Disruptive Technologies, Education and Some Social Issues » domestic avalanche

Rajinikanth Facts

Domestic Avalanche — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:46:18 +0000

Chuck Norris can easily be called the Rajinikanth of Hollywood. Around 2005 there was this internet phenomenon where people started circulating Chuck Norris Facts which describes the powers and achievements of the man. I made a list modifying a few of them some time after that to be about Rajinikanth. I sent it as a forwarded email and was gratified when I got them back a few months later from someone else. I am sharing them with you. Can you think about any other facts?

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Rajinikanth has allowed to live.
Outer space exists because it’s afraid to be on the same planet with Rajinikanth.
Rajinikanth counted to infinity – twice.
When Rajinikanth does a pushup, he isn’t lifting himself up, he’s pushing the Earth down.
Rajinikanth is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
Rajinikanth’s hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.
Rajinikanth doesn’t wear a watch, HE decides what time it is.
Rajinikanth gave Mona Lisa that smile.
Rajinikanth can slam a revolving door.
Rajinikanth does not get frostbite. Rajinikanth bites frost.
Remember the Soviet Union? They decided to quit after watching a Padayappa on Satellite TV
There are no races, only countries of people Rajinikanth has beaten to different shades of black and blue.
Rajinikanth’s house has no doors, only walls that he walks through.
Rajinikanth doesn’t actually write books, the words assemble themselves out of fear.
Rajinikanth can divide by zero.
Newton’s Third Law is wrong: Although it states that for each action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, there is no force equal in reaction to a Rajinikanth turnaround kick.
When taking the GRE or CAT write “Rajinikanth” for every answer. You will score over 8000.
Rajinikanth invented black. In fact, he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.
In the beginning there was nothing…then Rajinikanth kicked that nothing in the face and said “Get a job”. That is the story of the universe.
Rajinikanth has 12 moons. One of those moons is the Earth.
Rajinikanth grinds his coffee with his teeth and boils the water with his own rage.
Archeologists unearthed an old english dictionary dating back to the year 1236. It defined “victim” as “one who has encountered Rajinikanth”
Rajinikanth ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one.
If you Google search “Rajinikanth getting his ass kicked” you will generate zero results. It just doesn’t happen.
Rajinikanth doesn’t bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint.
It takes Rajinikanth 20 minutes to watch a three hour movie.
The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajinikanth kicked one of the corners off.
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Rajinikanth lives in Chennai.
Rajinikanth once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.
James Cameron wanted Rajinikanth to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Thousands of years ago Rajinikanth came across a bear. It was so terrified that it fled north into the arctic. It was also so terrified that all of its decendents now have white hair.
There is no ‘ctrl’ button on Rajinikanth’s computer. Rajinikanth is always in control.
Rajinikanth can eat just one Lay’s potato chip.
Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Rajinikanth has 72… and they’re all poisonous.
Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Rajinikanth.
Rajinikanth knows where Sukumarakkurupp is.
There is no such thing as global warming. Rajinikanth was cold, so he turned the sun up.
Rajinikanth did in fact, build Rome in a day.
If at first you don’t succeed, you’re not Rajinikanth.
Rajinikanth can judge a book by its cover.

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Peruvian Music

Domestic Avalanche — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:20:57 +0000

Excellent Peruvian music that I came across.

Festejo ( Peruvian music)

Instrumental music made with violin guitar doblebass and cajon.

Musicians

Guitar : Ernesto Hermoza Cajon: Gigio Parodi Doblebass: Ricardo Otarola

Made by Synchro Producciones — Lima, Perú Dirección y edición: Fajri Rouillon Producción: Jimmy Valdivieso Iluminación: Coco Prado Asistencia: Julio Venegas

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Experience from College – The Nick Names

Kenney Jacob — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 09:50:40 +0000

I’ve been out of college for almost four years and looking back, an interesting aspect of the life was the nick names that people earned through popularity, unpopularity, stupid actions, heroic deeds, physical features, behavioral features or through plain bad luck. Let me share a few of them with you without revealing the real names. I’m sure you would have some interesting names and stories too.

Let me start with a couple of names that were inherited by the poor victims from seniors. One is ‘Kochappa’ which was given to him just because the senior who had the title originally passed out and it was the only way to keep it going. But the biggest hit in my time at college came from another inherited name – ‘Mandan’ which became such popular that even some of the teachers started calling him by the name.

Another interesting name came when this guy went to a place where some of our friends lived during the initial stages of Iraq war and told them how the US army surrounded Saddam’s palace and he was hiding in a dark corner when a snake bit him and he died. He managed to fool them with the story but it earned him the nick name -‘Saddam’. He says he is lucky to have that name because later he was involved in some campus clashes and nobody knew his real name and the opposite side could only name as ‘Saddam’ to the police and hence he escaped from the criminal case.

Then there were other names like ‘Achayan’ for the owner of this site, ‘Nithya Harita Kamukan’ for a frequenter here, ‘Paamp’ for one and ‘Pareekkutty’ or ‘Pyari’ in short for another guy for obvious reasons. This guy was with the girls in Mysore Vrindavan garden all the time during a tour and ended up with the name ‘Charakku’ as he became one of the girls. There was ‘Petti’ denoting a term for gay in Kollam area. There was ‘Sathan’ who claim to know many ‘quotation’ teams in Kochi. In a related note, there was also a ‘Montha’ for someone who resembled the character with the name from the same movie.

Let me conclude with the most interesting name I have ever come across. This hapless victim from one of the Cochin University campuses got the name ‘Void Main’ because when he was standing, his legs use to resemble the empty parentheses that come after void main on a C program. I bet you can’t beat that. Could you tell me some name that you know that beats that?Similar Posts:

Lessons From Mumbai Attacks

Kenney Jacob — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:16:17 +0000

The showdown with the terrorists is over. The people who lost their loved ones are still grieving. The investigation has begun. News channels have slowly begun showing a little bit of other news as wellBlame has already been assigned to elements in Pakistan. Pak government vehemently denies any involvement of its official ranks. News channels have slowly starting to show a little bit of other news. Experts are being lined up at the talk shows analyzing what went wrong and what could be the implications. Now, let us examine what we could do in the future, to prevent such an attack or to reduce the damage in the event of the next attack.

1. Sharing of Intelligence between the agencies

Indian intelligence agencies, both at the state and national levels are widely considered as very competent. However, there is a fatal lack of a system to enable these individual agencies to share the intelligence and this fragmented system proves time and again to be very inefficient. We need to have a system put in place as soon as possible as a part of a single national security policy.

2. Formation of more efficient Emergency Management Agencies

The current system that manages crises like happen is voefully ill-equipped to handle these scenarios. There need to be a SWAT style commando system at each metro – big or small- to be able to handle everything from a small gang war situation to a major terrorist operation. In this incident, the first response squad that reached the TAJ hotel and other premises were really not ready to face such adversaries. This led to the death of Hemant Karkare, the head of the ATS, who rushed to the scene but was gunned down. We can learn from the operations in Israel or other western countries and come up with a better plan to do these. We have the elite men that can get the job done. What we lack is a good plan. And quick response by effective force is really vital.

3. Better management of the situation

The first thing that any operation like this should do is to cordon off a few blocks of the location and keep everyone, whether they are journalists or general public, off the scene. This helps the troops better handle the situation and also make sure that the commando operations cannot be leaked to the terrorists themselves through media. I’m sure this has been discussed already at this site. The live news is not really as important as the lives of the hostages.

After all, it is true that prevention is better than cure. However, once a malady occurs, we have to make sure that the cure is also quick, effective and responsible. Regardless of what we tell Pakistan to do, the terrorists will try to do what they want to do. What we have to do is to be ready.Similar Posts:

Mumbai Terrorists Operated from Karachi

Domestic Avalanche — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The latest reports suggest that all the terrorists that the security forces managed to capture at various locations were Pakistanis. They were speaking in Punjabi which is spoken widely in the Punjab region in Pakistan. The officials now claim that they operated out of a ship which is now captured by the Navy and came to the shore in three speed boats.

We should not waste a single moment in forcing Pakistan to take its actions where its mouth is. We do not have to tolerate waves after waves of attacks on civilians from outfits that are thriving within Pakistani soil. So far, India has been complacent in pursuing the militants within Pakistani borders. Now that many American and British citizens are also affected, there should not be any dearth of support from the West in forcing Pakistan to hunt down the extremists that are within their border.

As a sorverign nation, India has all the authority to protect its citizens and also foreign nationals that are within our country. If Pakistan is unwilling or unable to wipe out these terrorist outfits, India should take strong action and take the issue to our own hands. This time, the PM should mean it when he said : ”We will take up strongly with our neighbors that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them.” Let that not remain just a soundbite.

Also, I should mention that everyone, politicians included should understand that this is an attack on the whole of India and this is not the time for a blame game or to create hate against any community. This is a time for national unity when the whole country comes together against the enemey.Similar Posts:

The night Mumbai was held hostage by terror.

Domestic Avalanche — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:37:12 +0000

As we have always been targeted by the terrorists since Independence, here is another tragic incident of horrible, horrible slaying of scores of innocent men and women. The final numbers are yet to be known, but there is no explanation or rationalization that can justify the carnage.

We also do not know who is behind this even though a phony group named Deccan Mujahidin has taken responsibility- or claimed credit, I should say. By the sophistication of the coordination, it is clear that whoever has done it had plenty of help from established terrorist organizations. One main purveyor of these activities that comes to mind is Lushker-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Muhammed who could well be behind this massacre.

There has been massive planning going on for this. The angle of their attack has been unique. They have targeted Victoria Terminal so as to make the number of causalities high and make it a big incident. They have also made sure to attack Taj and Oberoi hotels and primarily targeted the American and British citizens. This made sure that this attack was carried and discussed far and wide. I should say they were successful in that. All the main news channels in the US has been continuously covering only the Mumbai terror attack story from the moment it happened. This kind of coverage is unprecedented.

One thing that the government cannot afford to do is not to take any quick and effective action. If LeT or JeM which operates from Pakistan is proved to be behind this, the government should not waste any time to finally put a stop to their operation. There are two ways this can be done. I am not advocating for military action as the first course of action. However, the government should use all the diplomatic pressure and even use the US to force Pakistani government to take out the terrorist camps within Pakistani border.

Also, Terrorism is growing at a rapid pace and is even spreading to areas that were not usually prone to Jihadi influence. Organizations like SIMI had always worked with Lashkar and Jaish in the past and there should not be any hesitation to round up any suspect who could well be planning the next attack. We have seen a few people from Kerala who were part of Terrorism. Even the state government has the duty to explore and investigate organizations like NDF and make them either purge unwanted elements from their ranks and come clean or be ready to face banning.

There is not much time we can waste.

An Exercise of Dominance and Blue Water Capabilities

Domestic Avalanche — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:27:57 +0000

Somali waters, especially the Gulf of Aden has never been a very safe area for merchant ships. However the pirate attacks on ships have spiked to very dangerous levels in the past two weeks. There was the capture of an Ukrainian vessel and then an attempt to hijack an Indian ship that was unraveled by the Indian Navy. On Saturday, Somali pirates have reached the epitome of their exploits by seizing Sirius Star, a Saudi owned super tanker which is the largest ship ever to be hijacked by pirates.

These conditions have opened up a unique opportunity for the Indian Navy on its quest to become a true Blue Water Navy. After all, the Indian ocean is our own front yard. The United Nations has already made it the duty of its members to fight piracy and hence it is not only legal, but also encouraged by the international community to do the job.

Right now, the only protection by naval forces in the region for the merchant ships are offered by some NATO forces as well as Russian, Malaysian and Indian navies. However, so far these forces have not been effective as evidenced by the the continuing attacks on the merchant vessels. The main reason of the ineffectiveness is that these actions have been sporadic, on an incident to incident basis. This helps the pirates to stay low for a few days until the naval forces retreat to a safe distance and then act again.

One solution to this problem of piracy, across the Indian ocean can be the expansion of the blue water capabilities of the Indian navies. This offers a few advantages. Firstly, it offers a field of protection for merchant ships of all flags to operate without fear and thereby help international trade. This could only help the big time ambitions of many Indian ports to become major international hubs and thereby contribute to our economy.

Secondly, this could be a useful Readiness Operational Exercise (ROX) for the whole navy by keeping its vessels and personnel useful rather than keeping them idle and doing annual naval exercises. Also, with the ongoing expansion of the Navy with the addition of two more Aircraft Carriers – INS Vikrant in 2011 and INS Vikramaditya in 2012 (expected)- and many other Destroyers and Submarines, it could make it easier for the navy to do this.

Finally, this offers India to assert its strength and dominance in the region by controlling the Indian Ocean from coast of East Africa to Australia. Already, India is the only Asian power to operate Aircraft Carriers – INS Viraat- and as a rapidly rising major power in the world, it cannot afford to lose its control of the region and India should do everything that it can to keep the region safe.

Remember Jonestown. And beware of the Indian Jim Joneses.

Domestic Avalanche — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:44:12 +0000

Tuesday, 18 November marks the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre that shocked the world. It has been an incredible story of deception, brainwashing, thirst for meaning for one’s life and human culpability. Let me give you a short history.

The People’s Temple started as a church based on apostolic socialism for all people regardless of color, national origin or past and led by the pastor Jim Jones. After the initial few years in Indianapolis, Jones moved the church to California where it flourished. It became a home for everyone who was fed up with life and the membership soared to the thousands. People were attracted to the cult by the feeling of part of a utopian society that would be a model of sharing in a cut-throat world. They were lured by the charming way that he spoke. Followers were mesmerized by the way talked to them. They all saw him as the savior figure who was likened to God himself.

As his influence began to grow, he started wielding it for political power. He basically controlled a whole part of California and its politics. Even when reports came up about anomalies, money laundering and other atrocities that happened behind the doors at his temple compound, reputed newspapers like San Fransisco Chronicle were scared to publish them. Things slowly started turning ugly. There were beatings and other torture for followers who wanted to leave or raised objections to the way he did business.

These pressures made him to move his People’s Temple and most of its followers to Jonestown, a newly cleared village deep in the jungle in Guyana a small country in South America bordered by Brazil and Venezuela. That was a very bad decision for many of his followers. It was supposed to be a tropical paradise where his followers had a vibrant community based on equality and love making a living in the old agrarian ways. However, once he reached there, he turned more paranoid and more controlling. More people began suffering his tactics. Some managed to escape and come back to the US and told horror stories of people being held against their wishes at Jonestown.

This led to the fateful events in November of 1978. Congressman Leo Ryan, of California had a lot of his constituents moved to Jonestown and he decided to go over there with his aides, journalists and a few concerned relatives and investigate about the conditions in Jonestown. During the visit, initially everything went well but by the time he was leaving back to the US, many people wanted to get out of Jonestown. Congressman Ryan took a few people with him as it would fit in his airplane and promised to be back. This led Jim Jones to go totally paranoid and berserk. He ordered his guards to go to the airstrip and gun down the Congressman as he was getting ready to take off from there. The gunmen managed to kill the Congressman and a few other journalists who accompanied him for the trip.

Soon after, Jim Jones told everyone that the Guyanese and the American armies are waiting outside their compound and are going to kill everyone. He asked his followers to drink kool-aid laced with cyanide and commit suicide. Little children were injected the poison by their mothers and his followers- some willingly and some forced by gunmen- drank the poison and committed suicide. A total of 919 people died in Jonestown during the incidents on 18, Nov 1978. Please watch this video and fill it in because words cannot describe the hundreds of bodies piled up at the site when authorities reached there the next day.

To put this into perspective, other than the 9/11 incident, this was the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster. Leo Ryan became the only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States.

The moral of the story is not to discard this story as another cult of mad people who did something crazy. The fact is, those who died in Jonestown were real people, with families, friends, and loved ones. The best way to appreciate this fact is to read personal reflections by those with direct knowledge of Peoples Temple and its members. Jonestown Institute at San Diego State University is the best source of material, recollections, original audio of the incident (Yes, Jim Jones taped the whole incident before he too killed himself).

Remember this when you see the modern day Jim Joneses who claim to bring joy, love and peace to their followers. When you see these demi-gods, do not be blind and ask questions.

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India- US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (123 Agreement)

Domestic Avalanche — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

We have this hullabaloo over the civilian nuclear cooperation treaty between India and the United States. Both the Left Front and the NDA have been vociferously against the agreement for a long time. We have to talk about the politics behind the opposition to the agreement. Let us analyze the agreement and see where the people who oppose it stand.

But before starting this discussion, let us have a look at the text of the 123 Agreement which is the India- US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Check the agreement yourselves at the following links

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/90157.pdf

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/aug/90050.htm

It is a long agreement, but a careful study of the agreement would give you some insights. I am just taking some excerpts to point out a few things.

“AFFIRMING that cooperation under this Agreement is between two States possessing advanced nuclear technology, both Parties having the same benefits and advantages, both committed to preventing WMD proliferation;”

This is a major step in terms of India’s nuclear capabilities. With just this one sentence, the US is affirming that India is a nuclear state with advanced technology. Well, maybe everybody knows that, but this is a huge since America is formally acknowledging about India’s capabilities.

“This Agreement shall be implemented in a manner so as not to hinder or otherwise interfere with any other activities involving the use of nuclear material, non-nuclear material, equipment, components, information or technology and military nuclear facilities produced, acquired or developed by them independent of this Agreement for their own purposes.”

It is clear that the circumstances have changed quite a bit after the election of Barack Obama as the president of the United States. This should make it more palatable for the Left who has been against the deal because of the sole reason that United States under Bush was very undesirable as a partner for India for the Left. So, including even the new developments, we should actually judge the agreement on its merits rather than offering a blind opposition. You be the judge.

- To be contd.Similar Posts:

Setting the record straight – Why is Obama good for India?

Domestic Avalanche — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:46:18 +0000

Anybody who has been following the US presidential race, (I hope many of you do) must have noticed that Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois is surging ahead in the past few weeks and all the Democrat has to do in the next three weeks is to coast towards victory against John McCain, the veteran senator from Arizona.

We have to examine the significance of this to India, especially when the ties between the most powerful democracy and the largest democracy in the world is deepening and they see each other as the closest partners for the future. This is evident from the public rhetoric. For example Sen. John Kerry (you might remember him as the guy who lost to Bush) has said that it is time for the US to make India its closest ally. The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), a, premier business advocacy organization representing 300 of the largest U.S. companies investing in India, has hailed the nuclear agreement as a watershed moment in the US-India relations.

One thing is clear, the United States recognize that India is a land on the march and that it is a natural ally considering the values of democracy, freedom and human rights that both the countries share as well as the fight on terror. This leads to the next question: How would an Obama administration affect the India?

When I discuss Obama with my friends back in India, one thing that I perceive is that there are many concerns that need to be answered about Obama’s various positions. Having known him and tracked him politically for a while, I feel that I can answer some of the questions. After all, I’m all Gung-ho about him and have even had a chance to meet him at a book signing event (I’ve read both his best selling books – Dreams from my father and The Audacity of Hope) in Chicago before he announced that he is running for president and became an overnight superstar.

However, let me ask you my friends,

What are your concerns about a President Obama?
What do you think about the changes it will bring?
What is it about Barack Obama that you wish you could learn more?
What is it about Barack Obama that worries you?

Sources:

1. FiveThirtyEight – Electoral Projections Done Right

2.RealClearPolitics Polls Average

3. RealClearPolitics Electoral College Map

4. India: A land on the March – Edwin Feulner

5. Building a Stronger U.S.-India Friendship – Sen. John Kerry

6. Historic Watershed moment in US-India relations – Wall Street Journal Marketwatch

7. Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama

8. Political Positions of Barack Obama

9. Barack Obama on Issues

10. South Asians for Obama Similar Posts: