Fun Reading Only!

No serious news today! Just some fun entertainment...

Jack Bauer is now saving the world...literally! Kind of cool how 24 is going out of their way to be friendly to our environment. http://www.newsweek.com/id/72535/page/1

And wash your hands!!! Courtesy of Dipalee... a study shows that washing your hands may keep the world much healthier than we might have though. Not to mention, it is the clean thing to do so make sure you really wash your hands! http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdFlu/wireStory?id=3922458

Bollywood is now entering into the Hollywood scene! I am sure many of you noticed how Sony pictures bought the movie Saawariya and was involved in its distribution, etc. Well now we may soon seem Indian film studios bringing movies to Hollywood...

Thoughts of the Day

Pierre Corneille - "The manner of giving is worth more than the gift."

With the holiday season coming around and gifts all around us, let us make sure we look within to ask ourselves about our motives behind giving gifts and about our state of mind when taking gifts. Are gifts even necessary? Can love not be a gift in and of itself? There is great joy in removing the giving and taking also so challenge yourself and dare to build a selfless relationship, even if it means saying, "This year, there won't be gifts."

Josh Billings - "Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there."

Do we finish up the things we start on? If we focus on one goal and just work hard until we get there, then we may actually get somewhere in life. Once you decide something, stick to it and make a wholehearted effort to get there!

Joke of the Day

Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young engineer who was fresh out of MIT, "What starting salary were you thinking about?" The Engineer said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every 2 years - say, a red Corvette?" The Engineer sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it."

Rude Awakening...

I found the cartoon at first glance to be pretty hilarious and worthy of being shared but wow what a reality check! It's crazy about how different the scene is in different parts of the world and how often we are so ungrateful for all that we have. Just something to think about and let it sink in... very powerful political cartoon though!

What's Happening Around Us...

What's different about this title....Pakistan President Mr. Pervez Musharraf? Yep, as promised General Musharraf resigned his position as head of Pakistan's Army today, paving the way for him to be sworn in for another five-year term as President. Many are calling his move a strategic one but only time will tell. This article from Time looks at Pakistan more critically and questions how democratic they are but it is interesting to ponder whether democracy is necessary and why America parades around the world imposing this system of government upon everyone...

As many of you may (or should) know there is a major peace conference that is going on in Annapolis currently amongst the Middle East countries. It is a huge deal for all these countries to sit together and even try to talk but will it lead to anything? And what about the people who are not being represented? Will Iran or Hamas or the terrorists make it all a failure? Also at the conference: It's taken seven years but Israeli and the Palestinian leaders will start formal peace negotiations again today. But is this peace summit really about Israel and Palestine or is there, dare we say it, a bigger agenda involved? As a Palestinian adviser tells the New York Times: "The Arab [nations] have come here not because they love the Jews or even the Palestinians....[but] because they need a strategic alliance with the United States against Iran".

A Different View on Life

While we enjoyed our Thanksgiving having fun, these individuals in different parts of the world continued their lives of misery...how much do we know about what is going on in the world around us? Are we even sensitive about it or do we ever think about it? During THANKSgiving, did we ever stop to be grateful for what we are so lucky to have?

Desolate Landscape

Refugees from Darfur walk in a camp run by the NGO 'Eastern Chad' in Gaga. More than 17.000 Darfurians live in the camp.

Grief

Niru Begum's 80-year-old mother was killed when their house collapsed during the cyclone, in Bakerganj, Bangladesh.









Dangerous Work
A miner at the Moxinpo Colliery in Chongqing, China. According to state media, accidents in China's coal mines claimed over 5,000 lives each year, accounting for around 80 percent of the world's total deaths.

Thought of the Day

"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself--and be lenient to everybody else."
---Henry Ward Beecher

I thought a quote on discipline is very fitting as we challenge ourselves to become something more after a very inspiring weekend at Milan. As we get closer to Christmas, to celebrate Jesus Christ's birthday, let us all try to do something special and make our lives more meaningful for a few weeks! Perhaps we can purify ourselves by controlling what we eat and eating healthy, home-cooked food. Maybe we can do surya namaskar every morning. Maybe we can make it a point to not waste any food at least until then. There are many things we can do and any small things to improve ourselves is better than nothing!

Joke of the Day

Here's to a happy Monday after Thanksgiving even though everyone would much rather be with their family still!

One day a policeman stopped a motorist who had just gone through a four way stop sign and was about to give him a ticket when the motorist said. "Officer you can't give me a ticket for that!' "Why not" said the officer. "Because although I did not stop I slowed right down and its almost the same." "But you did not stop" replied the officer, "and the sign says STOP." "But the way was clear and it was safe" replied the motorist. The officer then pulls out his batton and starts hitting the motorist. "What are you doing!" yells the motorist in surprise. "Do you want me to slow down or stop" says the officer.

Worth a Glance...

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Alive

Anak Krakatau spews smoke and lava into the Sunda strait. The volcano has been spitting and smoking for days, but is not particularly dangerous, according to experts.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Classroom

Children work at their desks at the Dongzhong primary school in Miao Village, China. The school is built inside a giant natural cave.




Isn't that the coolest classroom ever??? I'd love to study there!

Joke of the Day

This one is hilarious!!!!!

There once was a blind man who decided to visit Texas. When he arrived on the plane, he felt the seats and said, "Wow, these seats are big!" The person next to him answered, "Everything is big in Texas." When he finally arrived in Texas, he decided to visit a bar. Upon arriving in the bar, he ordered a beer and got a mug placed between his hands. He exclaimed, "Wow these mugs are big!" The bartender replied, "Everything is big in Texas." After a couple of beers, the blind man asked the bartender where the bathroom was located. The bartender replied, "Second door to the right." The blind man headed for the bathroom, but accidentally tripped over and skipped the second door. Instead, he entered the third door, which lead to the swimming pool and fell into the pool by accident. Scared to death, the blind man started shouting, "Don't flush, don't flush!"

Thought of the Day... Vivekananda too!

"Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right."
---Henry Ford

We ourselves decide what we can and cannot do! Have some courage and believe in yourself. Let's give ourselves a chance by just starting to think that we can!

Anyone who is interested in hearing the words of Vivekananda from the man himself...It's amazing how good his English is! Makes us wonder what exactly we are speaking... http://www.udeps.com/Vivekananda.html

News Worth Reading....

Man its been quite a few days but there is some crazy news! I saw some articles that were good but i decided to pick articles that presented something new, something positive...nothing negative!

First, we got books....we're all here trying to read. Reading online is the new thing. Now Amazon.com is trying the whole e-book thing once again! It's a new device (called the Kindle) and its revamped and it may be the future of books....this article is long and perhaps not worth reading the all of it but good to just know of the revolution that may take place. Here is a more abbreviated commercial article about the same. It looks at the device and its features and stuff if you want to know about the machine itself....

Then, our future... we probably never really think about it much, but food isn't in as much abundance as we may like to think. We're all lucky that food is so easily available and since not many of us go grocery shopping regularly we probably haven't noticed that food is getting more expensive. But there is a problem on the horizon and our generation may not have it as easy as we may like for it to be... Third World countries are facing food crises and this article is a quick read about it... http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1684910,00.html

Lastly, the monks in Burma...in case you have not already heard, this is a major event in recent world history and it makes for good essays as well as good examples in essays (SAT's perhaps???) . Basically, monks in Burma joined the protests against the junta (their ruling class). They ultimately ended up at the forefront and the brutal government sent the military after the monks. They were beat, arrested, imprisoned and many were probably killed... This article is about what is going on now. It's the current situation asking where did the monks go and what is going on?...http://www.newsweek.com/id/71266/page/1

Milk - the new Oil???? Other cool news....

Not sure if anyone has noticed the higher milk prices but it is true and even I can attest to it! In just a year, milk prices have gone up about 20%! We don't really realize it but almost everything we enjoy eating requires milk...cheese, chocolate, ice cream...

Everyone knows the prices of Google stocks and oil barrels but I guess this is interesting because it affects us everyday! The next Starbucks coffee you drink may no longer be the same low price you are used to. And fyi, Starbucks sells MORE MILK THAN COFFEE!!! Surprising huh?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/31/business/wbmilk.php

For those of you into technology and sci-fi stuff check these interesting articles out.... the first is about robotic roaches that some crazy engineers came up with. Basically they act like the roaches and fit right in. Because roaches act in groups, they think that they might be able to control roach behavior with these robots.. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1684427,00.html

And then unmanned cars? I am sure you may have heard of it as some theoretical solution to traffic and all of that but people are actually working on it out there. Don't worry you won't be seeing an automatic car anytime soon but who knows maybe our kids will be driving (or i guess it'd be just sitting inside) these cars...
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1684543,00.html

Write Neatly!!!

How crazy is this...remember when your mom used to get mad at you for writing messy and you were like whatever. And now your writing is so illegible that you can't even read it at times...well it may be time to change that! This study that was just released suggests that good handwriting maybe a crucial part of learning! I thought this was very cool cause as some of you know I write neatly and I am now super proud of it!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/67956

The End is Near....

I remember in AP Govt. when our teacher explained to us the national debt and all that, I thought to myself that we're screwed. I asked so many questions because it didn't make sense to me and the truth is that there is no sense in it. America's bubble is going to burst and our generation will bear the brunt end of it...Let's hope our politicians take decisive actions soon.

This article gives a glimpse of America's impending economic fate...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70378

No PDA!!!

Apparently the no PDA rule exists outside of youth camp! It's interesting because we live in a society where hugs and stuff are so common place. But have we ever thought about the impact it has on our subconscious? What about even just something as simple as the other person's intention? Has it ever crossed your mind that the guy/girl you are hugging may not be thinking the same pure thoughts you are?

Just something to think about...in our culture, our parents and people before them never ever touched anyone of the opposite gender besides their spouses. Have we become a little loose? Or is this just a super conservative thought process??

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1683668,00.html

Thought of the Day

It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.
Confucius

A nice thought to keep you going...obviously we should all push ourselves to go much faster and go as fast as we can, but at the same time do not let failure slow you down. Keep on trying and even you move an inch, you're that much closer to the goal!

Joke of the Day

So apparently the last few jokes haven't been that funny...here's a better one (or so I think)...

A woman named Shirley was from Beverly Hills. One day, she had a heart attack and was taken to Cedars Sinai hospital. While on the operating table, she had a near-death experience. She saw God and asked, "Is this it?" God said, "No, you have another 30 to 40 years to live." Upon her recovery, she decided to stay in the hospital and have collagen shots, cheek implants, a face lift, liposuction and breast augmentation. She even had someone dye her hair. She figured since she had another 30 to 40 years, she might as well make the most of it. She walked out of Cedars Sinai lobby after the last operation and was killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital. She arrived in front of God and said, "I thought you said I had another 30 to 40 years?" God replied, "Shirley! I didn't recognize you!"

Thought of the Day

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." - Martin Luther King

What is something you would die for? Is there anything that we have in our lives even worth dying for? If not, where can you find such a thing? Or is death really not worth anything in life? Can there truly be something so absolute that you would die for it? Suppose you believe in honesty, is it better to just die and end your life rather than lying once? Couldn't you do more good by still being there instead of not being there?

Instead of 24....

Now that 24 will not be starting in January, here are the exciting things we will get to watch instead! More reality TV for us all (sarcasm meter at super high right about now!)

Read these show descriptions...man its gonna be a bad time. Pray for good movies!

ABC

•Duel (week-long event, Dec. 17-23, 8 ET/PT). Quiz show in which contestants win by bluffing.

•Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann (Jan. 7, Mondays at 8 ET/PT). Dancing With the Stars' choreographers field their own teams in this live dance-off, which bridges the gap before DWTS returns in March. Drew Lachey hosts.

•Oprah's Big Give Winfrey bestows cash on needy families.

•Here Come the Newlyweds A six-episode comedic game pitting couples in marital tests.

•Wanna Bet? Celebrities wager (for charity) on whether contestants can perform outrageous stunts.

• Also: New seasons of Wife Swap and Supernanny, expanded episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home and possibly more Funniest Videos.

CBS

•Big Brother A first-time spring season of the summer staple will likely begin in February or March.

•Million-Dollar Password A high-stakes version of the game-show classic, hosted by Regis Philbin.

•Do You Trust Me? Tucker Carlson hosts a quiz show in which strangers bet on their mutual confidence in each other.

• Also: Additional cycles of Survivor and The Amazing Race, and a new season of Drew Carey game show Power of 10.

Fox

•The Moment of Truth (Jan. 23, Wednesdays at 9 ET/PT). Game show in which contestants are strapped to a lie detector and asked highly personal questions.

•When Women Rule the World (Mar. 3, Mondays at 8 ET/PT). Alpha women control "a group of unsuspecting men used to calling the shots."

• Also: American Idol (Jan. 15), Hell's Kitchen (Apr. 1), Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Don't Forget the Lyrics, Cops and America's Most Wanted.

NBC

•Celebrity Apprentice Stars compete for Donald Trump's approval as hot-dog vendors and in other unlikely occupations.

•American Gladiators The 1990s series is revived, with stuntmen competing against amateurs in physical competitions. Hulk Hogan, Laila Ali host.

•Amnesia Dennis Miller hosts this quiz show that asks contestants to recall key moments of their lives.

•My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad Families compete in stunt challenges.

•Clash of the Choirs Celebrities establish amateur singing groups, which compete live in yet another Idol variation.

• Also: New season of 1 vs. 100, and Deal or No Deal continues.

CW

•Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (Dec. 12, Wednesdays at 8 ET/PT). Mother-daughter teams compete for a beauty pageant title while shacking up in bunk beds in a Hollywood mansion.

•Farmer Wants a Wife A dating series in which a yokel selects a city beauty.

• Also: New seasons of Pussycat Dolls, Beauty and the Geek and America's Next Top Model.

The Mafia still Exists!

I really thought that this was all a thing of the past...who knew it still existed today! Thats pretty crazy that all this underworld Don business still goes on especially in European and American countries...
I have yet to see American Gangster but here's a little insight into the Italian underworld. Apparently the two biggest Dons got caught and finally taken to jail very recently. Check these out...
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1683340,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1681779,00.html

Putting A-Rod in his place...

When I first read that A-Rod was expecting to get paid $350 million, I was kinda just shocked cause it seems ridiculous that any individual player thinks he deserves that much money. It is much better to invest in a good team than one good player (the same could be argued for Kobe).

In a kind of interesting development though, this article has a rumor that the owners may just reject him straight up and put him back in his place! That's exactly what they need to do cause the baseball payroll stuff is outta control... they even have a word for it, "collusion"...

A-Rod's Salary: Watching for Collusion

Joke of the Day

A pregnant woman lapses into a coma. She awakens and frantically calls for her doctor. "You had twins, a boy and a girl. They're fine," he says. "Your brother named them."

Oh, no, the new mother thinks. He's an idiot. Expecting the worst, she asks, "What's the girl's name?"

"Denise," the doctor says.

Not bad, she thinks. I guess I was wrong about him. "And the boy?"

"DeNephew."

Thought of the Day

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
-- Abraham Lincoln

Think before you speak! Too often we make ourselves vulnerable and lose our credibility with the unintelligent and unthoughtful things we say that do not truly represent who we are...or is it better to just say what you think instead of holding back?

Human Regeneration!!! Its not just Claire...

So for all of you Heroes fans, perhaps human regeneration is not just a super human feat that requires some mutation like Claire has...

These guys are doing research to regrow human body parts and have had quite some success it seems. Check this out... here's an article Time wrote about it:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1679115,00.html

Then I was looking into it and came across a few other cool reads...
A news article on their first success: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060404084412.htm

His biography: http://www.wfirm.org/faculty_atala.htm

Cool Future Car???

Mercedes is planning to release this crazy car in the near future that is really small and dinky... its pretty cool and I think it'd be a good buy with soaring gas prices!

Technology is crazy! Who knows what we may be using in a few years.....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/08/smart.car/index.html

Something to Ponder...

Happy Diwali to everyone! May your next year bring you the best in every aspect of life. Reach for your dreams and I hope you find great joy and success. Today is our day to renew our spirit and start anew upon the journey we embarked on. From time to time we lose track and get derailed but let us get back on the path today and strengthen our conviction and determination...

Here's a good quote from Confucius that I thought is worth sharing...

"The illustrious ancients, when they wished to make clear and to propagate the highest virtues in the world, put their states in proper order. Before putting their states in proper order, they regulated their families. Before regulating their families, they cultivated their own selves. Before cultivating their own selves, they perfected their souls. Before perfecting their souls, they tried to be sincere in their thoughts. Before trying to be sincere in their thoughts, they extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such investigation of knowledge lay in the investigation of things, and in seeing them as they really were. When things were thus investigated, knowledge became complete. When knowledge was complete, their thoughts became sincere. When their thoughts were sincere, their souls became perfect. When their souls were perfect, their own selves became cultivated. When their selves were cultivated, their families became regulated. When their families were regulated, their states came to be put into proper order. When their states were in proper order, then the whole world became peaceful and happy."
Confucius (551-479 B.C.)

No Jack Bauer for sometime....

Because of the strike we have the following...

Return of Fox's '24' Postponed by Strike

By FRAZIER MOORE – 7 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — The writers strike has struck down the Fox thriller "24."

"24" is absent from the network's revised, strike-affected schedule for midseason. In its announcement, Fox explained the "Day 7" season for the series would be indefinitely postponed to ensure an uninterrupted run.

Like most series written by members of the Writers Guild of America, "24" is falling prey to a shortfall of scripts. But the heavily sequential, real-time "24" is dependent on a full-season run of 24 episodes.

Fox's revised schedule also calls for "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" to have a two-night premiere Jan. 13-14. The new drama, a reinvention of the "Terminator" film franchise, stars Lena Headey.

"American Idol" returns Jan. 15-16. A new game show, "The Moment of Truth," premieres Jan. 23.

Looking further ahead, "New Amsterdam," a drama about a New York City detective who is immortal, premieres in February.

The Farrelly Brothers comedy "Unhitched" premieres in March, as does an unscripted, role-reversal series, "When Women Rule the World," and a comedy from "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, "The Return of Jezebel James."

"Canterbury's Law," a legal drama starring Julianna Margulies, arrives in April.

Fox stressed that its revised schedule, announced Wednesday, was subject to further change, if strike developments warrant. WGA writers went on strike Monday, with no end in sight to their dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The announcement by Fox was likely intended, in part, to make clear that it has fresh programming — in the form of new series — on deck, despite forecasts of rerun-beset lineups looming as the season wears on. That was unlikely to console "24" fans awaiting the next 24-hour marathon of crises for put-upon hero Jack Bauer.

Fox is a unit of News Corp.

Daily News

I am not sure if you have been following the situation in Pakistan but its become quite intense. Basically, Musharraf declared a state of emergency and has put military rule in place. The issue really is that Musharraf is both the head of the army and the prime minister of the country. This is at conflict because at any point if he doesn't get what he wants as prime minister, he could just use the army and become a dictator. So they were supposed to have elections for prime minster but now he has delayed those and is using his army. There is another character, some lady Bhuto and I have yet to grasp exactly the whole situation but they claim that Musharraf is scared that he will not get elected...but yea perhaps you can understand a bit better for yourself... http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1681115,00.html

And then also I am sure you have heard about oil prices hitting crazy new highs.... http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1681362,00.html
it really is a major issue for our generation and one that we need to address soon. its really connected to world peace and stuff also because the middle east conflicts are all really just over oil...

Joke of the Day

Mike and Nick go into a bar, whooping and hollering. "Bartender, drinks for everyone. We're buying!" they shout.

"What's the occassion?" asks the bartender.

"We just finished a jigsaw puzzle, and it only took us seven months," Nick replies.

"Seven months?" says the bartender. "What's the big deal? It shouldn't take you seven months to do a puzzle."

"Oh, yeah?" Mike answers. "On the box it said 'two to four years'!"