Hiding the Truth Could be costly

I personally dont feel that what Dick Cheny accidentally did should be a matter of discussion. But this is being discussed so much that I am force to write something about it. I am sure he will not be punished or prosecuted for what happened, and he should not. I am sure things would have been different if the incident was revealed as and when happened. Now media is not behind what happened but why American people were not being told about it on time. Is white house trying to hide/cover something. Here is what I heard from NPR Radio.

"I know to a lot of people watching it, we look like a bunch of yapping dogs," says Ron Hutcheson, the White House correspondent for the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain. "But there’s a real fundamental issue about our government -- one of the things that sets us apart from places like China and Russia -- and that is our system is based on openness and accountability."

And Hutcheson says there's not a lot of that when it comes to Dick Cheney -- who quietly has been at the center of many major stories involving this administration.
"We take what we can get," Hutcheson says. "The irony here is we've probably got the most powerful vice president in American history who's probably also the most secretive vice president in American history. So it's really difficult to cover him."

No matter what happened, what was the intention behind hiding the truth but now its hurting the Cheny, more than it could have hurt, if the issue was conveyed to American people in the beginning. Now people have started questioning the credibility of Cheny and Bush administration towards the American citizen.

Is what google is doing for Chinese government justified?

Recently search engine giant google (www.google.com) have come under fire because of providing a search engine (www.google.cn) to Chinese government which provides a censored result to the surfer. This is not the first time when these big companies have helped the Chinese government. At least there are 2 case by MSN when it gave the credential of its 2 users who wrote something against the Chinese government. Is it not that these big companies are promoting the dictatorship in China? People are afraid to speak their mind, which is a basic fundamental right of every individual.

But I have a strong feeling that when a search engine compromises like this, collaborated with government, it makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control what is being said on the Internet. However when the google displays the result in censored version of its search engine it will display the notification that certain content is being suppressed as per the local government policy. This is something similar to what is provided in the countries like Germany.

But we also need to consider what happens if google does not provide the alter search engine to Chinese government, someone else will do and with a population of 1.3 billion people and more than 100 million Internet users, China's largely untapped Internet market is very attractive to technology companies. Google is opening a research and development center in China and owns close to 6 % stake in Baidu.com, the most popular search engine in that country.

In the beginning google is going to offer only search facility, its not going to offer other services like gmail, blogger etc.

Warship Clemenceau is Returning to France

France's highest court, the State Council, has ordered Paris to suspend the transfer of the decommissioned warship Clemenceau to India. The ruling was issued in response to complaints by Greenpeace and three anti-asbestos groups.The petitioners have been fighting to block the asbestos-laden ship's transfer to Alang in Gujarat as a potential environmental hazard.

The warship has been waiting in the Indian Ocean for several weeks pending a Supreme Court decision to allow it into India. The ship was supposed to be dismantled at Alang and then sold as scrap.

The Colony: John Tayman

Recently listened to the interview of Author of the new Book called "The Colony", on NPR. From 1866 through 1969, the Hawaiian and American governments banished nearly 9,000 leprosy sufferers into exile on a peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The book described the journey of those people who were being abandoned by the civilized society, due to the physical illness (leprosy). Is there any possibility that same situation may arise even now? I have no answer for that, may be the tiem only can tell. But sometimes back AIDS epidemic had created a fear of the unknown and brought out the worst of human nature.

Imagine isolating for life someone with migraines merely for having migraines, no appeal no hearing only judgement in the form of punishment and that was exile.

The reader's of "The Colony" will get angry as well as ashamed on how their ancestors have behaved with lepers. To me it was an era of darkness. Where the religion was prevailing over the science. Even the "Bible" also supports the act of exiling people in certain cases.

The civilized world started accepting the people of Molokai once a safe medical treatment was developed. As author concludes that there are still people living there but that's on there own wish. Most of them are old aged, who have lived there and shared there memories with the rest of the colony.

Lets hope that we or children never face such a situation.


About the Book: (From www.amazon.com)

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Scribner (January 9, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 074323300X
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds.

Is It End of Sachin's Era ?

Six failed innings in a row is all it's taken for the media and fans to think that this could be the beginning of the end for Sachin Tendulkar. In 1989, Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in Pakistan and was given a taste of international cricket after Waqar Younis smacked him on the nose. In 2006, Sachin Tendulkar is felled to the ground in Pakistan not by a snorter but one that kept low from Mohammad Asif. Life's come full circle for the Master Blaster, but at least former Pakistan captain Imran Khan had some comforting words.

"It's happened to me as well. Everybody expects the superstar to deliver, he is the one under pressure," said Imran.

In the third and final Test against Pakistan in Karachi, the entire batting line up failed but Sachin is the one who succeeded in making the most headlines. Most fans will be hard pressed to remember when was the last time so many newspaper headlines wondered if this was the beginning of the end for the Bombay Bomber.

Alarming Numbers:

The statistics certainly indicate a slump. His last 14 international innings have resulted in a highest score of 39. He has two half-centuries in his last ten one-dayers, all of which have been at home. He has one century and three half-centuries in his last ten tests for a more than respectable average of just under 39. But he's now gone six Test innings without a single half-century. Sachin only got three innings in this Test series, but it will still rank as his third worst performance in a series in terms of runs. Most of these series only featured two Tests, such as the one against South Africa in 2004.

Questions Raised:

It all started with Moin Khan questioning the need for Sachin Tendulkar to walk when he wasn't out in the Faisalabad test. But the part that was forgotten about that controversial article was that Moin said that he hoped he's wrong about this being the beginning of the end. That comment earned Moin Khan widespread ridicule in India. Now Sachin has five one-dayers in Pakistan to prove to the fans that there is still hope.

My Opinion:

Its right time for Sachin to retire gracefully. This is for the goodness of the country and for himself. This will give chance to the next generation. He has done enough for the country. He made certain records which will be there for some times. What worries to me is that if people start feeling in the same way they feel about Ganguli, it will be a real disgrace for a National Hero.

Source : www.ndtv.com