Fidgety Foots

Well, you may all have heard of the 9/11 conspiracy theories floating around. Here is an article in today’s SF Chronicle about it, it also includes a link to a documentary made about the attack.

Here is a web site that attempts to debunk the theory. There are plenty of web sites debunking the conspiracy theories and an equal number of repartees to the debunks!! A simple google search will highlight just how much time people have on their hands,

My opinion? First of all, these people need to get a life. Secondly, the documentary is a very Michael Moore-ish, lots of quotes taken out of context and a lot of conjecture. I dont have the necessary facts, but right now the conspiracy theory idea is a little far-fetched. The number of people and agencies that would have to be involved in a plot of this magnitude is simply mind boggling and its hard to believe that any government (even the current one run by Cheney) can keep so many sources silent.

Holy cow, what a tournament so far!! Could anyone have predicted the teams in the 2006 Final Four? Well evidently 4 people among 3 million or so brackets submitted on ESPN got it right….yep, they even picked George Mason!! Of course none of the 4 were called Dick “I dream of Duke” Vitale or any of his brethren who grace our TV sets spewing words of infinite basketball wisdom.

The sun is setting on eve teasing. Check this out.

I started reading “The World Is Flat” today. India seen through Friedman’s eyes is different from India seen through NReyes.

Our convivial gatherings are peppered with India-centric conversations. The anecdotes and conclusions all revolve around the same theme - India is kaput. Broken, bogged down, un-fixable. Corruption is rife, poverty rampant and quality of life leaves a lot to be desired. Sure there are jobs there now, but is it worth it to deal with the hassles of daily life? No no, stay in Yamerica.

Then there’s the view of Friedman, which sees a land of possibility and potential, teeming with resources and entrepreneurs. Sure there are big problems, but then there are droves of people chipping away at them too.

When did we disavow our own and adopt this hopeless intellectualism?

Sugar and spice and everything nice.

Wait, that’s not right. Bad breath, old shoes, piles of refuse….millstone, taker of dowry, giver of misery, someone else’s amaanath (take her away, please!). Why bother bringing such a liability into a family?

Abortion of girl babies has risen in the last 5 years in Karnataka, with gender determination becoming easier and mobile clinics bringing the equipment right to the doors of expecting women.

In an attempt to reduce the rate of female foeticide, the Karnataka government has announced an incentive of Rs. 10,000 to families where a girl child is born.

Hallelujah - a step forward. Next we will deal with the droves of abandoned girls in orphanages.

Need cardio and weight training, must exercise for at least 30 minutes, should achieve heart rate between x and y, should be regular, should start NOW before it’s too late and bones crumble to calcium dust…….so many rules, so little time to follow them!

My stand (or sit as the case may be) is that exercise should be incidental - a by product of job and hobbies. No running to nowhere on treadmills or lifting silly weights for me. My ideal solution would be to find a lifestyle which incorporates exercise but my current vocation precludes that.

Oh well, maybe I’ll have strong fingers from all the typing.

Beware, readers. When you pick a book to read in public, steer clear of the current Oprah’s book club pick, lest you be accosted by perfectly strange women who want to bond with you on the chance similarity between your taste and Oprah’s. I made the mistake of reading Anna Karenina in an ice cream parlor last year. Sad to say, I wasn’t accosted by any men.

The club irritates me on levels that I can’t justify or explain - the blind faith (and sometimes lack of enjoyment) with which the books are read, the fact that these are good books in their own right and I can’t dismiss them easily, the opportunism of book stores which advertise books under the genre of Oprah’s book club, the women who buy books because they are advertised that way……

Make no mistake, Oprah is a smart woman who is worth listening to. Which leads me to ponder, is it really so terrible to allow Oprah to tell you what to read next? Besides having excellent taste she has inspired two generations of women to read material besides housekeeping and decorating magazines. Maybe it’s akin to the required reading I went through in school that led me to develop a definitive taste in books.

Read on, sisters. Just don’t bother me when I happen to pick one of Oprah’s picks.

Don’t you hate interviewing? I wish those potential employers would recognize my sterling qualities and just GIVE ME THE JOB for God’s sake! :)))

I met some old friends after many many years this weekend. We’d moved, followed the threads of our lives, forgotten to keep in touch. And yet we still relate to each other, not just on the past, but in the present. We’ve somehow lived different lives and drawn the same conclusions.

How cool - we drifted away, but not apart.