war on drugs

When Marion Jones said that she had asked God for forgiveness after she admitted to lying about taking performance enhancing drugs before the 2000 Olympics, I wonder if this was the same "God" who had apparently provided her with the steroids -- I mean the "God-given abilities" which she claimed to have.
I mean really, how much sympathy can she expect to get from a God whom she thought didn't exist enough to care about being used as a false front for her "sinful" behavior?
She admitted to the court that she did take THG to prepare for the games in Sydney. I just don't know why these damn athletes take that risk. I mean seriously no one expects you to be he-man, just train hard and let your talents take over. She's already in the hole financially, so this only makes it worse. I wouldn't be surprised if Wheaties wanted their money back!

“The truth or falsity of a given perception is often quite relative when one is concerned with a complex social question such as the nature of a conspiracy. There are as many variables and problems of definition that much depends on the observers position, interest and amount of information. The belief in a conspiracy can be treated as a theoretical construct, not necessarily less reasonable than other constructs which help explain disturbing and unexpected happenings” - David B. Davis -

crackdown on peaceful protesters

One could scarcely call the government of Myanmar something other than repressive, but they have taken that label to new heights over the past week days. Soldiers are firing automatic weapons into crowds, invading Buddhist monasteries, and have cut off electronic communications available to civilians. Demonstrations, sparked by a large increase in fuel prices, have been estimated to have numbers up to 100,000. The nation of Myanmar rivals N Korea as a closed and repressed society.
Myanmar's chief patron, China, has blocked UN condemnation, but has offered platitudes about how "all parties in Myanmar exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated.” Evidently unarmed civilians and monks need to restrain themselves from getting killed by automatic gunfire. We really ought to spend lots of money on Chinese made goods, just to make sure they can have the influence to make such a statement stick.
Buddhism is a non-violent philosophy/religion and it is once again being faced with forceful violence. Evidently a saffron robe is poor protection from bullets. The military junta running the place does not seem to be overly concerned that bullets won't win the day. They may be running a large risk of backlash within the military ranks, people who have and know how to use, firearms.

I am not an advocate of taking leaflets to a gunfight, nor am I overly impressed with the technique of resistance involved in taking a bullet, admirable as Buddhism may be, self-destruction to no end gain seems wasteful. While I might be willing to die for an idea, that concept also includes helping someone on the other side get there first. I have noticed that there's not much reportage regarding the fact that "non-violent revolutions" have managed to get significant support from heavily armed contingents before they became successful.....

Fatal Attraction

"She's SO sooo hot!"

I don't think I have ever said that...phew!! My friends all think I'm nuts cause I don't really go kooky over a girl at first sight. I guess I'm just one for whom attraction is based on knowing a person first. A girl can be thought of as a 'hottie' (wow, I hate that term!) by scads of people, but unless I know her and know her character, MEH. Honestly, I wouldn't give much of a second look.

Now someone I get along with, can be both silly and serious with, and know her character to be one of integrity, maturity, faith, goofiness, and fun... that's a different story. It's those things that will attract me to someone. Beauty of character, if you will.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that she's beautiful on the outside, too!

My new look!

In my last post, I looked at needing to work on the template of my blog. Well hey, instead of just tidying things up a little bit, why don't I go for some XML, make my own images and headings, learn all about hexadecimal colour codes and drop-down menus, and completely redesign my blog? Suuure... that would be easier! A big huge thanks to google guys who waded through their codes many, many times when I tried and said, "It's broken! Help!"

In any case, welcome to my new and hopefully improved site! It's a little more "me" than my previous old site. I hope you enjoy! Leave a comment to say hello (or to tell me if there's any formatting problems!)!

one goes maze and blue!

After a hiatus of almost 2 weeks, I am back to my blog. What did I do in these two weeks? Celebrate, touring and more celebrations :) I did some of the nicest things and spent the most beautiful moments, visited lovely places couple of times and surely had a gala time. Managed to get lots of exercise too! I also like to have few fun things going on all the time… that does really help me be more creative and enjoy the process. My main guilty pleasure is music. If I am really stressed with a deadline I pretty much always buy some songs, so that is fun. Music is a great way to influence moods and creative direction…
For the onlookers, the summer here at this place is something that has to be endured. It's not just the heat of the plains though that can prove tricky. Everyone goes home for the summer. Apparently. It seems to me that there are people out there with way too much holiday.
Well, I have this theory that we all have ever-diminshing topics of conversation. Back home you talk about new CDs, TV programmes, politics, sports whatever. A friend confided in me that he was worried about becoming boring this time of the year. When he went back to his place of study he had nothing to talk to his friends about. Another friend complained that he has very few mates left in the city here. You couldn't meet a nicer person and he was worried that he was becoming nasty. I doubt it. It's just us good ones, we're a strange bunch. Another soon-to-leave ex-pat told me that she decided to get out because she was worried about what she would become if she didn't..
For myself I have also met up with people and been bemused about my lack of starting a conversation. I was never stuck for words before. I remember one conversation with a friend when we agreed no more talk about work - then we sat in silence for two minutes thinking of something else to say.
So summer is a funny yet joyous time. By Autumn the next aircraft/bus load of tourists, volunters, development workers etc etc will no doubt land back on their own shores. We will bask in fresh conversations and fresh enthusiasm to keep a cool head for the whole of chill winter months.
In the meantime people will wilt in the heat while everyone keeps thinking of something interesting to addon.

Blessings from day 11

This post has been long due but I have been overwhelmed by all the things that I have to juggle to just keep my head above the water. I really wanted to write a lot about the program I had been into these short yet beautiful 15 days period coz I think I had some excellent time with it. But coz of time constrains I think I will just skim through jist of the topic and give my readers an idea of what my life has been into these days. Lets start at with this:

I was reading the book "Blessing Your Spirit", and here at day 11's blessing, these few passages kept lingering over my thoughts:
"I bless you with enough problems in life and God's rescuing you from those problems that you no longer fear problems because they become an opportunity for God to show Himself strong. I bless you with the blessing that Daniel had of living so long with God and experiencing His faithfulness so many times that when he was in the lion's den, he was not overwhelmed with fear. The animals' mouths were bound, and they could not bite him.
I bless you, with the same security that David had, to walk into the enemy's camp and leave with Saul's spear and water bottle. I bless you with experiencing your Father's intervention so often and on such a profound level that you are emotionally secure. I bless you with seeing Him do remarkable things to rescue you, so that you can go before God's people and share glory stories of what God did on your behalf, and how He activated events to rescue you from the trap of the enemy designed to destroy you.
........
I bless you with not just enjoying the emotion of release and rescue, but also translating those experiences into acts of worhip. I bless you with worshiping and glorifying God, encouraging His people, and memorializing His power after a magnificent rescue....."

crime @ abode of peace

Two days ago, Ladakh woke up to the gruesome murder news of two monks of Likir Monastery. The monks were brutally killed on the intervening night of 3rd and 4th August. Such ghastly incident of murder unheard of in Leh before took place in a restaurant in Alchi village run by Likir monastery. One of the monks was the manager and the other was the entrance-fee collector at the historic Alchi Gompa of Liker monastery. The police somehow managed to nab the accused after 31 hours of the crime.
I've been reading and following to all the coverage about this crime, and as I see it, the whole think reeks of a setup in contradiction to the statement made by the accused to the police.
My thoughts and prayers tonight are with the two monks, with their friends, with their family of Likir monastery and with the Ladakhi's in general.

Where is the Love
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder,
As Im gettin' older yall people gets colder.
Most of us only care about money makin
Selfishness got us followin the wrong direction
Wrong information alwayz shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria.
Infectin the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema.
Yo, whatever happened to the values of humanity?
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality?
Instead in spreadin love we spreadin' animosity,
Lack of understandin leading lives away from unity,
Thats the reason why sometimes im feelin' under,
Thats the reason why somtines im feelin' down,
Theres no wonder why somtimes im feelin' under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found!

People killin people diein,
Children hurt and ya hear them cryin.
Can you practice what you preach?
And dont you turn the other cheek.

Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cuz people got me got me questionin'
Where is the Love???