Suicidal Monkey

Technorati Tags: Humor

Republicans decry use of Obama's full Name "Barack Hussein Obama"

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan formally denounced on Thursday the Tennessee Republican Party's use of Barack Obama's full name in a recent news release questioning the Illinois senator's commitment to Israel.

The statement in question, which was released Monday, said the state party is joining a "growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel ... if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States."

Technorati Tags: Obama,USA

Role Reversal: Tatas gifts 65,000 books to poor US kids

The Tata Group North America has joined First Book, a non-profit organisation, in a programme to distribute 65,000 new books to children from low-income families across the US.
Second grade students from Dodge Park Elementary School in Maryland were the first students to receive the brand new books on Wednesday with the support of the Tatas.

Kyle Zimmer, president of First Book, said,

"First Book is tremendously grateful for the generous support of the Tata Group and its companies, which will help to share the joy of reading and learning with thousands of children in need across the United States".

Signs of Changing times?

Technorati Tags: TATA,USA,India

Murder of Mahatma Gandhi: Truth

This is one of most outrageous lie being propagated  against Sangh. Communists and self Styled Seculars has used this Lie to beat Sangh at every opportunity. 

Lets examine some facts which will try to disprove some of popular notions

Truth 1: Godse had Severed his links with RSS

Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by  Nathuram Godse, who felt that Gandhi had betrayed the Nations cause.
The sworn enemies of RSS ganged-up  instantly and tried to use this tragic incident to finish of RSS. They accused RSS to be responsible for the Murder! RSS was banned. Sri M. S. Golwalkar, the Chief of RSS along with thousands of RSS workers were arrested.
The primary accusation against RSS was "Godse was member of RSS". The fact was Godse had severed his connections with RSS long back and had in fact turned into one of its bitter critics. Godse himself explained in the court the reason why he had severed his connections with Sangh and categorically declared “I left the RSS.” Godse didnot agree with RSS on many points; for example, its refusal to get involved in day-to-day politics or to become an appendage of any political party. Hence he decided to form a militant volunteer body by himself. Accordingly in 1942 he launched the Hindu Rashtra Dal.

Also, another fact  which most of self styled seculars ignore is Godse had stated in court that he was once a Congress member also earlier

Truth 2: Sardar Patel's statements

His speech broadcast over AIR from Lucknow, as appearing in ‘The Hindu’ of Madras, dated January 7, 1948.

“Sardar Patel realised that they (RSS) were not actuated by selfish motives. The situation demanded they should strengthen the hands of the Government and assist in maintaining peace.
“He also had a word of warning ‘to those who were in power in the Congress’. He said, ‘In the Congress those who are in power feel that by virtue, of their authority they will be able to crush the RSS. You cannot crush an Organisation by using the danda’. The danda is meant for thieves and dacoits. After all the RSS men are not thieves and, dacoits. They are patriots who love their country.”

To a letter from Pt. Nehru pressing him to find out the RSS connection in the affair, Sardar Patel categorically stated in his reply of 27th February 1948,

“I have kept myself almost in daily touch with the progress of investigation regarding Bapu’s assassination case... All the main accused have given long and detailed statements of their activities... It also clearly emerges from these statements that the RSS was not involved in it at all.”

The Verdict No. 1

The much awaited judgment over the Gandhi murder trial was pronounced. It put the seal of justice, on what was already evident - that the RSS had no hand, direct or indirect, in the crime. Nor was there any countrywide conspiracy involving thousands as was made out to be. The RSS was so completely exonerated that the name of RSS did not figure at all in the judgment even as a remote cause.

It is well known that the Government’s communiqué of February 4, 1948, banning RSS centered round many wild charges,

The communiqué said

“....... It has been found that in several parts of the country individual members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunitions. They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods, to collect fire arms, to create disaffection against the Government and suborn the Police and the Military. These activities have been carried on under a cloak of secrecy...

“...The objectionable and harmful activities of the Sangh have, however, continued unabated and the cult of violence sponsored and inspired by the activities of the Sangh has claimed many victims. The latest and the most precious to fall was Gandhiji himself.”

But the Government’s communiqué of July 12, 1949, announcing the lifting of the ban, did not even so much as mention any of these charges, including Gandhiji’s murder. Instead it centered round the funny argument that since RSS had agreed to have a written constitution, the Government of India had come to the conclusion that the RSS should be given an opportunity to function!

Verdict No. 2 Kapur Commission

After a lapse of over two decades, the Government again instituted another enquiry under T. L. Kapur, a retired Judge of the Supreme Court in 1966. The Commission sat at different places, - examined no less than 101 witnesses and 407 documents before it published its Report, in 1969.
One of the important witnesses was Sri R. N. Bannerjee, I.C.S. (Witness 19) who was the Home Secretary of the Central Government at the time of the murder. The evidence of Shri R. N. Bannerjee was:

“It has not been proved that they (the accused) were members of the RSS which shows that they (the accused) were believers in a more violent form of activities than mere parades, rallies, physical exercises, and even shooting practices.” (Kapur Commission Report, Vol. 1, Page 165)

The Kapur Commission categorically declared:

“An experienced administrator like Mr. R. N. Bannerjee has stated that the RSS as such were not responsible for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, meaning thereby that one could not name the organisation as such as being responsible for that most Diabolical crime, the murder of the apostle of peace, the like of whom the world, does not see excepting after centuries.” (Ibid, page 76)

Still More Verdicts: Self Styled Seculars even had to Apologize to RSS

The Statesman on January 15, 2000 published an Article by A.G. Noorani’s “RSS & Services, A Half Century’s Gory Record” in RSS was accused of Murder of Mahatma Gandhi

When the article was published in the Statesman on January 15, 2000, the RSS office in New Delhi filed a defamation suit against A. G. Noorani, C. R. Irani, Ravindra Kumar (Editor and Managing Editor of the Statesman, respectively), and Devvrata (cartoonist), in a New Delhi court. When two of these men did not respond to the court summons, non-bailable warrants were issued against them. The case even went to the Delhi High Court. When the accused realized that they would not be able to escape the guilty verdict, they begged the court that they be allowed to submit an unconditional apology to the RSS. Finally, on February 25, 2002 A.G. Noorani submitted a written apology to the Court in which he regretted writing the article. He promised that the newspaper would publish his apology prominently within a fortnight in the editorial pages. This was done on March 3, 2002. The apology says the following:

Clarification: “We wish to clarify that the publication was made without malice and with no intention to denigrate or defame any person or persons, or RSS. We regret the publication.” (The Statesman, March 3, 2002)

Finally

So over a period of last 50 years RSS has been Declared innocent of Courts NOT ONCE NOT TWICE BUT THREE TIMES!! Never in history has any Organization been declared innocent so many times but still continues to be accused!!!

The Swayamsevaks in its "pratah smaran pranam" recalls a long list of great personalities who have enriched the national heritage at different times in history. A section of the concluding part of this invocation (in Sanskrit) is the para :

Dadabhai Gopabhandhu Tilako Gandhiradrita |

Ramano Malaviyascha Sri Subramanya Bharati. ||

Here the people mentioned are - Dadabhai Naoroji, Gokhale, Tilak, Gandhi, Raman , Madan Mohan Malviy and Subramanya Baharati . This is the new and updated version. But if you examine RSS history carefully, then you get to know that Gandhi's name was not included as an after thought. Even as early as 1946-47, when Gandhi was alive, his name was remembered along with some other living great ones; but later on, the names of the living were dropped and a new set of Stotras brought into usage. The present one is called EkAtmataa Stotra, which includes the above Sloka.

 

Please also refer RSS and Sardar Patel here

Interesting Religious Survey in USA: Hindus compete with Jews to Outperform!

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life  has conducted an extensive survey Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the survey details the religious affiliation of the American public.

The result of survey is very interesting:

1. 48% of Surveyed Hindus were Post Graduate or above. Jews were distant Second with 35%
2. 43% of Hindus are in Highest Income Group($100,000 Plus) second only to Jews who are at 46%
3. It shows 44 percent of Americans have switched religious affiliations (If shifts among Protestant denominations are included)
4. The Roman Catholic Church “has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes”
5. Sixteen per cent of American adults say they are not part of any organised faith, which makes the unaffiliated the country’s fourth-largest “religious group”.
6. Evangelical Protestant Churches form the biggest Group with 26.3%. Followed by Catholic who form 23.9% of Population. While Hindus form approx. 0.4% of Population

Income Distribution of Various religions: 43% of Hindus are in Highest Income Group($100,000 Plus) second only to Jews who are at 46%

 

Education Distribution of Various religions: 48% of Surveyed Hindus were Post Graduate or above. Jews were distant Second with 35%

 Spread of Evangelical Protestant Churches: Evangelical Protestants who are more conservative in their approach are more concentrated in East Coast of United States

Spread of Catholic Churches: Catholic  are more concentrated in West  Coast & Central Region of United States

Obama and the Trinity United Church of Christ

Barack Obama states that he has been an active member of Trinity United Church of Christ for the last twenty years. No problem with his belief's but the website of the Trinity United Church of Christ has several revealing and Interesting  written postings

This from the TUCC website –

We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.

The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:

1. A congregation committed to ADORATION.
2. A congregation preaching SALVATION.
3. A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
4. A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA.
5. A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
6. A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
7. A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
8. A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
9. A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
10. A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.

Trinity United Church of Christ Website

Centaur Sale Corruption Charge Against NDA a Farce: CBI

After three years of investigation, CBI has concluded its inquiries on Sales of Centaur Hotels and found nothing wrong in the privatization process.

In 2002, NDA Disinvested the loss-making Centaur hotels. However, when things came to a head when UPA came to power in 2004 with the support of the Left who demanded that the UPA not only cancel the sale but also investigate NDA Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie’s “personal role” in it. 

According to CBI

“The CBI was asked to look into the points raised by the CAG report. But our investigation hasn’t revealed any irregularities and preliminary enquiries have been shut down.”

However Communist parties are not letting it go. CPI’s D Raja said,

“We do not know on what grounds and facts the CBI has given the clean chit. We have to see them.”

UPA Govt. should show honesty and apologize to Arun Shourie for raising unsubstantiated charges against him. It would do well if they ignore the "Barking Dogs"

Source

Meredith Whitney: The Gal with Balls

Meredith Whitney is the lady whose research note on Citigroup in late October triggered a $369bn sell-off in global equities.

She even received death threats last year for this. She has again dramatically  reduced her forecast for the Citibank this year, giving warning that the shares could fall by more than a third.

In an investor note , Ms Whitney has cut her earnings per share estimates for 2008 from $2.70 to only 75 cents and said that these revised estimates "could still prove optimistic"

I was always amazed at the Guts of this lovely lady. I guess being married to former World Wrestling Entertainment champion Death Mask has its advantages ;)

India can intercept and destroy objects in Space: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

India has the requisite capabilities to identify, and target, satellites and other objects in Space, according to the nation's ex-president and also father of India's missile programme, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Queried by the media if India could deploy same capabilities as the US when faced with similar eventualities, as when they destroyed a satellite in Space last week, Dr Kalam replied in the affirmative.

Talking to the media on the sidelines of a two-day International Conference on Avionics Systems (ICAS-2008) here, Dr Kalam said, ''We have the ability to intercept and destroy any spatial object or debris in a radius of 200 km. We will definitely do that if it endangers Indian territory.''

Dr VK Saraswat, chief controller, R&D (MSS), the man associated with India's ballistic missile defence system agreed with Dr Kalam's assessment. ''We have the technological capabilities. It is just a matter of time before we could place the necessary wherewithal to meet such requirements,'' he said.

''We can predict and can always tackle such challenges,'' he said.

Source

In US case, A US warship successfully shot and destroyed a stray American spy satellite before it pierced the Earth's atmosphere at a distance of 150 Miles (242 KM) .

RSS chief Sudarshan criticises Raj Thackeray

RSS chief K S Sudarshan has come down heavily on Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray for his alleged comments against outsiders saying it was aimed at bagging votes.

Joining BJP stalwart L K Advani who had earlier lashed at Raj for his 'biased' comments, Sudarshan said "the outcry by Raj is against the Constitution and tradition of the country".

Sudarshan, who was addressing a public meeting here on Sunday, said the MNS chief was only interested in garnering votes.

"Raj's offensive against the north Indians in Maharashtra has threatened to destroy the fabric of brotherhood and amity," the RSS chief said.

How to Increase Your Metabolism

 

If you're trying to lose weight and think your metabolism might be the culprit, there are changes you can make to improve it. But with the commercialism surrounding "metabolism-enhancing" products, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction (or advertising) and pin down techniques that are scientifically proven to change one's metabolism.

Steps

1. Understand what metabolism is.

   In the simplest terms, metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. The rate differs significantly from person to person. You and your friend can have the same activity level, diet, and weight but still gain or lose weight at different rates based on differences in metabolism.

2. Determine what is influencing your metabolism. There are some factors that you can change, and some factors that you can't.
   • Age - metabolism slows 5% per decade after age 40[1]
   • Sex - men generally burn calories faster than women[1]
   • Heredity - you can inherit your metabolic rate from previous generations[1]
   • Thyroid disorder - problems in the thyroid gland can slow metabolism but this is rare[1]
   • Proportion of lean body mass - metabolism increases with muscle mass[1]
3. Calculate your resting metabolic rate (RMR).

   RMR is often used interchangeably with basal metabolic rate (BMR); although they are slightly different, estimating either is sufficient for the purpose of losing weight. To calculate your RMR, use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (which is more reliable than the Harris-Benedict equation[2]). There are also calculators online that can do this for you:

   • RMR = 9.99w + 6.25s - 4.92a + 166g-161
   • w = weight in kilograms; if you know your weight in pounds, divide by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms
   • s = height in centimeters; if you know your height in inches, multiply by 2.54 to get your height in centimeters
   • a = age in years
   • g = gender = 1 for males, 0 for females
4. Adjust your diet accordingly.

   Your RMR will tell you how many calories you need to maintain your body at rest. Your daily consumption to maintain your weight should be:[3]

   • RMR x 1.15
   • E.g. RMR = 2000, so the maintenance intake is 2000 x 1.15 = 2300
   • To lose weight safely, consume no more than your maintenance intake but no less than your RMR.
   • Count calories by recording what you eat and looking up how many calories each food item contains (either on the food packaging or in tables provided in books or online).
5. Eat small, frequent meals.

   Extending the time between meals makes your body go into "starvation mode", which means it'll hold onto as many calories as possible and store them as fat. This is why fasting and skipping meals will only make things worse. In addition to having four to six small meals per day[4] eating healthy snacks will also increase metabolism.[1]

6. Drink water.

   As with food, depriving your body of water can encourage it to "hoard" rather than "burn". In order to encourage your liver to focus on metabolism rather  than water retention, make sure you drink an appropriate amount of water.

7. Boost metabolism temporarily with aerobic exercise.

   Different activities burn different quantities of calories, but the important thing is to raise your heart rate and sustain the activity for approximately 30 minutes.

8. Boost metabolism in the long run with weight training.

   Muscle burns more calories than fat (73 more calories per kilogram per day, to be exact)[1] so the more muscle you build, the higher your resting metabolic rate (RMR). Every bit of muscle that you gain is like a little factory that burns calories for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is the only way to increase RMR, which accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the calories you burn daily.[5]

Tips

• There are no "fat-burning" foods. You might've heard that certain foods (like celery and grapefruit) increase metabolism, but it's just a myth.[4] While some foods and drinks like red peppers and green tea have been studied for their potential metabolism-increasing properties, there is no conclusive evidence that whatever influence they have on metabolism is significant enough to result in weight loss.[1]

• However, some believe that certain extremely low-calorie foods, such as celery, cause the body to burn more calories in the act of consumption than are absorbed by the body. Still, half an hour walking will burn many more calories than half an hour of chewing celery.

• Always consult a dietician or doctor before making a major change in your diet and exercise routine.

Warnings

• Avoid smoking as a weight-loss method. While nicotine is a metabolism booster and appetite suppressant, the health hazards far outweigh any benefits.
• Expect your metabolism to slow down as you lose weight. The more weight your body is carrying, the more calories your body has to burn in order to sustain itself, even at rest. When you begin restricting your calorie intake, you'll lose weight relatively easily because your body's high caloric needs are not being met. But after you begin to shed the weight, the body has less mass to carry and thus needs fewer calories. In order to continue losing weight, you will have to restrict your caloric intake even further in order to maintain a difference between what your body needs and what you are providing.[1] Let's go through a hypothetical example:
  • You are 200 lbs and your body needs 2500 calories a day to sustain itself.
  • You cut down your caloric intake to 2000 calories.
  • You lose 25 lbs. Now your body only needs 2250 calories to sustain itself because it's carrying less weight.
  • If you continue with your 2000 calorie per day diet (the diet that helped you lose the first 25 lbs) you will still be losing, but at half the speed. In order to maintain a steady weight loss you will need to reduce your caloric intake further. However, it is at the utmost importance you do not try to consume fewer calories than your RMR!
  • Another possible problem: If you continue with your 2000 calorie per day diet (the diet that helped you lose the first 25 lbs) you may actually gain weight back because of varying levels of exercise. Let's say you lose 50 lbs. on your 2000 calorie diet. Your sustaining calories might be 1800. You're actually consuming enough calories to gain weight, but how would that happen if you had stayed to your diet. This can happen when your exercise has burned through many calories. If you slowed on exercise at this point you would actually gain weight again. The point here is to recheck your RMR when you lose weight and compare it to your consumption.

Related wikiHows

• How to Decrease Your Metabolism
• How to Lose Weight Fast
• How to Calculate Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
• How to Gain Weight

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/make-most-your-metabolism
2. ↑ http://www.adajournal.org/article/PIIS0002822305001495/abstract
3. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=gRrp3yphhC0C&pg=PT259&lpg=PT259&dq=%2B%22caloric+intake%22+%2Brmr&source=web&ots=En__f5a15l&sig=j7IwWkrMdgfTuDb5Fd27QqWNW14
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/rev-up-your-metabolism
5. ↑ http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/jump-start-your-metabolism

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Increase Your Metabolism. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Obama dressed as Somali Elder

The Associated Press photograph portraying  Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound white robe presented to him by elders in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya. Obama's estranged late father was Kenyan and Obama visited the country in 2006, attracting thousands of well-wishers

How cartoons caused total shutdown of YouTube for two hours

YouTube suffered a system-wide outage on Sunday that lasted two hours according to Keynote Systems, which measures Web site performance.

The BBC reported that Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube may have been inadvertently been responsible for the outage. Earlier in the day, Pakistan shutoff access to the video site to its country's residents in response to the posting of cartoon.

The BBC Web site's technology editor, Darren Waters, says that it's likely that--to prevent Pakistan's residents from accessing the site--Pakistan Telecom hijacked YouTube's IP and passed that information on the country's Internet service providers so that queries to YouTube would be redirected. However, the details were apparently leaked by Asian ISP PCCW, leading to the global blackout, the BCC reported.

Reminds me of Famous Nana Patekar Dialogue "Saala Ek Machar, Admi ko Hijra banadeta hai"

Undersea Internet Cable disruption, A Sabotage?

Recent Internet outages have affected 85 million users in Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

The trouble began on 30 January 2008 when  two cables were cut off the Egyptian Mediterranean coast,  disrupting Internet and telephone traffic in India and Several Middle Eastern Countries.  The two cut cables "accounted for as much as three-quarters of the international communications between Europe and the Middle East."  These cuts were initially attributed to dragging ship anchors caused by rough waters in the eastern Mediterranean. But later, the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said video footage of coastal waters in the region of the two cables showed there was no ship traffic for 12 hours preceding and 12 hours following the time of the cable cuts.

A few days later, another undersea cable was found cut in the Persian Gulf, 55 kilometers off Dubai. It was followed by reports of another damaged undersea cable between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Soon another report mentioned a cut undersea cable running through the Suez to Sri Lanka. The Khaleej Times reported on February 4, 2008 that as many as five undersea cables were damaged, including a cable in the Persian Gulf near Bandar Abbas, Iran; and SeaMeWe4 undersea cable near Penang, Malaysia.

There is no logical explanation for the sudden damage to nearly five undersea cables in the course of a week.

Was it sheer coincidence that Iran government’s planned to inaugurate its Iran Oil Bourse between Feb. 1 and 11 for trade in ‘non-dollar currencies’. If Iran manages to open its own Oil Bourse, there is a very good possibility that  GCC will trade there on account of geographic proximity. This will make Iran the main hub for oil deals in the Middle East. A functional Iranian Oil Bourse, selling oil tankers in non-dollar currencies, would be a terrible snub to America.

The "Iran Oil Bourse (IOB)" system is planned to work as a "Peer to Peer" network using the Internet rather than the traditional centralized method to avoid the market manipulation by intermediary traders which affects other oil trading centres. With complete elimination of Internet connectivity to Iran , this launch may have been severely disrupted.It would also put doubts on the mind of potential users on the reliability of the system.