www.youtube.com

Technology is amazing. I love this site. If you haven’t gone there, check it out please. It’s so cool. Thanks to digital video cameras everywhere including the cell phones. People are flooding the site with video clips.
The site also seems to have a good moderation mechanism in place. They promptly remove any obscene videos posted by the users. It makes it even a better user experience.

Monday

A 'mistake' by Israel has killed more than 50 people over the weekend. Again, we all know that all men are not created equal. As I wrote earlier, value of your life is directly linked to the passport you carry in your pocket.
Hezbollah nut cases are hiding safely inside Iran embassy and issuing rhetoric statements.

Oil prices seem to be moving in only one direction - upwards! Woohoo, Wall street is happy!
Our president is all for 'spreading' the democracy! But he is just fine with Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. He probably looks like George Washington to Bush!

Days are very hot and humid these days. I can't wait for the nicer, cold days. Summer is not fun to me. It drains my energy.

I had a good lunch.

In short – that’s today’s summary.

Life is beautiful.

Oil, Oil and Oil

When I first started driving, the gas was only a dollar per gallon. Today it is $3.11 per gallon. That would be more than 300% increase in my travel expenses. Well, Exxon Mobil has posted record profits yesterday. And, the Wall Street gang is all very happy. That’s the most important thing in capitalism – who cares about an average man, right? Our only role is to work hard and buy products from big corporations – that’s all.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Oil companies make it to the top of Forbes’s Best Managed company list. Don’t you think it takes a genius brain to turn tragedies like Katrina, Iraq war and Israel conflicts into record profits??

Now, Is there any hope? Who can save us? What about our President? Umm – I don’t think so. The whole Bush family has so many connections with Oil companies and Oil lobby; every time he opens his mouth you can feel the stench of oil!! Disgusting!

On the side note - I found out that my digital camera has some issues. Well, it works fine except that it drains the batteries really fast!! I don’t know why!! It’s an old camera anyways - time to go for a better one.

Summer, heat and ramblings...

Today it’s 92F here. Though I grew up in a place known for its hot and humid weather, my tolerance towards heat has always been very low. I often wonder how I used to go out in the sun with my buddies and play for hours and hours. I don’t really remember getting seriously sick by the heat wave. But I always hated sun partly because I had migraine problems.

Well, why would anyone go out and get burnt in sun when you can nicely workout inside an air-conditioned gym listening to music? Or, even better, you can just sit on your recliner chair at home and blow up those alien bastards with your Xbox!! Doom-3D rocks! :)

I am just kidding.

Ok - here is the joke I heard on TV or radio – don’t remember where exactly.

“It’s so hot in Texas this summer - Ken Lay is happy that he is burning in hell”

I know it’s mean to make fun of those who are dead. But, hey – I didn’t make up this joke. I’m sure it is one of those guys who lost their retirement savings in Enron scandal!!

You, Me and Exxon Mobile

Results are out!! We know who the culprit is!! Exxon Mobil has reported a profit of $10.4 billion in the second quarter. Yes, it’s the billion with a ‘B’!! This is the second biggest profit ever reported by a U.S. company!! Who was the first? It was none other than Exxon Mobil again!! It had reported $10.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005. Surprised?

Now, please don’t tell me there is no price gouging going on, ok? I’m not a moron like you!

One thing for sure – Neil Cavuto would be applauding the true spirit of free market with tears of joy!! Ahh – what a world I am living in!!

Piano Man

Finally, I can play a full song on the piano. I’ve already played it over the phone to a friend of mine and confirmed that it actually does sound like the original song!!
Gosh – Am I such a bad learner? What happened to all of my hidden talents that I thought I had for so long!! Wrong, hey? Ummmm… :)

Yatha Raja, thatha Praja (As the king, so the subjects)

It’s an old but popular phrase in India that has its origins in old Sanskrit scripts.

So, when Bill O’reilly was all worried about the fair media coverage of Israel-Lebanon conflict and Greta was talking about missing skinny women, our Lou Dobbs has done a great job. He is definitely an underrated star. I only wish he had the ratings of Bill O’reilly.

I know you will find Lou repeating himself on the same topic over and over again. Best example – his coverage on outsourcing. He did it almost everyday! The same thing happened with border issue and illegal immigration. But you can’t blame him. When you have an administration that simply fails to do the right things, you certainly need anchors like Dobbs.

We all can clearly see how talking heads like Bill O’reilly and Sean Hanity of today’s media cherry-pick the stories for the day. Best example is ABA (American Bar Association) report on President. It was such an important report from an 11- member bipartisan panel. But our media was too busy covering the Lebanon crisis. We should all applaud Lou Dobb for not letting it go.

Now the bigger question is – why would those illegal aliens show any respect to our laws when our own President has a very little respect to laws!! Here is the most fascinating piece of information from ABA report: President Bush has used signing statements to raise constitutional objections to more than 800 provisions in more than 100 laws. But, all of the presidents combined before 2001 had issues only 600!!
Those scholars from ancient India were definitely not wrong – “As the ruler, so the ruled”.

When bullies rule the world….

They always did. As much as we hate wars and conflicts, don’t you all agree that human history is defined by countless number of wars, confrontations and conflicts? Ever since we know, wars have been defining our culture, language and border and thereby defining the future as well.

We were all taught to hate wars. We all pray for peace. How many times we have seen those pictures of a small boy handing over a flower to a soldier? Yea, it all looks good and idealistic in the times of peace. Eventually wars define our future.

Think of all those countries around the world speaking in one of the European languages like English, Spanish and French. Think about all those millions who go to church or mosque every week. Now, can you imagine how many wars and confrontations would have led to this transformation? Every step there was an opposition, violence, death and destruction. I don’t think you are naïve enough to believe that today’s society is a result of peaceful, mature talks between leaders from different parts of the world - Are you?

Most intriguing question is – Can war be avoided? The root cause for any conflict is the difference in beliefs and opinions. Can’t we just workout a solution? But again, this is an idealistic, theoretical approach. All these things work only if there is a bigger force that would make everyone follow the final decision.

I think most of the societies have moved away from the primitive ways of resolving the conflicts and moved into a more structured approach with legal system and constitution, where things are debated and a final decision is made. However, there a few exceptions like monarchies and dictatorships. Since terrorist groups are totalitarian in nature, they work in a very primitive way with very little tolerance to the dissent.

But it becomes even more complex in an international scene where all the members are sovereign nations! It is as diverse as it can get. Even after two catastrophic world wars, we haven’t been able to put together a good international governing body out there to resolve the conflicts with fairness. United Nation has become a place for fat-ass diplomats to spend their retired life! It works effectively with small countries like Sudan and Haiti. But I don’t see any instances where it successfully controlled powerful nations. So in the absence of a global police, the most powerful nation assumes the role and does what it thinks is the right thing.

All these things came to my mind as I see a regional bully (Israel) beating the crap out of another local bully (Hezbollah) with the moral support of a global bully (USA).

Will this ever end? Hell, no!!! It will always be there. As long as we, human beings, continue to carry the traits like greed and stupidity, it is only natural that it would continue to manifest at various levels of human society.

Eutopia

Israel’s offense on spineless Lebanon continues.
More than 100 people in Lebanon and 13 Israelis are dead. This really sounds like an even war!
The moron from Iran is threatening Israel as usual. He needs some counseling. I don’t know what he thinks of himself.
America, instead of showing true leadership, is showing its true colors by supporting Israeli actions and preaching to rest of the world.
Oh - yea, by the way, George Bush also had expressed his concerns to President Putin over Russian way of 'managed' democracy. Now, that’s really true sign of leadership. Don’t you all agree?

In between all these, nobody is talking about those hundreds died in Mumbai blasts. After all, we know that all men are not created equal – the value of human life changes from place to place and country to country. The value of your life changes with the passport you carry. I don’t think we should waste our time anymore talking about those brown skinned people from a poor country. We are not talking about Spain or Germany – don’t you understand this, morons? Stop complaining, please!

-----
Ohhh…..my….

American Arrogance

Palestinian guerillas kidnap Israeli soldiers.
Israel starts hitting Palestinian establishments.
Today it has bombed Beirut international airport
George Bush says every nation has the right to defend itself. (Oh, really?)
Guerillas fire more than 40 rockets into Israel territory.

Something is wrong with the picture. Don't you see it? Don’t you see a hidden agenda behind all the escalating violence?

First of all, as much as I feel sorry for the soldiers held hostage, I just don’t understand the reason behind Israel’s bombings and aggression.

Here is what I think is going on:

- Israel is not happy with Hamas-led Palestinian government. It was desperately looking for an excuse to start a conflict in the region.

- Israel is not really comfortable with rhetoric from Iranian regime and it’s plan to go ahead with Nuclear plans

- Probably Israel is provoking the Arab countries like Iran and Syria so it can drag western countries (especially US) into this mess.

It is no secret that America looks other way when Israel does unacceptable things. Today’s remarks by Bush only support it. What happens if India bombs Jaffna tomorrow because it still has the mastermind behind Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination? What if it fires a few missiles to wipe out those terrorist camps in Pak occupied Kashmir? Would it be ok? Don’t you remember how US was concerned over Russia’s military action in Chechnya?

No wonder why most of the countries out there have serious questions on so called US-led ‘war on terrorism’!!

Faceless Terrorists and 72 virgins

Now, I should admit this – It was not the kind of news I wanted to hear while having my Masala Dosas for breakfast. Those filthy Islamic Terrorists have done it again in Mumbai. Almost 170 innocent civilians have died. Probably they all left their houses for work after having Masala Dosas or whatever they had for their breakfast just like me. Accidental deaths always sadden me. Now there are 170 families out there in Bombay who won’t see their loved ones again! Whoever set those bombs is really going to go to heaven to have fun with 72 virgins!

Here is the most sickening part:

# Media reported the ‘explosions’ first. Later they started using the term ‘blasts’. And, the reasons for the blasts were not clear to these clever media experts. Why are they so politically correct? In today’s world, anytime a bomb explodes killing civilians, we all know who is behind it!! It’s no secret – There is only one ideology behind all this. Anderson Cooper was worried about backlash from Hindus on Muslim population. Glen Beck was wondering if India is really fighting war on terrorism since they are not in Iraq supporting US. Awwww….how smart these guys are!!

# INDIA - I have never seen such a forgetful nation anywhere! Just wait for a week – all the rhetoric will die down and they will be back to talking about caste based quota system, cricket and how India would be a superpower by 2020. Yea, right!

Appreciating meanness...

Yesterday Michael Savage was at his best. Not kidding – he was hilarious, full of energy, mean, cruel, loud and smart!! Probably it’s the same reason I don’t mind listening to him everyday. He can make even the hardcore liberals laugh. I remember when he had Charles Schumer (Senator from New York) on his show sometime back! Two Jewish guys from opposite sides of political spectrum – WOW!! It was really fun!

Shahrukh - My Bollywood Hero

Our hero is playing a soccer match with his buddies.
He kicks the ball in the middle of the match. As everybody is watching in disbelief, the soccer ball simply disappears into outer space!!

I guess it was an attempt by movie director to show how powerful the hero was! But it was a strong enough reason for me to switch off the TV in disgust!!

Interestingly this was not a Bollywood movie! It was a Hong Kong produced Chinese movie!

It has been years since I watched a desi movie. There are multiple reasons why I find them extremely annoying and boring. Retarded jokes, very dramatic acting, cartoon-like stunts and unrelated songs completely kill the moment for me.
If it is a movie like 'Moulin Rogue' - that's one thing. My mind can accept it from the beginning.

Here is something on Bollywood but much better than any Bollywood movies! I found this documentary on Shahrukh Khan in a local Indian Grocery Store. 'The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan' is a 2-disc DVD by Nasreen Munni Kabir. In the first part, we get to see Khan’s life at Bombay. Second part follows him as he travels through UK and USA.

I really enjoyed it. Khan really comes across as a very young, bright and pleasing personality. And, of course, you don't see any unreal or extremely dramatic things!

Insane...

This is crazy. Something was wrong with the home computer. I just couldn't access my account. Everytime I tried to access - it would throw me out! Well, as it turned out, my browser had issues. So, there you go - technology again! I think I am getting too old to catch up with all this. When will I see a clean Operating system, browser and other applications? I don't know.