Things in a heavy heart

http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2006/dec/21yrsl1.htm?q=tp&file=.htm

It Happens in Life------Take it easy

1. The handle of a cup you keep in the microwave always turns to the unreachable side after heating.
2. The second one of a pair of socks aways takes more time to find from the bunch of washed clothes.
3. The road to success........ is always under construction.
4. Since Light travels faster than Sound, people appear brighter before you hear them speak.
5. Anything dropped on the floor will roll over to the most inaccessible corner.
6. If at first you don't succeed.... Destroy all evidence that you ever tried.
7. You can never determine which side of the bread to butter. If it falls down, it will always land on the buttered side.
8. All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive or fattening.
9. As soon as you mention something...... if it is good, it is taken.... If it is bad, it happens.
10. If you come early, the bus is late. If you come late...... the bus is still late.
11. Once you have bought something, you will find the same item being sold somewhere else at a cheaper rate.
12. When in a queue, the other line always moves faster and the person in front of you will always have the most complex of transactions.
13. The girl for whom you have a crush at first sight would get engaged to someone in two weeks or would have already got married.
14. If you have paper, you don't have a pen....... If you have a pen, you don't have paper...... if you have both, no one calls.
15. If you have bunked the class, the professor would have taken attendance that day.
16. You will pick up maximum wrong numbers when on roaming.
17. All PTC buses are crowded. Corollary : PTC buses in opposite direction always go empty.
18. The door bell or your mobile will always ring when you are in the restroom.
19. After a long wait for bus no.20, two 20 number buses will always pull in together and the bus which you get in will be crowded than the other.
20. If your exam is tomorrow, there will be a power cut tonight.
21. Your code which goes on production will always throw a null pointer on the line where you had tried to log something.
22. Your saturday night expectations come in TV only when everyone at home and guests watch with you and the remote control is far from reach of your hand.
23. Irrespective of the direction of the wind, the smoke from the cigarette will always tend to go to the non-smoker
24. The traffic on the lane which you choose to drive always goes slower than the other one
25. Will continue...

30 Kodi Janangal

America passed a major demographic milestone this week: the U.S. population reached 300 million people. This was india's population in 1940s when Mahakavi Bharathi was singing.Life expectancy at birth was just 54.5 years in 1915. By 1967, it had risen to 70.5 years. This year, babies born in the United States have a life expectancy of 77.8 years. Its immigration history starts orderly from germans, italians, africans,mexicans,asians and now esp Indians :)
Well India is the seventh largest country in the world. Its population is now more than one billion, making it the second most populous country after China. It is more than three times the population of the United States though its area is only about one-third.
Population density is a serious bane to India and I request my friends who got married recently to Stop at Signal No: 1 and drive always with only three seats occupied. Lets not mess up the country anymore.

Cinema, Fries, Latte -- Manathodu Mazhaikalam

Shyam : Takes different story lines in his movies, different characters, Handsome guy but couldn't find a good break. Yevalavu makeup potalum, He couldn't be shown older Or the makeup man slept in the studio? ABCD la pesina style a innum vidala pola.
Nithyadas : Looks like navya nair, a typical mallu kuty...short and bubbly with long hair like my dream mallu girl.
Samiksha : Did her role to the need.
Direction : Though the movie had a good intention / story , It wasn't shown the way it was thought. Screenplay and Direction lacks lustre. It would have been a hit if it is from Balu Mahendra / Mani Ratnam.

Message : Though the movie couldn't makeup the way it was thought , It shows the distinct relationship of a Guy and Gal having friendship throughout Life. Yevalavu thaan pasanga friends a irunthalum, Oru thozhi life la kandippa venum. she gives a warmth and comfort next to what you get from your mother. The only tender hand to hold and the only shoulder to rest on without any kind of lust is from this thozhi. One whom you share the feelings which guys make fun or won't take serious when discussed. I always thank god who had given this unique relationship to exist and carries the life of guys all through their life. Even friendship between girls themselves doesn't exist this longer at all times. As like the movie name, this relationship gives a feeling like how you feel when you smell the manvasanai on the first rain of the season.
cha...now i started dreaming of Autograph Divya :)

Remembering Gandhi

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) has become the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century.
1]Redefine Nobel prize : Nobel peace prize for Gandhi or create Gandhi Peace Prize for others who follow suit.
2]Reinvent Innovation : very simple mantras Satyagraha & Ahimsa but very powerful weapons than any types of weapons existing in the world ( at level of root cause )
3]Reengineering Religion : Religion is about Truth & Love.
4]Reinvent Leadership : Leadership at Indian context and at global context ! a true example of Level 5 Leadership = Personal Humility + Professional Will simultaneously.
5]Redefine Economics development : Sarvodaya : universal uplift progress of all.
6]Redefine Education : The purpose of education is to bring out the best in you : relevant , practical & moral education Holistic development of children.

Gandhi's Daily Resolution:
Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day
I shall not fear anyone on earth
I shall fear only God
I shall not bear ill toward anyone
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone
I shall conquer untruth by truth
And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.

"Gandhi continues what the Buddha began. In the Buddha the spirit of love set itself the task of creating different spiritual conditions in the world; in Gandhi it undertakes to transform all worldly conditions." - Albert Schweitzer

Be the change you want to see in the world- Mahatma Gandhi

Cinema, Fries, Latte ---- Sillendru Oru Kadhal

First few mins for people who didn't go to their real marriage.

Surya : Unnai parthu thaan naan meesai yeduthen...ippadi pannitiye...but looks smart even as a college student with a mild mush. Emotion aaana appa sivakumar a mariduraru.. drink pannama drive panna mudiyathu pola ...
Jo : you have to form a community in orkut for women to find ex of their hubbys. propably they might be wives of someone else who are also in search. Mathapadi an Abstract Tear Factory and Romba nalla ponna iruka...aavvvvvv...
Bhoomi : flash back la "chikun guniya" vantha mathiri iruka..chemistry lab partha yenaku electrical lab nyabagam varuthu...Asin why did you walk out?...Bhoomi later comes and talks like swarna akka...who gave her voice?......I like the bhoomi of the film badri (saathvigam).
Comedy : Santhanam makes better comedy than Vaigai puyal.
Music : Rahman your best is gone. we are still waiting.
Message : surya , jo love panrathuku , they need a film. This film is complete fiction and should not be reproduced in everyday life (veliyila pora onaana yeduthu veti la vitta kathai thaan)

Cinema, Fries, Latte ---- Vetaiyadu Vilayadu

Neither a Kamal movie nor a Goutham movie...and called a thriller

Kamal : please stop acting and concentrate on directing movies. Your last best performance was in vasool raja mbbs. now you look old and heroing doesn't look good.
Back home it is called ragavan instinct aamam.
US cop undermine panrathu nalla illai. iritating. Over scene.
Jo : Looks like cancer patient...Unnecessary character just for a second romance.
Kamalini : I dont know when she came in the movie...vaama minnal....go to thatstamil.com to see her best pictures...in the movie she looks like next house aunty (who watches tearsome Tv serials).
Goutham : You could have made this movie with someone else than spoiling kamal and his skill. watch some more english movies to find a perfect thriller.
Camera : Tied in a sanal kayiru and was rotated. New york kaamikarangalama.
Prakash Raj : Tries to cry like "Nayagan kamal" seeing his dead daughter but kamal stops him doing so.
Message : All women in the movie will be killed and you dont have anything to guess.

The Best from my Camera

War of the Worlds--Congo

Uncle Sam ! I would be very happy if you fight for these kind of Wars.

Sitting on a bed in a refugee camp in Katanga, a cursed province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaïre), Mukeya Ulumba, 28, recounts the epic losses she has suffered in recent months. Several of her relatives and neighbors were killed when antigovernment rebels stormed their village last November, moving from house to house in a murder spree that lasted for hours. Ulumba and her husband managed to flee with their four children, leaving behind their life's possessions, a ravaged community of torched houses and the bloodied corpses of family members and friends. Now Ulumba is struggling to save another life: that of her 6-month-old son Amoni Mutombo. The baby lies whimpering in a clinic run by the aid organization Doctors Without Borders. His belly is distended by malnutrition, and although he appears to be in pain, he has no energy to cry. A nurse tries for half an hour to inject antibiotics into Amoni's twiglike arm, its wrinkled skin wrapped loosely around the bones. Without the drugs, he will die, wasting away from starvation.
Some wars go on killing long after they end. In Congo, a nation of 63 million people in the heart of Africa, a peace deal signed more than three years ago was supposed to halt a war that drew in belligerents from at least eight other countries, producing a record of human devastation unmatched in recent history. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimates that 3.9 million people have died from war-related causes since the conflict in Congo began in 1998, making it the world's most lethal conflict since World War II.
By conventional measures, that conflict is over. Congo is no longer the playground of foreign armies. The country's first real election in 40 years is scheduled to take place this summer, and international troops have arrived to keep the peace. But the suffering of Congo's people continues. Fighting persists in the east, where rebel holdouts loot, rape and murder. The Congolese army, which was meant to be both symbol and protector in the reunited country, has cut its own murderous swath, carrying out executions and razing villages. Even deadlier are the side effects of war, the scars left by years of brutality that disfigure Congo's society and infrastructure. The country is plagued by bad sanitation, disease, malnutrition and dislocation. Routine and treatable illnesses have become weapons of mass destruction. According to the IRC, which has conducted a series of detailed mortality surveys over the past six years, 1,250 Congolese still die every day because of war-related causes--the vast majority succumbing to diseases and malnutrition that wouldn't exist in peaceful times. In many respects, the country remains as broken, volatile and dangerous as ever, which is to say, among the very worst places on earth. more

Warning : dont read more if you have a weak heart.

Photo Exercise--My American Life

Smoky Mountains--Tennessee

Ocean City with Bala , Satish(roomie) Parasailing & Jet Skiing

Niagara Falls with Soma

Liberty with Soma

Kappalotiya Tamizhan

Annapolis --Capital of Maryland

Airshow

Owings Mills Open

Gun Powder Falls (Tubing) with Sanjeev

DC with Mani

Gaithersburg ---- Santhosh, Uday

DC with ezhil

Virginia with Srini

Hotel Rwanda --- Yesterday and Today

Ten years ago some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda--and in an era of high-speed communication and round the clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, one million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees, by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages.
I saw this movie two weeks back and I read this article (below) today
If successful, the percentage of Rwanda's workforce involved in farming will drop from 90 per cent to 50 per cent in 15 years Six years after the project's launch, half of the 2,300 primary schools have at least one computer Biggest challenge is bringing the project to the rural areas and making it sustainable .
OFFICE WORKERS talking over Skype. Fibre-optic cable snaking hundreds of miles underground and to the top of a 4,500-metre volcano. Paperless Cabinet meetings with every Minister using a laptop. This may sound like an advanced Western country rather than a tiny, poor African state. Yet this is Rwanda, now in the midst of an extraordinary development plan to leap into the 21st century.
More "mobile in every pocket" than "chicken in every pot," the Vision 2020 project aims to rapidly transform a depressed agricultural economy into one driven by information communications and technology (ICT). If it works, the percentage of Rwanda's workforce involved in farming will drop from 90 per cent to 50 per cent in 15 years. By then the country should be the regional ICT hub — a kind of Singapore of the Great Lakes.
"Rwanda is to some extent doing with technology what Britain did with mechanisation during the industrial revolution," said Calestous Juma, professor of international development at Harvard University, who believes the plan can serve as an inspiration for Africa.
Donor countries are more cautious. Two-thirds of Rwandans live below the poverty line, half are illiterate, and four in five live in rural areas. AIDS and the 1994 genocide have created tens of thousands of orphans. Technology is not the main priority, they say. But government officials insist that not only is their plan viable, but that there is no alternative. As one of Africa's most densely populated countries, large-scale farming is impossible. There are few valuable minerals or oil deposits. The country is landlocked.
"We are at a huge competitive disadvantage to our neighbours," Albert Butare, the Minister of Communications and Energy, said. "Our people are the one resource we have, and we must develop them."
Progress has been slower than hoped — only 26 per cent of targets have been met on time so far — but still significant. When the ICT plan was launched in 2000 only one school in the country had a computer, there was a single Internet cafe and a handful of science graduates, and fewer than 100,000 of eight million people had mobile or fixed-line phones.
Today half of the 2,300 primary schools have at least one computer. There are 30 Internet cafes in the leading cities and there will be 30 more in even the most remote rural areas by 2007. Telecom companies hawk broadband Internet for home use. More than 300,000 people have mobiles. If a plan to assemble phones locally, and sell them for the equivalent of £19 with six months to pay, comes to fruition the growth will be even faster. The Kigali Institute for Science and Technology (KIST), established in 1997 at a former army barracks, has already graduated close to 2,000 students. Still it is just a fraction of the tech-savvy workforce the country needs.
Which is why bringing schools online is seen as crucial. In a two-year, £20-million project, the state electricity company will lay fibre-optic cable along its power lines. Cables will be run to schools within three miles of the national grid, giving them high-speed Internet access.
Thousands of computers are being ordered for schools from Rwanda Computer Network, which has already assembled and sold more than 6,000 "Gorilla 1000" desktop computers to the government and banks. A software firm has translated a free open-source version of Microsoft Office into Kinyarwanda, the main language.
Incentives for investment
Meanwhile, the government is offering incentives to attract private investment. The home of the Senate, a modern seven-storey building, is being turned into an "ICT park" for hi-tech companies that will receive free rent and utilities. Five young Rwandan graduates are in charge. Aged 26 to 34, all have studied abroad — in India, South Africa, and France — and all have masters degrees in technology-related fields.
"In the long term this whole road could be an `ICT alley,'" said Patrick Nyirishema, 30, an electrical engineer, gesturing towards the wide avenue outside. "People are going to be astonished by what is going to happen here."
The rest of Africa is already taking note. Kigali, the Rwandan capital, has also been selected as the headquarters of the 23-country Eastern African Submarine Cable Project, which will greatly increase Internet bandwidth in the region. The telecom mast at the top of the Karisimbi volcano will serve as a regional air traffic control centre.
But the biggest challenge, on which the grand plan may succeed or fail, is bringing ICT to the poorest rural areas and making it sustainable. A few Internet cafes that were set up in small villages failed because people could not afford the dollar-an-hour Internet fee.
But in the dusty village of Nyamata, 90 minutes from Kigali, Paul Barera, a 29-year-old KIST graduate, has made his shop work — for him and for his customers. He helps dressmaker Donatille Mukakarara, 38, use Google to search for new patterns once a week. "The Internet has changed my business," she said. "People want modern designs and that's what I can give them."

Financial Capital of our Country

Finding answers from Uncle Sam

The Haditha killings (also called the Haditha massacre or the Haditha incident) were an incident that occurred on November 19, 2005 in the town of Haditha, Iraq. A convoy of United States Marines was attacked with an improvised explosive device which killed Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas. Up to twenty-four Iraqis were subsequently killed; it is alleged that they were non-combatant local residents who were massacred by Marines in the aftermath of the insurgent attack. A Marine Corps communique initially reported that 15 civilians were killed by the bomb's blast and eight insurgents were subsequently killed when the Marines returned fire against those attacking the convoy. However, media reports contradicted this story.The evidence uncovered by the media prompted the US military to open an investigation into the incident, with charges reported to be delivered in due course. Video shot by Iraqi journalist and human-rights worker Taher Thabet and cellphone photos reportedly taken by one of the Marines the day after the killings have been put forth as evidence that the killings were methodical and without resistance.The term "execution-style" has been used by US military officials to describe the killings. The intentional killing of civilians, or indeed of any unarmed people, is prohibited by modern laws of war derived from the UN Charter, the Hague Conventions and the Geneva Conventions, and constitutes a war crime. The Marines and officers are expected to face courts martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is U.S. military law. Due to a Status of Forces Agreement with the Government of Iraq, the troops will not be subject to Iraqi law.
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
Beginning in 2003, numerous accounts of abuse and torture of prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq (also known as Baghdad Correctional Facility) occurred. The acts were committed by personnel of the 372nd Military Police Company, CIA officers, and contractors involved in the occupation of Iraq. An internal investigation by the United States Army commenced in January 2004, and reports of the abuse, as well as graphic pictures showing American military personnel in the act of abusing prisoners, came to public attention in April 2004, when a 60 Minutes news report (April 28) and an article by Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker magazine (posted online on April 30 and published days later in the May 10 issue) reported the story.The resulting political scandal damaged the credibility and public image of the United States and its allies in the prosecution of ongoing military operations in the Iraq War, and some critics of U.S. foreign policy argued that it was representative of a broader American attitude and policy of disrespect and violence toward Arabs. The U.S. Administration and its defenders argued that the abuses were isolated acts committed by low-ranking personnel, while critics claimed that authorities either ordered or implicitly condoned the abuses and demanded the resignation of senior Bush administration officials. The U.S. Department of Defense removed seventeen soldiers and officers from duty, and seven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault, and battery. Between May 2004 and September 2005, seven soldiers were convicted in courts martial, sentenced to federal prison time, and dishonorably discharged from service. Two soldiers, Specialist Charles Graner, and his former fiancée, Pvt. Lynndie England, were sentenced to ten years and three years in prison, respectively, in trials ending on January 14, 2005 and September 26, 2005. The commanding officer at the prison, Brig. General Janis Karpinski, was demoted to the rank of colonel on May 5, 2005. The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib was in part the reason that on April 12, 2006, the United States Army activated the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion, the first of four joint interrogation battalions.

Dating Niagara falls

It had been my dream in my life that i wanted to visit Niagara once i come to US. Many people suggested to visit once I get married. But i didn't have much patience for the D-day . Good that soma booked a ticket from Des Moines to NYC and asked me to pick him up and drive towards Niagara.

we became 6 who planned to Niagara including soma's colleague saravana bhava..ezhil's friends in Connecticut. I took a rental van ...a Chrysler-town and country minivan kinda SUV from the Baltimore downtown and drove towards NYC. I never have drove such a big vehicle in my life...a seven seater....cool drive towards NYC with mild rains...finally landed in a place..thanks to google map that i landed in a place which is not called La Guardia airport in newyork.i followed the map so religiously and finally landed up in a gas station according to that map. found out the airport and after long trail in the terminal path to pick soma and his accomplice saravana :) (wont tell what he did bad ..married poor fellow). Driving the newyork city is the most crazy thing in life.somehow managed though iam a religious driver after coming to US.There is a sign in newyork city saying please go on green light only.....c'mon india of united states...we are no bad ...its all population and head count counts to drive anywhere in this world,,.,,I have to go to china and see how they drive....soma checked in as thirupathi ajith ..(once he was red ajith) with a telugu/kannada actor saravana. good that soma took over the driving and we started roaming in NYC by drive and then headed towards connecticut...finding out ezhil's house wasn't that tough and we were guided by a cop who initially stopped us by throwing his serial light. my first encounter with a cop, later finding us searching for a route in local roads he guided us. ezhil's house is near river valley....i could hear the noise of water flowing...though not big, his place is too good. connecticut is a good place...full of greenery and water and i like it next to my garden state.....next day went to liberty statue to visit amma....this statue is much exaggerated in hollywood movies with light setting......But when you go there , you'll find an ordinary statue which is painted with a pale green...It is not even painted properly....Designed by a French architect , One of the best place to visit in US, this doesn't attract me that much and also I had been here with my HCL friends earlier. So finished of this, then went to Newyork city , crazy driving , found out our thrifty rental place after a long struggle tunneling all the time. Then evening we decided after adding additional drivers soma and ezhil, we started towards Niagara....There are 2 freeways which are long like 150 miles in each that you reach buffalo where we have booked a hotel to stay...in one of the freeways it was difficult to drive ..guess what it is not due to fog but it is due to clouds...i think it is in a high altitude place...atlast in the midnight we could reach our hotel which is near to university of buffalo....Quite good place to stay and enjoy the serene climate....Then next day morning after a brief spell of something called sleep , we started to the falls place which is 20 miles from the hotel. I heard that when you go to Niagara, you can hear two languages , one is telugu and one is english ...this time also we heard two languages....one is tamil and one is telugu...too many tamil crowd citing long weekend as an excuse ..machi...mamu....lot of young couples...when we were searching for parking spot we played Arinthum Ariyamalum "theepidika song" in high volume , window open....making the place real desi....only two good attractions...one is called of "Maid of the mist" which is sailing in the cruise towards the falls and feeling the drizzle and another one is "Cave of the winds" which is typical showering in the falls...both are too good..only when you go in the crew you get reminded of why people ask you to go to Niagara after marriage ...too much of desi romance....
The world's second largest falls...another god's gift to this country...The second exciting place next to Newyork city i found in united states...Other states are just the same with wooden houses, dunkin donuts, Mc D s , gas stations near the lights....hmm...next day morn started back from Niagara in the early morning since soma has to catch 5 30 evening flight....With good average high speed most of the time exceeding speed limit,we returned back to connecticut to drop ezhil, sunil and bhavani....Then towards la guardia airport to drop soma and saravana..and finally i drove back to baltimore. The longest drive i ever have made, my CD-cassette converter crashed due to over heating as it had been singing all the way in the drive.
You can view photos of liberty and Niagara here.
My next plan is Florida..finding out the best season to go

India-Pakistan Wagah Border Closing Ceremony

I love watching this ceremony in TV and searched in web manytimes to find this video.

This video is taken from pakistan side. yet to find one from our side on web

The march and flag hoisting is really great.

This is shown in only one tamil movie starring murali and simran i believe.

World is blind to this Dark Continent--Somalia

Unscrambling Somalia
During World War II, the Italians briefly took British Somaliland, only to see the British return to retake "their" Somaliland, plus Italian Somaliland and Ogaden, too. In 1949, the Italians returned to administer Italian Somaliland as a UN trust territory, but not before many Somalis had begun longing for their own independent, pan-Somali state.
In 1960, the British and Italians left, and British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland joined to form the United Republic of Somalia. Almost immediately, the new nation became embroiled in border conflicts over Somali-inhabited lands in northern Kenya and eastern Ethiopia. A military buildup followed, even as internal tensions mounted between the former British and Italian regions.
In 1969, a bodyguard from a rival clan assassinated Somalia's president, and the military assumed power. The commander of the army, Mohamed Siad Barre, became president--and, before long, dictator. The coup was restyled a "revolution," as "Comrade Siad" announced his pursuit of an Islam-friendly version of "scientific socialism." Yet socialism never really took root in Somalia, and rival clans and Islamic leaders soon resented the Comrade's rule.

Somalia Rescrambled
In 1974, Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie fell. Three years later, Siad Barre retook the Somali-inhabited Ogaden region. At first, the Soviets tried to mediate the dispute. Then they shifted their support to Ethiopia (which has 75 million people to Somalia's 9 million). Somalia's Soviet arms shipments stopped, while Ethiopia got military advisors and Cuban troops. The United States shifted its support from Ethiopia to Somalia, but not before Ogaden was back in Ethiopian hands.
After the defeat in Ogaden, officers from a rival clan tried to topple Siad Barre. They failed, but the threat they posed prompted the dictator to start making government appointments based on perceived clan loyalty. The government and military became less competent, clan rivalries increased, and guerrilla attacks began. As the 1980s wore on, opposition groups became more powerful, and Siad Barre responded with increasingly repressive measures.
By the end of the 1980s, militias from several clans had seized much of the country. A series of last-ditch efforts at political reform failed to appease them, and in January 1991, a united opposition front captured the capital, Mogadishu. Siad Barre fled, his regime collapsed, and the militias turned on each other. In the next two years, 50,000 people died in factional fighting, and some 300,000 Somalis starved. Meanwhile, the former British Somaliland effectively seceded, calling itself, simply, "Somaliland." Somalia hasn't had a functional central government since.

Surveying Somalia
Somalia hasn't had a functional central government since 1991, when a group of warlords representing a variety of the country's traditional clans and sub-clans overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The warlords promptly turned on each other, and the situation in much of Somalia has been chaotic--and frequently deadly--ever since.
In the early 1990s, a United Nations task force, led by the United States, tried to restore order and provide humanitarian assistance. The effort saved many Somalis from starving, but ended in failure after militiamen downed two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu. The ensuing firefight killed 18 U.S. soldiers and more than a thousand Somalis.
Since then, 13 internal attempts to fashion a national government have failed. A 14th attempt, backed by the European Union, got underway in 2004, when warlords and politicians agreed to create a new parliament and made a former warlord, Abdullahi Yusuf, president.
The transitional parliament met on Somali soil for the first time in February 2006, in the town of Baidoa, 155 miles (250 km) northwest of Mogadishu. Neither of the factions in the recent fight for Mogadishu answers to it. In fact, Yusuf and Company have stayed away from Mogadishu, which is more war-torn fief than capital city. What's a capital, after all, in a country without a government?

Separate Somalilands?
Understandably, large parts of the country have begun governing themselves. In the northwest, the part of Somalia that was once a British colony seceded 15 years ago, right after the warlords toppled Siad Barre. Enjoying relative peace, prosperity, and representative government, it longs for legal recognition as an independent nation, "Somaliland."
In the northeast, another large region--called "Puntland"--functions autonomously, too, though its leaders like to see it as the start of a federal system in Somalia. Puntland has ancient roots. Egypt's pharaohs once sought frankincense and myrrh from the "land of Punt."
Finally, in 2002, a group of warlords in the southwest followed suit, establishing "Southwestern Somalia." Its status is now unclear, as several of its leaders have taken posts in Somalia's transitional government.

Long-Suffering Somalis
Amid the political chaos, many ordinary Somalis suffer. One in four Somali children dies before turning five, cyclical famines kill thousands (and threaten millions), and pirates patrol the nation's coastline, stealing everything from black market goods to humanitarian food shipments. According to the United Nations, a drought in the south has left a sixth of Somalia's 8.8 million people in need of food aid.
Much of the aid that actually reaches Somalis comes in the form of money sent by relatives living abroad. According to some estimates, such remittances account for more than 20 percent of household income, though they've come under pressure from campaigns to curtail terrorist financing.
Despite it all, some sectors of Somalia's economy have actually thrived. Most major towns have wireless phone services, and many now have internet cafes. The airline business has boomed, too. "Corruption is not a problem," says one airline executive, "because there is no government."

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

India burning with reservation crisis? Attn Mr.youth

I have been reading all news about the good n bad things of India.

I appreciate all people who take part in protests on government decisions and policies.

But only thing which pricks me is the perception we all youth of India have on these and we are the Tomorrow of India.

Friends, let me tell you one thing. Most of us lead a selfish life (including me) thinking of things concerning about our own life and we see what affects us. If we don't have any concerns, then we see our inner circle of friends who are getting affected and finally we think about India as a nation.

All of us have a point to argue.

But all our conscience should have only one point to argue.
Are we doing something for others or allow others to do so?

Castes formed in India based on the profession we did in those days. People who were doing meanly jobs were suppressed in the society and Hence reservations are made in India for people of lower sections of society to know that they are also part of India and they are welcome to pursue education and job even if they are poor . I didn't accept this during my college days since I was directly affected and I also felt govt should give money rather than reservation in admission seats. But when I entered my college which is a govt college and after I met rural and lower caste students in my college , I came to know that they are not even aware of a University called" Anna University", though they deserve a seat based on their marks. That's when i realized that people from lower castes and rural side should be given reservation so that they start exploring more opportunities in better institutes. Lower castes are not always economically poor but they are treated poor in the society. That hurts even more.Hope you would have read about a story of a running race in which one handicapped child fell and others grab his hand before reaching to the end. This is how sections of society in India.We have to sacrifice something for them to make them come to our level.

Dont think reservation divides the nation. If reservation hadn't been there, then we would not be having friends who are from lower castes. Though I dont want to mention them as lower, I want to emphasize that they are our friends now. Otherwise they would be doing some meanly job in child age rather than studying.

After getting a job and after I got an experience of 6 yrs I realize they still need reservations, since our basic primary education across schools in India is not standardised yet after 60 years of independence .Do you think if you had studied in a rural school , would you have got an attitude to target IITJEE or AIIMS?

In my experience from my class 2 to till now, I feel getting good marks academically doesn't level you to the kind of achievement we look in life.Many people who have studied well during childhood may not have studied well in class 12 and many who didn't score well in class 12 would have landed up in a good job after finishing their degree. So one who is really talented will find his own way to survive in the country. How many you accept after getting good education, you are ready to stay in the country?
And recently I heard the protests are going to the end of "fast until death" . This is just to show the solidarity of students without purpose. All protestors (IIT ians , Doctors, Medical students )..A question for you? Do you read everyday news about a dalit being raped by an upper class society and killed, the convicts escape free. Have you ever thought of going for fasting for seeking the justice for them? Or any of atrocities against lower caste people? Are you ready to marry a girl from a lower caste section of India? why do you blame dalit doctors will kill patients? You are killing patients now by being on strike joining the students and leaving numerous patients in hay. How many of you doctors prefer to work in a govt hospital . After finishing in IIT or IIM , are you ready to work for the country? Are you ready to work as a professor in IIT?. They are the one who are given reservation tries to work in all these and help the poor people of the nation. And you should know they are the majority of India.

Protest to increase the number of seats in these premier institutes.
Protest for justice of the atrocities against dalits.
Protest for the corruption and bribery in the government offices.

I don't know how hatred towards lower castes and non-Hindus came in these protests. We all have to be human and remain so whatever happens to us.

Lets speculate an amicable solution rather than simply protesting.

Da Vinci---Decoded

The movie version of the megahit novel The Da Vinci Code opens Friday in theaters across the world. Like the book, the movie is causing a stir because of suggestions it makes about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and because of its unflattering depictions of members of the Catholic Church.

We haven't seen the movie, but we've always loved Leonardo da Vinci--the man himself. Why? Well, if Leonardo were a modern-day American, he probably wouldn't be in the movies. He'd be making movies. He might also be an engineer at NASA, and a leading researcher at the National Institutes of Health, and a special advisor to the president on matters of national security--all at once.

Polymathic Man

Born in the town of Vinci (hence "da Vinci") in 1452, Leonardo became the quintessential "Renaissance man." He's been called the first great Renaissance master, the first scientist, even the first modern. His genius reached across a divide that few before or since have succeeded in bridging--the divide between transcendent, visionary, expressive artist and practical, methodical, mathematical scientist.

In addition to creating some of the world's most famous art, Leonardo conducted extensive research into human anatomy, dissecting by his own count more than 30 corpses. He served as a military engineer, preparing plans to overhaul fortifications, divert the river Arno around Pisa, and outfit Venetian "SEAL" teams with primitive scuba gear. And he advised some of the most powerful men of his time--including Cesare Borgia, the notoriously ruthless commander of the papal army, for whom he sketched maps that helped lay the groundwork for modern cartography.

He also endowed posterity with thousands of manuscript pages, written in his famous "mirror-style"--that is, right to left, so that they can be easily read only in a mirror. Within these pages are inquiries into the flight of birds, the construction of military fortifications, hydraulics, optics, human anatomy, perspective (in both art and science), observations on the moon's craters, a design for a flying machine (which looks something like a helicopter), and more. And, of course, there are still those other works--the ones for which Leonardo is most famous.

The Last Supper

Completed between 1495 and 1498, Leonardo's Last Supper may be the world's second-most famous painting. The work reproduces the moment at which Christ, during a Passover meal, announces to his apostles that one of them will betray him. Except for Judas (and Christ, who calmly accepts his fate), each of the apostles displays the confusion and apprehension of the moment--disbelief, anger, frustration, sadness, fear, denial, and exasperation all at once.

Unfortunately, the Last Supper wasn't built to last. Leonardo had invented a new fresco technique for painting the masterpiece, but the technique didn't hold water. The painting began to deteriorate within a few years, and by the middle of the 16th century it was practically ruined. Leo fans have been trying to restore the work for centuries.

The Mona Lisa

Leonardo's Mona Lisa is almost certainly the world's most famous painting. Leonardo completed the faintly smiling lady between 1503 and 1506. Its influence was immediate, setting the standard by which portraits would be judged for centuries to come. In fact, the young Raphael sketched the Mona Lisa while it was still a work in progress and was using it as a model for his own portraits by the time Leonardo was done.

No one knows for sure, but the woman in the picture is generally believed to be "Mrs. Lisa" Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a prominent Florentine of the time. And her smile? Your guess is as good as anyone's.

Mr. President on "Corruption"

EFFECTS OF CORRUPTION ON GOOD GOVERNANCE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Conscience is the light of the Soul that burns within the chambers of our psychological heart. It is as real as life is. It raises the voice in protest whenever anything is thought of or done contrary to the righteousness. Conscience is a form of truth that has been transferred through our genetic stock in the form of the knowledge of our own acts and feelings as right or wrong.

A virtuous and courageous person can alone use the instrument of conscience. He or she can alone hear the inner voice of the soul clearly. In a wicked person this faculty is absent. The sensitive nature of his / her conscience has been destroyed by sin or corruption. Hence he or she is unable to discriminate right from wrong. Those who are leading organizations, business enterprises, institutions and governments should develop this virtue of the ability to use their own conscience. This wisdom of using the clean conscience will enable them to enjoy the freedom.
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