Saturday, December 22, 2007

Killing deer yields punishment in US

Salman Khan's burtal killing/ hunting of black bucks in Rajasthan is almost forgotten news now. In India hunting is banned and possessing wildlife is illegal but when celebrities and people in power hunt, they usually get to go scot free, thanks to an insensitive press and their money and muscle power.

Now lets go to the other side of the world. In America, hunting is legal and one can get licenses to hunt deer, coyotes and other game. But when people display insensitivity and kill these gentle creatures of the wild, they are punished. I read this news report about how two kids, star athletes were sentenced to 88 days to a off-campus disciplinary programme for beating two deer to death. Isn't it nice to know that and wish for similar impartial rules and their enforcement in India. Read on to know the entire story.

Road to Iraan - Picture from Picasa

Iraan is a small community/ town of about 1,100 sited about 115 miles southwest of San Angelo and 996 miles from Dallas, west of the Crockett County line. Recently four members of Iraan High School football team accused in the beating deaths of two deer trapped on a baseball field were ordered to spend 88 days of the spring semester in an off-campus disciplinary program.

Earlier this month two deer were found dead on the baseball field allegedly beaten to death in the previous night. The guilty students were charged of hunting deer with illegal means and during closed season. Two of the students identified as Call Cade(17), a first-team all-district quarterback, and Zac Owen(17), a first-team running back, are football players according to Capt. Scott Davis of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.

The names of other two students involved in the crime was not revealed because they are underaged. But all the students face up to $500 fines on two Class C misdemeanor counts when they will be tried at the Pecos County Justice on January 8.

The four will be sent to the Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement, which educates students off-campus.

Reported in Dallas Morning News

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Writers invited for an assignment

Comprehensive hotel booking website invites freelance writers and journalists to produce general interest articles about their meta-search engine www.HotelsCombined.com. Poised as cyberspace's top hotel comparison website, HotelsCombined.com is interested in reaching out to all audiences: consumers, business executives, leisure travellers and backpackers, families, students etc.

The website wants writers to use the website, write an article and get it published in order to get the writers fee of $200 depending on the publication or website.

HotelsCombined.com is a hotel search engine used by consumers to find hotels worldwide, and to compare prices from multiple merchants. The site enables consumers to find the lowest rates for any hotel in the world and provides comprehensive hotel content including millions of hotel descriptions and images, hotel and merchant reviews and advanced maps.

Once the user identifies the best deal and supplier for their needs, HotelsCombined links them through to the supplier website to book directly. The site searches all suppliers’ websites in real-time ensuring up-to-the minute pricing and availability. HotelsCombined was founded in 2005 by former directors of hotel websites HotelClub.com and RatesToGo.com. For more information, visit http://www.hotelscombined.com.

So what are you waiting for. Put on your thinking caps, pick up a pen and start writing.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Bike that races on Bio-Fuel!


Hayes Diversified Technologies (HDT) has come out with a B20-fueled diesel motorcycle which is making waves on racetracks. At the Bonneville Speedway's 2007 International Speed Trials, the bike won several races. Fred Hayes, promoter of HDT and chief test rider Byron Schmidt rode the bike on the track in and achieved a staggering 103-mph on the standard model and 110 mph for the turbo.

Amazing isn't it and eco-friendly too. The Bonneville, HDT's diesel bike is capable of fording a 24-in stream, and climbing or descending a 60 degree gradient slope while operating on any version of diesel, kerosene or jet fuel. These bikes run on B20 biodiesel (20 percent soybean, vegetable oil and other agricultural components; 80 percent petroleum diesel) and runs better than a petrol bike.

HDT diesel bikes have been regular Bonneville contenders since 2004, albeit with little class competition.

Click here for more details.

My videos

Since I didn't have much to blog or write about... as I have been mostly stuck at home in half-gloomy weather.. I thought I'd post some of my youtube videos on my blog. And this is what they are... mostly amateur stuff... some stunts I tried out at home....





A composition of pictures of my travel pictures. More like a slide show with some background music score and some bad titling.



This is a video of a short motorcycle tour in Tumkur district we can see Gopi on the Yamaha. The video was actually shot in a small digital camera by Dev who was sitting pillion on Anand's enfield.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Bright and sunny at last

After several days of wet, gloomy and foggy weather we had sunlight today.... but getting out of home is still a little dicey because of the cold and bone chilling winds that blow across here. So long as one is indoors with the heater on there is no problems at all... it can get down below freezing like it did last night but we will be snug and warm.

The apartment closed public water taps because water froze and pipes would have burst. Nights are really cold. But one good thing about the administration is that, the roads are maintained well so that there is very little or no ice on the roads.

Roads and cars are life of America, people say that it not crowded like in India. I agree but then there are so many cars on the highways, roads and every car has just one occupant. According to some statistics I found on the web America has 5 vehicles per capita. There are over 250 million cars on road as of today. That is almost one vehicle per person... America's population is around 300 million and leaving out children and those ineligible to drive it makes one car per person. And sometimes I wonder whether everybody is on the road because there are so many cars on the road... I am not talking about the city but the interstate highways and federal routes (national highways).

It is crazy I feel, but if people are not in the rat race they can't live here. If you don't have a car you can't go because there doesn't exist even a half-decent public transport system (at least in Dallas). I have probably seen 10 taxis since I came to Dallas about a month and half ago. And nothing is less than 2 miles from our home. So if you want to get grocery you have to drive... if you want to go to a restaurant you have to drive.... there is no concept of walking to the friendly neighbourhood grocer... All grocery stores are big national/ international chains.

A model I wonder if it will work for India. With a small population it is working pretty well here, but I wonder with arrival of Reliance Fresh, FoodWorld, Walmart what will happen to the small stores and how India will be 20 years down the line. Will the small players be forced to close shop? Will they be able to survive the onslaught of these mammoth corporations... wonder what will happen.... only time will tell....