Really?

WISECRACKS BY GREAT MEN

2009-11-10T22:25:00.000+05:30

Love your job but don't love your Company because you may not know
when your company stops loving you.
Dr. ABDUL KALAM

What is the Secret of SUCCESS... ? "RIGHT DECISIONS"
How do you make Right Decisions... ? "EXPERIENCE"
How do you get Experience.. . ? "WRONG DECISIONS
Dr. ABDUL KALAM

Without your involvement you can't succeed. With your involvement you can't fail.
Dr. ABDUL KALAM

You are not responsible for what people think about you.
But you are responsible for what you give them to think about you.
STANLEY FERRARD

A man is lucky if he is the first love of a Woman.
A woman is lucky if she is the last love of a man.
CHARLES DICKENS

Write your Sad times in Sand, Write your Good times in Stone.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Behind every successful man, there is an untold pain in his heart.( not only a woman)
BILL JACOBS

The thoughtway less travelled

2009-11-01T07:01:00.004+05:30

We never stopped to think on it this way.

Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?'
'Because we lose our calm,?

'But, why shout when the other person is just next to you?' 'Isn't it possible to speak to him or her in a soft voice?

The truth is when two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.'

And 'What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly.
Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small...'
'When they love each other even more, they do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other..'

When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.

A refreshing revelation, inspiring us to mend our ways.No longer tslks of increasing blood pressure if one shouts or that anger burns us not the one on whom we direct it.
That seems selfish enough reason.

MARRY FOR MONEY

2009-10-02T11:05:00.001+05:30

A Muslim groom was outraged to open an envelope at his wedding celebration to find that one of his friends had given him only one, lonely fifty Riyal bill .Incensed at this tightwad behavior the groom decided to confront his friend -or perhaps ex-friend from a moment ago- right then and there.

The argument ran thus:
Groom: "What’s the matter with you? I gave you two thousand for your wedding"
Stingy guest: "Yes, and I gave you two thousand at your first wedding. But this is your second wedding, and for your second wedding you get fifty Riyals"

It was about here when the two men went after each other with punches and slaps until the groom’s father took control of the situation and calmed the men down.

Well that goes to say a lot on a marriage ceremony repeated - with a new bride
Courtesy Arab News

GOAT HEARD

2009-07-03T09:42:00.015+05:30

We mostly remember pet goats through the eyes of Heidi the orphan who went to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. But there is a lot of stuff we don't know about goats.

Abraham Lincoln had two pet goats named Nanny and Nanko.

Goats today are indeed getting all the attention they want.

A goat had policemen of a station in the horns of dilemma for more than five hours. He made himself heard outright when his master chose to be careless. The goat trotted bleating all around the market place clamoring for his master. The police brought to the police station and suffered his pleas. His master was found and the goat was restored to his master with a severe warning . I wonder why and how the policemen did not feast on the mutton instead. Humanity still lies concealed under stiff uniforms.

A man ordered two goats for a sacrifice. He had specified white ones but one of them happened to be black . The irritated man knew that if he did not mince words he would lose time and effort over the carelessness .Furiously he rectified the error in a novel manner. He painted his black goat white and offered it as sacrifice. After all appearances are deceptive.

After a distinguished career that included overseas service, royal welcomes, and parade leadership, this old goat is retiring from the military.

Soldiers with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Welsh Regiment lined up on Tuesday to offer a full military send-off to their aging regimental goat, William Windsor. The eight-and-a-half-year-old lance corporal will spend the rest of his days at Whipsnade Zoo.
Did the goat bleat to the soldiers' beat?

It's as common as sin, the use of goats for weed control. With their insatiable desire to nibble on anything, goats have gained credibility as land clearers among Seattle-area government agencies Skeptics, quickly become converts. Goats are cheaper than manual laborers, chemical-free and popular with parents and children. Even the critters' droppings are in demand.
They are just eating machines. They suck down blackberry vines like it was spaghetti. The thorns don't bother them at all. Goats were effective tool for clearing underbrush on fire-prone hillsides and to combat invasive species of plants. Goats are faster and cheaper than human crews or heavy equipment on steep slopes covered in blackberry vines, Goats can't compete with herbicides for speed but can work in wetlands and along stream banks with minimal threat to water quality or salmon habitat.

As for the goats, "As long as there is plenty to eat, they're happy."

The proper name for a group of goats is a trip.
Baby goats are kids.
Males are called buck or billy goat.
Female goats are called doe or nanny goat.
When goats are pregnant you say the goat is kidding.
Determining the age of a goat is called toothing a goat
All goats have beards and some have tassels under the chin

Interesting facts

2009-05-14T08:52:00.005+05:30

Rains of many kinds of living creatures have actually been reported from earliest times and all over the world. On 28th May 1881, during a thunderstorm on the outskirts of Worcester, England, tons of periwinkles and small hermit crabs fell on Cromer Gardens Road and the surrounding fields.

The modern Christmas tree tradition came from Western Germany, from a medieval custom. It was called a paradise tree -- a tree decorated with apples, wafers (or cookies), and candles representing the Garden of Eden, the host, and Christ.

A man named Sir Henry Wyat was sentenced to the Tower of London, at a time when prisoners generally starved to death. Sir Henry's kitty-cat seemed to understand the situation because she snuck into the Tower bringing him a freshly-killed pigeon every day. When the king heard of this, he must have felt sad for the kitty, because he immediately set Sir Henry free.

One out of the ordinary punishment of the Elizabethan England was called the drunkard's cloak. It was a punishment for public drunkenness; the name though is misleading. The drunk was forced to wear a barrel and wander through the town while the villagers jeered at him. Holes were cut in the barrel for the person's hands and head, causing it to become like a heavy, awkward shirt.

The alarm clock was not invented by the Marquis de Sade but by a man named Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire; in 1787.There was something strange about his invention from the beginning. The alarm on his clock could ring only at 4 am. There is a rumor that Hutchins was murdered by his wife at 4:05 am on a very dark and deeply cold New England morning.

NAILED TO DEATH.

2009-04-25T17:48:00.003+05:30

What a horrifying way to die / to kill

People have been heard to complain that thriller and c rime movies and fiction give bright and innovative ideas to execute their plans.

Jesus Christ was crucified to the cross along with two criminals. Nails were fixed into his palms and feet. That was a gruesome way to die. But the nailing of a man has given ideas to murderers of late.

In Australia, Chen Liu a 27 year old Chinese immigrant ‘s decomposed body was found by two children in the marshlands of Sydney’s Georges Rivers in November 2008. The body was wrapped in a carpet and bound with electrical wire.Liu came to Australia in 2000 and was reported missing last year.

Postmortem revealed shocking results. The X ray of the man’s skull revealed that the man had been shot repeatedly about 34 times in the head and neck with a high power nail gun widely available and used in construction. The nails were found embedded in the skull. Homicide squad detectives hold that the man must have been fired with a high – powered nail gun (Reuters)

Aladdin’s Magic Lamp in Arabia

2009-04-17T10:52:00.005+05:30

The fantasy tale of the Arabian nights- which every child in the Middle East is familiar with- has emerged to relevance again.

There are many who wish that the genie would be back to help them out especially in this period of global economic crisis.

An odd scam went around the market lately involving antique Singer sewing machines. The hoax claimed that red mercury inside the machines could capture wish-granting genii and convert its owner to an Aladdin with the Magic Lamp.

This drummed up story about the existence of a mythical substance called “red mercury” caused more than a stir .This led to a surge in the sale of a particular brand of old Singer sewing machines.

Following the rumor, the price of a Singer machine reportedly catapulted last week People were ready to pay up to SR120,000 per machine( its original price being only 150SR) with hopes of u finding gold, warding off evil jinni, or a key and highly prized ingredient in making nuclear bombs. For some it was a pitch to make a fortune by buying these old sewing machines and selling at a great profit.

Rumors were spread on the Internet that a sewing machine can be proved to contain red mercury if a phone signal cuts off when held close by. Buyers started using their mobile phones to test the machines.

There are various theories as to the origin of this mythical and magical substance.

· There is no such thing as red mercury except in the world of superstition and magic.

· It might be cinnabar, a mercuric sulphide or simply any mercury made in Russia during the Cold War era when “red” was used as a euphemism for communism.

· Red mercury might also refer to a red-colored ballotechnic mercury compound that is explosive under the right conditions.

· Conspiracy theorists believe that red mercury was developed by Soviet scientists in the 1980s after developing a smart nuclear bomb that could kill people without harming the buildings and streets and that its existence has since been covered up by US military because of its potential use as a weapon of mass destruction.

An article in the Russian newspaper Pravda in 1993, describes red mercury as a superconductive material used for producing high-precision conventional and nuclear explosives. It was also reported that Russian businessmen offered red mercury for sale throughout Europe and the Middle East and found many buyers who would pay almost anything for the substance even though they had no idea what it was all about.(Arab News)

Whatever be the truth, Singer sewing machines do not contain any compounds that will find gold, fight jinni, make nukes or pave a path to quick riches.

The feverish search for Singer sewing machines has lost its tempo as the common man is slowly realizing that it is another ploy to dupe the naive public, particularly in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Educated amused youngsters have started sending messages as “I adore you more than red mercury” or “I love you more than an old Singer machine.” Another message even suggested the name Singer for a new baby.

images : courtesy google

DOTING - DATING DRAMA

2009-04-13T02:04:00.003+05:30

The unpleasant episode in the lives of the popular singers nineteen-year-old Chris Brown and 21-year-old Robyn Rihanna Fenty has left fans in shock.

The images of both the stars stand tarnished. Chris Brown went from a pop star to a prison inmate and Rihanna from a cover girl to a poster child for domestic violence.

Brown attacked Rihanna, during a roadside dispute in his rented sports car, Lamborghini last February. The two got into a fight when Rihanna found a text message from another woman on Brown's phone. Brown shoved Rihanna's head against the passenger window, repeatedly punched her in the face, bit her ear and finger, and put her into a headlock and told Rihanna, "I'm going to kill you."

A photograph of Rihanna’s battered face, hours after the incident, with welts, scratches, bruises and swelling on her face was posted on a US gossip website which purported to show the Barbadian star in the was leaked onto the Internet.

Rihanna confessed that she had suffered from such treatment for a long time.

This incident is the latest buzz among teens and has brought out a lot of relationship issues from under the carpet.

Youngsters are now pondering over what they would do if they were victims of abuse, physical or mental.

It's high time to stop all this, and treat your partner as equals.

Dating violence is a recent add on to the dating scene, and is causing quite a stir. It is not unheard of. It’s just that most of us don’t give it due attention.

Some girls practically behave like slaves to their boyfriends. Hundreds of thousands of teens will continue to quietly hide their own bruises and tears, inflicted by boyfriends or girlfriends. It's easy to confuse manipulation, intimidation and emotional abuse for passion.

The victim often does not move away from or leave the abuser (Rihanna is still with Chris). This is scary. They can still get hurt.

Fight against dating violence and abuse and keep teens safe. Take a stand and create awareness among teens.

In a world of Cinderella myths, couples fall in love at first sight and jealousy is often interpreted as proof of deep love.

Occasional arguments are one thing. But regular manipulation, emotional abuse and violence can spiral from mental distress to physical harm.

One red flag is a warning. Several mean you need help. Watch out for the key warning signals
when your boyfriend or girlfriend:

• Belittles you and makes you feel bad.

• Tries to control where you go, what you wear or what you do

• Exhibits signs of extreme jealousy or possessiveness

• Frightens or intimidates you

• Threatens harm if you decide to end the relationship

• Isolates you from your friends and family

• Has broken or thrown something at you in anger

• Has ever hit, slapped, shoved or kicked you, or forced you to have sex

It is better to be aware of all these in any relationship right from the beginning so that timely intervention will keep you out of danger.
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Cheating in China

2009-04-09T23:18:00.004+05:30

No it is not only in China. It is happening all over the world. And nowhere is it acceptable.

The anti-cheating campaign is part of a larger effort to clean up China's academic community amidst a spate of high-profile plagiarism and fake research cases. In recent months academics were caught lying about their credentials or faking research.

A dean at Shanghai Jiaotong University, one of China's top science schools, was dismissed after investigators found he had faked research.

Similarly Shanghai University dismissed a scientist who had lied about his academic record.

A professor at Tsinghua University was fired in Beijing.

These scandals have been embarrassing to communist leaders especially at a time when they are seriously engaged in spending more efforts on scientific research in hopes of developing profitable technologies.

When such is the state of professors, what can anyone comment on students who are over anxious to perform well in order to enter the universities.

More disheartening it is that Chinese parents have been arrested because their children were caught cheating in exams. Strangely the parents are taken to task along with their sons.

Naturally enough they had to be put in jail for using high – tech communications equipment, including mobile phones and wireless earpieces, to help their children cheat at university entrance exams

Eight parents fought together in 2007 to plan how to help their children in the exams since the achievements of their children were not ideal

One of the parents hired university students to provide answers which were sent to the examinees via wireless earphones while they were writing their exams in the exam hall.

Unluckily for them the police detected abnormal radio signals near the college and discovered the ruse of the culprits.

The parents were sentenced to six months to three years for illegally obtaining state secrets. What punishment was meted out to the children is not revealed.

Chinese college entrance exams called gaolao are fiercely competitive tests.

. But despite all penalties, cheating surfaces every year. Students pay for leaked exam papers, smuggle in mobile phones and electronic dictionaries or pay others to take the exam for them.

In a highly competitive world with increasing shortage of job offers there are shortcuts aplenty invented to secure a stability in life.

Baby food or fuel?

2009-04-06T14:28:00.004+05:30

Image by Stephen Poff via Flickr

Breast feeding children is the best way to a child’s health. But danger lurks even there. All parents of breast fed infants as well as those who formula feed their children are sitting up stunned in the USA.

Now U.S. officials have found yet another potentially dangerous ingredient in infant formula. This comes just a few months after the chemical melamine was found in infant formula in the U.S. making thousands of infants ill, and for causing four infant deaths, in China.

A study by Centers for Disease Control scientists has found a hazardous chemical, perchlorate at potentially dangerous levels in samples of 15 different brands of powdered baby milk formula.

Perchlorate, is a component of solid rocket fuel, flares, fireworks and some fertilizers. Perchlorate contamination, usually associated with defense and aerospace sites, has been known to affect thyroid function.

Perchlorate a potent thyroid toxin reduces thyroid hormone production and inhibits the uptake of iodide, which is required for healthy function of the thyroid gland which controls human metabolism, growth and development .Too little thyroid hormone, called hypothryroidism, leads to weight gain, low heart rate, water retention, poor muscle tone, and fatigue. It may interfere with foetal and infant brain development
However, the extent of the risk is hard to assess.

The chemical has been detected in drinking water in 28 states and territories and at low levels in food supplies. It has been found leaching into public water wells from military bases and bomb-building facilities..
Infants fed cow's milk-based powdered formula could be exposed to perchlorate from two sources -- tap water and formula.

When perchlorate-contaminated powdered formula is mixed with water that also contains traces of the chemical, the final concoction can become particularly harmful to babies. , infants may be more exposed than adults because of their body weight and from the potential double exposure from combining powdered formula mix and tap water to make a bottle of formula, the study said.

Iodine supplements at higher levels may offer some protection from the effects of perchlorate, but the scientists warn that even adequate iodine intake among formula-fed infants is not guaranteed to prevent "perchlorate-induced thyroid dysfunction.

“Millions of American babies are potentially at risk."

Perchlorate exposure is a serious issue and "a top priority. How best to protect children from perchlorate is a million dollar question. Setting a safe drinking water standard for perchlorate in water supply is not the ultimate solution. Will it help if the perchlorate level is so low that the amount of daily oral exposure is beneath a threshold called a reference dose which is the amount of perchlorate humans could consistently consume over the course of a lifetime without increasing their risk of harm.

Just as pressure to regulate perchlorate has mounted, so has lobbying from the chemical manufacturing and defense industries to stymie efforts to regulate the chemical.

Clarification on both the complex interrelationships among the thyroid, perchlorate, and iodide, as well as any potential public health risk with exceeding the perchlorate reference dose is an immediate necessity.

Healthy Housing

2009-04-05T16:24:00.004+05:30

Environmental watchdogs repeatedly keep warning that climate change is a real and imminent threat.

We’ve hit the buffers exploiting Nature and polluting the environment in every possible manner. The only encouragement is that the green movement is finding its footing fast.

With rising population and more people living in smaller households, the demand on housing is on the eternal increase. A zero carbon house and a passive home is the dream of the near future.

The Passive House, calls for housing with a dramatic reduction in energy consumption and zero carbon emissions.

A zero carbon house is one with "zero net emissions of carbon dioxide from all energy use in the home". This includes energy consumed by appliances as TV, cookers, heaters, coolers and ventilation.

Passive houses are part of a revolution in building and the ultimate in green development. The concept is based on minimizing heat losses and maximizing heat gains from the home

The first physicist to develop the idea of warm houses without energy demand was the German Wolfgang Feist

.Even on the coldest nights in Central Germany passive houses use a heat exchanger to warm cold air coming into the house and rely on tight seals around doors and windows and super-thick insulation to keep homes warm using no more energy than a hair dryer. The homes use the warmth from the human body and that given off by appliances as well as the warm stale air leaving the house to heat the fresh cold air coming in.

Passive Houses are virtually independent of fossil fuels as oil, coal or gas. It uses minimal energy input to maintain perfect indoor temperatures no matter the weather. Air leaks cause large heat losses throughout the home and so air tightness is critical. But an airtight Passive House is not a stuffy house because of the ventilation system.

Elizabeth Rosenthal’s article on the New York Times is a fantastic piece on passive houses.

This is no magic bullet solution but all efforts towards environment preservation is worthy effort

Perks or Pension

2009-04-05T00:00:00.005+05:30

If you are a septuagenarian

There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

Things you buy now won't wear out.

People call at 9 PM and ask, "Did I wake you?"

In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

No one expects you to run into a burning building.

You can do without sex but not your glasses.

You can eat dinner at 4 P.M.

You enjoy hearing about other peoples operations.

You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

You have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.

You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

You quit trying to hold your stomach in, no matter who walks into the room.

Your eyes won't get much worse

Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.

The Robot Scientist War

2009-04-03T10:33:00.004+05:30

Adam and Eve are back to make new inroads into science. At a time when we are staggering under the malignancy of recession I never thought there would be a chance of scientists being thrown out of jobs. Did you ever imagine robot scientists?
It appears to be a near reality.... read on

Delete the repeated word?

2009-03-28T13:37:00.003+05:30

ABM missile - Anti Ballistic Missile missile

AC current - Alternating Current current

ATM machine - Automated Teller Machine machine

BASIC code - Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code code

CAD design - Computer-Aided Design design

CD disks - Compact Disk disks

CNN news network - Cable News Network news network

EMS Service - Emergency Medical Service Service.

GMT time - Greenwich Mean Time time

HIV virus - Human Immunodeficiency Virus virus

ISBN number - Intenational Standard Book Number number

ISDN network - Integrated Services Digital Network network.

LCD display - Liquid-Crystal Display display

NATO organization - North Atlantic Treaty Organization organization

PIN number - Private Identification Number number

RAM memory - Random Access Memory memory

SAT test - Scholastic Aptitude Test test

Do you realize that we are repeating the last word like an echo. This needless repetition of an idea in a different word or phrase or sentence is known as pleonasm . It is also known as redundancy or tautology.

Ponder over expressions as

climb up

ice cold

completely blind

freezing cold

handwritten manuscript

invited guests

pre planning

refer back

This is due to the influence of foreign languages on English . It is used deliberately for emphasis or from lack of realization that the words are redundant.

Does it not look like the opposite of oxymoron.

Departure after death

2009-03-26T15:50:00.011+05:30

What happens after you die?
Everyone mourns.
What happens to your body?

Some people would sigh and say "After I am dead why would I worry about what happens to me." A few are definite about the way they want to go. Unfortunately many are too late in deciding and have to leave it to the living. While complacent others have no choice but to abide by their religious norms.

The practice of disposing of bodies by burning is almost as old as the human race itself and has been practised by many civilizations.

In the Book of Genesis Abraham was ordered by God to prepare the funeral pyre for the sacrifice of his son, Isaac. By the time of the ancient Roman and Greek civilizations cremation had been the general method of disposing off the dead. (Courtesy BBC)

In India, Hinduism, cremate dead bodies in the open. Cremation is seen as the only way to return the body to the five elements of fire, water, earth, air and after cremation the ashes are poured into the sacred river Ganges or into the sea. This was detrimental to the environment. Till the intervention of Raja Ram Mohan Roy a Hindu wife was burnt alive with the dead body of her husband.

The Egyptians popularized the custom of Mummification, - drying of bodies to preserve them and to use stone coffins in the early Roman Empire long before the coming of Christianity.

Early Christians, influenced by the New Testament rejected cremation as a hangover from pagan times. They believed that the body of Christ was entombed according to Jewish rites. With the belief in the resurrection of the dead, cremation fell into disfavor. By the fifth century the practice had become almost completely obsolete.

The Christians also believed that you should present yourself before your Maker as an entire body rather than a pile of burnt bone fragments.

In the early 19th Century, some British officials in India campaigned for crematoria to be built to stop the Hindu custom of burning bodies in the open air.

Sir Henry Thompson, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to Queen Victoria, became the first and chief promoter of cremation in England.

The appalling conditions in many of the overcrowded burial grounds of Britain's major cities, together with the mounting costs of the pomp and ceremony of Victorian funerals, attracted people to a cheaper and cleaner way of disposal. It was becoming a necessary sanitary precaution against the propagation of disease among a population daily growing larger in density.

In some places, burials are impractical because the ground water is too high. Crypts in churches were used as tombs.

Burial is not always permanent. In some areas, burial grounds need to be re-used because of limited space. Once the dead decomposed to skeletons, the bones are removed; and placed in an ossuary.

Cremation would reduce the expense of funerals, spare mourners the necessity of standing exposed to the weather and the ashes, kept in urns, would be safe from vandalism. Sir Henry Thompson boldly advanced a further economic-technical argument that the ashes might be used as fertilizer!

On the other hand, cremation also poses problems.
Cremation could be used to destroy evidence of murder and mischief before a body could be properly examined. If buried, bodies could be exhumed on suspicion.

In 1878, the furnace was successfully tested on the body of a horse. It proved that an adult human body could be burnt to ashes in one to two hours with no smoke or effluvia escaping from the chimney.

In February, 1884, cremation was made legal in England.

Cremations in closed furnaces had already taken place in Germany.
The cremation movement spread to various parts of the British Empire, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Resistance to cremation continued till the mass slaughter of the First World War began to change people's social views.

In 1963 the Pope finally lifted the ban on Roman Catholics seeking cremation. Today only a few religious groups, including Muslims, Orthodox Jews and the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, still actively oppose cremation.

The church does not allow cremated remains to be scattered or kept at home. It is to be entombed.

In Sikhism cremation is the preferred method of disposal. Burial or submergence at sea is acceptable.
"Burial at sea" means the disposal of a corpse into the ocean, wrapped and tied with weights to make sure it sinks.

99.82% of all deceased Japanese are cremated, but a burial in a family grave is allowed.

Those with concerns about the effects of traditional burial or cremation on the environment choose to be buried in an all natural bio-degradable green burial shroud, a simple coffin made of cardboard or other easily-biodegradable material. They choose to be buried in a park or woodland, known as an eco - cemetery. A tree is planted over their grave as a contribution to the environment and a remembrance.

West Africans buried the dead in the floor of their houses.

Rarer forms of disposal of the dead include exposure of the body to the elements and to scavenger animals. The corpse is stripped off the flesh, leaving only the bones, which are then either buried or stored elsewhere, in ossuaries or tombs. This was done by some groups of Native American.
Tibetan Buddhists living in high altitudes also practice this ‘giving alms to the birds’ due to lack of fire wood and the ground being unfit for burial.

Zoroastrians in Bombay place bodies in "Towers of Silence", where vultures and other carrion eating birds then dispose of the corpses. The bones are collected in a central pit where assisted by lime they decompose.

Cannibalism is also practiced post-mortem in some countries.

With a growing population and increasing pressure on land space it looks likely that the days of the huge cemeteries and vaults will finally come to an end.

Cremation in a crematorium does make a lot of difference to the environment.

Do I sound macabre? Facts of life are hard to accept.

Smoke with Fire

2009-03-22T10:13:00.010+05:30

A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.

That’s how a cigarette, a cigar, a pipe, a beedi or a hookah or whatever you smoke is defined.

Absolutely no arguments against the fact that smoking kills by millions and costs a nation billions in medical expenses and lost productivity.

Innocent Non-smokers working in smoking environments inhale the tobacco chemicals throughout the day and suffer from the same health problems that smoker’s experience.

France, Ireland, Italy and Japan have restricted smoking in public places.

Some breathe deeply while others fume as tough anti-smoking rules catch on.

Governments of various nations have sounded the red alert to drastically minimize the hazards of smoking to human life and the environment.

The formula is simple: a prices rise and fewer people will buy cigarettes. Smoking rate in adult smokers will be reduced and it will prevent initiation of regular smoking by children and young adults.

A big hike in the federal tax on cigarettes taking effect on April 1 may prompt 1 million U.S. smokers to quit.

India’s anti tobacco law came into effect on October 2, 2008. The rules mandate that all public places including offices, restaurants, public institutions, bars and work places to go 100 per cent smoke-free.

The ultimate aim is to reduce the demand for tobacco - a Herculean task indeed.

The rapidly growing array of electronic cigarettes are drawing the attention of youngsters in China,USA,the Middle East and elsewhere .They are led to believe that e cigarettes are the modern innovation to correct smoking hazards.

The pressure from the tobacco industry working directly or indirectly through ministers and politicians, parallel advertising and, workers in tobacco industry prove to be major stumbling blocks. After all they make the vote bank.

Decline in cigarette sales could put thousands of people out of work mainly retail store clerks and cashiers, truck drivers who deliver cigarettes, warehouse workers, sales representatives and others. To make it worse this is recession time too.

Sigmund Freud once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Any self-respecting cigar smoker, however, will tell you that a cigar is far less a cigar when the correct arts are not applied to the preparation of the cigar.

If you think cigarettes are simply tobacco leaves rolled in paper, you’re about 597 ingredients away from the truth. The tobacco industry has become master mixologists with the additives. Some ingredients are added for flavor. But the key purpose of using additives is to improve tobacco’s potency resulting in increased addictiveness. The additives used are shocking - no - horrendous

When a cigarette is burnt, the whole mess results in over 4,000 chemicals, including more than 40 known carcinogenic compounds and 400 other toxins.

The solution to the bitter-tasting cigarette was solved by adding taste-improving chemicals to the tobacco. A chemical similar to rocket fuel helps keep the tip of the cigarette burning at an extremely hot temperature. This allows the nicotine in tobacco to turn into a vapor so your lungs can absorb it more easily. That’s efficiency.

For a start, here’s the list of the most toxic ingredients used to make cigarettes tastier, and more quickly, effectively addictive:

Ammonia: Household cleaner.
Arsenic: Used in rat poisons.
Benzene: Used in making dyes, synthetic rubber.
Butane: Gas; used in lighter fluid.
Carbon monoxide: Poisonous gas.
Cadmium: Used in batteries.
Cyanide: Lethal poison.
DDT: A banned insecticide.
Ethyl Ferrate: Causes liver damage in animals.
Lead: Poisonous in high doses.
Formaldehyde: Used to preserve dead specimens.
Methoprene: Insecticide.
Maltitol: Sweetener for diabetics.
Napthalene: Ingredient in mothballs.
Methyl isocyanate: Its accidental release killed 2000 people in Bhopal, India, in 1984.

Now, that the facts are laid bare for a beginning it is up to each individual.

You may cut down on your cigarette.

But not in half.

images courtesy Google

Multitasking Mania

2009-03-21T01:06:00.010+05:30

I am a born-again uni tasker. And I do not intend to go back.

I have always been an ambitious kind of person who wants to be always busy, and on my feet. I took pride in the thought that I was the ultimate multi- tasker and never failed to sing of its glory to my friends . I felt elated whenever someone asked me “you did all that in a day?”

I was constantly switching tracks throughout the day.I became a multi-tasking junkie. I just couldn’t do one thing at a time.

Parents,especially a mother, is a notorious multi-tasker. She can do the dishes, wash a load of laundry and begin fixing dinner while talking to the kids, answering the phone and -----trying to take a deep breath

Multi-tasking has become a necessity in everyday life - shifting focus from one task to another in rapid succession. It gives the illusion that we're simultaneously tasking, but we're really not. It's like playing tennis with three balls.

I can no longer meet my friend A without feeling I am contesting with somebody for her time. While I am at dinner with A , B calls me on my cell phone and A takes the moment I am on phone to talk to her daughter, who is busy typing away on her lap top while listening to music from an ipod.

Catching up on the latest news while waiting for your tardy dentist ,is a healthy use of time. But to watch TV while you eat your dinner is not

I could cook, wash my cook ware, run the semi automatic washing machine and watch the movie on the TV. Wonder how? That is easy. When there is a song in the film or an Ad break,check out the washing machine and attend to your o cooking.In the short time two more plates can be washed. It is just a trick and a knack of perfect timing. A little smartness and alertness come in handy. It is definitely not suited for absent minded people. So in a way, it could be positive training for such people. I could keep juggling a lot of balls in the air without dropping them.

I plodded on since I felt that time was short and there was so much to do. I worked as if there wasn’t a tomorrow.

Despite my self congratulatory attitude, I somehow felt everything was not perfect. As I went about my various chores I realized that my sense of focus was short circuiting my attention span.The more I juggled tasks, the less efficient I became at completing the tasks thoroughly and on time. This is because multi-tasking dramatically reduces your concentration. It becomes impossible to focus your attention long enough when your brain is forced into nano-flipping mode. The pressure can sometimes be significant enough to cause physical discomforts such as headaches, stomachaches and sleeplessness. Compulsive multi-taskers get frenzied, frustrated, forgetful, fearful and frantic.

I gradually learnt it though the hard way that Multi-tasking is just an attitude. To be super busy is to be super efficient. - Extremely appealing. Besides, it is very important to say that we have no time to spare. People don’t multitask with a desire for efficiency. It is a mere habit. One easily gets hooked to it and becomes a slave to the addiction. It is a craziness starting from within .It is fun in the beginning and kicks a lot of adrenaline into us.

I realized that multi-tasking is the badge of honor of the techno-age. The term "multi-tasking" was created for computers, not humans, enabling its users to surf the Web, print reports, and download the latest CD all at the same time. This is brilliant for my Dell, but not so great for my declining ability to focus. As I started my multi-tasking fast, sticking on rigidly to one schedule at a time was extremely difficult. Initially I could not fit into the groove. I swore to be a solo tasker - to escape the reign of terror in an already chaotic world and to find a little oasis of sanity and peace.

Eventually I was able to break my multi-tasking habit.
( I am tempted occasionally though)
Simplify Your Life: Does multi-tasking really work?

Rage about Ragging

2009-03-13T10:54:00.002+05:30

I am losing faith in humanity.
.
Ragging I thought was slowly being discouraged and becoming a losing trend in educational institutions. I realize the rage for ragging has not ended.

The death of Aman Kachru, an upcoming medical student in Rajendra Prasad Medical College on in Himachal Pradesh is an indication that society lacks sensitivity. To kill a young man of only 19, destroy his dreams and his as well as his family's future shows sheer negligence, and failure to take preemptive measures. What began as ragging ended up in beating an innocent boy to death.

One of the suspects is the son of a senior faculty. Does this give him the right to bully new students in a beastly manner? If beating a student to death is his way of fun the law should have no qualms about clapping such criminals in prison for years. Laws in our country regarding ragging are not stringent enough even after several cases year after year.

Fun really is got at a dear price. Not only students, even responsible officials rag new comers.

Is this kind if initiation a necessity? If yes for what ultimate end does it serve to make a new police officer eat manure?

A police recruit in Colombia is handcuffed naked and fed manure in an initiation rite carried out by at least eight officers who are his colleagues.
This came in as a rude shock to me. I almost lost faith in humanity. Why do people indulge in such bizarre activities? What end does it serve? Is it not another form of the ragging that takes place in colleges?

There is always an excuse for ragging, that it is a means to strengthen the bond between seniors and juniors. Is it the same among the novices in the police force too? It is in poor taste. What sadism is this? Is this their kind of fun?

“The honor of being a police officer costs” This is all about building mental pressure on the junior. Most of the seniors try their best to prove to some high ranking fresher that he is not fit to be in the job - that he had defeated the system somehow and that he was a "fraud. Probably this was to break the ego of the fresher, to make him realize that he was among people equally good, or even better!

Police personnel, ought to be mature in every way.

If this trend continues years of living in a bullying culture can make a person insensitive to pain. The fear of the future compels you to obey demands in the present. Although interactions between seniors and juniors should never be discouraged one must understand that it should not cross the limit so as to jeopardize someone's career and life.

When the world is grappling with pressing problems and reeling under the impact of a global meltdown, students indulging in shameful acts of ragging are an utter waste of a country’s useful resources.

Higher education without moral values has no meaning. Academicians, educationists and the governments should put down the evil menace of ragging with an iron hand at all levels.

Chilli Pepper Drive

2009-03-12T00:53:00.006+05:30

"It's really good to have some hot peppers when you are tired from driving. They make you alert." Reuters .

That’s a voice from China.

That sounds sensible. Police in Southwest China are spicing up drivers with raw chili in a bid to stop them falling asleep at the wheel.

Road traffic is spiraling with commuters all round the clock and it is natural that truck drivers who span the length and breadth of a nation tend to nod off wearily. Overloaded and speeding trucks and drivers who switch lanes without signaling and often ignore traffic lights are a perpetual hazard.

Another reason for road accidents is drunk driving. Drivers presume that a little slip off a bottle will help soothe their aching nerves and give them more stamina to drive. But sadly a sip always follows another sip till the nerves are relaxed and the tippler’s mind goes numb.

China's roads have long been among the most dangerous in the world The Chinese are getting smarter than the rest of the world. They do have a fight until you fall attitude. They have come up with the novel idea of supplying the truck drivers with red chilli and pepper in an attempt to stop them from falling asleep at the wheel.

What sounds more interesting and encouraging is that policemen themselves have undertaken the task of serving the drivers chilli peppers at highway service stations.

Happily enough the people of China are chilli friendly. Chillies are a local favorite in the neighborhood. It is a traditional belief in China that people are more prone to drowsiness in spring season. A timely thought off measure indeed. If all goes well, chilli treats will be a 24x7x365 affair and hopefully many other countries will start emulating China.

The best outcome of it all is the better rapport that will be built among policemen and truck drivers.

BLESSED WOMAN

2009-03-08T20:47:00.001+05:30

When God created Woman, he was working late on the sixth day. An angel came by . He looked quizzically at God.

Why do you spend so much time on that one?

Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her.
She must be washable,but not made of plastic.

She should have more than 200 moving parts that must all be replaceable and she should function on all kinds of food.

She must be able to embrace several kids at the same time, give a hug that can heal anything from a bruised knee to a broken heart and she must do all this with only two hands.

Just two hands?..... Impossible.Is this the standard model? This is too much work for one day.....Wait until tomorrow and then complete her.

No I am so close to completing this creation which will be the favourite of my heart.

She curses herself when sick and she can work 18 hours a day.

The angel came nearer and touched the Woman.

Ah! but you have made her so soft?

She is soft. But I have also made her strong.You cannot imagine what she can endure and overcome.

Can she think?

Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate.

It seems this creation is leaking. You have put too many burdens on her.

She is not leaking. It is a tear.

What is it for?

It is her way of expressing grief, her doubts, her love, her loneliness, her suffering and her pride.

This made a big impression on the angel.

Lord you are a genius. You thought of everything.The woman is indeed marvellous.

Indeed she is.
She has strength that amazes man.
She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens.
She holds happiness,love and opinions.
She smiles when feeling like screaming.
She sings when she feels like crying, cries when she is happy and laughs when she is afraid.
She fights for what she believes in , stands up against injustice
She does not take 'No' for an answer, when she can see a better solution.
She gives herself so her family can thrive.
She takes her friend to the doctor if she is afraid. Her love is unconditional.
She cries when her kids are victorious.
She is happy when her friends do well.
She is glad when she hears of a birth or a wedding.
Her heart is broken when a next of her kin or friend dies, but she finds the strength to get on with life.
She knows that a kiss and a hug can heal a broken heart.

There is only one thing wrong with her.

SHE FORGETS WHAT SHE IS WORTH.

images courtsey Google

MEALY MATTERS

2009-03-05T20:38:00.004+05:30

7 DONT'S AFTER A MEAL
Experiments by experts prove that smoking a cigarette after a meal is comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes (chances of cancer is higher).

Don't eat fruits immediately
Eating fruits immediately after meals will cause the stomach to be bloated with air. Therefore eat fruits 1-2 hours after meal or 1hour before meal.

Don't drink tea
Tea leaves contain a high content of acid. This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus making it difficult to be digested.

Don't loosen your belt
Loosening the belt after a meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted &blocked.

Don't bathe
Bathing will cause increase of blood flow to the hands, legs and body. Thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease.This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.

Don't walk about
People always say that after a meal walk a hundred steps and you will live till 99. In fact this is not true. Walking will cause the digestive system to be unable to absorb the nutrition from the food we intake

Don't sleep immediately
The food we intake will not be able to digest properly. This will lead to gastric problems and infection in our intestine.

I just stitched up my sides

2009-03-01T01:09:00.003+05:30

I never heard of creation explained in this manner before.

In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth. He filled the earth with broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds so that Man and Woman could live long and healthy lives.
Then using God’s great gift Satan created Baskin and Robins Ice cream and Krispy crème donuts. Satan asked “Do you want chocolates? And Man said ‘Yes’ and Woman said ‘Please add some sprinkles to it’

God created the health giving yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that man found so fair. Satan brought white flour from wheat and some fresh sugar from cane and combined them and Woman went from size 6 to 14.

So God said try my fresh green salad and Satan presented 1000 Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. Man and Woman unfastened their belts after a good meal.God then said I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them and Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken fried and steak and bacon so big it needed its own platter .Man gained weight and his cholesterol shot up through the roof.

God then brought forth running shoes so that his children might lose those extra pounds and Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so that Man would not have to toil changing channels and Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.Then God brought the potato naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition and Satan peeled off the healthy skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep fried them into Lays and Cheetos.

God then gave lean meant so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite and Satan created KFC and Mc Donalds and its extra 99- cent double cheese burger and then said ‘You want fries with them? And Man replied ‘Yes super size’ and Satan said ‘It is good’.

And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created bypass surgery.

Then Satan created MediClaim and Health Maintenance Organizations

Believe me

2009-02-24T20:47:00.004+05:30

The Anglo-Saxons believed Friday to be such an unlucky day that they ritually slaughtered any child unfortunate enough to be born on that day.

The 'Hundred Years War' lasted 116 years.

When George I became King of England in 1714, his wife did not become Queen. He placed her under house arrest for 32 years.

Henry VII was the only British King to be crowned on the battlefield.

Richard II died aged 33 in 1400. A hole was left in the side of his tomb so people could touch his royal head, but 376 years later some took advantage of this and stole his jawbone.

Queen Elizabeth I passed a law which forced everyone except for the rich to wear a flat cap on Sundays.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men's beards.

One of Queen Victoria's wedding gifts was a 3 meter diameter, half tonne cheese.

Queen Victoria was one of the first women ever to use chloroform to combat pain during childbirth.

The British did not release the body of Napoleon Bonaparte to the French until twenty days after his death.

The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.

The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.

Peter the Great had the head of his wife's lover cut off and put into a jar of preserving alcohol, which he then ordered to be placed by her bed .

Between the two World Wars, France was controlled by forty different governments.

In 1849, David Atchison became President of the United States for just one day, and he spent most of the day sleeping.

The Imperial Throne of Japan has been occupied by the same family for the last thirteen hundred years.

During the seventeenth century, the Sultan of Turkey ordered his entire harem of women drowned, and replaced with a new one.

In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of men.

Chilling news about Children

2009-02-11T08:49:00.008+05:30

A 38-year-old Saudi man has been arrested on charges of setting up a child pornography website - Arab news

Horrendous

Child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry and among the fastest growing criminal segments on the Internet according to the USA. There is a massive increase in the production and dissemination of child pornography - " in the availability, accessibility, and volume of child pornography. Child pornography on the Internet is becoming more brutal and graphic, and the number of images depicting violent abuse has risen fourfold since 2003.

About 82 percent of cases worldwide of children being sexually molested occurred in places that were supposedly safe — and some 77 percent of molesters were people whom the children trusted.

Such statistics should be a wake-up call to threats against childhood innocence, not only at home but also in kindergartens and schools where children spend so much time.

Sexual harassment results in adverse effects on the child, physically and psychologically. Molested children may turn away from the opposite sex. These children may never be able to live a normal life, especially if the molester is one of the parents. The child victim may end in becoming a molester himself when he grows up.

Harsh punishments and deterrent laws are still not in the offing. Our society is pointing an accusing finger to the West. It would be more useful to learn from the laws of the West in such cases instead of just condemning it as being a promiscuous society.

We have to enlighten our children about sexual harassment and instill in them the confidence to refuse any attempt at abusing their bodies.

Masha Allen, who was adopted at age 8 from the former Soviet Union by an American man was sexually abused for five years She testified before the United States Congress about the anguish she has suffered at the continuing circulation of the pictures of her abuse A law named for her "Masha's Law," is included in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act passed in 2006.

Do you know ?

2009-02-04T11:12:00.001+05:30

If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has
both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person
died as a result of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the
person died of natural causes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Most lipstick contains fish scales.

Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

All polar bears are left handed.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

Honey - This is the only food that doesn't spoil.