Tendulkar fires India to series win

India wins series 3-1

"It had been nearly four years since Tendulkar struck a hundred in a winning cause," Says Dileep @ Cricinfo. Feels like a decade for me though.

Anyways, Congratulations for the Indian Cricket team for winning a series emphatically. Looks like we have a 95% chance of seeing India in the Finals of the worldcup again.

A stat from the game:
160 runs - The margin of victory for India, their highest in an ODI against West Indies.

Why Democrats can stop the war

A wonderful article by Rick Perlstein in Salon.com on Why Democrats can stop the war. No wonder, its called Politics :)

You know that whatever the facts, the right will blame "liberals" and "Democrats" for losing Iraq; that's as inevitable as the fact that we've already lost Iraq -- and as inevitable as an arrogant president playing into Democratic hands by expanding the engagement (he already is). What would be inexcusable is if wobbly Democrats managed to maneuver themselves timidly into a corner that made them only the right-wing's scapegoats -- and not the champions that truly made their stand to end the war.

In 2008, the Republicans are going to have to run either amidst an electorate convinced that Republicans will be staying the course or amidst an electorate they've managed to bamboozle into believing "peace is at hand." If they manage the latter, they'll have a good chance of winning the election. But the only way they can do that is if Democrats can't claim credit for ending it first. I hope to be able to watch the Democrats truly try to end the war; it will be glorious. Because even if they start losing votes in Congress, the president and the party that enables him can only become politically weaker by the day.

Media and Politicians

Media and the Politicians have a strange relationship. I've always had this question of whether its a one-way or two-way relationship. In USA at least, I feel Politicians need Media a lot more than the other way around. When they are running for an office they have to put their face on TV a lot. Its just like advertising. Shows like Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week are so popular Politicians volunteer to come on to the shows when they have something to say.

I wondered what happens when a media outlet does propagandizing against a person or a party. Say Fox News against Democratic party. What can the Politicians do? Can they decide to not go to that Channel? What if its a popular channel with a particular group of people (red state republicans) only watch That particular channel.

Recently Obama was smeared by right wing (incl Fox) about his education in a Madrassa. Now we hear from The Sleuth that he is freezing Fox news out. Kos and MyDD were cheering this decision. So, lets see how this is going to end. Can Obama win this primary with out ever appearing on Fox News? What about the general election. Will he lift his Freeze (if there is any) then?

Not My Bag, Baby

Not My Bag, Baby
An interesting analogy by Tim F @ Balloon Juice rgdg War, Executive Branch and the Republican Controlled Congress. He compares it with a Scenario in Free market.

What baffles me is that once the GOP owned the war lock, stock and barrel, someone (say, Pat Roberts) thought it would be a good idea to kill off the faintest hints of oversight. In free market terms that’s the same as a business sinking its resources and reputation into a project and then taking off to Maui for a few months while the contractor does his thing unsupervised. That suggests an awful lot of confidence in the “contractor.” It suggests that Republicans considered their leader practically infallible, incapable of the quotidian failures that characterize ordinary humans, not unlike the leader cult barbs (Dear Leader etc) half-jokingly brought up by lefties like me. After all, assuming that the GOP Congress were rational beings with some vestigial interest in their political future, what other explanation makes any sense?

Happy Republic Day!?

Happy 58th Indian Republic Day y'all. Distribute some candy around your floor at your work or something healthy (a fruit? ;))

From Wiki:

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, the Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950. During the transition period from 1947 to 1950, King George VI was the head of state. Lord Mountbatten and C. Rajagopalachari served as the Governors-General of India during this period. Following January 26, 1950, Rajendra Prasad was elected as the first president of India.

From BBC: In pictures: India's Republic Day

From President Abdul Kalam's Speech on this day:

Youth should take up politics as their career in large numbers. Political Science should form part of the curriculum from secondary to college level for all students with development politics as focus. Citizens should proactively cast their votes to select candidates of known performance with honesty as the focus. Legal personalities, experts and professionals should educate the citizens on the political process, constitution, procedures, their rights and responsibilities.

From BBC: On this day 26th Jan 1950

The new President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, then took the oath of office.

The president then addressed the crowd first in Hindi, and then in English.

"Today, for the first time in our long and chequered history," he said, "we find the whole of this vast land... brought together under the jurisdiction of one constitution and one union which takes over responsibility for the welfare of more than 320 million men and women who inhabit it."

Indecision 08: Clusterf@#k to the WhiteHouse

Crooks and Liars » Indecision 08: Clusterf@#k to the White House

Jon Stewart is more than his usual self in criticizing the MSM's tripping over each other covering the polls of Presidential Coverage 21 months before the election. Its really funny. Let me know if you don't think its funny. I will do somethin about it. Promise ;-)

Boys return from school, find parents' bodies - CNN.com

Boys return from school, find parents' bodies - CNN.com

An Indian Sikh couple were found dead in Nassau, NY. Scary.

State Of The Union

On the eve of the US President's SOTU address, Here's some info related to that.

From Wiki:

The State of the Union Address is an annual event in which the President of the United States reports on the status of the country, normally to a joint session of the U.S. Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate). The address is also used to outline the President's legislative proposals for the upcoming year

If you want to have a look at the previous SOTU addresses, C-span has videos from 1989 and transcripts from 1945. SOTU's will at the least give a positive spin of what has happened that year in USA. Obviously, every president wants to pat himself on the back for all the hard work he put in for the country every year. And SOTU presents that platform for him.

I started looking at the last SOTU address of Bill Clinton. I am sure it will be pretty interesting. That's the speech delivered after he knows that he is going to be impeached that year.

Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton

Why didn't I think of this? Hmm..

From TPM Reader TB:

This country is far too great to have to rely on two families for so much presidential leadership. Think about it: a two-term Hillary would be TWENTY-EIGHT years of Bush and Clinton.

20 minute Workout with Video

Here's a link to the video's of 20 minute workouts. http://realage.iamplify.com/.
These workouts do not require any equipment. According to the site: "Do it 3 times per week, along with your 30 min daily walk, and you'll hit all 3 areas: strength, flexibility, and cardio". You can either view the video or download it.

Here's another link with pictures and description of the exercises: http://www.realage.com/WorkOutCenter/fitness/fpEntry.aspx

I tried it out and I love it. Give it a try.

Questions related to Shawn Hornbeck's kidnap ordeal

• What do you think about the name he used in multiple profiles on the internet: shawn devlin? and about a post in a page devoted to his search under the same name asking "how long will you guys search for him?"
• The predator allows him to use his first name and tells him to use devlin as his last name?
• What about all the piercings and the hair he has grown.
  
• He cut his hair and removed all the piercings when he went on oprah why?
• If you look at the video when he was first shown with the police..he looks just cool. He is not excited, he is not depressed. He just walks as though hez going to his house from his school. Even in the interviews he laughs, hides his face when his father discloses something embarrassing
  
• With all the evidence that we have, we can spin it anyway you want. it could be either oreilly's spin or other spin
  

More info from Gateway Pundit: and From CNN:

Abdul Kalam on Yahoo Answers!

Abdul Kalam has a question up in Yahoo Answers! Isn't that interesting. There are answers from famous people like Kiran Bedi, Leander Paes. All in all there are around 11,123 answers. His question is "What should we do to free our planet from terrorism?". Do you 'have an/want to' answer? Click here

Indian Navy acquires USS Trenton for $48.4 Mil

From rediff:

The Indian Navy on Wednesday acquired the 17,000 ton US warship USS Trenton.

From Wiki:

USS Trenton (LPD-14), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the capital of New Jersey.

Her keel was laid down at Seattle, Washington, on 8 August 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company. She was launched on 3 August 1968 sponsored by Mrs. Richard J. Hughes, and commissioned on 6 March 1971 with Captain Karl R. Thiele in command.

In early 2006, there were numerous press reports that the Indian Navy was negotiating with the United States for the purchase of this vessel. These reports later turned out to be true when the Indian government announced it will purchase Trenton for Rs 2.18 billion ($ 48.44 million). The US Government later revealed it had asked their Indian Counterparts to keep this agreement under wraps as they felt it would arm the Non-Proliferation Activists and threaten the passage of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal.

Numbers

46: The death toll from the winter storm this weekend.
75%: Loss of the citrus crop in California, because of the recent cold storm.
30 hrs: Time we didn't have power this looong weekend.
1 hr: Time I spent grating, rock like jaggery, for making pongal.
6: No. of movies I watched in the first 1/2 of this month.
$687,000: Estimated $$ paid to Shipla Shetty to participate in Celebrity Big Brother (UK TV Show)

How Lobbying helped Indo-US deal

From Indolink: (h/t: ThinkProgress)

On the one hand, Indian-American lobbyists worked energetically to highlight the commercial potential for the U.S. nuclear industry to participate in the projected build-up of nuclear power in India. They also sponsored numerous trips to India by the American lawmakers and their staff.

And in Washington, the Indian government mounted a multi-faceted lobbying campaign, expending large sums of money -- e.g., $1.3 million on two lobbying firms -- with the aim of pushing the deal through Congress. One of the firms it hired is Barbour, Griffith, and Rogers, which is headed by Robert Blackwill -- a former U.S. ambassador
to India

[snip]

According to newspaper reports, the U.S.-India Business Council thought that American business could get a considerable portion of the $20-40 billion that India is planning to spend by 2020. It would also open the door for large-scale sale of military hardware to India. For example, Lockheed Martin could get a contract between $4 billion and $9 billion to supply 126 fighter planes India is planning to buy soon. As if on cue, the New York Times said that the Bush administration is organizing a business delegation to India this fall that is "potentially the largest such mission ever to a single country."

Embed your city map in your site!

Herez an embedded map of Kothapet, Vijayawada. Thanks to the latest feature of MapMyindia.com. (h/t: webyantra) you can drag, zoom and all that stuff with this map. Isnt it cool!!

Who Knew?

A link @ the famous Drudge Report "Curry in Indian food 'might be a magic cure-all'..." which links to the below article

From Kathleen Fackelmann over at RedOrbit:

A study in the November issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism suggests turmeric, one component of curry spice, almost completely prevented joint swelling in rats with arthritis. Other studies have suggested that the spice could protect against diseases such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's, a degenerative brain disease that afflicts nearly 5 million people in the USA.

Shilpa Shetty in a UK TV show

Shilpa Shetty in the UK's hit TV show Big Brother 2007! (h/t: Sonia Falero). You can follow the action @ Channel 4's site.

Annavaram - A Dud

Watched this Pawan Kalyan's latest movie yesterday. Nothing special in there. Its just a curry of all different previous successful formulae. Nothing in the movie was above average, The fights, The music, The sentiment, The romance. Everything is just about what you might have seen already. The only scene in the entire movie that touched me was the death of Pawan's close friend Narasimha (Venumadhav). That scene was very detailed in depicting the emotions of the people who loved him to see him dead. Especially his mother.

About the characters in the movie: The whole movie revolves around Pawan. Asin was given very minute role. Just a few dialogues or a glimpse before a song starts. There was no attempt by the director, whatsoever, to depict a relationship between the leading stars. The brother-sister relationship which was supposed to be the heart of the movie, was not fully developed. It was good in the first half, but after interval therez no relationship whatsoever. The sister (Sandhya) suddenly starts overacting, maybe to show that she is very naive as a contrast to the city people pawan deals with.

Overall, it is an average telugu movie. No need to watch it unless your only interest is in the people who acted rather than the characters, the script, dialogues and all that jazz :)

Vaseline

Nice little ad with, I think, indian music in the background

Did you know?

• That Alaska is 18% of the total area of united states?
  

U.S National Debt Graph

Power Toys for Windows XP

Very useful tools for Windows XP here. One of the tools is Image Resizer. Its very useful.