Fuck It's Cold!

Stupid me shouldn't have driven a motorcycle at 70mph in 40 degree weather without wearing atleast two layers of clothes. The weather was 60 degrees when I left the house... Here is another once-a-quarter obligatory picture of the bike and KU student who we bought it from, along with his and my friends.


Creature Comforts is on BBC America. The christmas special episode had a pig asking "Do you feel sexy?". That is hilarious, I still can't stop laughing. I must be the only one who hasn't seen the Wallace and Gromit movie yet.

I have too many posts saved as drafts that I need to get on with publishing.

JibJab

Funny stuff...

The current political climate

I'm not talking about just the war like the link is. Lets say hypothetically, that, I put aside all the valid criticisms about the intelligence failures, foreign policy missteps with North Korea, coalition building, handling of the UN, the larger war on terror, the war in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, the Libby indictment (almost forgot that one), the FEMA response to katrina, and the seeming general disconnect of the president from what's really happening in Iraq, and--we stay for however long is needed in Iraq, we're still left with what will be a bruising fight over how to reduce the deficit and the damage from Katrina.

I forget, which party has been in power for the last 5 years?

I couldn't come up with better namecalling, I have a lot to learn in that sense from the political opposition. You republicans are like temper tantrum throwing 2 year olds, calling help! mommy! there are liberals under my bed. Even when liberals embrace many of the same values you do. There are obviously enough such 2 year olds that groupthink has taken over.

I will mention the few positives, Taliban, Saddam, got what they deserved, although I'll have to disagree with the US support of Pakistan. Iraq seems to be doing good, Last but not least, the economy has semi-grown in those 5 years but real wages and compensation have not.

3 more years is a lot, rest assured, there will be plenty more rankling from unions, and holdon if, If this housing bubble bursts. Where was consumer confidence last month? You can indulge all you want in the democrats are obstructionist flip-floppers self-fulfilling prophecy. It's not going to change much.

Hymen Repair

From the WSJ...

For her 17th wedding anniversary, Jeanette Yarborough wanted to do something special for her husband. In addition to planning a hotel getaway for the weekend, Ms. Yarborough paid a surgeon $5,000 to reattach her hymen, making her appear to be a virgin again.

"It's the ultimate gift for the man who has everything," says Ms. Yarborough, 40 years old, a medical assistant from San Antonio. ...

Dr. Pelosi says an increasing number of patients are trying to "improve their sex lives" by combining hymen repair with an operation to tighten their vaginas. ...

A 26-year-old Latin American woman who lives in New York's Queens had a hymen repair in 2001 and says it took almost two months for her to feel comfortable again. It took even longer for her to enjoy sex.

The married mother of two says she's glad she had the surgery nonetheless. She says her husband wanted to experience intercourse with a virgin. "If a woman isn't a virgin when she gets married, a man can always put her down for that," says the woman, who does part-time clerical work for Ms. Vanegas's Ridgewood clinic.

Such attitudes irk feminists, who say hymen repair is a manifestation of bigger social pressures that keep women subservient to men. "It comes with a whole set of norms of a macho culture," says Silvana Paternostro, Colombian-born author of "In the Land of God and Man: Confronting Our Sexual Culture."

I'm speechless, but not surprised.

Reading about US history and policy

My semi-newly obtained citizenship, I think, requires me to read some new things about the US. I did go to High School here, so it isn't like I know nothing, but arguing with some requires deeper knowledge which I couldn't be borthered about, until now. So far I've read Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky, part of What's the matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank, and I'm going to read 1776 by David McCullough. For some right leaning books, Bill Kristol's new The Weekly Standard: A Reader is out, and/or perhaps The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk? I'm going to have to read more Chomsky after that, and I did manage to see the documentary Manufacturing Consent.

Other books on my list, Lincoln, and Jefferson, but I don't know if I really want to read 300 pages of Christopher Hitchens, when only one of his columns take a good amount of time to think through.

Those are mainstream books (except for Chomsky, depending on who is reading), anything not mainstream that I wouldn't know about worth reading?

So far the best part of What's the matter with Kansas: Kansas was a heavily progressive and democratic state, but those people moved to Canada...

Moving from one country to another...

This is something I've been meaning to document, but haven't had the time, I became a citizen of the US of America, on Friday, September 30th 2005 at around 2 pm. By around, I mean the ceremony was like high school graduation, literally, each of us (80+ people from 35 countries) even got to stand up and speak about what we do and what country we come from. There was a choir to sing patriotic songs, and three judges to administer the Oath of Allegiance, one of whom was also the guest speaker. There were plenty of family members to watch the occasion to boot.

The whole ceremony thing was as anti-climactic as it could've been for a student who has been living in the US for 9 years now.

Some of the immigrants were students, who grew up here and a couple people really couldn't speak English. The rest were middle aged, for whom the guest speakers' speech was perfect for the occasion. The talk about freedom and freedom of speech, even for FOX news is something immigrants understand, but not really. Disagreements aren't considered a part of the process like they are here most of the time. The only thing that kept me from yawning during the speech (far from it actually) was that he mentioned, briefly and in an unbiased manner, nearly all the issues facing America today. Which I was amazingly surprised at, since he is a judge from Kansas. He especially mentioned education, and how he specifically disagreed with the bush administration on it.

Here is the Oath:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

Well, I could careless about the Oath, but... The first sentence, which I have to say, I wasn't fully prepared to say, is it really necessary? Just because my family and I immigrated to the US for better economic opportunities, doesn't mean I'm ready to renounce all allegiance to my birthplace.

My point is this: Neither India nor the US is perfect by a long shot, and I agree and disagree fundamentally with how both countries are governed while still abiding by the current laws. Because both are free countries after all, and the changeable governments and laws are meant to serve the people, not vice versa. So, by my count, I either pledge allegiance to both, or neither.

Confused? All I can say is you have to be an immigrant. I will add though, that the place where I grew up, Mumbai, India, holds a very very special place in my mind and heart, and that isn't about to change.

This is a coincidence, The Daily Show the following Monday, had a newly naturalized US citizen on too, David Rakoff, and their conversation went something like this:
DR: And finally I decided I had to vote.
JS: Why?
DR: Why!? (semi-shocked at question)

A couple other random thoughts: I wouldn't mind knowing, what the importer from Colombia imports to America, and voting is apparently every judges' pet peeve. They all mentioned it enough times.

I know there might be some people from other countries reading this, so, let me clarify when I said 'disagreements aren't considered a part of the process', I meant, no were else can you be more libertarian than in America.

I finally get perks for moving to the US, applying to companies like L3 which require US Citizenship, and Voting... Neither of which is a dream come true.

Audi R10

Following the Audi R8 (Pictured above, see note), I'm now officially waiting in awe for the Audi R10. It's fucking finals week, and it won't be unveiled until tuesday, much less be raced... (crying and sobbing childishly) sigh... back to work.

Note: The Audi R8 made its competition debut in the 12-hour race at Sebring in March 2000. The R8 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times, The 12 Hours of Sebring and all three titles in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) six times in succession. In 77 races to date, the Audi sportscar celebrated 61 wins. An R8 started from pole position 49 times, the most successful Le Mans-Prototype ever is credited with 59 fastest laps. In 2005, its sixth and final full season of competition, the R8 won nine of its 15 races.

Yay Google Video!

The Daily Show bit about the cable hearings on congress, which I haven't fully watched, once again showed the incompetence of the cable industry as a whole. Either that or greed. There is no excuse for there being no website through which I can download only the TV Shows I want to watch. The technology exists, and has for a very long time now. The lone legal alternative available is iTunes, where the videos are formatted to be watched on a two inch screen and not on a TV, and it only started offering videos a month ago! Embracing the online medium can be done with ads, or without video ads. The online medium is about to decimate what's left of the cable industry through services like Google Video, where I've watched more helpful video's than even I'd like to admit.

Every single channel, from my beloved Discovery Science Channel to the Speed Channel need to make their website a portal where people can buy programming. They will only be 5 years late in doing so, but god-forbid they might actually realize that the reach of the internet is close to a billion people now, an order of magnitude higher than the cable networks. CNN acknowledged this fact with the Crossfire/Jon Stweart episode. The last two statements offcourse mean nothing, since in reality there's very little profit outside of what the cable companies' managers see. Luckily, we're not all cable company managers.

This industry is perhaps the best example when it comes to something literally holding back progress, kicking and dragging while it refuses to acknowledge the fact that the true economic value of their content is highest when it's accessible to all through any network. The decency part of the hearings aren't even worth talking about. Jon Stewart said enough about that in the bit.

I will be hoping that the FCC allows consumers to pick individual channels, maybe finally forcing cable providers to embrace the online medium. If that doesn't happen, I'm going to keep downloading things like I have been for a while now, just in HD soon. Here are some other good stories on this.

Represent!

Finally... The british may have setback our manufacturing expertise, but the written knowledge in the vedas will finally be accessible to everyone.

"The electronic encyclopaedia, which will be made available next year, will contain information on the traditional medicines, including exhaustive references, photographs of the plants and scans from the original texts."

"In 1995, the US Patent Office granted a patent on the wound-healing properties of turmeric. Indian scientists protested and fought a two-year-long legal battle to get the patent revoked."

I realize the US patent system no longer serves it's purpose, and adds insult to injury in most fields of research, but patenting a herb is going too far. And last but not least... can you say h-e-a-l-t-h-c-a-r-e?

"The mammoth Indian encyclopaedia may finally give alternative medicine the shot in the arm it sorely needs."

Quote

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. - John Cage

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones. - Me

I'm going to do some meaningful blogging sometime, I really am. If I'm capable of it :)

Article on India

Must read 7-ish page NYT article for all indians.

The Bihar-explaining, part of the article says: "'In Bihar, they'll cut off your neck and leave you six inches shorter,' said Rajesh Sham Singh, 30." and doesn't mention Laloo.

Apart from, this will be what the majority of the US thinks of India for a while, which I don't want to think about now, the article for being as long as it is, conveys enough information about the challenges of building the national highway (as if I know more, I don't). It is positive and hopeful for the most part, although the end line just should not have been. I did laugh enough to cry twice (ask my roommate) while reading the Bihar-explaining parts. Enough said for now.