one of the better artciles I have read on the Ayodhya temple issue.
I guess Vir Sanghvi is not completely pinkofied.

is he the guru of islamic jehadi terrorits.
snippets from the article:
The most useful insights into the shaping of Bin Laden may lie not in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, or the rampant materialism of 1970s Saudi Arabia, but the biography of a long dead Egyptian fundamentalist scholar called Sayyid Qutb.
Qutb, regarded as the father of modern fundamentalism and described by his (Arab) biographer as "the most famous personality of the Muslim world in the second half of the 20th century", is being increasingly cited as the figure who has most influenced the al-Qaida leader.

Qutb seems to have rejected all kinds of government, secular and theocratic, and, on one reading at least, he seems to advocate a kind of anarcho-Islam.

Am editing extensively my blog(as my regular readers would have noticed from the new format). please leave your feedback/comments on the tag board on the right of the screen.

a new way to fight spam
looks like this thing will actually stop or at least control spam(if its ever implemented).
the funda is "if you are not on my buddy list you pay a small amount of money to send me a email". this money is paid to a not-for-profit website which will issue the charity stamp.

Something dosent ring true about this

A american young woman protests in favor of palestinians and dies for her cause
a snippet from her email to her parents

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Currently, the Israeli army is building a fourteen-meter-high wall between Rafah in Palestine and the border, carving a no-mans land from the houses along the border. Six hundred and two homes have been completely bulldozed according to the Rafah Popular Refugee Committee. The number of homes that have been partially destroyed is greater.

Today as I walked on top of the rubble where homes once stood, Egyptian soldiers called to me from the other side of the border, "Go! Go!" because a tank was coming. Followed by waving and "what's your name?". There is something disturbing about this friendly curiosity. It reminded me of how much, to some degree, we are all kids curious about other kids: Egyptian kids shouting at strange women wandering into the path of tanks. Palestinian kids shot from the tanks when they peak out from behind walls to see what's going on. International kids standing in front of tanks with banners.

Israeli kids in the tanks anonymously, occasionally shouting-- and also occasionally waving--many forced to be here, many just aggressive, shooting into the houses as we wander away.
--------------------------------------------

she seems to be a honest lover of the palestinian cause.
i wonder how many palestinians have died for their cause and why their stories are never highlighted.
more links abt rachel : here and here

what is this new Technical Intelligence Agency
is it going to be like NSA as suggested by the article or more like the clearing house of all collected electronic intelligence an euphemism for tapped radio signals ?

Bombay Train blast
right on the aniversery of the bombay blasts there has been another blast in a local train in bombay. I am pretty worried. Is my Bombay (Mumbai wotever...) turning into another jerusalaem. was just talking to some relatives in mumbai and all of them seem pretty worried. police also seems to be taking this quite seriously. there are sniffer dogs a-plenty in Wadala and the rumors are flying thick and fast.

Babies and Dogs.
i feel americans give a lot of importance to pets esp dogs and cats. they are present everywhere. There are a lot more pet food/ medicine/ litter collector/ litter deoderiser etc ads than baby food or baby medicines ads. i understand abt baby food becoming a standard product and no longer requiring ads but still it does not mean well for a society to have more pet stuff ads than baby food ads. i feel this is a mirroring of the lop-sided value structure of the american society. whats your opinion?

Lest we Forget
March 12 is the 10th anniversery of the Mumbai (Bombay) bomb blasts conducted by muslim militants in conjunction with the the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI which killed over 260 people and brought the city to its knees. but due to the spirit of the people of Mumbai it was fully working the next day.
Thanks to Ravikiran for reminding me.

cricket lovers read this.
why is dalmia suddenly so eager for india to play pakistan. i would goo one step ahead and say that dalmia is planning a split in icc. for this he needs a big-money tournament. nothing like a indo-pak test series. in the process he also gets the "asian votes" or asian support. as it is south africa supports india. he created the bangladesh vote too for this purpose only. am sure kenya is being dangled a vote(test-playing status..they do deserve this tough) too. this guy is amazing. trust him to make up something grand pretty soon after the WC.

non-cricket lovers who dont know wot am talking abt, please excuse.

this is what i like about US (a democracy):
A sikh is harrased by a budweiser sipping "gentleman" who thinks he is Osama's helper in NY subway and other random people help him(the sikh guy) out of the situation which could have turned ugly.

and this happens in India. SO SAD.

end of freedom in america
snippet::
Stephen Downs was wearing a T-shirt bearing the words "Give Peace A Chance" that he had just purchased from a vendor inside the Crossgates Mall in Guilderland, New York, near Albany.

"I was in the food court with my son when I was confronted by two security guards and ordered to either take off the T-shirt or leave the mall," said Downs.

what is hapenning to america : the land of freedom and liberty.

a very intersting cricket link

Cricket and Terrorism.
Prem Panicker rightly points out that:

And while flushing out the crap, let's start with that old chestnut that politics and sports should be kept separate -- each time you hear it, in context of a World Cup that has seen as much unsavory politics as cricket, you find your teeth on edge. (Did anyone ask England to keep politics from sport when it boycotted Zimbabwe for purely political reasons?)

This Cup has seen two boycotts. So how many Englishmen have died at the hands of Zimbabweans? None.

How many Kiwis have been killed by Kenyans? None.

How many Indians have died at the hands of sponsored terrorism? A small matter of 60-something thousand.

That, and only that, is the reason India has not played Pakistan in bilateral competition in three years, no matter what General Pervez Musharraf thinks or says; that is the reason why India will not play Pakistan in bilateral competition in the near future, no matter how Musharraf pleads or blusters.

see this amazing reconstruction of the night sky from space. it is said that the relative deveopment of regions can be seen from the areas which are lit up or not. all tough it cant be taken over one night i believe it does have some value. notice the contrast between north and south korea, india and pakistan, coastal china and its interiors, density in japan, along the nile and in coastal europe. the dark continent is truly dark. northa america is truly astonishing(no ednsity of population but amazing density of light/development/wotever)

your comments on today's india-pak match.

in keeping with the mood (24 straight hours of algorithm complexity analysis and coding a maxflow push-relabel algo)

(Imagining a situation when I am left alone in the company of a goat and I have nothing to do. The goat, interestingly can talk, and that makes me curious. The following is an excerpt from one of the conversations that I had with the goat)

Goat: Let me ask you something. Do you think you are superior to me in anyway? “Superior” – within quotes, like mini me does in Austin Powers!

Me: Oh yeah I do! But very well, after you mentioned you are fan of Austin Powers, I may have to rethink the whole thing. *sheepish grin*

Goat: Now you thought that was funny? Can I ask you why exactly do you think you are superior?

Me: Well if you are giving me a choice there, I would opt for you not asking! I am not really looking forward to an intellectual argument with – of all things in this far and wide world – a GOAT!

Goat: Don’t ever dare you say that, dimwit! You don’t think you have two horns extra, do you? For the fact of it, I do! *proud laughter – something that goes muhaahaahaahaa*

Me: Aargh! I never imagined a goat could laugh that way. Or for that matter any way!

Goat: And before you skip the point, and this time I don’t give you a choice – c’mon tell me what makes you superior?

Me: You know something – now this is so ridiculous! I mean, I don’t understand why I have to answer this!

Goat: I will probably explain why at the end of it all, but first answer me – you Bozo!

Me: *frustrated and helpless* Well then, if that is what it is, let me try some inspired guessing. Goatie, you can’t drive a car and I can! Simple eh?

Goat: Duh – and you talk about training! Has anyone ever tried training me to drive a car? Try doing that and I bet I will learn quicker than you! Not to mention the bribe you gave to that officer to get your license *blurp!*

Me: Now look here! I know I am throwing arrows in the dark. But do you really think we have something to debate here? I mean this is so outrageously obvious!

Goat: I don’t think so! So better get serious on this!

Me: Okay then! * a brief pause for some gasping * Now this is serious! I mean, serious trouble!!

Me(again): I can sum up a huge list of numbers and tell you what the total is – atleast approximately – if you know what I mean! Believe me, I have never seen a goat do that! Uh!! * sense of relief *

Goat: Same thing again. Teach me how numbers work and what you mean by “summing” them up and I will do the total for you! Accurately, for that matter!

Me: Hmm.. playing smart eh? Don’t know anything and blame it all on me? Am I committed to be some kinda life long coach for ya? I have other things, you bet!!

Goat: Now gimme a break! I thought we were debating this on paper! I ask you – theoretically – what is it that makes you superior than me? See if you can answer that! Don’t complain on training issues – and by the way, I can find better trainers than you – if at all I choose to get trained! * evil grin *

(And as the argument reaches fever pitch one Mr. Alan Turing passes by the wayside! Being the eternal supporter of the human race, he inquires me what’s the trouble! I cry out the whole thing to that guy. He smiles gracefully (though I didn’t seem to like it) and whispers a solution in my ears. And here I go.. )

Me: Ok you goatie demon! If you think it is all about training and experience, let me tell you this! If you and I were born at the same time; And if you and I were given similar training to walk talk and do things; And if you and I – after sufficient training – were presented with a maze which we had to solve; And if that maze was an impossible maze – in the sense that it did not have a solution – and we were never told that; I claim that after sometime, I will come out with a decision and announce in all glory that this maze cannot be solved; While you will still be trying to solve the impossible maze!!

* punching my fist and hugging Alan Turing *

Goat: * In deep thought *

i chanced upon this article on sulekha. its pretty goood. it reflects what i want to say exactly. this is totally in line with my earlier posts abt life, its meaning etc.
refer to : [10/11/2002 3:55:14 PM ]
Meaning of life 3 : Existence of soul
and what thinking now said:
10/10/2002 7:34:44 PM | thinking now]
i guess it all boils down to ones perception of joy, happiness, sadness, sorrow, et al. your perception of joy would be different than mine and so would the case with someone else. at this point of time, i wouldn't like to be like mother teressa or do some social work because i know i am not going to be happy by doing that. maybe you would be or somebody else would be. i hope we could have some kind of an agreement here. it is solely upto an individual about how he/she feels about the struggle/fight/drudgery etc etc. and i guess that would be one of the reasons why people go into depressions, have nervous breakdowns, become psychics or even commit suicide. when people start thinking that whatever they are doing is not worthwhile and is not going to bring them happiness or joy which they desire, that is when they start questioning their very existance. you say that the pleasure achieved is short lived and is not what you deserve after all the hardships you go thru. then how do you decide what you really deserve, what you are really meant for. it is i guess this short lived, temporary happiness that drives you. again its a matter of perception of what you think about this joy or happiness that you achieved. it could be long lived for many. but whatever it is, it is this very thing which makes you go in this search for happiness, sometime, someday you would achieve what you thought of and you would be happy. but then you can't be complacent and you desire to be more happy and go in search for more happiness and in turn face more hardships, more bitterness... but then at the end of the day you want to be happy and hence you go thru the hardships to achive it. and it is these small, temporary, short lived everyday pleasures which make you strive for better pleasures of life.

i am very saddened by the lack of hype(not i take that back. lack of information or interest) by america in cricket. for gawd's sake the game is palyed by about 1.5 Billion people. after the win over england we(my friends and me) who were watching the match in a stadium type atmosphere were so excited abt it. but came out of the building and reality hit us. nobody else is interested. felt sad. i heard some matches of the next world cup (to be held in the west indies) will have some matches in florida and the icc is trying to rpoe in america as a participating team (this is purely for financial reasons am sure). hope this generates interest in this country abt cricket.

why am i seeing more and more blogs having long write ups which are modelled as romantic stories(see i said modelled as romantic not romantic). the authors of the blogs themselves write the stories. they are long and deal with every day life situations. that means that the authors have thought abt them a lot. but they are not good. actually they are bad. but i guess as first time writings they must be ok. but i dont understand why this sudden urge to write romantic stories. point to be noted all the bloggers engaging in such activities are indian.