A recent survey shows that China is home to nearly half a million millionaires … I don’t know but presume that these folks are dollar millionaires …
I wonder how many similar millionaires are there in India …
On a different note, lots of folks got married yesterday including an accidental celebrity who goes by the name of Shilpa Shetty. I don’t know how much the rituals and customs that are associated with marriage really mean to these folks …
It’s good to see people choosing to live life on their terms like Kareena and Saif Ali Khan.
Also, Lara Dutta saying that she’s ‘seeing’ Mahesh Bhupati but not only him …
Sushmita Sen has always taken the road less traveled …
So also Nandita Das.
When you learn about what Amelia Earhart had written when she got married … some 80 odd years ago, you realize how backwardish Indian mentalities are …
Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Celebrity Patients
Notable sufferers from Parkinson's Disease include:
Muhammad Ali, Michael J. Fox, Pope John Paul II, Eugene O'Neill, Salvador Dali, , Billy Graham, Janet Reno, Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong, and Doborah Kerr.
Notable sufferers from Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia include: Kareem Abdul-Jabber.
Notable sufferers from Alzheimer's disease include: Ronald Reagan, Iris Murdoch, Charlton Heston, Rita Hayworth,
Notable sufferers from AIDS include: Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, Arthur Ashe, Magic Johnson, Greg Louganis, and Isaac Asimov.
A more exhaustive list of people with AIDS is available here ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HIV-positive_people
Muhammad Ali, Michael J. Fox, Pope John Paul II, Eugene O'Neill, Salvador Dali, , Billy Graham, Janet Reno, Adolf Hitler, Francisco Franco, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong, and Doborah Kerr.
Notable sufferers from Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia include: Kareem Abdul-Jabber.
Notable sufferers from Alzheimer's disease include: Ronald Reagan, Iris Murdoch, Charlton Heston, Rita Hayworth,
Notable sufferers from AIDS include: Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, Arthur Ashe, Magic Johnson, Greg Louganis, and Isaac Asimov.
A more exhaustive list of people with AIDS is available here ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HIV-positive_people
26/11 Anniversary
As we approach the one year mark of the attacks in Mumbai, quite predictably my prediction that nothing much will happen has come true.
I don't blame the government. There is really not much that the government could have done. Pakistan is a semi-failed state and the terrorists who attacked Mumbai might have originated in Pakistan but one can't consider the Pakistan state to be an accomplice in the attacks.
Pakistan is suffering copiously from terrorism on its own soil as terrorists mount ever more daring attacks against the Establishment, the ISI, etc.
The U.S. continues its drone attacks in the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan which shows how much Pakistan has ceded its sovereignity to that country ...
I don't blame the government. There is really not much that the government could have done. Pakistan is a semi-failed state and the terrorists who attacked Mumbai might have originated in Pakistan but one can't consider the Pakistan state to be an accomplice in the attacks.
Pakistan is suffering copiously from terrorism on its own soil as terrorists mount ever more daring attacks against the Establishment, the ISI, etc.
The U.S. continues its drone attacks in the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan which shows how much Pakistan has ceded its sovereignity to that country ...
At Last Some Good News
Well, smoking, it seems, does have some benefits — it helps reduce weight gain.
Well, unfortunately, it seems women don't want to quit smoking as they fear that they will gain weight once they quit smoking!!!
And so researchers want to reassure them that it ain't so ...
Well, things are pretty bad for smokers in the Big Apple. In some aprtment complexes, you are not even allowed to smoke inside your own darned home!!!
Things haven't gotten that strident in my own country — they eventually might, but I should be 'old and dying' and dead by then. So, no worries ...
This also offers one more reason why I don't want to migrate to the U.S. — just admire them from afar ... also, one is not allowed to hang one's dirty linen outside which one can do perfectly legitimately here in India.
Well, unfortunately, it seems women don't want to quit smoking as they fear that they will gain weight once they quit smoking!!!
And so researchers want to reassure them that it ain't so ...
Well, things are pretty bad for smokers in the Big Apple. In some aprtment complexes, you are not even allowed to smoke inside your own darned home!!!
Things haven't gotten that strident in my own country — they eventually might, but I should be 'old and dying' and dead by then. So, no worries ...
This also offers one more reason why I don't want to migrate to the U.S. — just admire them from afar ... also, one is not allowed to hang one's dirty linen outside which one can do perfectly legitimately here in India.
Friday, November 20, 2009
rice@100
I was wondering what would happen when rice sells for a 100 rupees per kilo. Same goes for floud.
We have seen a steep rise in the prices of dal, vegetables, cooking oil, sugar, etc. People can cut back on their consumption of these cooking inputs. But what will happen when food staples become expensive themselves? Will people skimp on rice and rotis? Which is the same as going hungry.
I think that is inevitable.
The lack of foresight of Indians will come to haunt them.
We have seen a steep rise in the prices of dal, vegetables, cooking oil, sugar, etc. People can cut back on their consumption of these cooking inputs. But what will happen when food staples become expensive themselves? Will people skimp on rice and rotis? Which is the same as going hungry.
I think that is inevitable.
The lack of foresight of Indians will come to haunt them.
Let's REJOICE!!!
The United Nations Population Fund has projected that India's population will be overtaking that of China by 2050 and then INDIA WILL BE NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD in population.
Certainly, this calls for celebration!!!
Even as other nations struggle with declining birth rates and shrinking populations, India continues to hold the fort on behalf of mankind quite valiantly ...
I say: Keep it up guys!!! The current reproductive generation has a challenge to live up to ... as our ancestors and forefathers were far more fecund in making babies than our generation.
We must take pledges to raise India's population figure to 200 crores as soon as possible. A hundred years ago, India's population would have been around 20 crores. So, a ten-fold increase would be a nice achievement.
Certainly, this calls for celebration!!!
Even as other nations struggle with declining birth rates and shrinking populations, India continues to hold the fort on behalf of mankind quite valiantly ...
I say: Keep it up guys!!! The current reproductive generation has a challenge to live up to ... as our ancestors and forefathers were far more fecund in making babies than our generation.
We must take pledges to raise India's population figure to 200 crores as soon as possible. A hundred years ago, India's population would have been around 20 crores. So, a ten-fold increase would be a nice achievement.
Flying Prez. and NO to Fighting Female Flyers
Well, India's FIRST female prez. is going flying in a Sukhoi ... smacks of "me too" after Abdul Kalam did so some years ago.
Anyways, good for the 'morale' of the ladies in India, I guess ...
Meanwhile, in the 'personal' opinion of a senior Indian Air Force officer, it would be a bad 'investment' to train female fighter pilots as they will inevitably go on their 'maternity' leaves and the Govt. will be left holding the baby!!!
Seems quite a reasonable thing to say to me ... but the statement has created some controversy quite expectedly ... plain speaking is not quite appreciated in these politically correct times ...
Anyways, good for the 'morale' of the ladies in India, I guess ...
Meanwhile, in the 'personal' opinion of a senior Indian Air Force officer, it would be a bad 'investment' to train female fighter pilots as they will inevitably go on their 'maternity' leaves and the Govt. will be left holding the baby!!!
Seems quite a reasonable thing to say to me ... but the statement has created some controversy quite expectedly ... plain speaking is not quite appreciated in these politically correct times ...
Hungry Americans
A U.S. Department of Agriculture report says that 49 million Americans had food insecurity last year. That's about the same number as the number of uninsured Americans.
The New York Times has reported about it here ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17hunger.html
Of course, one has to be careful about what the report really talks about and the methodology it used to reach its finding.
"Food insecurity" in America has got to be vastly different than the kind of endemic, gross undernutrition which is a daily reality for hundreds of millions of people in India and many countries in Africa.
The difference is this: it's considered to be an issue in America while in India poverty is a fact of life almost on a par with a rule of nature like the Sun rising every morning from the East.
Uncle Sam also has deep pockets and so hands out food stamps to those who are eligible ...
The New York Times has reported about it here ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/us/17hunger.html
Of course, one has to be careful about what the report really talks about and the methodology it used to reach its finding.
"Food insecurity" in America has got to be vastly different than the kind of endemic, gross undernutrition which is a daily reality for hundreds of millions of people in India and many countries in Africa.
The difference is this: it's considered to be an issue in America while in India poverty is a fact of life almost on a par with a rule of nature like the Sun rising every morning from the East.
Uncle Sam also has deep pockets and so hands out food stamps to those who are eligible ...
Exercise But DON'T Lose Weight
Well, that's disappointing. At least, would be to some people ... people who are in it to reduce weight, look slim, etc. But if people look for short term gains from exercising, they are — as it were — looking to make a quick buck in my opinion.
The New York Times has a story about how exercising doesn't necessarily lead to weight loss and why ...
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/
One has to be able to take into account the numerous other benefits of exercising ... not just weight loss.
The human body is fundamentally designed to work!!! It's as simple as that.
The muscles that we have are meant to be put to their test and we are definitely not designed through evolution to slouch all day in front of a computer.
Those who might feel disheartened when exercising doesn't lead to weight loss would do well to consider what would have been the case if they had not been exercising ... they would have been fatter with overall, less of a sense of wellbeing.
Keep Running ... or Walking !!!
The New York Times has a story about how exercising doesn't necessarily lead to weight loss and why ...
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/
One has to be able to take into account the numerous other benefits of exercising ... not just weight loss.
The human body is fundamentally designed to work!!! It's as simple as that.
The muscles that we have are meant to be put to their test and we are definitely not designed through evolution to slouch all day in front of a computer.
Those who might feel disheartened when exercising doesn't lead to weight loss would do well to consider what would have been the case if they had not been exercising ... they would have been fatter with overall, less of a sense of wellbeing.
Keep Running ... or Walking !!!
Exercise reduces stress
Well, that might be self-evident to some folks.
But researchers like to find out exactly how the brain works.
And with the help of our good old friends, researchers have seen how rodents that exercise are less stressed-out than those that don't.
Here's the story from the New York Times ...
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/?em
Personally, it makes me feel less tired and more active during the day, I guess ...
I mean, we all do such sedantary jobs now-a-days ... which primarily involves sitting in front of a computer the whole day.
In the old days — and to a certain extent even today — people would spend some time in front of an image of some Hindu deity in the morning and do some chants or something ... that would a regular way of doing worship ... In the modern era, it's as if we have all now decides to 'worship' the computer deity and do so by sitting in front of the 'God' the whole day!!!
Ohhhhhhhh!!! What the hell ...
But researchers like to find out exactly how the brain works.
And with the help of our good old friends, researchers have seen how rodents that exercise are less stressed-out than those that don't.
Here's the story from the New York Times ...
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/phys-ed-why-exercise-makes-you-less-anxious/?em
Personally, it makes me feel less tired and more active during the day, I guess ...
I mean, we all do such sedantary jobs now-a-days ... which primarily involves sitting in front of a computer the whole day.
In the old days — and to a certain extent even today — people would spend some time in front of an image of some Hindu deity in the morning and do some chants or something ... that would a regular way of doing worship ... In the modern era, it's as if we have all now decides to 'worship' the computer deity and do so by sitting in front of the 'God' the whole day!!!
Ohhhhhhhh!!! What the hell ...
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