varnam

Mammotty is one of the finest actors of Malayalam Cinema. He has been around for a quarter of a century and is still acting in movies which are superhits. He is also a Communist and the chairman of the Communist Party of India Marxist-backed Kairali television channel. Once he was to act in a Coke commercial for a renumeration of Rs. 20 million, but backed off at the last moment, because the Communists were against Coke at that time. (The Communists were with Coke before that).

Where do you think the kids of such a staunch supporter of the party are living ? His daughter is in United Kingdom and the son is in United States - both symbols of imperialism according to the Communist party. But then Communism is always for the masses, and not for the family.

One of America's most important entrepreneurs recently gave a remarkable speech at a summit meeting of our nation's governors. Bill Gates minced no words. "American high schools are obsolete," he told the governors. "By obsolete, I don't just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed and underfunded. ... By obsolete, I mean that our high schools - even when they are working exactly as designed - cannot teach our kids what they need to know today.

"Training the work force of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today's computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. ... Our high schools were designed 50 years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting - even ruining - the lives of millions of Americans every year." ['What, Me Worry?']

Bill Gates thinks a cap on H1-B is a bad thing for United States, as more smart people is needed here and the American education system is not able to produce enough of them. With sufficient lobbying H1-B cap can always be increased and more and more engineers can be imported, even though many of them now prefer to stay back. This will solve the problem for now in hi-tech field.

Many defence contractors are now facing the problem of baby boomers retiring and not being able to find their replacements. To work in defence companies you need to be an American Citizen with clearance. H1-B's do not qualify for that and such jobs cannot be outsourced. So the solution in the long run for the security of America as a nation is to strengthen its education system and get to a point where being a geek is considered "cool".

Associated Press interviews Paris Hilton

AP: Do you read blogs?

Hilton: What's that?

AP: Um, they're these things on the Internet where people write about news and stuff.

Hilton: No, I don't really read anything on the Internet except my AOL mail. I don't like people who sit on computers all day long and write about people they don't know anything about.

AP: Paris, you just described my job.[Paris Hilton Yearning for Simpler Life]

That pretty much describes this blog too!

Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria is a new program on PBS which aims to bring serious foreign affairs discussion on TV. Fareed Zakaria is a writer and does not have the noise making capability of Chris Matthews, which is required for American TV. As a result the program though strong in content, is painful to watch.

In the last program he mentioned that Detroit is no longer the No.1 car manufacturing joint in North America. That position goes to Ontario, Canada. The reason for this is the rising health costs for workers in United States and GM mentioned this as one of the reasons for the loss they suffered this quarter. The other reason is that GM is still making gas guzzlers, while people are looking for high mileage cars.

Richard Wagoner, GM chairman and chief executive officer, said during a speech in Detroit last week that, when it comes to healthcare, Americans spend more and get less than any other industrialized nation.

"In the U.S., healthcare costs are rising at an annual rate of 14 percent to 18 percent and already account for 15 percent of our gross domestic product - 50 percent higher than the next most expensive country," Wagoner said during a speech at the annual Auto Tech conference in Detroit.

"The worst part of all this is that these very high costs don't necessarily buy the best healthcare," Wagoner added. "If our cars performed at the same quality levels as our medical system, nobody would buy our cars," he said.[Bush, Kerry: Where Do They See Cars? ]

United States has so many companies offering healthcare and if there is competition the prices should reduce. But Canada with its National Healthcare system is able to provide healthcare for all its citizens for a much cheaper price and so American companies are forced to outsource to reduce the costs.

It was too early to cheer on the topic of women's voting rights in Kuwait. The Prime Minister as well as the chief of state wanted women to vote and stand for elections. But the conservatives did not agree and voted down the proposal

Women's participation in politics has been a divisive issue in Kuwait for years, and in recent months has grown heated as advocates for women, backed by international pressure, appeared to make strides. Bahrain, Qatar and Oman have all held elections in recent years, and all have allowed women to vote.

Kuwait's elected Parliament exercises a great deal of control over the government. But while the Kuwaiti Constitution gives equal rights to men and women, the country's election law bars women, along with men in the police and military, from voting. That limits the voting base to only 15 percent of the total population of 950,000 Kuwaitis.

Women would essentially double that base, and redraw the country's political map in the process. But conservative and tribally backed members of Parliament say Islam and Kuwaiti custom bar women from holding that much power.

"The parliaments of most other Muslim countries don't have as much power as we do," said Waleed al-Tabtabae, head of Parliament's human rights committee and a fervent opponent of the measure. "We have no problem with women voting, but we do have a problem with women standing for elections. Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, and we are technically the head of the nation here." [Lawmakers Block Women From Voting in Kuwait]

If Islam dictates that the head of the nation must be a man, then did Pakistan and Bangladesh commit un-Islamic acts ?

Once my father called up on Good Friday and I was at work and he wondered why it was not a holiday in United States which is a Christian majority country. I explained the absence of religious holidays here.

There was something puzzling about the Indian government's decision to declare a three-day state mourning for Pope John Paul II, Karol Jozef Wojtyla. Did it try to appear more Christian than Christians, or more "secular" than the rest? I am all for showing respect to the dead, irrespective of their creed, faith or colour. However, the Indian government's decision raises some interesting questions. Did it declare a state mourning because the Pope was a head of state?

Does the death of a sovereign of an artificial state of less than 1,000 people deserve it? Vatican is a "state" whose head, the Pope, is elected by an electoral college consisting of 117 voting cardinals — all foreigners! Prince Rainier III, the monarch of Monaco, a stamp size principality but substantially bigger than the Vatican and commercially more important, died within a week of the Pope's death. He was Europe's longest ruling monarch, but was there any mourning in India?

And if the gesture was to the head of a billion strong Christian sect, with global presence, then can a "secular state" differentiate between one religion and another? Should it not show similar gestures on the demise of heads of other persuasions in India and abroad? A few years ago, when the paramacharya of Kanchi, in whom many saw a "living God," died, no such gesture was shown. Isn't our "secularism" skewed?

How did the rest of the world react to the event? Ireland, a country with 92 per cent Catholic population, did not declare any state mourning and Catholics were not upset over it at all. The same was true for Spain, a deeply believing Catholic country. Leading French left-wingers criticised the government of President Jacques Chirac for lowering flags on public buildings in tribute to the Pope for a day, arguing that it was a breach of the country's secular principles.

Protestant countries like the US, Britain, Sweden, Denmark etc., declared no national mourning. The same was true for countries like Russia, Greece, Ukraine under the Eastern Orthodox Church. Of about 100 Christian countries, just a dozen, all insignificant ones apart from Italy and Canada, declared a mourning. Only Egypt, a predominantly Muslim country with hardly any Catholics amongst its Coptic Christian minority, declared a mourning. [Who mourned the Pope?]

One way of being secular is not to allow any religious holidays and the other way is to appease everyone.

Whenever Western diplomats and leaders want to visit India, they book a ticket to Islamabad with a stopover in New Delhi. They spend a day in Delhi and visit their cherished destination and then make some statements insulting India. Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Kofi Annan, all have done that. But there are some people who are now visiting India, whose final destination is not Pakistan.

The international president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, is scheduled to visit India next week amid signs the government may soon lift a ban on foreign investment in the retail industry.

Menzer's visit comes on the heels of another visit by a U.S. company eyeing opportunities in India: Walt Disney Co. (Research) officials met with the Indian president and prime minister just a few weeks ago.

Local media reports said Disney's top officials -- Chief Executive Michael Eisner and CEO-elect Robert Iger -- had lobbied for land for a theme park. But Disney denied the reports, saying in a statement the meetings were to "explore and discuss future opportunities for Disney in the burgeoning market of India." [Wal-Mart paying visit to India]

What we need is visits by such people whose final destination is India.

Indranil's parents went to Kashmir recently and he has some pictures on flickr.

Srijith taught me that, the reason they ask you to switch off cell phones on aircrafts is not because they interfere with the plane's communication equipment, but because it interferes with mobile networks on the ground.

Ratheesh Krishna Vadyar finds people yelling em pee three, em pee three (April 29th entry) in Palakkad Railway Station. Along with chaaaya and kaaapi, you also get MP3 film songs.

Twenty Onwards has the review of the new Tom Friedman book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century.

Does the future belong to China ? Fareed Zakaria's cover story in Newsweek.

Discovery Times Channel had a documentary investigating the the roots of 9/11 and as part of that project they visited a madrassa in Indonesia. The children in the school, thought that Jews were behind 9/11 and America was out to destroy Islam. But when asked if they would like to study in United States, they said yes.

Now if a madrassa educated Islamic student comes to Kansas, he will find that they teach the same stuff he wanted to avoid. Kansas Education Board wants to teach Bible as science and creationism instead of evolution. Kansas has been desparately trying to go back to Biblical times since 1999 and now Darwin's theory is not being challenged in scientific papers, but in a Kansas court. This is a time when scientists and engineers from India and China are competing with Americans for their jobs and Bill Gates is complaining about American Education.

Now if you think this is bad, Pharmacists around the country are not giving certain medication to people, because of their religious beliefs.

Praful Bidwai in defence of Maoists writes

Opposing the king does not amount to strengthening the Maoists. Indeed, it can encourage long overdue reform, including land reform, and further decentralization. The Maoists' methods can be criticised, but not their political platform -- a representative, radicalized, democracy. Their violence fades into insignificance beside the excesses of the RNA, which is responsible for a majority of the 11,000 people killed since 1996. [India's U-turn for a despot]

"About 17 gangs, mainly of the PWG, equipped with sophisticated weapons like AK-47 rifles, wireless sets and remote control devices, were reportedly active in Bastar, Dantewada, Dandori, Kanker, Rajnandgaon, Balaghat, Kawardha and Mandla districts," a police source said. Naxals raze Hindalco camp in Chhattisgarh; abduct 4

Sandeep has a detailed analysis of Praful Bidwai's Maoist cheerleeding.

Praful Bidwai has two new theorems. a) Naxalites in 35 districts of India don't talk to their comrades in the remaining 140 districts and b) if the number of people you murder is numerically less than your opponent, it is OK.

Theorem A, comes from the following statement.

Fears about the 'Maoist factor' are, to put it mildly, exaggerated. The Naxalite movement is indigenous. Less than a fifth of the 175 districts affected by it are anywhere near Nepal India's U-turn for a despot

So Comrade A1 from Uttar Pradesh meets Comrade B1 from Andhra. After exchanging pleasantries like the number of innocent people they have murdered, Comrade B1 asks for some help. He says that the Andhra police is now hunting them down and the comrades are losing morale and need more arms. Comrade B1 knows that A1 has links with the Maoists in Nepal and wonders if he could help. At this point, A1 shakes his head and says, "Comrade B1, I wish I could help. But that would violate Praful Bidwai's theorem A. He wrote recently that only one fifth of the Naxal districts border Nepal are affected by Maoists and since you belong to a district far way, it would not be prudent for me to teach you Nepalese techniques. I may be a murderer, but I am not a proliferator."

Dejected, Comrade B1 treks through the jungle back to Andhra Pradesh when he is taken out by a police ambush. As his soul flies over the forest canopy, it showers the choicest abuses on Theorem A

Opposing the king does not amount to strengthening the Maoists. Indeed, it can encourage long overdue reform, including land reform, and further decentralization. The Maoists' methods can be criticized, but not their political platform -- a representative, radicalized, democracy. Their violence fades into insignificance beside the excesses of the RNA, which is responsible for a majority of the 11,000 people killed since 1996. India's U-turn for a despot

This combat is increasingly following all wars' dread logic: killing and maiming innocent people, devastating homes, inflicting horrible suffering. What makes it especially loathsome is that it's being fought in the name of the very people it is turning into a mass of bleeding bodies and severed limbs. If civilians are overtly targeted, the war will become even more unpopular and the anti-war movement more assertive. The demand to bring back US-UK troops will turn into a roar.[The Emperor's new clothes]

Finally it takes a Frenchman to say things bluntly

For my part, I know where I stand. Having had the chance, during my investigations into journalist Daniel Pearl's murder, to observe close up the nature of the ties between the ISI and a number of Islamist groups, such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, linked to the "sacred" cause of Kashmir, I don't have many illusions as to the sincerity of the Islamabad leaders when they present themselves as the best students in the anti-terrorist class.

I just hope that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice doesn't have any more illusions than I have, and that when she thanks the Pakistanis for "the difficult work they've done," she knows that she's trifling with us, and she knows what she's doing. I hope that when, in order to break the "axis of evil," the Americans ally themselves with one of the regimes that has at its disposal both weapons of mass destruction and the ideology capable of putting them into action, they are fully aware that they're playing with fire. And that they're playing the craziest, most paradoxical and — if they're not careful — most dangerous diplomatic poker game in contemporary history. [Pakistan's Chips in a Shady Game]

Bernard-Henri Levy is the author of Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, which is an investigation into the murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan.

I used to live in Los Angeles which has the worst traffic in the world. I have lived in Mumbai India, Sao Paulo Brazil and Vancouver Canada and nothing beats Los Angeles. I used to live near I-10 which used to be standstill on a Sunday morning at 5 am and I used to wonder where all these people were going.

The Los Angeles region had the worst traffic congestion in the nation for the 20th year in a row, according to an annual report released Monday. According to the study, rush-hour drivers in metropolitan Los Angeles -- which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties -- spent an average of 93 hours more in traffic during 2003 than they would have without traffic jams. For a person who works five days a week and never takes a vacation, that's like being parked on the freeway for 21 minutes every day.

In fact, the average commute in 2003 took nearly twice as long as it should have, costing the average rush-hour driver $1,598 in extra gas and diminished free time throughout the year, according to the report. Those figures were worse for the Los Angeles area than for any other major urban area covered by the report.Los Angeles Ranks Worst in U.S. Traffic Study

Then I moved to San Francisco Bay Area and things improved. Now instead of living in the most congested area, I live in the second most congested area

The Bay Area is ranked near the top in one category most area residents would rather not be recognized for.According to an annual report on commuting times, drivers in the Bay Area suffer through the second-worst traffic jams in the country. This year's Urban Mobility Report says on average, Bay Area drivers are delayed about 72 hours a year. The annual report says only Los Angeles-area drivers spend more time sitting in traffic jams. They waste an 93 extra hours a year in trafficStudy says Bay Area traffic delays second longest in nation

Now if I am fed up with all this and decide to move back to my home town of Thrissurr, Kerala, things don't look good their either

Traffic snarls, blaring horns and bad-tempered drivers may soon become the order of the day in Thrissur town if constructive steps are not taken to address the increasing traffic problems.

A major hurdle in traffic management in Thrissur is the absence of corresponding development of roads to the number of vehicles that roll out every year. But it's not the only one. Lack of proper planning in the construction of junctions and traffic routeing, narrow roads, inadequate parking facilities, the list is almost endless.

With a total area of 101.42 sq km, Thrissur town has a road network of 526 km. Major roads lead to the Swaraj Round, and herein lies the core of the problem. Traffic on the Round has been restricted to one-way from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., but even this could prove inadequate in future, according to the police. Parking is another contentious issue on the Round, which needs to be addressedThrissur faces traffic problems

This is what globalization truly is: Anywhere you go in the world, you get the same set of problems.

Radio Free Europe has an article on gender violence in South Asia and for the article, the reporter Antoine Blua has picked stories of abuse from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. All of them are real horror stories and a shame on society. But towards the end comes a line out of the blue

Coomaraswamy said she believes South Asian men feel threatened by social and cultural changes, partly spread by globalization and the mass media. And women are bearing the brunt of men's fears. [South Asia: Recent Killings, Violence Underscore Lack Of Progress In Gender Justice]

In another news Christian Aid has come out with a report saying that liberalization is causing the death of Andhra farmers and Alex Singleton at the Globalization Institute has a rebuttal

It is totally regrettable when anyone commits suicide, but the Christian Aid report misses the point. Christian Aid ignores all the millions of lives saved from starvation in India because of liberalization. If saving lives were the point of the report, Christian Aid should be firmly backing liberalization. This report is about backing up ideology.

When the sort of policies Christian Aid advocates were followed in the 1960s and 1970s, India's economy stagnated and living standards fell. Many starved. Now, by following liberalizing policies, India's economy is experiencing some of the world's fastest economic growth. Christian Aid is effectively saying that India should grow more slowly. This would not be in the interests of poverty-relief.

Christian Aid seems to blame the suicides on Britain's Department for International Development for its support of Andhra Pradesh's privatization policies. Yet the report says the suicides are by farmers, not by workers at newly-privatized companies. Indeed, because India taxpayers are paying for fewer loss-making state industries, the government has had more money to spend on its priorities - including on helping farmers. [Christian Aid's report on Indian suicides]

Sandeep Pandey wants India and Pakistan to give dual citizenship to citizens of both countries as a solution to all problems. Ever heard of something called partition Sandeep ? Now at this point, Musharraf, who has even rejected the idea of soft borders is wondering, "I have to fight hard against these Indians to be their Enemy No. 1"

Ethnic cleansing continues in Kashmir, and even school children are not spared. Infiltration continues, and innocent civilians are murdered. But Mahesh Bhatt is unhappy that he is not able to get Pakistanis to act in his B-movies

After going through ups and downs, finally the women of Kuwait get the right to vote.

But in spite of the law's shortcomings, the decision goes a long way toward solidifying the gains that Kuwaiti women have already made. The law essentially enshrines in the Constitution what is already a de facto characteristic of Kuwaiti society: Despite having been denied the right to vote, Kuwaiti women have led their female counterparts in other countries in the Gulf in terms of gender equality. Unlike other women in the region, Kuwaiti women are free to drive, dress as they choose and travel without any restrictions. Women outnumber men in universities and they compose a third of the emirate's workforce. They also play an active role in the political arena through local and international rights groups and civil society organizations - groups that have played a key role in demanding that the state extend women their rights. The female force can be felt in every sector, from banking to medicine to art and the oil industry. The new law only confirms what was already known: Kuwaiti women are an important part of the fabric of their society.[Empowered women will drive Kuwait into the 21st century]

It is hard not to notice two contrasting stories that have run side by side during the past week. One is the story about the violent protests in the Muslim world triggered by a report in Newsweek (which the magazine has now retracted) that U.S. interrogators at Guantánamo Bay desecrated a Koran by throwing it into a toilet. In Afghanistan alone, at least 16 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in anti-American rioting that has been linked to that report. I certainly hope that Newsweek story is incorrect, because it would be outrageous if U.S. interrogators behaved that way.

That said, though, in the same newspapers one can read the latest reports from Iraq, where Baathist and jihadist suicide bombers have killed 400 Iraqi Muslims in the past month - most of them Shiite and Kurdish civilians shopping in markets, walking in funerals, going to mosques or volunteering to join the police.

Yet these mass murders - this desecration and dismemberment of real Muslims by other Muslims - have not prompted a single protest march anywhere in the Muslim world. And I have not read of a single fatwa issued by any Muslim cleric outside Iraq condemning these indiscriminate mass murders of Iraqi Shiites and Kurds by these jihadist suicide bombers, many of whom, according to a Washington Post report, are coming from Saudi Arabia. [Outrage and Silence]

True, also when Hindu Gods are desecrated in Saudi Arabia, it is just a law and order problem. But selective outrage is a global problem.

The San Jose Mercury News is the main newspaper of Silicon Valley and according to a news today, its subscription has been falling. Circulation has been falling for other newspapers as well. The reasons cited are competition from Internet and Cable TV. But what is not mentioned is that most of these newspapers are pathetic in quality. You can flip through an issue of Mercury News and find that there is nothing important to read, especially for people who are interested in knowing events happening outside Santa Clara County. The pages are filled with advertisements with some news thrown in as fillers. One of the major reasons why most people buy the newspaper is due to the discount Pizza and grocery coupons they insert in the weekend editions.

You may not get indepth coverage of world issues in Mercury News, but they do have some columns which appeal to people living here. My favourites are Mr. Roadshow and Action Line. The Mercury News staff also has two excellent blogs, Silicon Beat and Good Morning Silicon Valley for people whose lives revolve around technology.

One day they will realize that they are not making money off the print edition and need to charge people for the online edition, like how the New York Times realized

Netscape has released version 8.0 of their Firefox based browser. The UI looks slick and it has nice features like warning while visiting spyware sites and passcard to manage all your passwords. Since it is based on Firefox 1.0.3, you get tabbed browsing and fast rendering with the Gecko engine.

But while taking it on a spin today, there were two things that put me off

• When I click on the feeds in bloglines, it does not open anything in the tab


• When I open many tabs, the tab which is in focus expands, this reducing the space for other tabs and thus reducing the space for their titles. Now to see the names of the other tabs, you have to click on an icon on the right, which is one additional click.
  

In South Korea

Just a few years ago, Michigan State University scientist Jose Cibelli was considered the leading expert on cloning human embryos to treat and study disease. Now, there's no debate that the cloning king is Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University.

On Thursday, Hwang announced yet again that he had successfully cloned human embryos, this time extracting stem cells from embryos created using the DNA of sick and injured patients. It was the second time in a little more than a year that Hwang had successfully cloned. He remains the only acknowledged scientist to have done so.[S. Korea Takes Lead in Stem Cell Research]

Scientists hailed on Friday the announcement that British researchers have succeeded in creating the country's first -- and the world's second -- cloned embryo, a breakthrough that keeps Britain at the forefront of the fast-moving, potentially revolutionary field. [Scientists Hail Creation of Cloned Embryo]

"I am a strong supporter of stem cell research, but I've made very clear to Congress that the use of federal taxpayer money to promote science that destroys life in order to save life, I am against this," said Bush, speaking in the Oval Office during a brief joint appearance with the Danish prime minister, Anders Rasmussen, by his side. Therefore, if the bill does that, I will veto it."[Bush threatens stem cell veto]

A plot of land meant for Palestinian Embassy here has also been gifted to the PLA, he said. India has earlier also been giving assistance to Palestinian people and Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed himself carried vehicles and medicines there last year. [India gives Rs 65 crore aid to Palestine link via What? come again...]

Religious leaders in Pakistan have described the suicide attacks by Muslim freedom fighters in Kashmir as "justified", but "not justified" if waged within Pakistan. The religious leaders said that such attacks were also justified if carried out by Muslim freedom fighters in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

They said that in those countries where Jehad is being waged the suicide attacks are justified, but such attacks are prohibited where Jehad has not started even if it is a non-Islamic country.

The statement from as many as 40 religious parties in Pakistan has come as a response to the recent `fatwa' issued by a section of clerics saying that suicide attacks were forbidden in Islam.[Pakistani Muslim clerics: suicide attacks in Kashmir OK]

At this point Crown Prince Abdullah picked up the phone and called Musharraf and said, "These people are hijacking Islam and using it for murdering innocent Indians.As the guardian of Islam's most holy sites I cannot tolerate this and we have to put an end to such nonsense. Indians, as you know are friends of ours. They have been supporting us and also their unwavering support for the Palestinian issue even puts Palestinians to shame. Their minister recently carried some vehicles personally. If this is not commitment, I don't know what is.

Sadly, none of that happened.

A battle between U.S. forces and insurgents in eastern Afghanistan spilled across the border into Pakistan during the weekend, and witnesses said U.S. rocket fire killed five Pakistani tribesmen.

U.S. attack helicopters opened fire in Lawara Mandai, a Pakistani border town in the North Waziristan tribal region, as U.S. forces pursued insurgents after what the U.S. military called an ambush by guerrillas, officials and residents said.

Although Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf quietly allows U.S. ``hot pursuit'' missions when guerrillas cross from Afghanistan into Pakistan, opposition groups have denounced the incursions as illegal attacks on sovereign Pakistani territory.[U.S. tracks insurgents to Pakistan, killing 12]

The alleged desecration of Koran story resulted in the death of many Muslims and the reaction has been violent, verbally, in United States

Instead of sending Mr. McClellan out to flog Newsweek, President Bush should have said: "Let me say first to all Muslims that desecrating anyone's holy book is utterly wrong. These allegations will be investigated, and any such behavior will be punished. That is how we Americans intend to look in the mirror. But we think the Arab-Muslim world must also look in the mirror when it comes to how it has been behaving toward an even worse crime than the desecration of God's words, and that is the desecration of God's creations. In reaction to an unsubstantiated Newsweek story, Muslims killed 16 other Muslims in Afghanistan in rioting, and no one has raised a peep - as if it were a totally logical reaction. That is wrong.[The Best P.R.: Straight Talk]

No one recalled, for example, that American Catholics lashed out in violent rampages in 1989, after photographer Andres Serrano's ''Piss Christ" -- a photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine -- was included in an exhibition subsidized by the National Endowment for the Arts. Or that they rioted in 1992 when singer Sinead O'Connor, appearing on ''Saturday Night Live," ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II.

There was no reminder that Jewish communities erupted in lethal violence in 2000, after Arabs demolished Joseph's Tomb, torching the ancient shrine and murdering a young rabbi who tried to save a Torah. And nobody noted that Buddhists went on a killing spree in 2001 in response to the destruction of two priceless, 1,500-year-old statues of Buddha by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

Of course, there was a good reason all these bloody protests went unremembered in the coverage of the Newsweek affair: They never occurred.

Christians, Jews, and Buddhists don't lash out in homicidal rage when their religion is insulted. They don't call for holy war and riot in the streets. It would be unthinkable for a mainstream priest, rabbi, or lama to demand that a blasphemer be slain. But when Reuters reported what Mohammad Hanif, the imam of a Muslim seminary in Pakistan, said about the alleged Koran-flushers -- ''They should be hung. They should be killed in public so that no one can dare to insult Islam and its sacred symbols" -- was any reader surprised?[Why Islam is disrespected]

Terracota figurines of Mother Godess has been found in three locations in Tamil Nadu, of which one has been dated to pre-Christian era and the others to 8-9th century AD.

Archaeologists estimate that the two figurines found at Andipatti belong to 8th to 12th century A.D. They also found three potsherds with Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions there.

One reads "kan narpo" and department epigraphists date it between 4th and 5th century A.D. The other two Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, written on pot lids, read: "... aa th tha... " and "...ku ma... " They may belong to an earlier period.

T.S. Sridhar, Special Commissioner, said the 12 trenches dug at Andipatti in Chengam taluq of Tiruvannamalai district yielded a cornucopia of artefacts.

They included a figurine of Goddess Durga, a bull, coarse red ware, black and red ware, a few pieces of Roman pottery, terracotta beads, spindle whorls, iron knife and nails, copper objects, an incomplete well, bangles made of conch shell with beautiful designs, human torso made of terracotta and so on.

"On the basis of the unearthed antiquities, it can be deduced that Andipatti was inhabited by humans from the 1st century B.C. to 12th century A.D. Andipatti was a megalithic site. The discovery of spindle whorls and iron objects shows the industrial activity in the area," he said.

The Mother Goddess cult is one of the earliest cults in India. It was prevalent during the Harappan period (circa 3,500 B.C.). It was a fertility cult. Mother Goddess figurines have been found in several places in Tamil Nadu such as Adichanallur near Tirunelveli, Melaperumballam near Poompuhar and Poluvaampatti near Coimbatore. All of them are made of terracotta. If the figurine is depicted in the nude, it "definitely signifies a fertility cult," said an archaeologist.

Fifteen trenches were dug at Modur in Palacode taluq of Dharmapuri district. They yielded spectacular objects such as celts, polishing and grinding stones, hammers made of stones and cylindrical pestles belonging to the Neolithic period. The megalithic objects found were black and red ware, grey ware and red slipped ware. Artefacts such as terracotta figurines, decorative potsherds, spindle whorls, shell bangles, well-crafted smoking pipes and graffiti potsherds belonged to the historical period after 1st century A.D. [ Mother Goddess figurines found in Tamil Nadu]

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today said that Kashmir, which was earlier considered a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, will now serve as a bridge between the two countries.[Kashmir will serve as a bridge between India and Pakistan: Mufti]

Militants have blown up a bridge on the route to holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Pahalgam area of Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said here today.Bridge no. 2 at Chandanwari, 15 km from Pahalgam, was blown up by using an Improvised Explosive Device late Monday night, the sources said.Chandanwari is the first halting station for the pilgrims en route to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.The annual Amarnath yatra is expected to begin next month. Last year, three lakh devotees went on the pilgrimage. [Militants blow up bridge on Amarnath yatra route]

Did you say you lacked motivation to go for a Yoga class.

No, a San Francisco community center is offering naked yoga, where bare essentials means just that: Men and women are completely nude during the 90- minute class.

The class is about the challenge of yoga, and about the challenge of accepting -- and even revering -- one's own body. "It's not a sexual experience,'' said Rob Kandell, the center's business manager. "It's a heart-opening experience."

"As we begin to disrobe, start to notice how you clothe this temple, this body, this thing you own, your home,'' Medland said. "As you take off your clothes, there's a level of precision, of consciousness, in the way you fold your clothes. We're honoring the preciousness, the sacredness, the delicateness of the body.''

The first movements involved stretching arms above the head. Medland, as naked as the rest of the class, faced the group, arms over her head, her patter providing a point of focus for any student distracted by self- consciousness. [Doing it in the altogether is what makes this yoga practice altogether free from distractions (with pictures)] I think Paris Hilton was trying to do exactly the same in the new Carl's Jr ad and many people who were distracted by self-consciousness crashed the website. If you have a monkey mind and want to bring it to focus, if naked yoga cannot help, then nothing else can.

As expected, Sonia Gandhi is set to be re-elected Congress president with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the party's top brass cutting across generations backing her candidature for the top organisational post.

A total of 89 nominations were filed from different states and Union minister Oscar Fernandes, who is chairman of All India Congress Committee's central election authority, said that till Wednesday nominations in favour of Gandhi alone had been received. [All nominations so far name Sonia]

Do you think anyone will file a nomination against her? That would be the end of his career in the Congress Party. This has an uncanny similarity to the way Saddam Hussein was elected as well.

Iraq declared Saddam Hussein the winner Wednesday with 100 percent of the votes in a referendum in which he was the sole candidate, perpetuating his two-decade reign and prompting bursts of celebratory gunfire in Baghdad's streets.[Iraq declares Saddam election winner]

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a Mallu by the name of Prakash Karat has met with a terrorist leader from Nepal. According to the Times of India, this meeting was arranged by Indian Intelligence Agencies.

Sandeep (who is the envy of IISc Professors) and The Acorn have detailed analysis

• You can't imagine the stuff you can find using Google Maps
• When Google kicked Yahoo's ass, they decided to innovate like there is no tomorrow - So you get Yahoo! Photo Mail , Movie Recommendations and from Yahoo! Research, Mindset
• Apple is going to support podcasting in the next release of iTunes. Now that KQED is offering podcasts of Forum, this would work well for me.

Taken during our visit to Victoria in Dec 2004.

Enjoy the long weekend.

The Kerala Communists have always come up with excuses to prevent companies from setting shop in Kerala. The Communists are against exploitation of all kind and this is a major problem when people want to work and earn a living. If they work, they will get exploited. So unemployment is always better. But dig this. One of the major employers in Kerala is actually the Communist Party, because, "some animals are more equal than others". The Communists run a TV Channel and now are planning to start an amusement park.

The only person who was not amused as P. Chidambaram who found that the party has assets worth over Rs. 40 Billion. And the Communists responded immediately:

CPM State Secretary Pinnarayi Vijayan replying to the observations said in statement Sunday: "It is sad to note that Chidambaram instead of attacking the communal forces which are a threat to the country, has turned against the CPM that has done its best to keep communal forces at bay."[Left under flak over assets]

Recently L K Advani came out against the Communists

"In national interest, I wish to caution Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that your dependence on Communist support will prove to be a liability for anything good you many wish to do," Advani said.

"The first thing India must do to achieve double-digit inclusive growth is to marginalise the ideological and political influence of the Communists, for their policies will neither deliver inclusive growth nor double digit growth," he added.

Advani said the Communists have been fanatically opposed to every piece of economic reform, right from P V Narasimha Rao's time to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure and now during Dr Singh's time.

"I never cease to be amazed by the hypocrisy of the Indian Communists. For them, it is okay if China carries out economic reforms, but India must not. It is okay if China becomes a nuclear weapon nation, but India must not," Advani said.[Left a liability for UPA: Advani]

Here is a sample of what is being taught about Hinduism in Bay Area schools

• Bindis symbolize the caste system


• Godess Parvati is the chief of all elves that roam the earth


• During religious festivals Indians play with colors made with urine and cow dung

Vijaykar has tried tackling the problem in a grass-roots way: by contacting teachers and asking to speak to their classes about India and Hinduism, explaining the significance of ancient Indian languages or the origin of religious customs.

Vijaykar said many of the teachers she's spoken with complain about the lack of resources on world religions and are hungry for information. She recalls a teacher at her son's former school, Redwood Middle School in Saratoga, who invited Vijaykar to class several years ago to add to her lesson on India and world religions. Vijaykar remembers being outraged by a handout on various forms of the Hindu god.

The handout -- produced by Teacher Created Materials, an education publishing company in Westminster -- listed Parvati as a goddess who is ``chief of all of the elves'' that roam the Earth. Company officials didn't return requests for interviews.

``They might as well be talking about fairies in a fairy tale,'' Vijaykar said. ``It makes the religion sound silly and stupid. And it's plain wrong.''

Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University, had a similar reaction: ``Elves? That's just false. That's ridiculous.''[COUNTERING STEREOTYPES]