Movie star gossip...

I normally never indulge in movie star or celebrity gossip...

But this is too cool to just shrug off...

A bunch of my favorite Hong Kong/Chinese film industry folks are gonna be associated with Bhutan..

That's coz Tony Leung (and Carina Lau) are getting married in Bhutan (At the Uma Paro resort) ... and guests include Wong Kar Wai and Faye Wong among others..

How cool is that... 3 of my all time fave personalities from the HK film industry and all of them gonna end up in Bhutan!!

Who knows, maybe that'll inspire Wong Kar Wai to shoot a movie in Bhutan! :-)

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_258012.html

And for those of you who're asking why is Faye Wong so special.. check this out. Here's a clip from Wong Kar Wai's "Chunking Express" with Faye Wong in it, and the song is also Faye Wong's cover of (The Cranberries) "Dreams"... :)

Yup, that's a first alright!

Bhutan and Gender...

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSDEL21390020080513?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

Teen transvestite gets Bhutan thinking about sex
Tue May 13, 2008 3:02am EDT
Reuters

THIMPHU (Reuters Life!) - In Bhutan, the men wear gowns and often carry women's names, but this has not stopped a teenage transvestite from causing a stir by publicly coming out in this tiny, secluded Himalayan kingdom. Names in Bhutan are often androgynous and all men wear a knee-length dress called the gho while women wear the "kira", an ankle-length gown.

But society's attitudes towards sex remain very conservative, which is why 16-year-old Dechen Seldon's decision to publicize his desire to become a woman has set the nation talking.

Seldon walked out of his school a month ago because he did not want to wear the gho as required, the weekly Bhutan Observer reported recently.

"It makes me feel awkward. If they let me wear the kira, I will continue my studies," he said.

Seldon resumed his education in another school last week after the education department intervened and allowed him to wear a girl's uniform. He also dances in a local club and spends his spare time weaving clothes for this friends.

He told the newspaper that he hoped to save enough money for a sex-change operation.

Officials told the Bhutan Times that Seldon was undergoing counseling to ensure he was comfortable with is new sexuality.

"We are counseling him so that he can decide what he wants and know what is important for him," an education ministry official told the newspaper.

Some in Bhutan said Seldon's case was yet another sign that the conservative nation was tentatively opening up.

Bhutan held its first ever parliamentary elections in March, to end a century of royal rule. Internet came to the country along with television just nine years ago.

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

on TV...

Our lab and research has been getting some press attention lately..

I have posted some of the print stuff already...

Now here are some of the TV clips.. (dorky as it may be!)

This one is from WBZ-TV, Boston, February 21.





This one from CBS-42, March 4.




and National News here.. from NBC Today Show, Mar 25.



In the first two clips I'm hemming and hawing my way through...
In the last clip you may catch a quick glimpse of me, if you don't blink. :D

In print.. Part 2

:)






Click on pics for larger views...

Hampshire Gazette
January 25, 2008

A lab as lifesaver? UMass simulator helps drivers see what to look for

BY KRISTIN PALPINI
STAFF WRITER

AMHERST - New drivers run a high risk of being involved in fatal automobile crashes, but the usual suspects - alcohol and speeding - aren't typically the cause, according to research at the University of Massachusetts.

New drivers are 11 times more likely than veteran drivers to die in a car crash during their first six months solo behind the wheel because they don't know how to spot potential hazards, said Donald L. Fisher, director of the UMass Human Performance Laboratory.

Checking to see if a car will pull out from behind a large hedge at an intersection, keeping an eye on people who may step into a crosswalk or slowing down before making a turn around a parked 18-wheeler aren't things the typical teenage driver will do, said Fisher.

"They're not trained for this," he explained, "and it's not the driving schools' fault. You can tell someone a hundred times to check before making a turn, but until they realize or see that they have to do it, they won't."

To rectify this skill deficiency, Fisher, along with doctoral student Anuj K. Pradhan and psychology professor Alexander Pollatsek, created a free downloadable computer program, RAPT, for Risk Awareness and Perception Training. It teaches drivers how to anticipate road hazards.

"I strongly believe, and we have the evidence, that young drivers will most definitely benefit from taking this program," said Pradhan, who has been working on RAPT for four years. "Of course, the disclaimer is that this is not a replacement for a driver's ed course or something like that. It is another piece."

Key: anticipating hazards

This inability to consistently anticipate possible road risks does not belong solely to new drivers. Many drivers under 30 and over 60 have less than stellar rates of hazard anticipation, according to UMass research.

For example, Fisher said, a driver looking to take a right turn around a large truck parked at an intersection is likely to slow down and proceed cautiously only 10 percent of the time. People ages 19-29 are likely to proceed with caution 29 percent of the time; for people 60 and older the rate increases to 56 percent.

People reach their optimal safe driving ability at age 50-55, Fisher said.

"This means that parents need to be trained as well as kids," he said.

RAPT, which can be downloaded from the UMass Web site www.ecs.umass.edu/hpl/RAPT.htm, works in three stages to teach a driver how to spot places where unexpected risks could emerge. The program has been picked up by insurance provider State Farm, which is working on a "snazzier" version of the program, said Fisher.

"I focused on making a free teaching tool," said Fisher, who agrees the program's graphics could be more fetching. "State Farm is interested in making it more appealing to newly licensed drivers."

To develop RAPT, Fisher and Pradhan harvested data from hundreds of driver tests conducted in the UMass lab. The Human Perception Lab features a $750,000 driving simulator - a 1995 Saturn sedan that has been refurbished to measure the reactions of drivers on the road. The Saturn is stable (it has no engine) and is set before three theater screens that display prerecorded driving scenarios.

In addition to chronicling the driver's actions behind the wheel, the driver's eye movements are tracked through specially made glasses. The glasses, which look like shop glasses, monitor the motion of a person's pupils with infrared beams and mirrors.

Using scenes from the Valley, the program shows a participant various scenarios where road risks could occur, such as driving through a four-way intersection. The program then asks the participant to click a mouse pointer where she or he would be looking if they were driving.

In the second stage, participants work through an interactive tutorial on how to spot danger zones. In the third stage the participant goes over real-life scenarios and again plots where she or he should be looking for danger.

Fisher said a person's ability to spot potentially dangerous areas increases from accurately identifying 44 percent of trouble spots to identifying 70 percent of them after completing the program.

"This works in the lab, but does it work in the field?" asked Fisher, describing his next stage of RAPT research.

"We'd like to test whether this reduces crashes."

Fisher and Pradhan are now also working on training programs that aim to show the importance of paying consistent attention to the road and how to temper speed in various driving conditions - two other common factors in teen accidents, Fisher said.

"Younger drivers are not necessarily driving fast, but they are not at the correct speed for the condition," said Pradhan. "If it's icy ... they don't really know how to handle that.

"We're a long ways to go on these," said Pradhan of the lab's next two projects. "But we're working on it."

RAPT research was funded by the Massachusetts Highway Department, the National Science Foundation and private companies.

Haaaaah.. sweet victory..

I had a post here, exactly two years ago on Sept 17th 2005, complaining about the fact that New York Times Online had started a subscription service, Times Select, for select parts of their paper..

Read my 2 year old rant here - http://www.anujpradhan.com/2005/09/capitalists.php

Anyway, Guess what?? :)

Yup, you're right. The New York Times will stop charging access to parts of its website effective Midnight on Tuesday.

Hehehehe..

I sure am right most of the time..

ps - I never subscribed. As of few months ago they had started to make it free for students and educators.. but still, damage had been done.

Define chutzpah....

Russian bomb pips US bunker-buster
REUTERS
Spetember 12, 2007

Moscow: The vacuum bomb (World's Most Powerful Air Bomb) tested by Russia on Wednesday is said to be less harmful on the environment than a nuclear bomb. Alexander Rukshin, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff, said: “I want to stress that the action of this weapon does not contaminate the environment, in contrast to a nuclear one.’’
The consumption of gases in the blast generates a partial vacuum that can compound damage and injuries caused by the explosion itself. ‘‘The main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic shockwave and incredibly high temperature,’’ the reports said. ‘‘All that is alive merely evaporates,’’ Rukshin said.

WTF???????????

Don't damage the environment man... just evaporate every living thing bro.. it's all cool dude!!!

Is that chutzpah? .. or some kind of irony? .. or oxymoronic?? or just plain fraking-shoot-me-in-the-head-coz-this-world-is-going-nuts crazy?????

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

From boingboing.net
by Cory Doctorow

Naomi Klein (No Logo) and Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón (Children of Men) have created a short film to accompany her latest book, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," whose thesis is that present-day global capitalism took hold when its advocates learned to exploit disasters. After a disaster (war, tsunami, terrorist attack), you can push your agenda for worsening labor conditions, looser regulation, and pocket-lining exercises (Enron, Halliburton) while the reeling, disaster-struck population of the world has its attention elsewhere.

Klein attributes this technique to Milton Friedman, who is reported to have said that "only a crisis -- real or perceived -- produces real change." She connects this idea to the fundamental notion underpinning CIA torture techniques (as reported in CIA interrogation manuals from 1963 and 1983) -- to produce a state of shock in which the victim is out of control of her faculties, a "suspended animation" that can be exploited to get victims to do things that violate their own ethics or beliefs.

The Cuaróns' filmmaking is superb, as is Klein's writing. This is a chilling and powerful 7-minute film, and it made me want to pick up the book as soon as possible.

Do watch the video. I haven't read the book yet but it looks like it'll be pretty good.

RIP - Sidney Sheldon

Bestselling Novelist, Screenwriter and Playwright Sidney Sheldon.

Born:
17th February, 1917
Chicago

Died:
31st January, 2007
California

Thank You Jon Stewart

We have all seen TIME Magazine's choice for person of the year 2006.. right? It's YOU. Really.. YOU. you. you.

Yes, sad state of affairs...

And then Jon Stewart goes and says exactly what is on all sane peoples' minds.

Here you go:

iWant

drool drool drool



The new Apple iPhone.

"Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in again."

A New King. A New Page In History.

A momentous event.

Our fourth Druk Gyalpo (King of Bhutan), His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuk, has passed on the Raven Crown to his first son, Trongsa Penlop, Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.

His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuk has been the King of Bhutan from the age of 16, since the demise of the Third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuk in 1972, and has ruled the Kingdom for 34 years.

He now hands over his responsibilities as Monarch and the Head of State to the 26 year old Crown Prince.

Exchange students - check your host family well!!

Got this story off kottke.org

About this Polish exchange student who came to North Carolina, USA for his 'year abroad' study program. His host happened to be a fundamentalist Christian family who tried for 6 months to take the devil out of his soul!! Poor Kid..

excerpt -

"When I got out of the plane in Greensboro in the US state of North Carolina, I would never have expected my host family to welcome me at the airport, wielding a Bible, and saying, 'Child, our Lord sent you half-way around the world to bring you to us.' At that moment I just wanted to turn round and run back to the plane.

Complete story here...

Scientific knowledge put to good use!

This is one of the best stories I've read in seedmagazine.com in a long long time.

About this Cognitive Neuroscience researcher from Boston who uses his knowledge of the human brain and learning, memory and decision making, in the gameshow "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire".

Fascinating win. :)

Here's the link. Click click click.

The Man With No Face

I read this obituary for East German Spymaster Markus Wolf... "...believed to have been the inspiration for John Le Carre's Soviet spymaster "Karla" in the thriller Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."

What a different world then...
but again, is it all that different?
Where have all the spies gone? The old-school original spies...

Wherever you all may be travelling. Salute.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6132684.stm

Happy Diwali

HAPPY DIWALI FOLKS....

I haven't posted in a while coz i was out in sunny california.. I was in San Francisco for the HFES Annual Meeting.. Just got back yesterday. Such a beautiul city!! Mebbe I'll have some photographs up.

Sorry about the stupid CPanel window popping up asking you for a password (twice) on this site. I think the tagboard site is down or something and right now I can't be bothered to change the code.. so bear with that crap for a while okie.

In the meanwhile, read about this billionaire who accidentally shoved his elbow through $140 nillion Picasso painting. Now I don't feel so stupid about burning my laptop. (? !!!!!!!!!) WTF!!! yeah.. it's a long story.. for another time. Lemme get over it first and then I might share with ya'll.

Kalimpong kalimpong

Kiran Desai wins the booker for "Inheritance of Loss"!!!!!!

Congratulations Ms. Desai!!!

I am happy and excited!!!! (and vindicated also!! hehe)

Great literature need no excuses. Take life with a pinch of salt, and learn to look at it from others' viewpoints.
This is for all those people from the Hills of Darjeeling who feel that she, as an author, has done an injustice to the people of the area. I say, 1st please go read the book. Then take a cold shower, and reread the book without your biases and prejudices. Learn to be broader minded and tolerant and you will then understand what it is all about.

Mind your language...

Are you - in an airport in the US?
Do you - speak a "foreign" language?
Do you - have a cellphone?

well... i guess you should be advised that a combination of the above three factors could result in you missing your flight (at the very least) or worse if you're unlucky (or don't cower and cringe to airport officials)...

Here's a story from the Seattle Post Intelligencer...

Monday, October 2, 2006 · Last updated 3:15 p.m. PT

Man questioned and misses flight for speaking Tamil

By BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTER

A 32-year-old man speaking Tamil and some English about a sporting rivalry was questioned at Sea-Tac Airport and missed his flight Saturday because at least one person thought he was suspicious.

The Port of Seattle dispatched its police officers to investigate the case, which occurred Saturday around noon, said Bob Parker, airport spokesman. The Chicago man was preparing to board an American Airlines flight to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The man was speaking Tamil, a language largely used in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore, on his cell phone at the departure gate and on the aircraft. An off-duty airline employee heard the conversation and informed the flight crew.

The man also apparently said something in English about a sporting rivalry at his alma mater.

"It's a big misunderstanding," said Parker. "He had a perfectly innocent explanation that all added up."

Parker said it is incumbent on airport officials to investigate reports of suspicious activity.

"It's hard to triage over the phone," he said.

But Parker had no explanation as to why a man speaking Tamil, which is spoken worldwide, would be considered suspicious. The person who contacted airport officials could give an answer to that question, he added.

Parker said the man was cooperative and boarded a later flight to Texas. He told officials that he would not speak in a foreign language on his cell phone at an airport in the future.

Guess I gotta be careful to eespeeek only een eengleesh on my way to SanFran this month..

lookin forward to the trip.. not looking forward to the travel!!

new appleicious goodies...

New iTunes (v 7)
-incorporates good old CoverFlow. FINALLY
-free album art! (Amazon must be sighing with relief)
-new (better) layout
-gapless playback
-640 X 480 video playback
-integrated iPod management
-Movie Downloads.
-$12.99 a pop for new ones.. $9.99 for old ones!
-30 mins to download a movie (broadband)
-start watching after the 1st minute.
-near DVD quality

New iPod Shuffle
-its tinier (Altho I wouldn't still say it is the smallest mp3 player in the world. That distinction still is the mobiblu's)
-only 1 capacity, 1GB
-$79

2nd Generation iPod Nano
-now with brushed aluminum cases
-now in color!!!
-brighter screens
-more battery life (24 hrs)
-upto 8GB available now ($249)
-it's even smaller.

revamped iPod video
-new headphones
-brighter display
-gapless playback
-increased battery
-searchable songs!! -- letter input through scroll wheel. Finally!
-downloadable games (pay for them!)
-Reduces price
-ups to 80GB capacity!!! for $349. (That's the HDD on my macbook!!)

iTV
-temporary name
-set top box which stream movies/videos/music/photos/TV shows wirelessly to your TV from your computer.
-coming soon - Q1 2007
-$299

Top 25 censored news stories of 2007

A list (compiled by Project Censored) of the top 25 socially significant news stories that were under-reported (or not reported at all) by the mainstream press in the US.

#1 Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media

#2 Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran

#3 Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger

#4 Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US

#5 High-Tech Genocide in Congo

#6 Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy

# 7 US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq

#8 Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act

#9 The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall

#10 Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians

#11 Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed

#12 Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines

#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup

#14 Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US

#15 Chemical Industry is EPA's Primary Research Partner

#16 Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court

#17 Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda

#18 Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story

#19 Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever

#20 Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem

#21 Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers

#22 $Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed

#23 US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe

#24 Cheney's Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year

#25 US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region

Got these from www.projectcensored.org/.
boingboing.net pointed me towards it.

I have no idea why they are top 25 censored stories of 2007.. instead of 2006 or earlier.. Predictions maybe?

The projectcensored.org website has more details on all of the above stories.

Here is a part of the details of #24.. The one about Cheney/Halliburton/Millionsofdollarsarrangement

Vice President Dick Cheney's stock options in Halliburton rose from $241,498 in 2004 to over $8 million in 2005, an increase of more than 3,000 percent, as Halliburton continues to rake in billions of dollars from no-bid/no-audit government contracts.

An analysis released by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) reveals that as Halliburton's fortunes rise, so do the Vice President's. Halliburton has already taken more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney administration for work in Iraq. They were also awarded many of the unaccountable post-Katrina government contracts, as off-shore subsidiaries of Halliburton quietly worked around U.S. sanctions to conduct very questionable business with Iran (See Story #2). "It is unseemly," notes Lautenberg, "for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his administration funnels billions of dollars to it."

According to the Vice President's Federal Financial Disclosure forms, he holds the following Halliburton stock options:

100,000 shares at $54.5000 (vested), expire December 3, 2007
33,333 shares at $28.1250 (vested), expire December 2, 2008
300,000 shares at $39.5000 (vested), expire December 2, 2009

The Vice President has attempted to fend off criticism by signing an agreement to donate the after-tax profits from these stock options to charities of his choice, and his lawyer has said he will not take any tax deduction for the donations. However, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concluded in September 2003 that holding stock options while in elective office does constitute a "financial interest" regardless of whether the holder of the options will donate proceeds to charities. Valued at over $9 million, the Vice President could exercise his stock options for a substantial windfall, not only benefiting his designated charities, but also providing Halliburton with a tax deduction.

CRS also found that receiving deferred compensation is a financial interest. The Vice President continues to receive deferred salary from Halliburton. While in office, he has received the following salary payments from Halliburton:

Deferred salary paid by Halliburton to Vice President Cheney in 2001: $205,298
Deferred salary paid by Halliburton to Vice President Cheney in 2002: $162,392
Deferred salary paid by Halliburton to Vice President Cheney in 2003: $178,437
Deferred salary paid by Halliburton to Vice President Cheney in 2004: $194,852

(The CRS report can be downloaded at: http://lautenberg.senate.gov/Report.pdf)

These CRS findings contradict Vice President Cheney's puzzling view that he does not have a financial interest in Halliburton. On the September 14, 2003 edition of Meet the Press in response to questions regarding his relationship with Halliburton, where from 1995 to 2000 he was employed as CEO, Vice President Cheney said, "Since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years."

Comment: A similar undercovered story of conflicting interest and disaster profiteering by those in the top echelon of the U.S. Government is of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's connections to Gilead Sciences, the biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu—the influenza remedy that is now the most-sought after drug in the world. This story was brought forward by Fortune senior writer, Nelson D. Schwartz, on October 31, 2005 in an article titled "Rumsfeld's growing stake in Tamiflu," and by F. William Engdahl for GlobalResearch, on October 30, 2005, in an article titled "Is avian flu another Pentagon hoax?"

Rumsfeld served as Gilead's chairman from 1997 until he joined the Bush administration in 2001, and he still holds a Gilead stake valued at between $5 million and $25 million, according to Federal Financial Disclosures filed by Rumsfeld.
The forms don't reveal the exact number of shares Rumsfeld owns, but whipped up fears of an avian flu pandemic and the ensuing scramble for Tamiflu sent Gilead's stock from $35 to $47 in 2005, making the Pentagon chief, already one of the wealthiest members of the Bush cabinet, at least $1 million richer.

What's more, the federal government is emerging as one of the world's biggest customers for Tamiflu. In July 2005, the Pentagon ordered $58 million worth of the treatment for U.S. troops around the world, and Congress is considering a multibillion dollar purchase. Roche expects 2005 sales for Tamiflu to total at about $1 billion, compared with $258 million in 2004.

Hah... I remember saying one time that the whole avian flu business was hyped up by the makers of the Tamiflu for profit... Maybe I was right!! Damn, I should have blogged it, so that I'd have proof to say "I told you so"...

Miracles galore....

ooooooh...

I am so dying to find out what the tests show! Why was the water sweet? Hope the poor people don't get sick!!

Cynical cynical me. It might have been a true miracle!!

Maybe the "Chocolate Virgin Mary" is a real miracle too.

What about the Curious case of God Ganesha Drinking Milk more than 10 years ago? (Cached Google Link with more info)

Indians drink "divine" sea water as it turns sweet

By Reuters
Saturday August 19, 01:20 PM

MUMBAI, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Thousands of Indians drank from a murky Arabian Sea creek after news spread overnight that its water had miraculously turned sweet and could cure illnesses, police said on Saturday.

About 5,000 people gathered at the creek in India's biggest city of Mumbai overnight, and many of them were seen drinking the dirty water with their palms, they said.

"Sweet seawater, this is a miracle. This water is divine," Sheikh Naseer, a Mumbai resident, told a local TV news channel.

He was also shown giving a young boy a bath in the creek's murky waters that receive thousands of tonnes of sewage and industrial waste every day.

Some people carried seawater away in bottles and plastic bags, saying they were going to share it with their families. Children as well as adults bathed in the murky water in which garbage and plastic were seen floating.

Police said the news spread after some fishermen tasted the water and found it sweet and told local residents about it.

"There has been a mad rush to the creek. There is a dargah nearby and people felt this is something divine," said S. Kumar, a police officer, referring to an Islamic mausoleum in the area.

But police stepped in and stopped people from going to the creek on Saturday after authorities and doctors warned that the water could be polluted and drinking it could be dangerous.

Mumbai's civic officials said the water could have temporarily lost its salinity due to several reasons, including pollution and inflow of freshwater from a nearby source.

"We have collected a sample of the water and sent it for testing," a city official said, adding that the water in the creek had returned to being saline.

Last year three people drowned in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai after thousands of people made a dash for a beach where diamonds were rumoured to be washing ashore.

Middle East - For and Against ceasefire.

An infographic by The Independent showing how the US and UK stand out in their refusal to support a ceasefire in the Middle east.

Saw this on kottke.org.

Is Iran the next Iraq?

A fascinating and scary article by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh (responsible for uncovering the Abu Ghraib scandal) in the New Yorker.

He talks about the present thinking in the Bush administration about Iran and how the neocons are gung-ho for a military option, including the use of tactical nukes. The article shows G. W. Bush's main aim in Iran to be regime change, not just counter-proliferation. High level sources talk about how Bush believes that "saving" Iran will be his legacy.

And since he is politically free now, he is dangerous.

Speaking of President Bush, the House member (senior member of the House Appropriations Committee,) said, "The most worrisome thing is that this guy has a messianic vision."

There are senior pentagon officers and officials are trying to get the nuclear option off the table
but meeting with resistance. There are talks of high level resignations over the matter...

The attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he added, and some officers have talked about resigning. Late this winter, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sought to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans for Iran - without success, the former intelligence official said. "The White House said, 'Why are you challenging this? The option came from you.' "

Another bit from the article...

One former defense official, who still deals with sensitive issues for the Bush Administration, told me that the military planning was premised on a belief that "a sustained bombing campaign in Iran will humiliate the religious leadership and lead the public to rise up and overthrow the government." He added, "I was shocked when I heard it, and asked myself, 'What are they smoking?' "

Please read the article. It is long but well researched and well written and very informative regarding the Iran nuclear issue.

Link to article...
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact

gladwell on big cars and small cars

I remember having written somewhere that I wasn't completely impressed by Malcolm Gladwell and his "Blink"...

But this weblog entry of his is excellently researched, thought out and presented...

Gladwell talks about the S.U.V. culture in the US and of its whys and whats...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ!!

Click here for the full article (Will open in new window)..

Here's an excerpt...

In Europe and Japan, people think of a safe car as a nimble car. That's why they build cars like the Jetta and the Camry, which are designed to carry out the driver's wishes as directly and efficiently as possible. In the Jetta, the engine is clearly audible. The steering is light and precise. The brakes are crisp. The wheelbase is short enough that the car picks up the undulations of the road. The car is so small and close to the ground, and so dwarfed by other cars on the road, that an intelligent driver is constantly reminded of the necessity of driving safely and defensively. An S.U.V. embodies the opposite logic. The driver is seated as high and far from the road as possible. The vehicle is designed to overcome its environment, not to respond to it. Even four-wheel drive, seemingly the most beneficial feature of the S.U.V., serves to reinforce this isolation. Having the engine provide power to all four wheels, safety experts point out, does nothing to improve braking, although many S.U.V. owners erroneously believe this to be the case. Nor does the feature necessarily make it safer to turn across a slippery surface: that is largely a function of how much friction is generated by the vehicle's tires. All it really does is improve what engineers call tracking—that is, the ability to accelerate without slipping in perilous conditions or in deep snow or mud. Champion says that one of the occasions when he came closest to death was a snowy day, many years ago, just after he had bought a new Range Rover. "Everyone around me was slipping, and I was thinking, Yeahhh. And I came to a stop sign on a major road, and I was driving probably twice as fast as I should have been, because I could. I had traction. But I also weighed probably twice as much as most cars. And I still had only four brakes and four tires on the road. I slid right across a four-lane road. " Four-wheel drive robs the driver of feedback. "The car driver whose wheels spin once or twice while backing out of the driveway knows that the road is slippery," Bradsher writes. "The SUV driver who navigates the driveway and street without difficulty until she tries to brake may not find out that the road is slippery until it is too late. " Jettas are safe because they make their drivers feel unsafe. S.U.V.s are unsafe because they make their drivers feel safe. That feeling of safety isn't the solution; it's the problem.

bush and blair are liars....

there.. i've gone and said it!!!

like MILLIONS of other souls... but of course, it ain't gonna make a difference, is it?

Remember the "Downing Street Memo"? I wrote about it last year..
http://www.anujpradhan.com/2005/05/downing-street-memo.php

Well, now there's this new memo from a closed door meeting between Blair and Bush in the Oval Office on Jan 31st, 2003. (about 6 weeks before Bush attacked Iraq).

And the memo says, VERY GODDAMN clearly, that Bush and Blair knew there were no WMDs and knew they were going to attack Iraq, regardless of whether they were able to get a UN resolution or not..

The New York Times has covered this very welll.. Click Here For Story (You'll need an account - the account is free and well worth it) (Will open in new window)

So, please read and be informed and tell your friends and the stupid ignorant ones who still think that Bush was justified in attacking Iraq and that Iraq/Saddam had something to do with 9/11. And while you're explaining that to your friend, you might also want to bring up the issue of Osama Bin Laden, who seems to have disappeared from the hit list of the Bush Administration.. they've given up? Wasn't he the mastermind?

Anyway... ya, that's the story. Yet another memo leaked that proves that the world has been lied to by the leaders of two of the most powerful, influential and important nations.. And we can do nothing about it. AND... THE CHERRY ON THE ICING ON THE CAKE... Both the liars even got re-elected!!!

In print...

Click on the pics for the larger images (will open in new windows).

News

From The Republican

Link to Story


Link To Pictures - Edit: Added this line later in the day.. :)

Computer aids driver's ed skills
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
By STAN FREEMAN
sfreeman@repub.com

AMHERST - A rite of passage endured by generations of teens, "Driver's Ed" may soon be headed into the shop for an overhaul.

Researchers at University of Massachusetts in Amherst found that novice drivers who used a computerized program to train them in recognizing risks on the road were much more likely than untrained drivers to look for those risks once they were on an actual road.

"This is the first time in the history of driver education that anyone has shown any effect of training on crash-related behaviors," said Donald L. Fisher, director of the university's Human Performance Laboratory and the lead researcher on the study that will be published in the journal Injury Prevention.

Young drivers are involved in a disproportionate share of fatal crashes. In fact, 16-year-old drivers have a fatal crash rate eight times that of drivers ages 45 to 64. Often, the cause of such crashes is a failure by novice drivers to scan the roadway for potential risks, such as a car coming out of a blind driveway, Fisher said.

While standard driver education teaches students the physical mechanics of driving a car, it does not seem to teach them to drive safely, he said. "There has been no study documenting the effectiveness of standard driver education in the reduction of crashes."

The study by Fisher, Anuj Pradhan and Alexander P. Pollatsek began with the training of novice drivers on a computer. They were shown still pictures of various driving situations, such as a truck parked so that it blocked a crosswalk, and then asked to use the cursor to mark areas of the scene where risks existed, such as where a pedestrian might walk into the path of the car. Mistakes sent them to explanatory screens and then they were shown new pictures.

Next, 12 drivers who had gone through the training as well as 12 drivers who had not were tested on a driving simulator and on actual roads in Amherst and Hadley to measure how well they identified risks. All wore equipment that tracked their eye movements so that the researchers could determine where they looked as they drove.

The study found that 70 percent of the trained drivers looked at places where there were risks on the road similar to those encountered in their training. Only 33 percent of the untrained drivers looked for those same risks. The study also found that 59 percent of the trained drivers looked at places on the road where risks existed that were not like those in their training. Among the untrained drivers, 39 percent looked for those same risks.

Fisher said, "For those scenarios that they were trained to recognize on the PC, the drivers did very good, but what was really surprising was how well they did in scenarios they were not trained for," indicating the training seemed to give them a general education to driving risks.

Despite the findings, traditional driver's education still has a place in training young drivers, he said.

"There is an important role schools can play. The drivers need to know the rules of the road and how to maneuver the vehicle. And during the time on the road, it's critical to have a driving instructor with the student. However, there is no doubt in my mind that driver education ought to include (computer) programs like this," Fisher said.

Something to worry about

Very Important News Article!!

From the BBC.

Himalayan melting risk surveyed
By Navin Singh
BBC News, Kathmandu

A new weather station is expected to show the extent of warming in the Himalayas, one of the world's biggest deposits of ice and a key source of fresh water.

It has been installed on the longest Himalayan glacier, in the Everest region of Nepal.

There have been numerous reports of glacial retreats in the Himalayas over the years, but this weather station will be able to quantify changes to the local climate.

One part of it has been set up on the Nguzumpa Glacier to record solar radiation, relative humidity, air and soil temperature, wind speed and direction, and precipitation.

The other part has been placed in the river fed by the 35km-long glacier, to measure changes in flow caused by glacial melt.

Officials with Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Metrology will climb up the Cho Oyu Mountain to the Nguzumpa Glacier in March to collect data from the unmanned station.

"Once we get to see the figures in March, we will learn the extent of glacial retreat caused by global warming," said the department's chief glaciologist, Om Ratna Bajracharya.

Temperatures rising

Previous studies have shown temperatures in the Himalayas have been rising at a rate of 0.06C per year, fuelling fears that melting glaciers have been filling glacial lakes more rapidly.

There are 3,250 glaciers in the Nepalese Himalayas, and 2,315 of them contain glacial lakes that are increasing in size at varying rates.

"While we do know that there is a lot of glacier melting due to global warming, we still need to know the exact causes and dynamics of such melting," said Chandra Prasad Gurung, Nepal representative of the environmental group WWF which provided the weather station equipment.

"Therefore, having the weather station installed will help us understand more of the weather patterns and enable us to monitor the issue clearly."

Before the station, scientists either visited the glaciers themselves or studied satellite images to see any changes.

Most of the scientific reports have shown that glacial retreat and increases in lake size are occurring at a rapid rate.

Between 1970 and 1989, Japanese researchers discovered most glaciers in the Everest region had retreated 30-60m (100-200ft). To the west, in the Dhaulagiri region, field studies carried out before 1994 showed the same trend.

Nepal's most studied glacier in Tsorong Himal underwent a 10m (33ft) retreat between 1978 and 1989.

However, the Himalayan glacial system is not the only one under threat.

The World Glacier Monitoring Service, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep), collated records from across the globe and concluded that 30 major glaciers - assessed as being a representative global sample - had thinned by an average of 6m (20ft) between 1980 and 2001.

Flooding lakes

Two years ago Unep and the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development found that 20 glacial lakes in Nepal and 24 in Bhutan were filling up so rapidly that their walls could breach by 2009.

The report was based on satellite images, but there have been no follow-up studies even though glaciologists have called for urgent further investigation.

Their worries are triggered by both the short- and long-term problems that retreating glaciers can pose.

A short-term problem is Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (Glof), the result of shrinking glaciers and melting ice that causes lakes to grow and breach loose moraine walls, sending huge floods of water, mud and boulders downstream.

In 1985 a glacial lake burst in Khumbu in the Everest region, killing at least 20 people and washing away a hydropower station, the trekking trail to Everest base camp and numerous bridges.

Researchers say the worst-case scenario would be a major Himalayan earthquake, which could cause dozens of glacial lakes to burst simultaneously.

In Peru, experts say about 30,000 people have died in Glof-related incidents.

In the long-term, computer simulations suggest that global warming will affect the flow of Himalayan rivers over the 21st Century.

They indicate spring flow in these rivers will increase over the next five decades, but the time will come when there will be so little snow in the Himalayas that the rivers could run dry in the dry season.

"In some rivers, the flow may go down by as much as 90%," said hydrologist Syed Iqbal Hosnain, of the University of Calicut, India, who modelled what would happen in snow-fed regional rivers.

But the depletion in water level in Himalayan rivers will not just affect the lives of people in the mountains, but also the hundreds of millions of people who live downstream.

Nearly 70% of discharge to the River Ganges comes from Nepalese snow-fed rivers, which means that if Himalayan glaciers dry up, so could the Ganges.

This could also apply to other major rivers in South Asia like the Brahmaputra and Indus, the lifelines for millions.

Please read and control your greenhouse gas emissions.

Thank You

heaven help us...

From The Telegraph

Bushism precedes Bush to India - Presidential jitters in Washington, optimism in Delhi
K.P. NAYAR (www.telegraphindia.com)

Washington, Feb. 24: US President George W. Bush's penchant for malapropisms and for putting his foot in his mouth will keep Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior members of his cabinet on tenterhooks during the 60 hours or so that Bush will spend on Indian soil next week.

That nervousness is something the Indian leadership will share with the US President's aides, if the last three days of preparations here for the Bush trip are any indication.

Bush nearly turned America's long-standing Kashmir policy upside down on Wednesday when he spoke at the Asia Society about his upcoming trip to India and Pakistan.

The President said: "America supports a resolution in Kashmir that is acceptable to both sides." And in saying so, he dropped a bombshell.

For more than 40 years, America's policy on Kashmir has favoured a solution that stresses three elements: India, Pakistan and the wishes of the Kashmiri people. In one stroke, Bush jettisoned four decades of finely-crafted US diplomacy on Kashmir when he eliminated Kashmiris from the entire dispute and made it an issue solely between India and Pakistan.

As soon as he got off the Asia Society's podium, state department and White House aides pulled Bush aside and told him to do quick damage control, according to sources in the Bush administration.

Their stakes were high. With that single statement, the entire presidential visit to India and Pakistan could have become mired in controversy.

Precisely one-and-a-half hours later, Bush used an interview in the White House to set the record straight.

"America supports a solution that is acceptable to all sides," he hastily clarified.

"As you might recall, in my remarks, I said 'to both sides'. I would like the record to be so that the world hears me say 'all sides'. I fully understand that the deal has to be acceptable to the Indians, Paks, as well as the citizens of Kashmir."

But in making the clarification, Bush further put his foot in his mouth. "Paks" or "Pakis", like "Japs", are derogatory terms, carefully avoided in public, though commonly used in private to reflect the true feelings of someone towards the Pakistanis or the Japanese.

And he offended the Indians by talking about the "citizens of Kashmir" without obviously realising that Kashmir is not an Independent country and that its people are Indian or Pakistani citizens depending on which side of the Line of Control they live on.

What followed during the White House interview was like the late night comedy shows that Americans are glued to every night.

Singh and Pervez Musharraf may read the transcript to prepare themselves for the bricks Bush might drop on their feet during conversations in New Delhi and Islamabad next week.

"Is the US more comfortable dealing with dictators and monarchs?" one journalist asked Bush.

THE PRESIDENT: Do what now? Do I feel comfortable doing what?

Q Dealing with dictators and monarchs?

THE PRESIDENT: Do I feel comfortable dealing with them?

Q No, the US.

THE PRESIDENT: The US feel comfortable with dealing with dictators?

Q And monarchs.

THE PRESIDENT: And monarchs? Well, I mean, I have got a great relationship with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain. (Laughter) She is a lovely lady and a great figure in a country that is an important ally. And, of course, that monarchy is very supportive of a free and open and democratic system."

When Bush wanted to terminate the interview and sought the final question, one of the journalists tried to get the President's view on cricket and Bollywood.

Q Between a cricket match and a Bollywood movie, what would a -

THE PRESIDENT: Cricket match and a -

Q You like watching?

THE PRESIDENT: What was the second?

Q It's between a Bollywood movie and a cricket match.

THE PRESIDENT: I'm a cricket match person. (Laughter) I appreciate it. As I understand it, I may have a little chance to learn something about cricket. It's a great pastime. (Laughter)

What took the cake, however, is this segment.

Q Mr President, what is your earliest memory of India?

WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: We have got to go to the next one.

Q What is your earliest memory of India and Indians?

THE PRESIDENT: My best memory?

Q Earliest.

THE PRESIDENT: At least memory?

WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Earliest.

THE PRESIDENT: Earliest. (Laughter)

Q Earliest.

The exchange, which is typical of Bush's conversations in private and public would be funny, not tragic, if the person at the centre of it all was not the most powerful man on Earth.

WHAT? for real? what's with Texas?

Here is the news story..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4689428.stm

Read it please..

There are "hunting" ranches in Texas, which stock exotic endangered animals, animals that are no longer present in their natural habitats in Afria and India etc, but are being bred in these ranches. For what? For a chance to shoot them, for about $8500 a pop!!

And there are over 500 of these ranches in Texas. Stocked with rare Antelope, Giraffes, Gazelles, other species of deer... And these guys actually have the audacity to say that they are helping in conservation of the animals! How twisted can some logic get? Breed and raise endangered animals to shoot them? and then claim that you are protecting them.

And the best part ...

...recent decision by the Bush administration... granted a special exemption to hunting ranches, removing protection for certain endangered animals.

It means hunters can continue to hunt and kill three species of endangered antelope in captivity - the dama gazelle, the addax and the scimitar-horned oryx - so long as they give 10% of profits to conservation.

?????????????????????????????

..that's probably because the president's buddies all run these ranches and i'm sure the president himself takes much pleasure in going down to these hellholes to shoot a few endangered creatures once in a while.. How wrong can something be??

I remember being confused and surprised by a scene in the movie "Syriana" where one of the lobbyists is shown shooting gazelles in Texas. So this is what it was huh? I'm speechless. This is so wrong. so so wrong.

Liar liar pants on fire

Blair is as bad as Bush.. I guess many of you knew that anyways!!

Anyway, this article, from The Guardian, is an interesting one..

unbelievable...

un friggin believable..

talk about a brainwave..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4585026.stm

and

http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/

that's a moment of .. Why didn't I think of that??