Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Indian Man Responsible for Standoff Near Florida Mall

I was listening to CNN yesterday, while trying to coax my 4 year old
to come to the lunch table, when I heard mention of a suspicious
looking East Indian man in an Orlando bank. My ears popped up of
course.

Apparently, Nirvair Singh, who holds an Indian passport walked into a
Wachovia Bank at 7950 S. Orange Blossom Trail at 10.52 on Tuesday
November 27th. He sat down there after asking for tickets to India
with his luggage beside him, and refused to move. After negotiations,
a standoff, and a 3 hour traffic chaos, he surrendered later in the
evening.

The Orlando Sentinel reports -
" "He refused to leave and when he unbuttoned his shirt there was some
sort of vest underneath," said sheriff's spokesman Chief Steve Jones.
"That kind of alarmed people." As the bank emptied, a force began to
assemble that totaled more than 70 deputies, troopers and agents from
the FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Border Patrol,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the sheriff's Crisis
Management Team and Negotiating Team."

The whole situation is quite odd cosidering that he was also
reportedly driven to Sand Lake Hospital for treatment of dog bites
before being jailed on charges of disorderly conduct and trespass.

The Sentinel reports that --
"There's no reason to believe he has any mental issues" but he will be
evaluated at the hospital, Jones said. "The bomb squad blew up his
bags but there was nothing there except clothing."

Full article photos and video at :
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-wachovia112707,0,5847828.story?coll=orl_technology_xpromo

Thursday, November 15, 2007

No Pakistan Information Here...

I am not going to discuss Pakistan here, I think it is absolutely ludicrous what is going on there. That pretty much says it all. I am more concerned about the innocent citizens of that country and those that are losing their lives for the sake of a ridiculous political drama. What bothers me most are these people who have no idea how to use thier political clout to do good for the world, rather than accumulate more power and forget about the greater good.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Who is Huma Abedin?

Yes she is Hillary Clinton's right hand woman and her travelling chief of staff, and one of the most well dressed women around. Some say she is Indian some say she is Pakistani. She refuses to give an interview or talk about it very much. Here are some excerpts from an article --

From an article in The New York Observer, by Spencer Morgan Published: April 1, 2007 --
Indeed, in the insular world of New York and D.C. politics, Huma Abedin has become a sort of mythical figure.
On a day-to-day basis, Ms. Abedin is responsible for guiding the Senator from one chaotic event to the next and ensuring that the many hundreds of situations that arise at each—the photo ops, the handshakes, the speeches—go smoothly. The job of “body person”—industry-speak for the catchall role of an omnipresent traveling assistant—is a notoriously grueling one, requiring unfaltering level-headedness and a zeal for multitasking.
Which gets at another facet of the cult of Huma: She’s something of a mystery, even to the people who have worked in her proximity for years.
Very little is publicly known about her, which of course leaves plenty to talk about. And the rumors abound. According to various accounts from Huma acquaintances interviewed for this story: She’s Lebanese, she’s Jordanian, she’s Iranian, she’s 26, she’s 36, she has two children, she lives with the Clintons.
“No one knows anything about her,” said one political aide. “She’s like Hillary’s secret weapon.”
The back story, as it were, begins 32 years ago in Kalamazoo, Mich., where Ms. Abedin, who declined to participate in this article, lived until the age of 2. Her family then relocated to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where she lived until returning to the States for college. She attended George Washington University. Her father, who died when she was 17, was an Islamic and Middle Eastern scholar of Indian decent. He founded his own institute devoted to Western-Eastern and interfaith understanding and reconciliation and published a journal focusing on Muslim minorities living in the diaspora. Her mother, a renowned professor in Saudi Arabia, is Pakistani.
Ms. Abedin recently bought an apartment in the vicinity of 12th and U streets in Washington, D.C. When she comes to New York, she stays with her sister, who has an apartment in Manhattan—not, as one popular rumor has it, in Chappaqua with the Clintons. She has no children and has never been married. She’s single.
Ms. Abedin began working for Mrs. Clinton as an intern for the then First Lady in 1996. She was hired as a staff assistant to the First Lady’s chief of staff, Maggie Williams. For several years, she was the backup to Mrs. Clinton’s permanent personal aide, Allison Stein, and she officially took over as Mrs. Clinton’s aide and advisor around the time of the 2000 Senate race.
Her Presidential campaign title is “traveling chief of staff.”
“I’d call Huma one in a million,” said Mrs. Clinton’s press secretary, Philippe Reines, “but that would mean there are 5,999 others in the world just like her, and there simply aren’t. She is truly one of a kind, one in a billion. We are all in awe of her poise, grace, judgment, intellect and her seemingly endless reserve of kindness, patience and energy.”

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Hmmmm.... Great Quote!

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.
- Mark Twain

Astronomers discover new planet

Astronomers discover new planet
By Neil Bowdler
BBC science reporter

Planet hunters say the system has many similarities to our own
Astronomers in the US say they have found a new planet in orbit around a star 41 light years from Earth.

The discovery brings to five the number of planets orbiting the star, 55 Cancri, the most found to date in a single solar system outside our own.

Astronomers have found more than 250 planets outside our own solar system - the team behind the latest discovery have found more than anyone else.

The new planet is a gas planet about 45 times the mass of the Earth.

Their latest find is a fifth planet to add to the four they had already discovered around 55 Cancri, a double or binary star in the constellation of Cancer.

See full article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7082257.stm

Thursday, November 01, 2007

My Interview With Ramachandra Guha

Read this doc on Scribd: Ramachandra Guha TIA Nov Dec 2007