Thursday, January 29, 2009
SRK goes under the knife
Poor Shah Rukh Khan. The actor, who underwent a difficult and painful back surgery some years ago, is now destined to go under the scalpel again for a tear in the shoulder muscle. He suffered the injury in Mumbai when shooting a stunt scene for Mudassar Aziz’s Dulha Mil Gaya. But, as if keeping in mind the old adage ‘no pain no gain’, SRK continued shooting with occasional physiotherapy from his old friend Dr Ali Irani. Then, instead of resting, he flew to LA where he had a month-long schedule slated for Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan. The LA winter did him in. He was taken to a hospital in pain where an MRI showed up the tear in his left shoulder. Now the actor is back and looking at undergoing a shoulder arthroscopy to repair the tear in his supraspinatus muscle.
Talking to this paper, SRK who dragged on in LA through the pain just so that Karan Johar’s shooting schedule might not get disrupted, admitted, “I was advised surgery, but pulled through on temporary medical assistance until I could not bear the pain any longer. I have to now go in for surgery in the next few days.”
He has no choice because the next schedule of My Name Is Khan requires the Bollywood Badshah to be fighting fit and performing all kinds of stunts. His doctors, of course, have advised him otherwise. “Inshallah, I’ll be fine,” smiled the hero.
Meanwhile, the Bollywood Badshah remains undaunted at the prospect of surgery. At the Asia West Pacific Regional Physiotherapy Conference organised by Dr Ali Irani of the Indian Association of Physiotherapy, he kept medicos, some 800 physiotherapists delegates from 23 countries and students in splits by referring to all the injuries he has faced.
Said Shah Rukh, “Thanks to my injuries, I know every part of my body, all the muscles, the tendons. My body has pieces of metal in it.” His interaction with physios began from the age of 15. “I was playing soccer at Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium and developed a lower back problem. That was the end of my professional sporting career. I would have preferred it to the one in showbiz,” he said. “Indias are used to medicines of hakims and vaids. Invasive therapy is not the order of the day. Physiotherapy for most means massage. I love massage though,” he said smiling.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
All you needed to know about Barack Obama....
Family: Barack Obama was born to a Kenyan father and a white American mother. His father, Barack Obama Sr., married his mother, Ann Dunham, while studying at the University of Hawaii. The couple separated two years after Obama was born. His father ultimately returned to Kenya, where he became a noted economist. He died in a car accident in 1982.
Obama's mother's second marriage was to an Indonesian man named Lolo Soetoro. The family moved to Indonesia and Obama remained there until he was 10 when he moved back to Hawaii and lived with his grandparents while studying on a scholarship at the elite Punahou Academy.
He has seven half brothers and sisters in Kenya from his father's other marriages, and a half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, from his mother's second marriage.
In photo: In this Jan. 3, 2008 file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia, left, and Sasha, center, at an after caucus rally at the Hy-Vee Center after winning the Iowa democratic presidential caucus in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo)
Career: After finishing college in 1983, Obama worked for a New York financial consultancy and a consumer organization. He landed a job in Chicago in 1985 as an organizer for Developing Communities Project, a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods.
Three years later, Obama left to go to Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of the law review. He worked as a summer associate at the Sidley Austin law firm in Chicago, where he met his future wife. After graduation from Harvard in 1991, Obama practiced civil rights law at a small firm in Chicago, then became a lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago in 1993.
In photo: U. S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the commencement program at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006. (AP Photo).Elective office: Obama won a seat in the Illinois state Senate in 1996. During his time in the Legislature, he worked on welfare and ethics legislation, as well as a measure requiring electronic recording of police interrogations and confessions in homicide investigations.
Obama won a heavily contested U.S. Senate seat in 2004, carrying 53 percent of the Democratic primary vote in an eight-candidate race. He easily won the general election as well. In the U.S. Senate he compiled a liberal voting record, but was one of the few Democrats to back a measure on class-action lawsuits.
He opposed the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The nonpartisan National Journal ranked him as the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate early this year based on his voting record in 2007. He was ranked 10th most liberal in 2006 and 16th most liberal in 2005.
Hillary Clinton was initially seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Obama quickly showed an ability to raise large amounts of money and draw record-breaking crowds who were attracted to his rhetorical skill, his opposition to the Iraq war, and his promise to move beyond the divisive politics of the past 40 years.
In photo: President-elect Barack Obama, left, stands with his choice to be secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, at a news conference in Chicago, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo).
Obama won the first contest of the Democratic primary in Iowa in January 2008, but did not clinch the nomination until the last states had cast their ballots in June. During the protracted battle with Clinton, Obama had to explain away a disparaging comment about rural voters and distance himself from a former preacher's incendiary remarks. His campaign developed new ways to mobilize voters through the Internet.
After accepting the Democratic nomination in Denver in August, Obama faced Republican John McCain in the general election. McCain initially led in opinion polls after he picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, but his support eroded amid a souring economy and concern about Palin's qualifications.
Obama won 53 percent of the popular vote on Election Day, Nov. 4.
In photo: In this Aug. 28, 2008 file photo, then Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., hugs his wife, Michelle Obama, after giving his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver. (AP Photo).
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Obama to Rescue - Can the New President Save US Economy?
New US president, Barack Obama has it easy in one way. A good number of people think he can't be any worse than the outgoing president, so he starts with a lot of goodwill and public support.
Unluckily for him, that's about the only way he's got it easy. He's confronted with an economy in a massive bust, and everyone's expecting him to somehow deal with it. The latest data from the US is grim. In 2008, 2.6 million jobs were lost, the most since 1945. Consumers (remember the days when the investment mantra was "don't bet against the US consumer"?) are unsurprisingly, cutting back - retail sales in December were down a whopping 9.8% year-on-year.
House prices are still suffering
House prices and construction activity are still falling, and - arguably most importantly - the banking sector is still broken. As in the UK, more and more bad news keeps coming out of banks' balance sheets, and until there's some hint that things might get better, they won't be in a position to increase lending - in fact, they'll keep cutting back.
And there's probably a lot more turmoil to come in the financial system - New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini reckons that US banks face about $1.8 trillion in losses, yet they only have $1.4 trillion in capital. In other words, they are "borderline insolvent".
Recession for the forseeable future
The economy has been in recession since the start of 2008, and doesn't look like escaping any time soon. So Mr Obama is doing what most other governments do in times of crisis - throwing money at the problem and hoping some will stick.
He's got $350 billion left over from the $700 billion that was pushed through under his predecessor. And he looks like he'll get another $825 billion to back a two-year plan to be signed off shortly. So what's he planning to do with the money?
Obama's plans
Well, there's a ragbag of measures. Some will go on infrastructure - building roads, bridges, "green technology" and other work-creation projects. About $275 billion will go on tax cuts, with most workers getting a $500 tax credit. There's also plans to give money to local and state governments, many of whom are threatened with bankruptcy or having to slash public services, as tax receipts from housing go through the floor.
On top of all this, they're working on a plan to free up the lending market - hence, no doubt, the unusually high level of interest the US media has displayed over Britain's current banking crisis - partly by buying and restructuring mortgages to give more direct help to people threatened with recession.
Job creation
Obama reckons he can create about four million jobs with these packages. But there are plenty of objections. Some people don't like tax cuts, arguing that families will save them, rather than spend them (this is a stupid argument - what you save today, you can spend tomorrow - but that's a topic for another day). Others point out that infrastructure spending takes a while to feed through to the economy.
Still others argue that the scale of the stimulus just isn't enough. They reckon that over the next two years, the slump in the US will cost the country $2 trillion compared to what it would have produced in "normal" economic conditions. Therefore, the argument goes, Mr Obama needs to spend $2 trillion.
Allowing failures to happen
But even if there was enough money to make it "work", is this really the right solution? The US has already slashed interest rates to zero or thereabouts. The Federal Reserve is printing money and the government is planning to spend. The Keynesian machine is in overdrive.
But the truth is that the economy is still weak and getting weaker. And that's because this crisis needs to run its course. US house prices have to reach a point where they're cheap, and there isn't such a drastic over-supply. That's happening gradually - builders have stopped building, prices are still falling - and the less Mr Obama interferes with that process, the sooner it will hit bottom.
And when house prices have clearly bottomed out, suddenly everyone will see that there's light at the end of the tunnel for banks (well, the ones that are left standing anyway). Even if no one has worked out by then whether to nationalise the banking system or not, investors will be able to make a decent guess at a genuine worst-case scenario, and confidence will pick up again.
Consumers to the rescue - if they can
At that point, it would be much better to have consumers who have built up some savings and so are ready to spend. It won't be so great if the government has to raise taxes massively to pay off debts it ran up during the downturn. And remember that every dollar the government borrows is one that doesn't get loaned to the private sector, which "allocates capital" - ie spends - far more efficiently than the public sector. So the deeper the government gets into debt now, the harder it will be to eventually emerge from this slump.
In any case, the biggest threat the US - and indeed, the world - faces, lies outside its border, with the problems facing another country's economy. We all know that much of the west is running into trouble, but up until recently, there's been the vague hope that China and other emerging markets could somehow make up for it.
Emerging markets not so hopeful
Some of the smarter commentators are starting to doubt that. While many are still predicting GDP growth of at least 6-8% this year, that's a far cry from the 13% seen last year. But more importantly, it could be a lot worse than that. Chinese electricity output - a pretty solid indicator of demand in a country where official statistics are hard to trust (though that's not unusual) - fell year-on-year in October and November, for the first time since 2002.
That's because the manufacturing sector is collapsing. China's economic miracle has been built mainly on exporting cheap goods to the west. So when the west stops buying, China's in trouble.
Recipe for unrest
As Albert Edwards at Societe Generale warned recently, rising unemployment will mean rising social unrest. And that's the last thing the Chinese government wants. A population might put up with an oppressive system while standards of living are rising, but if things click into reverse, they start to wonder what they've sacrificed their freedom for.
So while the US is hoping that a weak dollar will boost its own manufacturing and export industries, the Chinese won't be keen to see the dollar weaken against the yuan. It'll want to keep as many of those factories open as possible, and that means keeping its goods cheap so that overseas consumers can buy them.
But if China intervenes to keep its currency weak against the dollar, that could easily spur protectionist measures from the US, leading to trade war. If that happens, and global trade collapses as a result, then we really could be looking at a repeat of the Great Depression.
The topic owner is John Stepek.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Unluckily for him, that's about the only way he's got it easy. He's confronted with an economy in a massive bust, and everyone's expecting him to somehow deal with it. The latest data from the US is grim. In 2008, 2.6 million jobs were lost, the most since 1945. Consumers (remember the days when the investment mantra was "don't bet against the US consumer"?) are unsurprisingly, cutting back - retail sales in December were down a whopping 9.8% year-on-year.
House prices are still suffering
House prices and construction activity are still falling, and - arguably most importantly - the banking sector is still broken. As in the UK, more and more bad news keeps coming out of banks' balance sheets, and until there's some hint that things might get better, they won't be in a position to increase lending - in fact, they'll keep cutting back.
And there's probably a lot more turmoil to come in the financial system - New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini reckons that US banks face about $1.8 trillion in losses, yet they only have $1.4 trillion in capital. In other words, they are "borderline insolvent".
Recession for the forseeable future
The economy has been in recession since the start of 2008, and doesn't look like escaping any time soon. So Mr Obama is doing what most other governments do in times of crisis - throwing money at the problem and hoping some will stick.
He's got $350 billion left over from the $700 billion that was pushed through under his predecessor. And he looks like he'll get another $825 billion to back a two-year plan to be signed off shortly. So what's he planning to do with the money?
Obama's plans
Well, there's a ragbag of measures. Some will go on infrastructure - building roads, bridges, "green technology" and other work-creation projects. About $275 billion will go on tax cuts, with most workers getting a $500 tax credit. There's also plans to give money to local and state governments, many of whom are threatened with bankruptcy or having to slash public services, as tax receipts from housing go through the floor.
On top of all this, they're working on a plan to free up the lending market - hence, no doubt, the unusually high level of interest the US media has displayed over Britain's current banking crisis - partly by buying and restructuring mortgages to give more direct help to people threatened with recession.
Job creation
Obama reckons he can create about four million jobs with these packages. But there are plenty of objections. Some people don't like tax cuts, arguing that families will save them, rather than spend them (this is a stupid argument - what you save today, you can spend tomorrow - but that's a topic for another day). Others point out that infrastructure spending takes a while to feed through to the economy.
Still others argue that the scale of the stimulus just isn't enough. They reckon that over the next two years, the slump in the US will cost the country $2 trillion compared to what it would have produced in "normal" economic conditions. Therefore, the argument goes, Mr Obama needs to spend $2 trillion.
Allowing failures to happen
But even if there was enough money to make it "work", is this really the right solution? The US has already slashed interest rates to zero or thereabouts. The Federal Reserve is printing money and the government is planning to spend. The Keynesian machine is in overdrive.
But the truth is that the economy is still weak and getting weaker. And that's because this crisis needs to run its course. US house prices have to reach a point where they're cheap, and there isn't such a drastic over-supply. That's happening gradually - builders have stopped building, prices are still falling - and the less Mr Obama interferes with that process, the sooner it will hit bottom.
And when house prices have clearly bottomed out, suddenly everyone will see that there's light at the end of the tunnel for banks (well, the ones that are left standing anyway). Even if no one has worked out by then whether to nationalise the banking system or not, investors will be able to make a decent guess at a genuine worst-case scenario, and confidence will pick up again.
Consumers to the rescue - if they can
At that point, it would be much better to have consumers who have built up some savings and so are ready to spend. It won't be so great if the government has to raise taxes massively to pay off debts it ran up during the downturn. And remember that every dollar the government borrows is one that doesn't get loaned to the private sector, which "allocates capital" - ie spends - far more efficiently than the public sector. So the deeper the government gets into debt now, the harder it will be to eventually emerge from this slump.
In any case, the biggest threat the US - and indeed, the world - faces, lies outside its border, with the problems facing another country's economy. We all know that much of the west is running into trouble, but up until recently, there's been the vague hope that China and other emerging markets could somehow make up for it.
Emerging markets not so hopeful
Some of the smarter commentators are starting to doubt that. While many are still predicting GDP growth of at least 6-8% this year, that's a far cry from the 13% seen last year. But more importantly, it could be a lot worse than that. Chinese electricity output - a pretty solid indicator of demand in a country where official statistics are hard to trust (though that's not unusual) - fell year-on-year in October and November, for the first time since 2002.
That's because the manufacturing sector is collapsing. China's economic miracle has been built mainly on exporting cheap goods to the west. So when the west stops buying, China's in trouble.
Recipe for unrest
As Albert Edwards at Societe Generale warned recently, rising unemployment will mean rising social unrest. And that's the last thing the Chinese government wants. A population might put up with an oppressive system while standards of living are rising, but if things click into reverse, they start to wonder what they've sacrificed their freedom for.
So while the US is hoping that a weak dollar will boost its own manufacturing and export industries, the Chinese won't be keen to see the dollar weaken against the yuan. It'll want to keep as many of those factories open as possible, and that means keeping its goods cheap so that overseas consumers can buy them.
But if China intervenes to keep its currency weak against the dollar, that could easily spur protectionist measures from the US, leading to trade war. If that happens, and global trade collapses as a result, then we really could be looking at a repeat of the Great Depression.
The topic owner is John Stepek.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Are Katrina and Salman Married?
Actress Katrina Kaif has demanded a formal apology from the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna for saying that she was married to Salman Khan. This after Saamna carried a special article written by Salman's father Salim Khan saying that his 44-year-old son has already tied the knot with his long time girlfriend Katrina. Katrina has denied the report and Salim Khan now says he has been misquoted. "Salim sahab has already said that he has been misquoted or perhaps the reporter who was taking the interview misunderstood. Let's give the reporter a benefit of doubt that it was a mistake," she told CNN-IBN. "I definitely thinks that Saamna should issue a clarification if not an apology because it's not a small thing. It's not the news of a movie or some endorsement that one has signed. It's a big think to make a mistake about somebody's life like this. And I think a clarification is a must because I know for a fact that Salim sahab has definitely not said anything and one should be careful while reporting for such a major newspaper and while writing articles," she added. She said that her managers have spoken to the editors at Saamna and that they were assured of a corrigendum. "People who read Saamna are regulars so when they open the paper tomorrow, there should be a clarification in the paper. They should say that they were misinformed or the misprinted and that's it. I think the matter should be ended then and there," she stated.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
10 Common Misconceptions
1. If you eat less food, your stomach will shrink
Dieters are often advised to decrease their intake of food in order to shrink the size of their stomach. However, while smaller portions will obviously help with weight-loss, the size of your stomach has nothing to do with the process. On average, the organ will maintain a constant volume throughout life, regardless of the amount of food that passes through it.
Dieters are often advised to decrease their intake of food in order to shrink the size of their stomach. However, while smaller portions will obviously help with weight-loss, the size of your stomach has nothing to do with the process. On average, the organ will maintain a constant volume throughout life, regardless of the amount of food that passes through it.
2. Banknotes are made out of paper
Despite being known as “paper money”, the billion or so British banknotes that are printed every year are in fact made from cotton. The fabric is beaten to form the very thin, tightly-bonded fibres of our durable "paper" notes. This explains why money can survive an accidental whizz in the washing-machine, whereas plain paper cannot.
Despite being known as “paper money”, the billion or so British banknotes that are printed every year are in fact made from cotton. The fabric is beaten to form the very thin, tightly-bonded fibres of our durable "paper" notes. This explains why money can survive an accidental whizz in the washing-machine, whereas plain paper cannot.
3. Wild goldfish are gold
In their natural habitat, goldfish are actually green and subsist on weeds and small invertebrates. It is only domestic goldfish that are carefully selected and bred to maintain their characteristic golden-red colour. If domestic goldfish escape to a less-protected environment, the species will usually revert to an olive green hue.
4. Mr Crapper invented the flushing toilet
As appropriate as his name may be, Thomas Crapper did not invent the flushing toilet. Crapper was a famous Victorian plumber whose achievements included installing the drains at Westminster Abbey, but it was Edward Jennings who, in 1852, first took out a patent for the flush-out toilet and forever improved the sanitary world.
5. You can only fold a piece of paper in half seven times
If you pick up a piece of paper and try to fold it in half more than seven times, it is highly unlikely that you will succeed. No matter how large or small the sheet, it was universally believed to be an unachievable act. However, in 2002, the feat was proved possible by an American university student, who studied the maths behind the folds. After producing a formula and testing it first on a sheet of gold foil, Britney Gallivan succeeded in folding a 1,220-m (4,000-ft) long piece of toilet paper in half 12 times.
6. Columbus believed the Earth was flat
Christopher Columbus’s legendary status is often magnified with the story that when he began his voyage in 1492, he bravely defied the contemporary belief that the Earth was flat. However, Columbus’s map, which is typical of its time, survives and although it shows that he thought that the Earth was much smaller than it is, he clearly knew the Earth was round. (In fact, the circumference of the Earth was calculated by the ancient Greek mathematician Eratosthenes as early as 240 BC.)
7. Hair and nails continue to grow after death
While we are alive, hair and fingernails are among the fastest growing cells on our body (nails average about a tenth of a millimetre a day). A discomforting and commonly reported occurrence is that even after death these cells continue to grow. This potentially supernatural phenomenon is, however, all an optical illusion. In reality, the body begins to dehydrate after death and the loss of moisture causes the skin to retract. This shrinking of skin cells makes hair and nails jut out more prominently, giving the illusion that they have grown.
8. Pencils are made with lead
Pencils contain no lead, so there is no risk of lead poisoning if you stab yourself with one. Instead they are made up of a mixture of graphite and clay. Graphite, a crystallized form of carbon, was discovered near Keswick in the mid-16th century and was named from the Greek “graphein”, meaning “to write”.
9. White chocolate is chocolate
White chocolate is a relatively new invention—it was first produced in the 1930s, almost 90 years after the introduction of the first solid dark chocolate bar. Despite being named white chocolate, it is officially not recognized as chocolate because it does not contain cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor, a substance with a slightly ‘bitter’ quality that is a necessary ingredient for both milk and dark chocolates, is replaced entirely in white chocolate with cocoa butter.
10. Screw-caps equal cheap wine
It is not true to say that screw caps (or stelvin enclosures as they are more formally known) on wine bottles indicate that its contents are cheap. In fact, although screw caps are not as aesthetically pleasing as the traditional cork, many upmarket winemakers are now recognizing and implementing the benefits of screw caps over corks. Corks, occasionally liable to becoming mouldy, can cause a chemical compound known as TCS (trichloroanisole) to be produced in the wine. When this happens, the drink both smells and tastes unpleasant (much like a damp cloth) and is said to be “corked”.
In their natural habitat, goldfish are actually green and subsist on weeds and small invertebrates. It is only domestic goldfish that are carefully selected and bred to maintain their characteristic golden-red colour. If domestic goldfish escape to a less-protected environment, the species will usually revert to an olive green hue.
4. Mr Crapper invented the flushing toilet
As appropriate as his name may be, Thomas Crapper did not invent the flushing toilet. Crapper was a famous Victorian plumber whose achievements included installing the drains at Westminster Abbey, but it was Edward Jennings who, in 1852, first took out a patent for the flush-out toilet and forever improved the sanitary world.
5. You can only fold a piece of paper in half seven times
If you pick up a piece of paper and try to fold it in half more than seven times, it is highly unlikely that you will succeed. No matter how large or small the sheet, it was universally believed to be an unachievable act. However, in 2002, the feat was proved possible by an American university student, who studied the maths behind the folds. After producing a formula and testing it first on a sheet of gold foil, Britney Gallivan succeeded in folding a 1,220-m (4,000-ft) long piece of toilet paper in half 12 times.
6. Columbus believed the Earth was flat
Christopher Columbus’s legendary status is often magnified with the story that when he began his voyage in 1492, he bravely defied the contemporary belief that the Earth was flat. However, Columbus’s map, which is typical of its time, survives and although it shows that he thought that the Earth was much smaller than it is, he clearly knew the Earth was round. (In fact, the circumference of the Earth was calculated by the ancient Greek mathematician Eratosthenes as early as 240 BC.)
7. Hair and nails continue to grow after death
While we are alive, hair and fingernails are among the fastest growing cells on our body (nails average about a tenth of a millimetre a day). A discomforting and commonly reported occurrence is that even after death these cells continue to grow. This potentially supernatural phenomenon is, however, all an optical illusion. In reality, the body begins to dehydrate after death and the loss of moisture causes the skin to retract. This shrinking of skin cells makes hair and nails jut out more prominently, giving the illusion that they have grown.
8. Pencils are made with lead
Pencils contain no lead, so there is no risk of lead poisoning if you stab yourself with one. Instead they are made up of a mixture of graphite and clay. Graphite, a crystallized form of carbon, was discovered near Keswick in the mid-16th century and was named from the Greek “graphein”, meaning “to write”.
9. White chocolate is chocolate
White chocolate is a relatively new invention—it was first produced in the 1930s, almost 90 years after the introduction of the first solid dark chocolate bar. Despite being named white chocolate, it is officially not recognized as chocolate because it does not contain cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor, a substance with a slightly ‘bitter’ quality that is a necessary ingredient for both milk and dark chocolates, is replaced entirely in white chocolate with cocoa butter.
10. Screw-caps equal cheap wine
It is not true to say that screw caps (or stelvin enclosures as they are more formally known) on wine bottles indicate that its contents are cheap. In fact, although screw caps are not as aesthetically pleasing as the traditional cork, many upmarket winemakers are now recognizing and implementing the benefits of screw caps over corks. Corks, occasionally liable to becoming mouldy, can cause a chemical compound known as TCS (trichloroanisole) to be produced in the wine. When this happens, the drink both smells and tastes unpleasant (much like a damp cloth) and is said to be “corked”.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Windows 7: Oops! Microsoft did it again!
Windows 7: Oops! Microsoft did it again!
My initial evaluation of Windows 7 shows that it's really just Vista with a fresh coat of paint!!!
I have seen the future, and it is bleak. Windows 7, the next big version, the one that was supposed to fix everything that was wrong with Vista, is here (at least in pre-beta form), and I can now say -- with some confidence -- that Microsoft has once again dropped the ball.
Based on what I saw in today's keynote speech, and on what I discovered while testing the Windows 7 M3 build during some down time this afternoon, Windows 7 is:
Just as slow as Vista. In fact, Windows 7's performance is virtually identical to that of Vista SP1 on the same hardware. If you were unhappy with Vista's CPU-hogging, memory-sucking ways, Windows 7 will provide little relief. And don't start with the whole "it's still in beta" crap. This is NO beta – at least not at a kernel-mode level. As, I predicted months ago, Windows 7 is very much Windows Vista "R2" under the covers. Microsoft established its platform baseline with the SP1/2008 kernel and nothing significant has changed since, nor is anything likely to change before RTM. This is the reality we face. Get used to it.
Just as consumer-focused as Vista. Home Groups. Media Sharing. Federated Search. All very cool. All very slick. And all very much irrelevant to the enterprise desktop customer (though the Search stuff might be useful in certain scenarios). In fact, from what I can see with the M3 build, there's virtually nothing new here that would address the very real migration concerns that have stalled Vista's deployment among larger Windows shops. I was looking for a "mea culpa" and some solid integration tools and compatibility features. What I got was a prettier GUI and new ways to share music with my dog. Ugh!!!
Just as confusing as Vista. Microsoft has once again moved stuff around in the UI. After baffling its loyal users by completely upending the XP UI, Microsoft has decided that it wasn't satisfied with the end result. So it started moving stuff, with the Control Panel taking the brunt of the abuse. Need to add a printer? Welcome to the new "Devices and Printers" applet! Looking for the "System and Maintenance" subgroup? It now has a new name: "System and Security." And can you guess where the Security subgroup went? No? Then it's time for some retraining!
Overall, I'm extremely disappointed with Windows 7. Far from atoning for vista sins, Windows 7 simply carries them forward, visiting them upon yet another generation. All of which makes me even more convinced that I was really on to something last summer when I posed the question: Is it finally time to cut and run?
Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing's for sure: Windows 7 is no panacea. Rather, it's just more of the same: slow, bloated, and frustrating as hell.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
My initial evaluation of Windows 7 shows that it's really just Vista with a fresh coat of paint!!!
I have seen the future, and it is bleak. Windows 7, the next big version, the one that was supposed to fix everything that was wrong with Vista, is here (at least in pre-beta form), and I can now say -- with some confidence -- that Microsoft has once again dropped the ball.
Based on what I saw in today's keynote speech, and on what I discovered while testing the Windows 7 M3 build during some down time this afternoon, Windows 7 is:
Just as slow as Vista. In fact, Windows 7's performance is virtually identical to that of Vista SP1 on the same hardware. If you were unhappy with Vista's CPU-hogging, memory-sucking ways, Windows 7 will provide little relief. And don't start with the whole "it's still in beta" crap. This is NO beta – at least not at a kernel-mode level. As, I predicted months ago, Windows 7 is very much Windows Vista "R2" under the covers. Microsoft established its platform baseline with the SP1/2008 kernel and nothing significant has changed since, nor is anything likely to change before RTM. This is the reality we face. Get used to it.
Just as consumer-focused as Vista. Home Groups. Media Sharing. Federated Search. All very cool. All very slick. And all very much irrelevant to the enterprise desktop customer (though the Search stuff might be useful in certain scenarios). In fact, from what I can see with the M3 build, there's virtually nothing new here that would address the very real migration concerns that have stalled Vista's deployment among larger Windows shops. I was looking for a "mea culpa" and some solid integration tools and compatibility features. What I got was a prettier GUI and new ways to share music with my dog. Ugh!!!
Just as confusing as Vista. Microsoft has once again moved stuff around in the UI. After baffling its loyal users by completely upending the XP UI, Microsoft has decided that it wasn't satisfied with the end result. So it started moving stuff, with the Control Panel taking the brunt of the abuse. Need to add a printer? Welcome to the new "Devices and Printers" applet! Looking for the "System and Maintenance" subgroup? It now has a new name: "System and Security." And can you guess where the Security subgroup went? No? Then it's time for some retraining!
Overall, I'm extremely disappointed with Windows 7. Far from atoning for vista sins, Windows 7 simply carries them forward, visiting them upon yet another generation. All of which makes me even more convinced that I was really on to something last summer when I posed the question: Is it finally time to cut and run?
Maybe. Maybe not. But one thing's for sure: Windows 7 is no panacea. Rather, it's just more of the same: slow, bloated, and frustrating as hell.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Israel 'using white phosphorus'
Israel 'using white phosphorus'
White phosphorus, fired in a shell, can be used to hide troop movements or illuminate targets [AFP].
Human Rights Watch has called on Israel to stop using white phosphorus which it says has been used in military operations in the densely populated Gaza Strip.The US-based group said that its researchers observed the use of the chemical, which can burn away human flesh to the bone, over Gaza City and Jabaliya on Friday and Saturday.
"We went by Israeli artillery units that had white phosphorus rounds with the fuses in them," Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. "Clearly it is [white phosphorus], we can tell by the explosions and the tendrils that go down [and] the fires that were burning," he said.
"Today there were massive attacks in Jabaliya when we were there. We saw that there were numerous fires once the white phosphorus had gone in."
'Obscurant'
International law permits the use of white phopshorus as an "obscurant" to cover troop movements and prevent enemies from using certain guided weapons, but its use is controversial as it can injure people through painful chemical burns.
"Even if they are using it as an obscurant, they are using it in a very densely populated area," Garlasco said.
"The problem is it covers such a wide area that when the white phosphorus wafers come down, over 100 in each artillery shell, they burn everything they touch and they don't stop burning until they are done.
"You are talking about skin damage, potentially homes going on fire, damage to infrastructure."
Human Rights Watch said that it believed the use of the chemical in Gaza violated the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life.
The Israeli military has previously denied using white phosphorus during the 15-day offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has said that any munitions that it does use comply with international law.
Israel used white phophorus during its 34-day war against Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in 2006, while the United States used it during the controversial siege of the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
White phosphorus, fired in a shell, can be used to hide troop movements or illuminate targets [AFP].
Human Rights Watch has called on Israel to stop using white phosphorus which it says has been used in military operations in the densely populated Gaza Strip.The US-based group said that its researchers observed the use of the chemical, which can burn away human flesh to the bone, over Gaza City and Jabaliya on Friday and Saturday.
"We went by Israeli artillery units that had white phosphorus rounds with the fuses in them," Marc Garlasco, a senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera. "Clearly it is [white phosphorus], we can tell by the explosions and the tendrils that go down [and] the fires that were burning," he said.
"Today there were massive attacks in Jabaliya when we were there. We saw that there were numerous fires once the white phosphorus had gone in."
'Obscurant'
International law permits the use of white phopshorus as an "obscurant" to cover troop movements and prevent enemies from using certain guided weapons, but its use is controversial as it can injure people through painful chemical burns.
"Even if they are using it as an obscurant, they are using it in a very densely populated area," Garlasco said.
"The problem is it covers such a wide area that when the white phosphorus wafers come down, over 100 in each artillery shell, they burn everything they touch and they don't stop burning until they are done.
"You are talking about skin damage, potentially homes going on fire, damage to infrastructure."
Human Rights Watch said that it believed the use of the chemical in Gaza violated the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life.
The Israeli military has previously denied using white phosphorus during the 15-day offensive in the Gaza Strip, but has said that any munitions that it does use comply with international law.
Israel used white phophorus during its 34-day war against Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in 2006, while the United States used it during the controversial siege of the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham (Al Hazen)
Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham (and known in Europe as Alhacen or Alhazen) was born in Basra in present-day Iraq. He probably died in Cairo, Egypt. During the Islamic Golden Age, Basra was a "key centre of learning", and he was educated there and in Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the focus of the "high point of Islamic civilization". During his time in Iraq, he worked as a civil servant and read many theological and scientific books.
One account of his career has him summoned to Egypt by the mercurial Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, ruler of the Fatimid Caliphate, to regulate the flooding of the Nile, a task requiring an early attempt at building a dam at the present site of the Aswan Dam.After his field work made him aware of the impracticality of this scheme,and fearing the caliph's anger, he feigned madness. He was kept under house arrest from 1011 until al-Hakim's death in 1021. During this time, he wrote his influential Book of Optics. Although there are stories that Ibn al-Haytham fled to Syria, ventured into Baghdad later in his life, or was even in Basra when he pretended to be insane, it is certain that he was in Egypt by 1038 at the latest.During his time in Cairo, he became associated with Al-Azhar University, as well the city's "House of Wisdom", known as Dar Al-Hekma (House of Knowledge), which was a library "second in importance" to Baghdad's House of Wisdom.[5] After his house arrest ended, he wrote scores of other treatises on physics, astronomy and mathematics. He later traveled to Islamic Spain. During this period, he had ample time for his scientific pursuits, which included optics, mathematics, physics, medicine, and the development of scientific methods; he left several outstanding books on these subjects.
Other works on physics
Ibn al-Haytham wrote several other treatises on optics. His Risala fi l-Daw’ (Treatise on Light) is a supplement to his Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics). The text contained further investigations on the properties of luminance and its radiant dispersion through various transparent and translucent media. He also carried out further examinations into anatomy of the eye and illusions in visual perception. He analyzed the camera obscura and pinhole camera, and investigated the meteorology of the rainbow and the density of the atmosphere. Various celestial phenomena (including the eclipse, twilight, and moonlight) were also examined by him. He also made investigations into refraction, catoptrics, dioptrics, spherical mirrors, and magnifying lenses.
In his treatise, Mizan al-Hikmah (Balance of Wisdom), Ibn al-Haytham discussed the density of the atmosphere and related it to altitude. He also studied atmospheric refraction. He discovered that the twilight only ceases or begins when the Sun is 19° below the horizon and attempted to measure the height of the atmosphere on that basis.
Astrophysics
In astrophysics and the celestial mechanics field of physics, Ibn al-Haytham, in his Epitome of Astronomy, discovered that the heavenly bodies "were accountable to the laws of physics".[81] Ibn al-Haytham's Mizan al-Hikmah (Balance of Wisdom) covered statics, astrophysics, and celestial mechanics. He discussed the theory of attraction between masses, and it seems that he was also aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity at a distance.[30] His Maqala fi'l-qarastun is a treatise on centres of gravity. Little is known about the work, except for what is known through the later works of al-Khazini in the 12th century. In this treatise, Ibn al-Haytham formulated the theory that the heaviness of bodies varies with their distance from the centre of the Earth.
Another treatise, Maqala fi daw al-qamar (On the Light of the Moon), which he wrote some time before his famous Book of Optics, was the first successful attempt at combining mathematical astronomy with physics, and the earliest attempt at applying the experimental method to astronomy and astrophysics. He disproved the universally held opinion that the Moon reflects sunlight like a mirror and correctly concluded that it "emits light from those portions of its surface which the sun's light strikes." To prove that "light is emitted from every point of the Moon's illuminated surface," he built an "ingenious experimental device."According to Matthias Schramm, Ibn al-Haytham had formulated a clear conception of the relationship between an ideal mathematical model and the complex of observable phenomena; in particular, he was the first to make a systematic use of the method of varying the experimental conditions in a constant and uniform manner, in an experiment showing that the intensity of the light-spot formed by the projection of the moonlight through two small apertures onto a screen diminishes constantly as one of the apertures is gradually blocked up.
Mechanics
In the dynamics and kinematics fields of mechanics, Ibn al-Haytham's Risala fi’l-makan (Treatise on Place) discussed theories on the motion of a body. He maintained that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion. This was similar to the concept of inertia, but was largely a hypotheses that was not verified by experimentation. The key breakthrough in classical mechanics, the introduction of frictional force, was eventually made centuries later by Galileo Galilei, and then formulated as Newton's first law of motion.
Also in his Treatise on Place, Ibn al-Haytham disagreed with Aristotle's view that nature abhors a void, and he thus used geometry to demonstrate that place (al-makan) is the imagined three-dimensional void between the inner surfaces of a containing body.
Ibn al-Haytham also discovered the concept of momentum (now part of Newton's second law of motion) around the same time as his contemporary, Avicenna (Ibn Sina).
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
The 'first true scientist'
Isaac Newton is, as most will agree, the greatest physicist of all time.
At the very least, he is the undisputed father of modern optics, or so we are told at school where our textbooks abound with his famous experiments with lenses and prisms, his study of the nature of light and its reflection, and the refraction and decomposition of light into the colours of the rainbow.
Yet, the truth is rather greyer; and I feel it important to point out that, certainly in the field of optics, Newton himself stood on the shoulders of a giant who lived 700 years earlier.
For, without doubt, another great physicist, who is worthy of ranking up alongside Newton, is a scientist born in AD 965 in what is now Iraq who went by the name of al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham.
Most people in the West will never have even heard of him.
As a physicist myself, I am quite in awe of this man's contribution to my field, but I was fortunate enough to have recently been given the opportunity to dig a little into his life and work through my recent filming of a three-part BBC Four series on medieval Islamic scientists.
Modern methods
Popular accounts of the history of science typically suggest that no major scientific advances took place in between the ancient Greeks and the European Renaissance.
But just because Western Europe languished in the Dark Ages, does not mean there was stagnation elsewhere. Indeed, the period between the 9th and 13th Centuries marked the Golden Age of Arabic science.
Great advances were made in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, physics, chemistry and philosophy. Among the many geniuses of that period Ibn al-Haytham stands taller than all the others.
Ibn-al Haytham conducted early investigations into light
Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method.
As commonly defined, this is the approach to investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge, based on the gathering of data through observation and measurement, followed by the formulation and testing of hypotheses to explain the data.
This is how we do science today and is why I put my trust in the advances that have been made in science.
But it is often still claimed that the modern scientific method was not established until the early 17th Century by Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes.
There is no doubt in my mind, however, that Ibn al-Haytham arrived there first.
In fact, with his emphasis on experimental data and reproducibility of results, he is often referred to as the "world's first true scientist".
Understanding light
He was the first scientist to give a correct account of how we see objects.
He proved experimentally, for instance, that the so-called emission theory (which stated that light from our eyes shines upon the objects we see), which was believed by great thinkers such as Plato, Euclid and Ptolemy, was wrong and established the modern idea that we see because light enters our eyes.
What he also did that no other scientist had tried before was to use mathematics to describe and prove this process.
So he can be regarded as the very first theoretical physicist, too.
He is perhaps best known for his invention of the pinhole camera and should be credited with the discovery of the laws of refraction.
He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colours and studied shadows, rainbows and eclipses; and by observing the way sunlight diffracted through the atmosphere, he was able to work out a rather good estimate for the height of the atmosphere, which he found to be around 100km.
Enforced study
In common with many modern scholars, Ibn-al Haytham badly needed the time and isolation to focus on writing his many treatises, including his great work on optics.
He was given an unwelcome opportunity, however, when he was imprisoned in Egypt between 1011 and 1021, having failed a task set him by a caliph in Cairo to help solve the problem of regulating the flooding of the Nile.
While still in Basra, Ibn al-Haytham had claimed that the Nile's autumn flood waters could be held by a system of dykes and canals, thereby preserved as reservoirs until the summer's droughts.
But on arrival in Cairo, he soon realised that his scheme was utterly impractical from an engineering perspective.
Yet rather than admit his mistake to the dangerous and murderous caliph, Ibn-al Haytham instead decided to feign madness as a way to escape punishment.
This promptly led to him being placed under house arrest, thereby granting him 10 years of seclusion in which to work.
Planetary motion
He was only released after the caliph's death. He returned to Iraq where he composed a further 100 works on a range of subjects in physics and mathematics.
While travelling through the Middle East during my filming, I interviewed an expert in Alexandria who showed me recently discovered work by Ibn al-Haytham on astronomy.
It seems he had developed what is called celestial mechanics, explaining the orbits of the planets, which was to lead to the eventual work of Europeans like Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton.
It is incredible that we are only now uncovering the debt that today's physicists owe to an Arab who lived 1,000 years ago.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
At the very least, he is the undisputed father of modern optics, or so we are told at school where our textbooks abound with his famous experiments with lenses and prisms, his study of the nature of light and its reflection, and the refraction and decomposition of light into the colours of the rainbow.
Yet, the truth is rather greyer; and I feel it important to point out that, certainly in the field of optics, Newton himself stood on the shoulders of a giant who lived 700 years earlier.
For, without doubt, another great physicist, who is worthy of ranking up alongside Newton, is a scientist born in AD 965 in what is now Iraq who went by the name of al-Hassan Ibn al-Haytham.
Most people in the West will never have even heard of him.
As a physicist myself, I am quite in awe of this man's contribution to my field, but I was fortunate enough to have recently been given the opportunity to dig a little into his life and work through my recent filming of a three-part BBC Four series on medieval Islamic scientists.
Modern methods
Popular accounts of the history of science typically suggest that no major scientific advances took place in between the ancient Greeks and the European Renaissance.
But just because Western Europe languished in the Dark Ages, does not mean there was stagnation elsewhere. Indeed, the period between the 9th and 13th Centuries marked the Golden Age of Arabic science.
Great advances were made in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, physics, chemistry and philosophy. Among the many geniuses of that period Ibn al-Haytham stands taller than all the others.
Ibn-al Haytham conducted early investigations into light
Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method.
As commonly defined, this is the approach to investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge, based on the gathering of data through observation and measurement, followed by the formulation and testing of hypotheses to explain the data.
This is how we do science today and is why I put my trust in the advances that have been made in science.
But it is often still claimed that the modern scientific method was not established until the early 17th Century by Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes.
There is no doubt in my mind, however, that Ibn al-Haytham arrived there first.
In fact, with his emphasis on experimental data and reproducibility of results, he is often referred to as the "world's first true scientist".
Understanding light
He was the first scientist to give a correct account of how we see objects.
He proved experimentally, for instance, that the so-called emission theory (which stated that light from our eyes shines upon the objects we see), which was believed by great thinkers such as Plato, Euclid and Ptolemy, was wrong and established the modern idea that we see because light enters our eyes.
What he also did that no other scientist had tried before was to use mathematics to describe and prove this process.
So he can be regarded as the very first theoretical physicist, too.
He is perhaps best known for his invention of the pinhole camera and should be credited with the discovery of the laws of refraction.
He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colours and studied shadows, rainbows and eclipses; and by observing the way sunlight diffracted through the atmosphere, he was able to work out a rather good estimate for the height of the atmosphere, which he found to be around 100km.
Enforced study
In common with many modern scholars, Ibn-al Haytham badly needed the time and isolation to focus on writing his many treatises, including his great work on optics.
He was given an unwelcome opportunity, however, when he was imprisoned in Egypt between 1011 and 1021, having failed a task set him by a caliph in Cairo to help solve the problem of regulating the flooding of the Nile.
While still in Basra, Ibn al-Haytham had claimed that the Nile's autumn flood waters could be held by a system of dykes and canals, thereby preserved as reservoirs until the summer's droughts.
But on arrival in Cairo, he soon realised that his scheme was utterly impractical from an engineering perspective.
Yet rather than admit his mistake to the dangerous and murderous caliph, Ibn-al Haytham instead decided to feign madness as a way to escape punishment.
This promptly led to him being placed under house arrest, thereby granting him 10 years of seclusion in which to work.
Planetary motion
He was only released after the caliph's death. He returned to Iraq where he composed a further 100 works on a range of subjects in physics and mathematics.
While travelling through the Middle East during my filming, I interviewed an expert in Alexandria who showed me recently discovered work by Ibn al-Haytham on astronomy.
It seems he had developed what is called celestial mechanics, explaining the orbits of the planets, which was to lead to the eventual work of Europeans like Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton.
It is incredible that we are only now uncovering the debt that today's physicists owe to an Arab who lived 1,000 years ago.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
What Most US Media Isn't Telling You... Now Take Action!
What Most US Media Isn't Telling You... Now Take Action!
Four days ago, Israel invaded Gaza on the ground to compliment its aerial bombardment. The Palestinian death toll has reached 660. The official Israeli death toll is up to 5, of whom 4 were civilians. Attacks on civilians, no matter who they are, is criminal. Yet the US government, public relations officials, and mainstream media—unlike those of almost every other country in the world—continue to criminalize Palestinian violence while absolving Israel (the undisputed party in power) of almost any responsibility of its own. The official position seems clear: Israel can do as it likes until Hamas stops all violence.
The underlying assumption here is that Palestinians' human rights depend on the actions of their leaders. This is false. Palestinians do not have to earn the human rights inalienable to every person on Earth. Human rights are non-negotiable. Likewise, Israelis do not have to earn their human rights. Israeli state terror notwithstanding, it would be criminal to bombard the entire population of Israel (in which, as in Gaza, fighters live alongside their families in civilian areas) for the crimes of its government.
But this is exactly what Israel is doing in Gaza with US weapons before a seemingly impotent international community. Every day the carnage unfolds on CNN-International (different from CNN-US—the United States is the only country in the world with domestically customized international news coverage): a mother and her 4 kids killed instantly; a 7-year-old shot twice in the chest (I'm not sure how that happens accidentally, but does that even matter?); more than 40 policemen in training obliterated (even Israel does not claim the Palestinian police orchestrates rocket attacks); TV stations and places of worship successfully destroyed; a mortuary out of room for bodies.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "sewage water is pouring into the streets in Beit Hanoun, following damage to the main pipeline between Beit Hanoun and the Beit Lahiya wastewater treatment plant." Save The Children reports that newborn baby Gazans are battling hypothermia due to power cuts and freezing winter winds.
Some of the worst news comes from the doctors. Can you imagine a hospital functioning without electricity? According to the mainstream British newspaper The Guardian, medics are working around the clock and running out of anesthesia. There is no more gauze so doctors are using cotton, which sticks to wounds. Nurses are forced to draw blood with the wrong sized syringes and without alcohol. The Guardian article was entitled, "The injured were lying there asking God to let them die." Many have gotten their last wish, dying as they wait in the emergency rooms.
Medical workers themselves have also been under fire, with at least 4 killed as they tried to reach victims. Ambulances are not safe, nor are the schools:
When I woke up yesterday a UN school had just been bombed, killing 3 of the civilians who had come to the school seeking shelter. Watching the news later in the evening, I learned the same UN school had been bombed again (twice in one day), killing 40 more. The British director of the school, having lost his usual calm, was irate and imploring the world to understand that nowhere in Gaza is safe anymore—there is nowhere left to go.
Yet reading the Washington Post and watching the nightly news you might believe that Israel's is in fact the most virtuous army in the world, going as far as sending text messages to and dropping leaflets in Palestinian areas explaining that unless civilians leave, they will be attacked. Reported alone, this might sound reasonable, but quickly becomes absurd if you know that Gazans have no place to go to! Nowhere inside the strip of land is safe and there is no way to leave it, since the borders are sealed.
The bombing and invasion have clearly heightened the threat against Gazans' lives, but they did not start it. For the 18 months preceding the invasion, the average Gazan could not reliably go to school, make a living, contact the outside world, divert their sewage, heat their homes, drink clean water, or eat. This was due to the enclosure summed up in the words of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights: "Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key." This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."
The closure pushed Gaza's humanitarian crisis to a new low, with poverty reaching 80%. Any attempt to counter poverty was thwarted. Gaza students dependent on transportation could not reach their schools, and those accepted at foreign universities in America, Europe, and the West Bank were denied permits to leave. Without enough fuel, industrial businesses were either shut down or running below 20% capacity, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Contrary to Israeli court order, the Israeli army allowed just 15% of fuel needed for generators, wells, and transportation, resulting in garbage piled high in the streets while up to 15,000,000 gallons of raw or partially-treated sewage flowed into the sea every day. This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."
On November 4th and 5th, Israel broke the "ceasefire" by killing at least 6 Palestinians in Gaza, reported on CNN-International but unlikely by CNN-US. Of course, there was no ceasefire to begin with, since the main requirement on Israel was to sufficiently unseal Gaza's borders, a requirement that was consistently ignored. By the end of the "ceasefire," 262 had Gazans died due to lack of access to proper medical care during the blockade.
Hamas should be condemned for its attacks on civilians, but it is naïve to expect that they would renew a truce that Israel had never adhered to. Whether or not it would cease cross-border attacks in exchange for Israeli reciprocity—as Hamas continues to offer—is something we cannot know, since Israel has never given the offer a chance.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Four days ago, Israel invaded Gaza on the ground to compliment its aerial bombardment. The Palestinian death toll has reached 660. The official Israeli death toll is up to 5, of whom 4 were civilians. Attacks on civilians, no matter who they are, is criminal. Yet the US government, public relations officials, and mainstream media—unlike those of almost every other country in the world—continue to criminalize Palestinian violence while absolving Israel (the undisputed party in power) of almost any responsibility of its own. The official position seems clear: Israel can do as it likes until Hamas stops all violence.
The underlying assumption here is that Palestinians' human rights depend on the actions of their leaders. This is false. Palestinians do not have to earn the human rights inalienable to every person on Earth. Human rights are non-negotiable. Likewise, Israelis do not have to earn their human rights. Israeli state terror notwithstanding, it would be criminal to bombard the entire population of Israel (in which, as in Gaza, fighters live alongside their families in civilian areas) for the crimes of its government.
But this is exactly what Israel is doing in Gaza with US weapons before a seemingly impotent international community. Every day the carnage unfolds on CNN-International (different from CNN-US—the United States is the only country in the world with domestically customized international news coverage): a mother and her 4 kids killed instantly; a 7-year-old shot twice in the chest (I'm not sure how that happens accidentally, but does that even matter?); more than 40 policemen in training obliterated (even Israel does not claim the Palestinian police orchestrates rocket attacks); TV stations and places of worship successfully destroyed; a mortuary out of room for bodies.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, "sewage water is pouring into the streets in Beit Hanoun, following damage to the main pipeline between Beit Hanoun and the Beit Lahiya wastewater treatment plant." Save The Children reports that newborn baby Gazans are battling hypothermia due to power cuts and freezing winter winds.
Some of the worst news comes from the doctors. Can you imagine a hospital functioning without electricity? According to the mainstream British newspaper The Guardian, medics are working around the clock and running out of anesthesia. There is no more gauze so doctors are using cotton, which sticks to wounds. Nurses are forced to draw blood with the wrong sized syringes and without alcohol. The Guardian article was entitled, "The injured were lying there asking God to let them die." Many have gotten their last wish, dying as they wait in the emergency rooms.
Medical workers themselves have also been under fire, with at least 4 killed as they tried to reach victims. Ambulances are not safe, nor are the schools:
When I woke up yesterday a UN school had just been bombed, killing 3 of the civilians who had come to the school seeking shelter. Watching the news later in the evening, I learned the same UN school had been bombed again (twice in one day), killing 40 more. The British director of the school, having lost his usual calm, was irate and imploring the world to understand that nowhere in Gaza is safe anymore—there is nowhere left to go.
Yet reading the Washington Post and watching the nightly news you might believe that Israel's is in fact the most virtuous army in the world, going as far as sending text messages to and dropping leaflets in Palestinian areas explaining that unless civilians leave, they will be attacked. Reported alone, this might sound reasonable, but quickly becomes absurd if you know that Gazans have no place to go to! Nowhere inside the strip of land is safe and there is no way to leave it, since the borders are sealed.
The bombing and invasion have clearly heightened the threat against Gazans' lives, but they did not start it. For the 18 months preceding the invasion, the average Gazan could not reliably go to school, make a living, contact the outside world, divert their sewage, heat their homes, drink clean water, or eat. This was due to the enclosure summed up in the words of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights: "Gaza is a prison and Israel seems to have thrown away the key." This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."
The closure pushed Gaza's humanitarian crisis to a new low, with poverty reaching 80%. Any attempt to counter poverty was thwarted. Gaza students dependent on transportation could not reach their schools, and those accepted at foreign universities in America, Europe, and the West Bank were denied permits to leave. Without enough fuel, industrial businesses were either shut down or running below 20% capacity, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Contrary to Israeli court order, the Israeli army allowed just 15% of fuel needed for generators, wells, and transportation, resulting in garbage piled high in the streets while up to 15,000,000 gallons of raw or partially-treated sewage flowed into the sea every day. This was the reality of Israel's "ceasefire."
On November 4th and 5th, Israel broke the "ceasefire" by killing at least 6 Palestinians in Gaza, reported on CNN-International but unlikely by CNN-US. Of course, there was no ceasefire to begin with, since the main requirement on Israel was to sufficiently unseal Gaza's borders, a requirement that was consistently ignored. By the end of the "ceasefire," 262 had Gazans died due to lack of access to proper medical care during the blockade.
Hamas should be condemned for its attacks on civilians, but it is naïve to expect that they would renew a truce that Israel had never adhered to. Whether or not it would cease cross-border attacks in exchange for Israeli reciprocity—as Hamas continues to offer—is something we cannot know, since Israel has never given the offer a chance.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Why Beautiful Women Marry Less Attractive Men?
But a new study by Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, suggests it may be a simple supply-and-demand issue: there are more beautiful women in the world than there are handsome men. Why? Kanazawa argues it’s because good-looking parents are 36% more likely to have a baby daughter as their first child than a baby son — which suggests, evolutionarily speaking, that beauty is a trait more valuable for women than for men. The study was conducted with data from 3,000 Americans, derived from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and was published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. According to this news article, “Selection pressure means when parents have traits they can pass on that are better for boys than for girls, they are more likely to have boys. Such traits include large size, strength and aggression, which might help a man compete for mates. On the other hand, parents with heritable traits that are more advantageous to girls are more likely to have daughters.” Beauty is apparently just one “female” trait. Kanazawa has done previous research suggesting that nurses, social workers and kindergarten teachers — those with “empathic” traits — also had more daughters than sons. Meanwhile, he found that scientists, mathematicians and engineers are more likely to have sons than daughters. It is good that Kanazawa is only a researcher and not, say, the president of Harvard. If he were, that last finding about scientists may have gotten him fired.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Ghajini Scores!!!!!!!!
A 50% fall in collections on a per week basis is considered healthy for a Bollywood film which opens well at the box office. The biggest of the hits/superhits and the best of the films see such drop in collections but there are no complaints whatsoever since this is considered to be absolutely ‘normal’.
But what does one say about a film which does as much as 1.5 times the business of an ‘all time opener’ in it’s first week? How much of the fall is ‘normal’ enough?
After making so much moolah in it’s first week does it still have to follow an industry standard or a 50% fall?
Should there be a ‘concession’ of sorts because of high revenues in the first week and hence a 60% fall should be considered decent enough?
And in the ‘unbelievable’ scenario of a film actually seeing a sub-50% fall, should it be considered simply ‘abnormal’?
Well, this is how the performance of GHAJINI should be best described i.e. ‘abnormal’! After raking in as much as 64 crores in it’s first week (good enough to be the life time business of the biggest of the hits), the Aamir Khan starrer hasn’t stopped yet. It has gone on and on even in it’s second week as well, so much so that it now finds itself in the elite list of blockbusters in two weeks flat. The film has garnered an astonishing 26 crores plus at the box office in the week gone by, hence making the collections stand over 90 crores.
In the process of doing so, it has not just gone past the biggest money spinner of recent times OM SHANTI OM in a fortnight itself, it is also finding itself in the company of all time money spinners like GADAR-EK PREM KATHA and DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE.
While records have been created in it’s second week run, one wonders how the third week would look now considering the fact that majority of those who had to see the film due to the initial hype have already seen it. It’s time now for majority of audience to comprise of repeat audience and while anything that comes from here on is a huge bonus in itself, it can be rest assured that by the end of it’s third week, GHAJINI would have crossed the 100 crore milestone.
The first ever movie to be doing so (without considering the films that have their total adjusted with inflation taken into account), GHAJINI is just days away from history being created. Quite a monumental time for the industry when there is one more film running in the theaters that goes by the name of RAB NE BANA DI JODI. This ‘relatively’ smaller film (in scale, grandeur, setting, budget and publicity) too has crossed 80 crores in it’s four week run and is still counting. With as much as 170 crores coming back to the industry in just a month and a half, it can be said that celebration times are here again.
Now here is looking forward to CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, another biggie that should bring in at least 70 crores more to the industry even if it is reasonably well made. Here is to you Akshay.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
But what does one say about a film which does as much as 1.5 times the business of an ‘all time opener’ in it’s first week? How much of the fall is ‘normal’ enough?
After making so much moolah in it’s first week does it still have to follow an industry standard or a 50% fall?
Should there be a ‘concession’ of sorts because of high revenues in the first week and hence a 60% fall should be considered decent enough?
And in the ‘unbelievable’ scenario of a film actually seeing a sub-50% fall, should it be considered simply ‘abnormal’?
Well, this is how the performance of GHAJINI should be best described i.e. ‘abnormal’! After raking in as much as 64 crores in it’s first week (good enough to be the life time business of the biggest of the hits), the Aamir Khan starrer hasn’t stopped yet. It has gone on and on even in it’s second week as well, so much so that it now finds itself in the elite list of blockbusters in two weeks flat. The film has garnered an astonishing 26 crores plus at the box office in the week gone by, hence making the collections stand over 90 crores.
In the process of doing so, it has not just gone past the biggest money spinner of recent times OM SHANTI OM in a fortnight itself, it is also finding itself in the company of all time money spinners like GADAR-EK PREM KATHA and DILWALE DULHANIYA LE JAYENGE.
While records have been created in it’s second week run, one wonders how the third week would look now considering the fact that majority of those who had to see the film due to the initial hype have already seen it. It’s time now for majority of audience to comprise of repeat audience and while anything that comes from here on is a huge bonus in itself, it can be rest assured that by the end of it’s third week, GHAJINI would have crossed the 100 crore milestone.
The first ever movie to be doing so (without considering the films that have their total adjusted with inflation taken into account), GHAJINI is just days away from history being created. Quite a monumental time for the industry when there is one more film running in the theaters that goes by the name of RAB NE BANA DI JODI. This ‘relatively’ smaller film (in scale, grandeur, setting, budget and publicity) too has crossed 80 crores in it’s four week run and is still counting. With as much as 170 crores coming back to the industry in just a month and a half, it can be said that celebration times are here again.
Now here is looking forward to CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA, another biggie that should bring in at least 70 crores more to the industry even if it is reasonably well made. Here is to you Akshay.
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Barack Obama - The Change Speech
Original Words Qouted From Barack Hussein Obama:
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
Its the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
Its the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
Its been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and hes fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nations promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nations next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy thats coming with us to the White House. And while shes no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what youve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didnt start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generations apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didnt do this just to win an election and I know you didnt do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how theyll make the mortgage, or pay their doctors bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who wont agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government cant solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, its that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one thats on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. Shes a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldnt vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that shes seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we cant, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when womens voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
Its the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
Its the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
Its the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
Its been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and hes fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nations promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nations next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy thats coming with us to the White House. And while shes no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what youve sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didnt start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generations apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didnt do this just to win an election and I know you didnt do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how theyll make the mortgage, or pay their doctors bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who wont agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government cant solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way its been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, its that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if Americas beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one thats on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. Shes a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldnt vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that shes seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we cant, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when womens voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."
If you have any comments to share or any queries about this stuff, don't hesitate to write below. Thank You!!!
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