Google does not know Gandhi

Usually, Google acknowledges the birthday of a great soul by including an art banner about him on its home page.  I am disappointed that there was no art for Mahatma Gandhi.  The two 'O's in "Google" would have done nicely for Gandhi's glasses and the 'g's for his ears. 

Gandhi's favorite hymn was "Vaishnava Janato"--that carried a message of equality of all men and their obligations towards one another.  Let us listen because we have yet to learn how to live with others in harmony.

Happy Birthday, Gandhiji!

R.I.P. Tyler Clementi

courtesy of http://milosjanusoutlook.blogspot.com

Tyler Clementi's suicide confirms two things: that man is essentially a hostile being and that education does nothing for him.  Education does not seem to teach tolerance but breeds arrogance instead.  It was not enough that Tyler was minding his own business--he neglected to be watchful of others minding it for him.  Not content with a giggle or a snicker, the voyeur had to publicly humiliate Tyler.  What are schools teaching children?  What are parents teaching their children? Why is their energy so misdirected? Thanks to social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, private lives are on public display, cyber bullying is rampant. No one takes the responsibility of controlling the content on these sites.  No one even cares until something extreme like this happens.

My elementary school would set aside an hour every day for "Moral Science", a period dedicated to teaching children decent, moral behavior and social etiquette.  It wasn't my favorite part of the day, but I think that is what is missing in children's lives today.  Decency has to be taught and cultivated.  And their energy should be properly channeled. Children do not play out on the streets nowadays; tag and hide-and-seek are lame games. No one uses a punching bag to vent his/her frustrations on. Even Playstation and Xbox are getting obsolete now that there is more fun in being mean on the internet.  Let us wind-up the toys and watch them run pell-mell!! Let the mind games begin.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30suicide.html

"Design"-er Locks

  Stephen Hawking in his book "The Grand Design" says God did not create the Universe and that the Big Bang was inevitable according to the laws of  physics.
   But how does he account for this?  Even he would agree that this grand design is not wholly the work of "Head and Shoulders" shampoo.  Troy Polamalu, the star of the Steelers football team, had his 36" long curly Samoan hair insured for one million dollars.
  Awesome.

New photoblog

I have a new photoblog, Indelible. Please be sure to check it out!

Doppelgängers ?

Geraldo Rivera of Fox News(left) and Argentina's World Cup 2010 Soccer coach Diego Armando

Maradona (right) , separated at birth?

McChrystal the McStupid, McFired, McSurprise!

Gen. Petraeus, left:Gen.  McChrystal, right

Maybe General McChrystal wanted his two seconds of fame; he was certainly not making much headway in Afghanistan. In an interview with the Rolling Stone magazine (to be sold this Friday June 25, 2010), he made inflammatory statements about President Obama and some of his key administration officials.  It is inconceivable that an experienced, 55 year-old  General no less, is unaware of the consequences of such an interview. Or did lack of insubordination in his own military 'empire' lead to delusions of grandeur?

He is out.  General Petraeus replaces him.

Read the entire interview to be featured in Rolling Stone magazine here.

Electronic Odysseus

"PHOTOS on an underwater camera that washed up on a beach in Florida have revealed it's epic ocean journey and also led investigators to its owner.

The waterproof plastic case of the Nikon camera was covered with six months' worth of crusty sea growth, but the camera itself was almost pristine when it was found in May." (Washed up camera almost pristine June 17th, 2010)

The camera had traveled more than a thousand miles from Aruba,  with a sea turtle for company for a while. Note the term "pristine".  All we need now is for Nikon to make cellphones.  Four of my cellphones have been victims of "death by drowning". They've been laundry accidents and that couldn't have been worse than an ocean voyage!

Part of the camera's voyage was captured by this sea turtle, which turned it on with its flapping fin.  Smart turtle! Wanted to bore its relatives with home videos, no doubt.  A captive audience while they are laying eggs on a beach somewhere.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E43sg-Ytt58 to see what the camera captured.