The Shocking Reality of America

To date it is rare to see a news report, movie, radio show, or even people talking about poverty or the poor in the US. Even if they speak about poor people it is spoken in comparison with poorer countries like India. Several months ago I read an article about an individual who went to Bangalore to get an heart bypass surgery done, because he couldn't afford it in the US. The writer of the article had given such a twist that it showed India as a nation without any healthcare facilities for poor people.

Anyway coming back to this instance of blogging I was reading about Lawrie Covey, who lost her job two years ago and has been living on unemployment benefits. She is 58 and she is struggling to make ends meet. She is selling her blood plasma twice a week for a paltry $50. This is the reality of the poor in the US... not much different from the poor in India on the surface. But there is a difference... a huge difference, created by the government.

This woman owns a car (old and beat up), lives in a proper home (rented), enjoys central heating, cooling, and has internet access. This is the difference that the Indian government could make in the lives of its people, provide the infrastructure facilities such as clean running water, electricity, internet, roads, and most importantly quality education for all.

Poverty has been, is now and will continue to be an integral part of any country's population. There simply cannot be a country, society, or region of the world without disparity in financial strength of its people. And when people get desperate for money, be it in India or in the US they will be willing to sell anything... including their own blood to make ends meet....

That is the irony of life.

Make Money on Twitter!!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Sponsored Tweets. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Hitherto it was mainly social entrepreneurs signing up to earn a few dollars more. But with IZEA's entry into Twitter, several celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Bob Vila, Sister Hazel and Leann Rimes have jumped onto the bandwagon and are making money tweeting.

Getting sponsored tweets is not difficult, all you need to do is sign up for a twitter account and register the same with Izea. Advertisers will contact you with offers to tweet their message across your networks, you can set your own price for tweets and also for clicks. Moreover you have the choice whether or not to accept an advertiser's offer. If you are not interested in the offer you can simply refuse to tweet the message.

The more popular you are online the better this scheme works for you. So gather up all your friend's e-mail ids and invite them to follow you on twitter. The larger your followers circle, the more money you stand to make.

Wondering What to Blog about???

I have been pretty lax about blogging of late. Truth is nothing exciting is happening in my life and with school, part time jobs, and job hunting I hardly get any time to spend in front of this 'intelligent box'. Yep I called the laptop computer 'intelligent box' because the TV has been called the 'idiot box' for a long long time... I call the PC an intelligent box because this makes one think and attempt to create something. More often than not while working on the PC the mind gets stimulated, while the same doesn't happen while watching TV.

Coming back to my life in the Big D, within Big T, which is within the Big A has remained pretty much the same over the past two years. We moved from one city to another within 9 miles distance. The job market is as bad as it was when I landed here... probably a little worse. All my life in India I never had to struggle to find a job. In fact I always had couple of offers on hand. I have never felt so worthless in my life than here in the US looking for the elusive job.

I wonder when I will land a proper full-time job in this country. Sometimes I wonder whether I will ever get a job, sometimes I feel hopeful that I will get a particular job when I apply but it soon fizzles out like a damp squib. Life is such that one has to keep doing something to make a living and that is what I am doing. Trying to make a living... it is difficult but I am trying... and will continue to keep trying.

Seeking a career in Culinary Arts???

The economic downturn has seen thousands seeking out schools in the quest for a career switch. One of the careers that will never go out of fashion is in the food and beverage industry. Popularly known as culinary arts, this will remain in trend till people are eating and drinking. To make it big in this glamorous industry one has to attend a good culinary institute.

One of the highly regarded schools in this field would be the Northwest Culinary Institute, a division of International Air and Hospitality Academy, Vancouver, Washington. The 15,000 sq ft facility recruits 20 new students every quarter and the best part about it is that they offer culinary scholarships, financial aid and housing to all their students. An education at Northwest Culinary Institute is a sureshot passport to a successful career in the hospitality industry.

Weird News: Whiskey Hunt in Antartica!!!

When I read this news item on MSN, my first reaction was something like "Can people get any crazier?" Apparently in 1909 a few cases whiskey that were sent for an expedition to the South Pole. Now after a century a New Zealand based beverage company has suddenly woken up and recruited a drilling company to bore through the ice and find the "vintage" whiskey.

Why do they want to dig up this whiskey from the depths of Antartic ice caps? They want to explore the possibility of relaunching the brand again. I wonder if they had forgotten to document the recipie and manufacturing methodology a century ago or whether there is something more interesting in the Whiskey.

Whatever it is the bottom line is that this probably would be the most expensive case of whiskey. The price will not be paid just by the beverage company that is drilling for the drink or the consumers who will get to drink this "stored in south pole" whiskey, but by the rest of the world who will probably suffer the after effects for centuries to come.

For those who think global warming and environmental destruction is a hoax, it is "cheers" all the way...

Attn: Film Makers! Here is your chance to win $5,000

The internet has really changed the way advertising works. This is specially the case in the US where everyone's life is so dependent on the internet. In a bit to capitalizing on the power of the world wide web, Abbott Medical Optics Inc. (AMO), has launched the “You Gotta See This” Video Contest. AMO is a global leader in laser vision correction aka Lasik.

This video contest is primarily aimed at popularizing the benefits of Lasik surgery and as such another name for the mega competition is iLASIK Video Contest. AMO hopes to show to the world how better vision can improve the quality of life of individuals. The contest invited users to produce a video showing how better vision has improved their life. Entries can include original music videos, sporting videos, or simply visions of improvements in daily life with better vision.

The most important part of any contest are the prizes. AMO has pulled out all stops to ensure that winners are rewarded suitably. Hence there is a grand prize of $5,000; One first prize in each category which is a HDTV package of $2,500 value; one Second prize, The Flip UltraHD™ camcorder of $199.99 value.

All you need to do is to submit a video in one of three categories:
• “My contacts are getting in the way of my good time”
• “My favorite sport or activity would be so much cooler with better vision”
• “You should see life after the iLASIK® Procedure”

Once the video is submitted you could either wait and watch for visitors to vote for your video or ask all your friends and family to log in and vote. The more votes the better chance you have at winning that grand prize of $5,000. What are you waiting for, just pick up that camera from the closet and start shooting the video.

Movie Review: Mojave Moon

Only For Die Hard Fans of Angelina Jolie
I wouldn't have watched this movie if it were not freely available on Youtube and if I didn't have a few hours to kill and was feeling too lazy to go out and do something productive. Anyway the highlight of this movie is the surgeon's masterpiece Angelina Jolie, in her pre-famous avatar.

The movie starts with Al McCord, a divorced used-car dealer from New York, who is trying to make a new life in Los Angeles. When he is hanging out at his favorite restaurant with friends and gawking at the beautiful girls passing by. In comes the the thick-lipped and big-busted Ellie (Angelina Jolie) and starts talking to him. She convinces him to go with her to Mohave Desert, to visit her mother.

The road trip completely transforms Al's life, Ellie falls in love with him, he falls in love with her mother. Then there is her mother's jealous, violent and drunk boyfriend who is ultra-possessive not only of the mother but also about daughter. Al meets with Jolie's mother and spends some time with her and heads back to LA only to find a half-dead man in his trunk. Al gets back to LA and starts wondering what to do about the body and his car gets stolen. The rest of the movie is how they escape from Jolie's mother's boyfriend and how Al and the latter hook up.

This movie is completely passable, and only Jolie's fans could probably watch this movie without getting exasperated. There are some scenes where Jolie reveals her surgeon-sculpted body. There is absolutely no storyline at all. Take my advise don't watch it.

Mobile Advertising for Revenue Enhancement

How would you like to beam your product/ service advertisement to everybody with a mobile phone? Imagine how many more people you could reach this way when compared with TV, Radio or Newspapers? With expansion of digital communications technology this has been made possible by Smaato, the pioneering mobile advertising company.

Smaato's new advertising program SOMA (Smaato Open Mobile Advertising) is free and easy to sign up for. It is useful for mobile publishers, developers, advertising agencies and for mobile operators. This is a way to advertise globally and target it to specific regions. Moreover with Smaato's expertise in advertising and its associations with organizations such as German Digital Media Association BVDW, Mobile Marketing Association, the dot.mobi Advisory Group etc you can be assured that your campaign will produce much greater results.

Based in California, Smaato is all set to launch your products into the world of mobile phones.

Sporadic Blogging

I have been quite irregular blogging during the past fortnight or so. There are couple of reasons including starting of a new (part-time/ contract) job which keeps me quite busy and in my car. My new job takes me all the way to nearly downtown Dallas from the far North Dallas where I live.

I listen to lot of NPR and a new conservative talk radio station 570 KLIF which I recently stumbled upon. Both places are abuzz with the latest news while the former is slightly liberal the latter is extremely conservative. Several show hosts and speakers on both stations are of the view that the recent massacre of 13 soldiers by a Muslim major of the US Army is an act of Jihadi terrorism but not necessarily related to or funded or managed by the Al Qaeda. The government and popular media including newspapers seem to be vehemently disputing this fact. Everyone seems to say that he was a mentally disturbed man who snapped at the prospect of having to deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq. I mention both Afghanistan and Iraq because I am not quite clear by the news reports as to where he was scheduled to go.

My only question is if he were mentally disturbed and didn't want to go he should have either quit the army or committed suicide. Only a cold blooded terrorist-like individual would do what he did, kill others who were headed to Iraq and Afghanistan. I sometimes wonder if the American establishment is becoming weak and complaisant. They are ignoring threats of radical terrorist ideology and dismissing these as stray incidents while they can all be run up to a bigger terrorist problem.

Two decades ago the same thing happened in India and they were ignored by the media, politicians and the government. Though the few right wing politicians did scream foul and asked for stricter law enforcement against terrorists and those who collude with them. It never happened and since then India has lost more lives to terrorism than any other country in the past decade. I sure hope that someone in the US establishment wakes up and recognizes the real threat and takes action. That someone should be able to sway the government, the people and the media. Is there someone like that?

We will wait and watch... meanwhile I hope this cartoon can bring a smile on your faces.

Out of Sight but Heart is fully at Home

It is generally assumed by people who stay back in India that those of us who migrated to other nations, especially to the richer western nations forget their roots. This is not true, given the fact that several non-profit organizations have been promoted by non-resident Indians and these organizations are playing a big role in the nation building efforts. Even though these professionals are thousands of miles away from home their hearts are thinking of India. Here is an example in the form of EKAL VIDYALAYA, DALLAS CHAPTER. They have promoted schools in remote, far flung villages in India to provide education to the poor and underprivileged.

Their next event in Dallas is a Dance, Cultural, and Bollywood Music extravaganza which has been dubbed as "A Donor Appreciation event". The event is being held at Eisemann Center, Richardson on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 5:00pm

$20 & $50 tickets available at Eisemann Center Box Office $5 discount available to students.

The catch line is that an individual can support an entire school for less than the cost of coffee a day ($365 a year). An amount which will not even be enough to pay rent in this country.

More Animations for the Web

The Place for Gadget Lovers

I know several of my friends and cousins who love to own the latest electronic products. Mobile phones, gps units, ear-bone mics, radio communications, music systems, etc, they want it before it is formally launched. Most of the time some of them would succeed too. I would wonder how these people are getting their hands on such amazing gadgetry and that too at such competitive prices. It was then I came to know that there are online stores that sell these products at prices much lower than the market. I visited one such site and was surprised by the simplicity and elegance of the page design and the ease with which I could identify and reach the product pages. I am going to be patronising this website for all my communication equipment needs.

Movie Review: The Mini Skirt Mob

Story of a Manipulative Woman and Gullible Men

If you want to see to what extent a spurned female would go to take revenge on her former lover and his present partner then this movie is a much watch. The movie tells the story of Shayne, a glamorous, manipulative and sexy woman, who is head of a female motorcycle gang known as The Mini Skirt Mob. Shane and Jeff, a rodeo champion are former lovers. Trouble starts when Jeff decides to retire from rodeo, get married and settle down as a rancher.

Though outwardly Shane says that it is all over between her and Jeff, inside she is one angry and jealous woman. She wants to make life for Jeff and his new bride miserable and hence gathers up her motorcycle gang which includes former friends of Jeff, Lon and Edie (Shayne's sister), LG and others and follows Jeff's trailer as he tries to get out and spend a quiet moment with his wife.

What follows is 80 minutes of terror for the newly married couple and merriment for the viewers. The stand off ends with the death of every one of them except Jeff and his wife. It is surprising to note that the Hero (Jeff played by Jeremy Slate) has pretty much no role. He is portrayed as a gutless coward who seems to always try to avoid confrontation with his former girlfriend and her mob. I would say the movie is all about how Shayne plots trouble and manipulates the men in her gang like Lon to do her dirty work. It is worth watching once if you don't have anything to do... oh! yes it is available free on Youtube... I wouldn't pay to watch this movie....

Planning an Asian Holiday? Get Amazing Room Rates Here!!!

It is every American's dream to travel the world, especially the culture-rich Asia-pacific region. The past few years due to the global economic downturn many of us have had to cut back on our vacations. But now there is this great opportunity, thanks to Accor group of hotels. They are offering a blowout sale of over 1 million hotel rooms across the Asia Pacific Region. Luxury rooms are available ranging from $30 onwards in exotic locations such as Laos, Viet Nam Bali, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Australia, India, etc.

Like all great bargains don't last long, the Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific holds good only from October 27-30, 2009. So if you are planning a holiday or if you have always wanted to visit the exotic east, this is your chance to book your hotel rooms at super sale prices.

Sofitel Metropole Hanoi - Vietnam

Of course it is quite natural also to be skeptical about these kind of sales and wondering whether the deal will be good or not. Well I took a look at pictures of some of the hotels and I am totally convinced that this offer is as good as it can get. I don't think there is any other hospitality group which is offering such great prices. This is a chance to get what we want and at the price that is way below what we would otherwise have to pay.

Plan your vacations and book your rooms NOW!!!

New Artworks

I have been twiddling my thumbs doing pretty much nothing so I explored the web and downloaded a trail version of the Gif Animator software and played around with it. Here is one of the animations I created.

Trashed up Hiking Trails in Texas

The tower in Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, Plano, one of my favorite places to hike, bicycle, or simply walk amidst nature. I haven't visited this nature preserve in quite sometime... perhaps 6 months or so. Last time I was there I noticed tons of trash around the creek and the hiking trails. I thought I'd post these pictures on my blog to make people aware how much trash is being mindlessly discarded in public spaces. If this trend continues there will be no pristine natural place where one could spend a quiet moment. I wish people would be more careful about the way they discard their trash. There are enough trash cans and recycle bins in the nature preserve, one just needs to have some patience to carry the coke cans, plastic wrappers, and other trash to them.
The picture below is how the nature preserve looks during a fall sunset. Let us ensure that it is kept this way and not full of plastic and other trash that is seen in the pictures above. If you have any feedback or opinions on this do let me know!!!

Creating Artworks

Here is a bookmark I created while exploring the options presented in InkScape, the freeware alternate for CorelDRAW. The software is indeed good with a few glitches, but then when compared to $500 plus which has to be spent to buy CorelDraw I'd rather live with the glitches. I will work on the software more and try to come up with more designs. Feel free to copy and use them in your blog/ site, one request though attribute them to me and if possible give a link to my blog.

Holidays are here!!! Where are you going???

Every year I look forward to this time of the year. There are several reasons for this anticipation, firstly the weather is simply superb; secondly the holiday season is just round the corner. It is time for families to get together and celebrate festivals, enjoy holidays, and probably take trips to exotic places. As for me I have kinda decided where to go and where to stay. I will be heading straight to Branson, Missourie and my stay will most probably be at the exotic Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing or the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel.

I chose these two hotels because they are offering some fantastically customizable holiday packages startring at just $329 per night from November 15 through December 23. I wouldn't miss this opportunity to enjoy with the family in the warmth and comfort of an Ozark Mountain Christmas.

Why, Branson? Because I have heard so much about this city from family, friends and read about it online. This is the ultimate place for shopping, relaxation, and live entertainment. The reason for choosing Branson to holiday during winter is the numerous live events that take place here. The festival of lights will have all of Branson aglow. There will be special holiday shows and over a one-mile long drive through light displays. This would be a great place to spend the holidays with the family.

Why Hilton because the Branson Landing passport is loaded with discounts at several exclusive shops, restaurants and also at Aspire Medical Spa. For the tiny tots in the family there is Santa himself handing out presents, cookies and goodies. This Santa's coming to town package starts at just $189 per night.

The kids would be thrilled to be on the Polar Express. There is a Package option which starts at $289, for a family of 4 including deluxe accommodation, a ride on Polar express and a souvenir ceramic mug. If you would rather content yourself with just a ride in the Polar Express then the tickets would be just $49 for adults and $39 for children (2-12).

Book Review: Into the Wild

Tragic Saga of a Spiritually Confused Rebellious American Young Man
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher:Anchor Books, New York, 1996, 207 pp.
Attracted by the title and the cover image of a youngster sitting on a bus, I bought this book in an estate sale for $1. This is the work of a journalist turned author who is also into outdoors and adventure sports. The book traces the journey of a rebellious, confused, young man Chris (Alexander) McCandles along the South, West and mid-west parts of North America till his death in Alaska.
The book starts off with a brisk pace with the picture of an optimistic, proud, Alex McCandles seeking a ride to Denali National Park, Alaska. Alex's intentions was to live off the land in the wild away from civilization for some time and discover himself.
What is intriguing about Alex is that he belongs to a fairly affluent family, ha gone to college and could have done whatever he wished. On the contrary he chose to live like a tramp often calling himself "Alexander Supertramp". An excerpt from his diary reveals that Alex "lived on the streets with bums, tramps, and winos for several weeks".
One thing is obvious the author has unnecessarily glorified the exploits and the tragic story of McCandles. In my opinion McCandles was nothing but a confused, high-energy young man with no emotional, and spiritual foundations. He had access to money and hence he could lead a wayward life. He drops his adventures midway when he suffers setbacks and moves to the next item, which makes him a person of weak resolve and scant dedication/ commitment. His story is worthy of telling because it displays the underlying confusion and mental and spiritual weakness of the youth of America. The story of McCandles has also been made into a major motion picture and quite predictably it did not do very well at the box office.
Though in substance the book is not path breaking in any sense. It doesn't offer any insight into life in the wild or the lessons one could learn while alone in the forest etc. But in terms of adventure, what not to do in the wild, and a good read this books scores above most of its peers. After reading the book I have two things to say, one it is a very well written book which makes the reader stick to it to completion; and two Americans especially its youth are in desperate need of true spiritual teaching. This kind of rebellious behavior which often ends up in self destruction like it did for McCandles would greatly reduce if only people are more spiritually aware of their place in the cosmos.

Data Recovery Planning

If you work in the IT industry you will be aware of this. For those of you who have online banking accounts, online correspondence, online business, etc, make a proper disaster recovery plan to save your data. You may be in for a surprise when you least expect it.