Earth Hour

Look around, and watch your world getting destroyed. Or take a stand and make a difference.

Put simply, out planet is dying the death of a million cuts. If each person contributes even in the smallest proportion it can make a difference. It would take an ignorant person to not know by now what I’m referring to.

Global Warming. Despite being ignored for decades, the issue has found public interest in recent years. Amongst many efforts comes Earth Hour – a stand taken up first by the city of Sydney (Australia) in 2007. By switching off their lights for one hour in the evening, 2.2 million homes and businesses in Sydney collectively voiced their concern for our planet.

Moved by their actions, people around the world joined in the next year. In 2008, 50 million people switched off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

And on March 28, 2009 an estimated 1 billion people took part in Earth Hour. Sitting in my university in Singapore, I watch the lights go off and realised how collective people from different parts of the world were at that instant. Pictures posted at Boston.com reveal the effect in a series of before-and-after photographs – which (starting with the second one ) fade between “on” and “off” when clicked.

This is the official Earth Hour 2009 video:

To learn more about Global Warming, you can check the following websites:

• Global Warming.org – http://www.globalwarming.org/
• The New York Times – http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
• Al Gore’s ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ documentary – http://www.climatecrisis.net/ (Watch here on Google Video)

More on Sarah Palin

Comedians on Sarah Palin – Part I

Comedians on Sarah Palin – Part II

The Best of Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin, the US Republican Vice Presidential candidate, has to be the biggest political mistake on the face of this planet. Unimgainably ignorant and verbally-challenged, her every public appearance just seems to pull down Senator John McCain’s chances of being elected to Presidency.

Palin experience: Mayor of a remote Alaskan town for 6 years, Governor of Alaska for 2 years, and 1 year chairing the Alaskan Oil & Gas Conservation Commission. Thats it!! On the basis of simply her experience, I can’t imagine what John McCain’s team was thinking when they selected her. Taking into account that the 72 year old McCain may not survive his first term in office, it’s utterly absurd to think that she could someday be President of the US.

Things get worse, when she rambles on incoherently in interviews, combining the words healthcare, foreign policy, aid, job creation and $700 bailout plan in the same sentence! I’ve never heard her answer a single question with a related answer because she always seems to revert to using the few ideas that she may have been taught just minutes before the interview.

The web is filled with criticisms and parodies of her incompetency – watch the videos below to find out! (The best: Matt Damon’s question!)

Palin on Foreign Policy

Jack Cafferty Tells Us How He Really Feels About Sarah Palin

CNN Laughs It Up Over Sarah Palin Interview

Matt Damon Rips Sarah Palin

So, Sarah Palin – were there dinosaurs?

An hour with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran by popular vote in 2005. Known for his rhetoric and ‘controversial’ ideas, he is probably one of the most important figures in the middle-eastern world.

In his second interview at the Charlie Rose Show (telecast on PBS), Ahmadinejad creates the case for a nuclear empowered Iran. He attacks the US government for interfering in the domestic governance & administration of Iraq and other mid-east countries, and questions the responsibility the US has taken upon itself to ‘help’ countries which are apparently in distress. The President also claims that the IAEA is a puppet in the hands of the US which is one of the strongest members. He questions why the US – the strongest nuclear power – does not wish other countries to use the same technology for peaceful purposes. Trashing the idea of any nation actually using nuclear weapons, he claims the Iran aims to advance in nuclear technology as well as biotechnology, nanotechnology, arts, etc.

In the interview, Ahmadinejad also talks about the strategic location of Iran in the middle-east and its role in helping the nations around it. Extending his argument, he questions the interests of the US in Iraq.

Today, news from across the world is (ultimately) biased in favour of the Americans, and we rarely sit up and question what we hear. Why do Americans feel responsible for cleansing the world? Is it really their responsibility?  Do they really have a plan? And, who judges their actions?

There are violent critics on both sides of the fence who could argue endlessly. But, what’s the solution?

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I’ve just been directed to President Ahmadinejad’s blog: http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/

Meet Sustainable Dave

I wish there were more people who emulated Dave Chameides – Emmy Award winning TV cameraman who stores all the trash he creates.

Keeping it all in his LA basement has made him actually realise the amount of unrequired products he buys. Consequently, he’s reduced buying crap that he doesn’t really need, thereby minimizing waste. And over a period of 8 months Dave has reduced waste production by a phenomenal margin too.

He points out that the garbage from NY is dumped over a 100 miles away. That from LA is dumped 40 miles outside the city. With landfills getting clogged, and recycling progressing at a rate significantly slower than waste production, one can only imagine the problem we face in the future.

Though this is in the context of the US, I’m quite sure that countries worldwide face a similar problem. And a starting step to solve this issue, could be as simple as reducing the garbage we actually produce. Think about it..

Science Made Easy – Videos

I came across an informative and simply explained series on Youtube today. It covers a set of topics dealing with the universe and evolution in a logical order. Finding good videos on Youtube is not difficult, but getting such a set is!

The videos do not ramble about scientific hypotheses but instead sum up a string of complicated scientific discoveries that form the basis of our understanding of the universe and ourselves. Though I do not know much about the narrator/producer of these videos, I did find that the videos aim to counter outrageous, if not hilarious, religious beliefs and thereby add a bit of humour.

Each video is about 9 to 10 minutes long. Have fun!

List of Videos:

1. History of the Universe Made Easy (Part 1)
2. History of the Universe Made Easy (Part 2)
3. The Origin of Life made easy
4. The Story of the Earth Made Easy
5. The Age of Our World Made Easy
6. Natural Selection Made Easy
7. The Theory of Evolution Made Easy
8. Human Evolution Made Easy
9. Human Ancestry Made Easy
10. The Scientific Method Made Easy
11. Creation ‘Science’ Made Easy
12. God and DNA made easy

Obama the Anti-Dumb

“Most of the things Obama’s taken heat for saying this summer fall into these two familiar patterns — attempts to find a rational common ground on controversial issues and dumb-avoidance.”

Read here.

Understanding Gen Y

Its difficult to sum up the characteristics and behavioural patterns of Generation Y, but this article makes a terrific attempt.

Or at least I could relate to what it said!

The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate US? by Fareed Zakaria

A fabulous article with a different perspective to understanding the reasons behind the Mid-East’s hatred to the US and Americanism.

This article propelled Fareed Zakaria into the forefront of politico-economic debates and analyses. He is considered as one of the more influential and original voices on American foreign policy and politics. Zakaria is an Indian-born, Yale- and Harvard-educated Muslim who moves easily between Condoleezza Rice and Pervez Musharraf, Tony Blair and Prince Turki Al-Faisal. He’s a conservative who is willing to question one of the most cherished principles of the West -democracy – but also a naturalized citizen who believes in America’s world-historical mission.

Today, Zakaria is regarded as one of the Top 20 Public Intellectuals in the world – in league with influential people such as Gulen, Gore and Kasparov.

Ask the Jihadist

Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri will soon answer the hundreds of questions submitted by journalists, militants and others about the terrorist network’s future, its media wing announced….

Haah! Check here.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford - Truly inspiring.

Read the text version here & watch the video here.

Steve Jobs definitely deserves respect not only as a technologist and entrepreneur, but also as one of the most remarkable minds of our era.

His speech at Stanford tells three stories which end with words of advice. The stories are about his life – battles and experiences – wholesome, educating, and inspiring.

The first is about connecting the dots. This talks about how you should learn and expand your knowledge and skills without worrying of how it’ll help, because sometime in the future, everything will fit in..

“…you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”

The second is about love and loss. That you should never give up the search to find work that you truly love to do.

“Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

The third is about death. That it is an eventuality that we all must face. That someday in the future, we will not walk the earth as we do today. The best part about creation is that the old make way for the new. Your time is limited and you must make a mark.

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.”

Roger Federer should learn from Bejan Daruwalla

Another brilliant entry for the WTF category!

According to Mr Bejan Daruwalla:

“He should come more often to the net, because he has the reach, the agility, and the dexterity to volley for an outright winner, or to make a strong opening for it, and with the next volley, finish it. The Sun and versatile Mercury in Leo, is the key to it.”

WTF ???

Karan Thapar… the Quibbler !

I used to think highly of Mr Karan Thapar and his interviewing style at first. But having seen about 5 interviews and read some interview transcripts, I’ve concluded that he’s nothing great. At best, a Quibbler.

His strengths are his strong communication skill and composure while dealing with high profile personalities. In most interviews, he starts by bringing up an issue of importance, then wording out the interviewee’s stand on it, and then he starts ranting and quibbling. He likes twisting phrases, drawing poor conclusions, framing absurd answers and putting words

in the mouth of his interviewees.

Now dont get me wrong. On one hand, I do admire his ability to make such important people look foolish. But on the other, I feel that more often than not, he looses track of the crux of the topic rather focussing his attempts to bring out the a few shortcomings of his interviewees. Sometimes, he does manage to stumble upon a powerful personality who is ignorant or ill-minded. But on the whole, his interview skills merely aim to frustrate his guests.

However, faced with an equally good communicator, Mr Thapar’s weakness is blatant. His background

research seems dodgy and logic flawed. A good example would be his interview with India’s current Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

I may not be the best judge of an interviewer, but in my humble opinion, Mr Thapar doesn’t cut class with the best.

Those with reasoning skills as good as his, would now conclude that I hold utmost hatred for this man and the work he does. Wrong. I used to think ‘highly’ of him. Now I think he’s just a decent interviewer getting his way along. Dont be surprised to see future posts regarding him!