I am now in Florida...AMRITA I MISS YOU

Vietnamese Refugee after the Vietnam War.
See Boat People

Two and a half Centurion

REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) -- A giant aldabra tortoise thought to be around 250 years old has died in the Kolkata zoo of liver failure, Indian authorities said on Thursday.

The tortoise had been the pet of Robert Clive, the famous British military officer in colonial India around the middle of the 18th century, a local minister in West Bengal state said.

Local authorities say the tortoise, named "Addwaitya" meaning the "The One and Only" in Bengali, was the oldest tortoise in the world but they have not presented scientific proof to back up their claim.

"Historical records show he was a pet of British general Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his sprawling estate before he was brought to the zoo about 130 years ago," West Bengal Forest Minister Jogesh Barman said.

"We have documents to prove that he was more than 150 years old, but we have pieced together other evidence like statements from authentic sources and it seems that he is more than 250 years old," he said.The minister said details about Addwaitya's early life showed that British sailors had brought him from the Seychelles islands and presented him to Clive, who was rising fast in the East India Company's military hierarchy.

On Thursday, the tortoise's enclosure wore a deserted look.
"This is a sad day for us. We will miss him very much," a zoo keeper said.

Wild Aldabra tortoises are found in the Aldabra island in the Indian Ocean Seychelles islands. They average about 120 kg (265 pounds). It is believed that tortoises are the longest lived of all animals, with life spans often surpassing 100 years.

Real Madrid Stadium, Madrid, Spain. Google Earth

Oil on Canvas "Mother & Child"- Bala Kattappuram

The Tower of Babel
1563; Oil on oak panel, 114 x 155 cm; Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna

Vertical Farming

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 10⁹ hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?

A Potential Solution: farm vertically

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes, a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3 billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented, employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented, they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

Pittsburgh Anti-War Rally

Flew back from Florida this morning, and happened to run into the anti-war march on Forbes Avenue, which was held to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The above pictures were taken from the Kiva Han coffee shop on South Craig St.

Did you know?

Saint Patrick (386–March 17, 493 AD) is primarily known as the patron saint of Ireland (along with Saint Brigid and Saint Columba). He is also the patron saint of Nigeria.

In several forms of Christianity, but especially in Roman Catholicism, a patron saint has special affinity for a trade or group. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters, and St. Christopher is the patron saint of travellers, for example. Eastern Orthodoxy generally doesn't associate saints with occupations and activities, or does so to a much lesser degree. Patron saints can also be associated with geographical areas. So here's a shout out to my Irish and Nigerian brothers and sisters, ...GOT GREEN?!

"Peace lives in one's heart" - Maharaji Prem Rawat

Prem Pal Singh Rawat was born on December 10, 1957 in Dehradun, India. At the age of four he gave his first published address about the practice of "Knowledge", that was being taught by his father and teacher Hans Ji Maharaj. At the age of six he was taught the techniques of Knowledge by his father and succeeded him when he passed away in 1966, being accepted by his father's followers as their satguru (Sanskrit: true teacher) and assuming the role of "Perfect Master" at his father's funeral . He thereby became the recognized leader of the Divine Light Mission (an organization started by his father) and began taking his message to people throughout the Indian subcontinent

In 1971 he was invited to speak in London and Los Angeles and attracted substantial media attention as the Guru Maharaj Ji, due to his young age and a broad popular interest in his claim that he could offer the "Knowledge" a means for anyone to find peace within. In 1972 he began touring the world talking about inner peace and teaching Knowledge, revisiting the UK and the US and speaking at events for the first time in Switzerland, Germany, Kenya, South Africa, Japan, and Australia . His marriage to a westerner in 1974 precipitated a family rift and Prem Rawat's mother and his eldest brother Satya Pal Singh (Satpal) secured the leadership of the DLM in India through legal proceedings. In the 1980s he began the slow dissolution of the Divine Light Mission, stepped away from the trappings associated with an Indian guru or Perfect Master and continued to appear to audiences as Maharaji, a teacher and public speaker, promoting the same message and offering the same techniques of Knowledge for finding peace within.. At that time, minimal organizations were established in several countries called Elan Vital, whose main purpose is organizing events to which Prem Rawat is invited to speak.

According to The Prem Rawat Foundation, since his childhood beginnings as a teacher, Prem Rawat has continued to promote a means to achieve a lifelong, individual experience of inner peace, and that his message is that it is only by individuals finding peace for themselves can the world be at peace and that he is able to assist in this endeavor. Starting in 2001, he has been invited to address various institutions on the subject of peace, and has through the Prem Rawat Foundation spearheaded various humanitarian initiatives.

Although a source of inspiration for his students, he has attracted controversy including what critics consider a lack of intellectual content in his teachings, leading a sumptuous lifestyle, and making what critics and some religious scholars regard as personal claims of divinity.

Between tours, Prem Rawat lives with his wife in Malibu, California in the U.S. They have four grown children. He is an experienced airline transport-rated pilot and holds a number of pilot ratings on jet airplanes and helicopters. His resume discusses skills in computer graphics, computer-aided design, and development of aviation software. He is listed as co-inventor on a U.S. Patent for a world-time watch for aeronautic applications . A US citizen since 1977, he reports that he supports himself and his family as a private investor, and that he has contributed to the success of several startup companies in various industries, including software.

courtesy of wikipedia.org

Free Tibet

Africa was home for over seventeen years. I called Lagos, Nigeria home for as long as I can remember. For all those years, I had lived a sheltered life, away from the chaos of the real African society, and away from the violence and miserable poverty that the common man found himself in. Life rolled on all those years, with the occasional sounds of distant gun-fire of the police or the army chasing armed robbers, or robbing homes themselves. It was common-place to see bodies littered on the embankments of lavish German-built expressways. Yet, from our car windows we would view Africa as a slideshow between our journeys from one safe haven to the other.

I was eight years old. I remember my mother coming into the room that I shared with my younger brother. It must have been around 1 in the morning. She woke us up and told us to be still and calm. She whispered to us that armed robbers were breaking into the house downstairs, and that my father was unlocking the metal door for them. It was considered wise to open the doors for the robbers as they wouldn’t be as violent if they realized that we were willing to co-operate with them. My mother told us to stay calm, and then she rushed downstairs to join my father. I remember holding my brother’s hand and being perfectly calm. Somehow a strange sense of peace enveloped me. I remember this incident vividly because that sensation was a unique and one-time experience so strong that it may have changed my life. I wasn’t scared. That to me was the single most terrifying incident of my life. The absence of fear I believe now, may be the highest level of fear.

After about fifteen minutes, the robbers made their way to our room. One of them turned the lights on and told us to stay still. Another ransacked our cupboards, desks and toy chests looking for anything valuable. The group leader came in and asked me to open a draw in my cupboard. I remember stepping out of bed waiting to be struck at anytime with the long machete he was wielding. I extended my right hand to pull the draw open, and in doing so exposed the gold ring that my parents had bought me in India. Immediately I was asked to hand it over. It didn’t come off. My finger had grown around the ring. I remember wincing, ready for the strike from the man. He grabbed my hand, yanked the ring out, and then stared at me with a subtle smile on his face. It was perhaps the most out-of-place gesture in the history of out-of-place gestures. At that moment I knew that they weren’t going to hurt us. I opened the draw for them, and then went back to bed to hide under the covers. It was a terrifying night; a night when Africa entered our house.

Today, these incidents are occurring more frequently. Armed robbers never used to hurt people, especially women and children. Today there are incidents of murder, rape and extreme torture. It is a warning bell that rings through society that things are about to break down. All African countries may not share the same fate, but if you are keeping up with the times, you know that Africa’s picture is ever-fragmenting. Poverty, AIDS and malaria claim millions of lives each year. It’s the state where millions mean so little, and where death is perhaps the only escape for the masses.

A recent documentary that I watched, “The Invisible Children,” targeted the lives of thousands of children in Northern Uganda who commute from their villages at night to sleep in bus parks and hospitals, hiding from the rebels who abduct them. The rebel forces are known to capture children to train them as child soldiers in their plot to overthrow the government. It has been an eighteen-year war, and the persecution and violence goes on. Twelve-year old children hunt and kill citizens and other children for the cause of the rebellion. The artists who filmed the documentary brought to us the stories of several children who have lost their loved ones and the will to live. One child pleaded on the screen to be killed, as he had nothing in his life to live for.

When you read articles and watch documentaries, you view for that moment, the atrocities of another world. It’s a world that was home to me, a world where millions die each year because nobody cares about their lives. A war has been going on in Northern Uganda for eighteen years. Thousands of children have lost their lives, their dignity, and their will to live because of this war. Nobody asks the question, “Where do the guns come from?” Or “Who funds an eighteen-year war?”

Africans die each day because you never asked those questions.

In my next article I do research on where the weapons that fuel African wars come from.

Tsukiji Fish Market- Tokyo

image courtesy: japanreview.net

In this fish market, blue-fin tuna sells for upto $10,000 a fish. With over 140,000 food outlets, the market deals with over $20 million a day. The market opens at 5:00am. Wow! That's some serious fish eatin'

TSOTSI- Best Foreign Film

The Africa Channel

The days ahead will change history. Iran’s denial of using nuclear technology to enter the arms race is being rejected in the world forum. A nation sitting atop a lake of oil does not need nuclear technology to power its economy. As the legendary King Cyrus brought Persia onto the map, the new Iran after the Ayatollah seems to be searching for a break to enter the spotlight once again.

This is a sticky situation. There seems to be no end to the wars that will be fought in the near future. With nations like Pakistan and China selling nuclear technology across the world, it is only a matter of time before a nuclear weapon lands in the hands of the wrong people. The CLOCK is ticking indeed. After the overthrow of the Shah in Iran, the rebirth of the nation seemed hopeful and chaotic in the wake of a popular revolution. The new regime with President Ahmadinejad appears to be grabbing at every opportunity for a share of the spotlight. We have officially entered the age of terror, and now we just sit and watch as extreme nationalism coupled with fanatic religious following will once again pose the question of our existence as human beings. Good job, mankind…..good job…

RAP DA

View from UN window

Come home to Suya