – not daunting. So even if He comes to me wearing a T-shirt that says “Al Mighty” as I sit munching on my fast food – I would say “Hello There” :-)
Now about the movie - I loved it! It matched perfectly with my belief that God works in ways that only He can understand. We might not immediately see a particular event as beneficial to us but in the long run, it always works best for us – like investment in equities :-) And when we pray for something, He doesn’t hand it over to us on a platter, He opens a door somewhere and expects us to find it and walk right in. Don’t believe me? I quote what God says in this movie:
"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
And if you think “Ark” simply means a boat, you are mistaken. It’s an acronym. Don’t believe me? Go watch the movie to figure out its full form :-)
P.S. The following links give interesting trivia and quotes from the movie. Do check them out.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413099/trivia
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413099/quotes
Many of you must have seen “Bruce Almighty”. If so, I am in a minority – I purposefully keep away from any movie that stars Jim Carrey because of the firm belief that when it’s time for Carrey’s shot the directors must be running for cover. If not, I wonder why they allow him to twist and turn his face in so many permutations and combinations. It, no doubt, does credit to God for sending us down with so many facial muscles, and also to Carrey - for demonstrating it all to us. But what has it got to do with acting? The only exception I made to the rule was “The Truman Show”.
Anyways, so here I am talking about the sequel to the movie – Evan Almighty. It’s about Congressman Evan Baxter who is being harassed by Congressman Long to co-sponsor a bill to allow development in US national parks. But God (Morgan Freeman again!) has other plans for Evan – such as building an ark. Evan is one Doubting Thomas alright but he sees clearly that he is waging a losing battle with the Almighty when right in the middle of a session about that bill, Evan’s clothes change to something straight out of Noah’s wardrobe. His hair and beard have already assumed matching proportions. He starts construction even as he becomes a laughing stock of Washington (with a capital D!)
His domestic life falls apart when his wife and 3 kids walk out on him. But they walk right back in after a “divine intervention” in a fast food joint! Thanks to the helping hand that Evan gets from his family as well as the animal pairs that have arrived on the scene, the ark is completed on time. The only problem is that the whole of DC is experiencing a drought when God has predicted a flood! You gotta see the movie to find out what happens. :-)
I had heard that when Bruce Almighty got released there was some outrage over a “Colored” God. I didn’t see anyting wrong with it though. Maybe as a Hindu I am used to Gods depicted in many different forms – with 4 or 8 hands, with 3 or 4 heads and even with an elephant head. So what if He has a skin that’s a shade darker than some of his children on Earth? I have always believed that it’s better to think of God in a form that’s approachable – not daunting. So even if He comes to me wearing a T-shirt that says “Al Mighty” as I sit munching on my fast food – I would say “Hello There” :-)
Now about the movie - I loved it! It matched perfectly with my belief that God works in ways that only He can understand. We might not immediately see a particular event as beneficial to us but in the long run, it always works best for us – like investment in equities :-) And when we pray for something, He doesn’t hand it over to us on a platter, He opens a door somewhere and expects us to find it and walk right in. Don’t believe me? I quote what God says in this movie:
"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
And if you think “Ark” simply means a boat, you are mistaken. It’s an acronym. Don’t believe me? Go watch the movie to figure out its full form :-)
P.S. The following links give interesting trivia and quotes from the movie. Do check them out.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413099/trivia
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413099/quotes
Is it just me or do any of you also think that day by day the Aussie Captain “Picky Ranting” is looking more and more like a rabid dog that tries to take a bite out of anything human within its reach? First it was Sunil Gavaskar, then Tony Greg and finally Anil Kumble. I would prefer a rabid dog over “Ranting” any day – at least it can be legally put out of its misery.
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