WARNING NSFW

PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) is about to launch its own porn website to promote awareness about Veganism and Vegetarianism. The prequel to this bold yest retarded move happened during 2011 Superbowl when PETA launched its “Veggie Lover” commercial. It has a bunch of hot women (appearing as though they are auditioning for a Porno ad/casting couch) playing with vegetables instead of conventional things you usually can obtain from MENARDS, Adult shops etc.

Looking at the ad and the manner in which these steamy hot women play with vegetables, one may never again eat a vegetable. Though I am vegetarian and I support vegetarianism and softporn (but not together), this ad can be viewed as blatantly hypocritical and sexist depending on the viewer. On one hand, PETA asks people to avoid meat/killing of animals and on the other hand they just treat the women in the commercial as pieces of meat.

PETA has a long history of promoting being a vegetarian through number of controversial ways. Some time back PETA launched the anti fur campaign which had a host of celebrities go nude with a slogan “Fur? I`d rather go naked rather,”. Celebrities ranging from George Clooney`s ex, to Pam Anderson to Playboy models to Khloe Kardashian stripped in against wearing fur. I also find it amazing that PETA could just manage some reality TV skanks and tramps to voice for their campaign and it predominantly caters to the male appetite (food and sexual appetite). Instead of promoting the benefits of high % vegetable diet with medical , dietary facts, PETA choose the sexual route. 7/10 men would just watch the ad to indulge in self abuse rather than consciously put efforts to avoid animal cruelty or avoid animal products.

Some of the other edgy and racy ads promoting vegetarinism:

More can be found here, here and here . The women`s rights group on the other hand are up in arms touting these ads as misusing women to push PETA` propaganda. Even the feminist group views on PETA are hypocritical. Sex/Porn sells anytime, anywhere and it is not a 21st century ideology or movement for the feminist group to go bonkers about it. If they had issues in women being misused, they should first protest to close down all strip clubs or anything that comes under the wing of the multi-billion dollar sex industry across the globe. PETA which is positioning itself as the champion of animal rights causes, itself is tainted of killing thousands of animals at their shelter in Virginia. Also the pseudo left free style feminist movement miss the point which PETA is actually trying to say and they just want to cling to the sexist nature of the ad and grab attention as always or just to show their presence. This a classic case of “the end justifies the means” kind of a situation. Should women be disrespected just because the cause is noble, NO!! Is the ad actually disrespecting women, NO!! I just think that PETA wants to show how women enjoy and like their own body/skin without the need for animal skin/fur clothing. It is not celebratory or emancipating but I do not feel it is out rightly disrespecting the women. I feel that the women are being used in a similar fashion which you can find in other industries such as stripping, escorts, pornos etc.

At the end of the day one gets the feeling that there is no transparency and legitimacy from people who support and oppose PETA. This appears just another way for so called self proclaimed activists/agents of change etc to use common people for their own agenda. Just like the saying goes, charity starts at home, it would be wise from PETA end to clean up their closet before putting out soft porno commercials in the name of promoting vegetarianism. The opponents also should think that from the big picture point of view, killing an animal for dinner or wearing their fur come under the same umbrella. Also, I believe being Vegan/Vegetarian is a personal choice just like religion, sexual orientation etc. The feminist bandwagon should not jump at the slightest opportunity to term anything as sexist by nature just because they do not resonate with the main cause. I do believe that there is a darker side to the exotic fashion industry or even the mainstream market that manufactures animal skin products ranging from coats, shoes, bags,and accessories etc. PETAs opinion on using animals for medical research is not very clear and there seems to be a very thin line between using animals and misusing animals and this really depends on the cause and the manner in which it was done. It is very easy to paint something black or white but understanding the spectrum between is very important and it depends on the proponents/opponents  and it is becoming more obvious that both of them are not doing a fairly good job.  It is in the best interest of PETAs image to stick with its main theme and not digress into using sex or sexuality to promote awareness and the feminists should focus on other important things.

]]> http://theseventhhill.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/peta-porn-2/feed/ 11 41.868729 -87.681896 41.868729 -87.681896 theseventhhill peta1 peta2 peta3 http://theseventhhill.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/nais-and-their-noise/ http://theseventhhill.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/nais-and-their-noise/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:33:29 +0000 Seshadri http://theseventhhill.wordpress.com/?p=698 Continue reading »]]> Having planned to complete 54 more NRI (No Restriction Iyengar) chronicles , a quick detour from earlier principles prompted me to write this post about NAIs which is a offspring of NRI-isms.

Disclaimer:

1. Pun and fun alone intended

2. Thats all

Nomenclature

NAIs: New Age Iyengars a.k.a anyone who left the KarmaBhoomi to the BhogaBhoomi.

NOISE: Now Only Interested in Sampradayic Enrichment or  NOt Interested in Sampradayic Enrichment

As a temple bred NAI myself, looking at street NAIs , temple NAIs, NAI friends, NAIdu Hall NAIs, very NAIs, sorry NAIs , onshore NAI, offshore NAI,  I became tempted to jot down some classic idiosyncrasies and hypocrisies NAIs are guilty of since 1980s., when the first NAI-gration started. A prequel to this NAI post can be found at NRI (No Restriction Iyengar)

The initial NAI-gration wave started during the cold war days when there was overdose of Dravidian rhetoric. There was this niche soon-to-be NAI clan from Thanjavur jilla. These NAIs built up a good reputation for their intellect and their no-nonsensical approach to mundane as well as critical issues. Typically wives of 1st generation NAIs and  kids born to them are lesser educated than the head of the family.  s people say, good things come to an end, the first NAI-wave was heavily attenuated, superimposed with nonsensical intellectual bankruptcy in the 1990s by the second wave NAIs. The second NAI-gration wave can be renamed as AAIs (Abject Atrocious Iyengars). This NAI-wave unleashed a Tsunami of terrific, terrible, big mouthed computer geeeks whose  intellect was confined to the huge area which Columbus navigated centuries back (a.ka. jeeero or cyber or zilch). Typically wives of AAIs and their  kids are better  educated , literate and smarter than the AAI.

As nature slowly tries to balance itself (which would definitely fail) , the third NAI wave started in the 2000s from Chennai 600004, 600017, 600018 and 600028. These NAIs were/are/will always be CAT on the walls. They are either good in intellectual bankruptcy or bad in intellectual supremacy. They fast on Ekadasi and do binge drinking on Dwadasi with french fry boat as side. Saturday morning starts with Suprabatham and ends with Sahasranamam. Suddenly a multiple personality disorder strikes after 9 pm.  The 3rd wave NAIs are like genetic modified crop. Appears shiny, glossy but would rot within few days. They are a cross breed of 1st wave NAIs and second wave NAIs, putting them uniquely in a position to be useless when looked down or looked up. Basically in tamil lingo, it can be aptly called as rendu-gattan (neither this nor that).

After the brief overview about the state of the art (yes I am a researcher so shameless self promotion is allowed ) in NAIs, we now turn our attention to their respective NOISE. NAIs create NOISE over wide decibel range ranging anywhere from I am a Nithyasuri to I am also a Nithyasori. Majority of the populace fall between the Nithyasuri dB and the Nithyasori dB, the amount of people on the extremities are quite small. The following 9 step NAIe-verify would enable one to understand the bandwidth and attenuation capabilities of NAIs.

1. In a crowded gathering during religious functions, calculate the distance of the subject under investigation from the subject of the function. The distance is inversely proportional to NOISE (dB). Closer the proximity, higher is the knowledge vacuum.
2. When you have a quick look when they are traditionally attired (dhoti etc), try to evaluate how much the Dhoti is transparent. SilkSmitha standard transparency are hopeless and their NOISE dB is  high and  Colgate ad style white opacity means they are very dangerous for the proper functioning of the human ear.
3. Observe the verbiage/phonetics when you give a mic to a NAI. Using thick accent when talking in English and smooth , refined Brit style accent when reciting a slokam/hymn etc all are definitive indicators of a very high NOISE factor.
4.  Observe what you find when the car door of a NAI is opened. If you see lots of Dunkin Donuts tissues, used StarBucks coffee cups, Parle G biscut flakes and amidst all the chaos if you spot religious picture/book etc, this NAI has unlimited bandwidth along with physics defying capabilities of low pass, high pass and band pass filtering capabilities.
5. Check the attendance registry of the NAI. If long period of absence is punctuated with 120% presence for short duration of time, this NAI chose to neither bark or bite and the dB level is bearable at best.
6. When you enter a home of a NAI, the size of the LCD TV/HDTV is directly proportional to the NOISE factor. Bigger TV means more NOISE both from the TV and from the NAI.
7. When it comes to following pro-sports, NAIs with low NOISE typically do not give a darn about pro sports. NAIS with very high NOISE can easily be identified when they talk about pro-sports when the actual sporting series/league comes to an end (out of nowhere a high NOISE NAI becomes a sport enthusiast only on the day when the finals/championship is being played).
8. From 6 and 7 it can also be inferred that NAI  with huge/gigantic LCD TC/HDTV suck big time when it comes to following pro sports and eventually he nullify the very purpose of having a huge TV. These gigantic  TVs are primarily used to stream tele-bridge conferences from India (for which all you need is phone) or to watch Sundar C movies in HiDef or try to learn Guitar Hero and fail miserably like South Park  Randy Marsh: 
9. If you always sport a NAI in temple with their complete family (wife and kids), invariably this NAI has very high NOISE quotient.
10. In a nutshell, the mathematical formula to evaluate the NOISE quotient of a NAI is developed below.

Nomenclature:

A – Accent when talking infront of a mic. Units : heavy, mild, smooth, feminine.

D- Distance of the NAI from the center of activity. Units: Dangerously close, very close, close, away, far away, absent

E- Educational qualification. Units : PhD, M.S+MBA, M.S,MBA, B.E, B.Com, BBA, BCA, NIIT, 12th standard pass.

F- Presence of family even during mundane , insignificant events: Units: wife and kids, wife alone, kids alone, alone

J- Amount of junk in car. Units: Perennial hoarder, Transformers Part 3, safe footprint, dangerous foot prints, global warming levels.

S- Size of the LCD TV in house. Units: 60,55,50,40,32,16,14, CRT

T- Indicates the transparency the dhoti. Units- Revathi/Nadhiya types, Jayamalini types, Disco Shanth types, SilkSmitha types and Rain dance levels.

NOISE Quotient in dB = A. J. S. F/D.T.E

As I was planning to wander through my fantasy land with my one eyed muscle, I glanced upon this interesting website: DOWRY CALCULATOR (©Tanul Thakur ). It is a fun site to sit down post power naps and play with. The basic idea is to enter the qualification of the groom [ caste, education, social status, family status, etc] and some feminist math calculates the potential amount of dowry you can expect to get. There about dozen combinations of data that you can enter and see what is your net worth[less]ness.

I decided to create the anti thesis of the dowry calculator by using some chauvinistic math and come up with an app which would say how much money you should pay to the bride to get married.

Question:

1. How soon would the groom`s age hit 30?

Choices:

•  Blue ( 5 years, cool),
• Green ( 4 years, safe),
• Yellow (3 year, visit lot of temples to make Guru(Jupiter– decides marriage) more horny on your natal chart),
• Violet (2, final lap of single`s day out, house party etc),
•  Orange (1, learn to bake warm apple pie), and
• Red ( 0, find some 2/10 women and settle down ), Pink, ( post 30, start thinking of alternative sexual lifestyles )

2. What is the bank balance on your savings account ?

Choices:

• Blue ( $150000, Cool) ,
• Green ($100000, Safe) ,
• Yellow($75000, start reading SriSthuthi (hymn read to increase wealth) daily),
• Violet ($50000, Start reading AbheethiSthavam (hymn recited to allay fear)daily )
• Orange ($25000, Arrange for Dhanalakshmi homam (full fledged homa/ritual) and make sure you remove the battery from the fire alarm/CO detector ) ,
• Red ($00000, apply for flippin burger jobs at Dunkin or MacDee), and
• Pink(all maxed out, marriage is only for people who are alive and not for zombies).

3. What is your VISA status?

Choices:

• Blue (Citizenship, Cool)
• Green (Green Card Obtained, Safe),
• Yellow (EB1, just matter of time)
• Violet (EB2 , running out of patience),
• Orange (H1/applied for GC, Whenever you goto India, please visit Visa Anjineyar),
• Red (Awaiting H1 approval, don`t sign apartment lease, keep going back to India as a very possible option), and
• Pink (Student Visa/OPT/CPT etc, Fantasize about Kapaleeswarar-Karpagambal celestial wedding BUT knowing  in reality that the Pitchandi Thirukolam happens first).

4. Whats your BMI (Baldness: Mayiru (hair) Index)- Ratio of area of baldspot/area of hair on heard. Lower the better

Choices:

• Blue (0 or less than 0, even though your body would border the Karadi-ness, its marketable)
• Green (0.2, early symptoms of hair fall..proper hair conditioners/oil should suffice at this point)
• Yellow (0.4, MPB started…Minoxidil 2 times + Finpecia recommended)
• Violent (0.6, focus should be on retaining the available hair and forget regrowth)
• Orange (0.8, contemplating on BOSLEY)
• Red (1.0, full gone…fly to Canada and get the cheapest Hair system)
• Pink (Cho types, so single forever)

Devil or the dead sea?? Satan or Saathan? People would have been familiar with these phrases which were used to describe the “alternatives” the people of Tamil Nadu have been thrust for the past 3 decades, barring few years of silver lining. Ironically the phrase “between the devil or the deep blue sea” traces back to ancient Greek mythology which perfectly resonate with the people of TN and in general Tamil Nadu politics even after ages!!!

“Tortoise Kosuvathi rolling” for flash back effect…to period of Homer` “Odyssey” ………………………………….

The “Odyssey” is an epic story that has been a significant piece of literature since the time it was written primarily due to the nature of the hero, Odysseus. Odysseus was renowned for his brain, muscle, bravery, and patience. His major weaknesses include hesitation to act and pride (Odysseus had too much of it).  In the opening of Homer’s The Odyssey, the main character Odysseus is referred to as an anthropos polytropos (a phrase translated as “man of twists and turns”). Odysseus was praised in The Iliad for being one of the Greek’s best warriors, not because of this physical strength but because of his intelligence.  Perhaps “intelligence” is the inappropriate word to use.  Instead we might call Odysseus crafty, conniving, or tricky.

Honorable CM of TN, Mu.Ka aptly fits the role of Odysseus in the circa 2011 reenactment of the Trojan War. The Trojan war is the 2011 elections, the Trojan horse is the bunch of freebies Mu.Ka is supposedly throwing from his bottomless cash flow from Bank of Burrda.

“Mortein Kosuvathi rolling” for flash back effect…to period of Trojan War

………………………………..

Trojan War was a historical event that had taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, in Troy ( located in modern day Turkey). Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse and hid a select force of 30 men inside. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greek army entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war. In the Greek tradition, the horse is called Doúreios Híppos, the “Wooden Horse”, . A  “Trojan Horse” has come to mean any trick or stratagem that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or space.

The Greeks are non other than the K-K K-lan (Karunanidhis Kudumba Klan) and the Trojans are the average citizen of TN who think they have actually won by electing the right people, but sadly they realize a little late that it is nothing but a ploy to shred the glimpse of hope thrown to them every 4 years. In 2006, KKK promised free TV sets and they promptly delivered. What people fail to understand is in 1 stroke, the market for their family operated cable/dish tv business swell to astronomical proportions. This time the Sowbagya+Vasanth & Co lobby is definitely going to benefit by selling made in china mixie/grinders to BPL families . As the central and state government fail to take any concrete measures to control food inflation, all hotels in TN would serve only coconut chutney to ensure the coconut farming lobby is satisfied. I am curious as to how the opposition is going to respond to the manifesto released by DMK.. Will the people use the so called paguthu arivu (progressive/rational thinking) to show the exit to DMK or will the people once again succumb to the freebie this freebie that mode. Its high time people realize that nothing is free in this world.

Looks like the sad solo ballet of the common man would continue. To commemorate , the GOI plans to release a new 1 rupee coin with thumbs down stamped on it so that the citizen can continue to treated as disposable votes every 4/5 years.

It is a shameful and depressing to insensitively accept that all elections are between a giant douche and a turd sandwich.  It is appalling to note that people have accepted corruption (not the small ones like bofors, harshad mehta, telgi, the big ones like CWG, 2G etc) as a way of life and part and parcel of indian democracy. An eye opening Tehelka article clearly states that as long as the common man gets something free…he really does not bother who he votes for…

May be we should outsource Puff Diddy and give his “Vote or Die” campaign a second life in Tamil Nadu, with a small twist.

Hectic parleying, boycotts and incommunicado seems to be the theme outside JJ` residence in Poes garden. Immediately after she unilaterally announced the 160 seats in which ADMK were going to contest, the coalition partners were miffed and it looked as though a 3rd front is about to emerge in TN. If reports are to be believed, it was the Vaiko -Snub , which prompted the CPI,CPI(m) and DMDK leaders to cohere and come up with a alternative front in TN.

IMHO, formation of a 3rd front would dent ADMK chances and more than that it would boost DMKs chances in the upcoming elections. In the 2009 LS, DMDK 8 % vote share made the swing in favor of DMK in all the 40 seats. The win-loss margin for the DMK was less or almost equal to the votes polled by DMDK. It would have been suicidal for the ADMK to let go of DMDK at this juncture. Though DMDK got its share , MDMK seems to be the most affected of the lot. MDMK won only 9 of the 35 seats it contested in the earlier assembly polls and JJ was not willing to negotiate for more than 11-12 seats, but Vaiko wanted minimum of 20.

Its high time JJ realizes her arrogance and brash way of handling things (even though it might make sense) no longer works the way it used to. She should come down few steps and use Viveham more than Vekam. Even before the elections, if this is how she plans to treat her partners, things would get really messy during manifesto release and campaigning. The “limelight/attention” factor , CM candidature , seat/power sharing would really depend on how astutely JJ handles the alliance. Its her calculation that MDMK is no longer a vote force beyond core LTTE sympathizers and DMDK adds more value to her campaign even though captain is only few years old in politics. The communists as always trying to use someone else position to push for their own needs. It is in the best if ADMK sticks with DMDK and the communists at the cost of MDMK. MDMK now has nowhere else to go. Third front considering MDMK, communists and DMDK would just end up as vote splitters and not king makers as they envision.  The Dinamalar cartoon aptly summarizes the ringa-ringa roses action happening in Poes garden

Within the next day or two, we shall probably get a cleaner view of whats happening with the ADMK alliance. If the alliance stick together and manage not to implode and run a decent campaign, they can topple the applecart of the DMK combine. 130-160 (ADMK+): 86-104 (DMK+) is my guess right now. If the ADMK alliance implode or fail and a third front is formed , the chances are bright for the DMK to easily become the single largest party and continue the alliance with Congress.

With the CBI supposedly closing in on the illegal  benefactors of the 2G loot, WikiLeaks has given another headache to Mu.Karunanidhi. Mu.Ka has told the media that he has his own reliable sources who leak the leaks that was not leaked by Wikileaks. A interesting take on how our Netas and Babus respond to the Leaks…

After Andimuthu.Raasa (untimely paradoxical name ..Andi roughly means Pauper and cant believe a Pauper looted 1.76 Lakh Crore, such is the linguistic timing and brilliance of  our Mu.Ka) used Subramanya swami and his caste as an escapist route, Mu.Ka did not want to be left behind and he has come up with a mindboggling information through his source Pakki that Julian Assange is none other than N Ram with blonde hair and the whole WikiLeaks cash for votes scam is a Brahminary conspiracy according to Pakkileaks.

Another shocking cable released by PakkiLeaks include secret communications between Perva-nor N.D Tiwari and French PM Berlusconi. The cable says French PM congratulated Perva-nor ND Tiwari on his non stop desi bunga bunga teen orgy sessions. The cable also says Silvio got some “long lasting” tips from ND Tiwari and he held Tiwari in such high esteem and morale that he was the motivational factor which prompted him to indulge in a marathon teenathon bonathon session.

Close to South we have another shocking revelation about none other than our very own “tree hugger”  Rajinikanth. The leaked cable reveal that superstar wanted his next movie to be bigger and bigger in terms of age difference between himself and the heroine. The initial plan was to rape in I mean rope in 7 different heroines for 7 different superstar getups. The actress when sorted according to age difference between superstar and herself in ascending order include: Rekha (for older rajini), vidya balan (for mid life rajini), deepika (for youth rajini), Miley Cyrus ( for Teen Rajini. SUN pictures had plans to set up a 100 crore American idol set where Teen Rajini beats Justin Bieber and gets a chance to take Miley as his Prom date), Abigail Breslin  (for 10 year old rajini), a state of the “art” cuntonoid (to pair with the humanoid Rajini to make us paranoid)  and finally an unidentified pregnant women who is about to give birth to a female child in a hospital. The same hospital where a drunken blaggard find the Rajini baby draped in yellow cloth, abandoned near the canteen.  The movie was codenamed Itch (superstar wanted to use his engleees speaking skills to give a double meaning information to the audience by keeping the title of the movie as Itch..which means Aripu and also happens to rhyme with Ich… (soundified indication of a kiss). Fearing potential law suits from senior citizen association and the social security administration, Abigail and Miley dropped out of the movie later fearing that they might be jailed for molesting/lovemaking/seducing an innocent old gentleman.Later director K.S (yes K.S) Ravikumar went ahead with some  VeenaPonna heroines as renamed the movie as Raana (raping actresses again n again).

Another southern expose comes from the goltuland and its about none other than KC Rao. Secret cables reveal that KC Rao is actually a gay right activist (evident from the pink factor in all his talks, pictures, manifestos) etc and he is hell bent on putting his own self interest above national and people`s interest. The telengana movement is nothing about gongurafication of the woodstock in Hyderabad.

Leaks without cricket is incomplete .  MS Dhoni after landing in Chennai, fortunately watched tamil comedy movie Panchathanthiram and was so influenced by the philosophical thought put forward by Reddy Garu (the diamond merchant, Father in Law of Sriman). Secret cables reveal that MS Dhoni planned to stick to the quote ” Graniteuu Beddha Kallu Chinna Profitu..diamonduu..chinna kallu..bedhha profituu (granite stone is big, profit is small, diamond stone is small but profit is big”. He plans to apply the same logic to the world cup and IPL 2011 (world cup more skills less money, IPL less skills more money). Why play 2 months of good cricket thinking that we have skills and get knocked out make less money. Better to exploit and expose our lack of skills to our advantage and make more money in IPL.

“Green Technology’ or “Clean Technology” encompasses wide variety of standards, principles, methods, and materials in major areas such as;  energy, construction, transportation and consumer products. Green technology  focuses on the application of science and engineering principles to harness eco -friendly energy sources  and establish a solid foundation  for ecological sustainability. The fundamental challenge is to create a synergistic environment, where ecological sustainability and economic growth can coexist.

A recent survey from Pew indicates that global clean energy industry is experiencing and would continue to experience bullish growth. Clean technology investments is expected to increase  by 25% from $162 billion in 2009 to $200 billion in 2010. Even though overall clean energy finance and investment in the United States more than doubled during the past five years, its growth rate lags behind  Turkey , Brazil,  China ,the United Kingdom  and Italy. Local, state and national leaders in the United States and around the world increasingly realize that safe, reliable, clean energy  can be harnessed to create jobs and businesses, reduce dependence on foreign energy sources, enhance national security and reduce global warming. Policy makers, public/private sector enterprises, law makers and aspiring entrepreneurs, believe that the 21st century can be aptly named as the “century of the environment“.

The current climate legislation in Congress, might not be enough to compete with Asian countries such as China, South Korea and Japan in clean technology market expansion and associated investments. The U.S. believes that by placing any sort of tax on Carbon, would stimulate clean energy economy, but China, South Korea and Japan are able to attract public/private funding in clean technology without putting a price on Carbon. The U.S. needs to step up efforts in implementing clean technology, or else we might lose out on one of the significant economic opportunities of the current generation. A recent report by the Breakthrough Institute, Brookings Metropolitan Program, and the Informational Technology and Innovation Foundation titled, ” Strengthening Clean Energy Competitiveness – Opportunities for Americas Competes Re-authorization” identifies three strategic areas:

1.      Increasing the scale of investment in clean energy education, research and innovation,
and production and manufacturing.

2.      Funding innovative programs that offer new institutional paradigms for accelerating
the pace of clean energy innovation.

3.      Effectively leveraging federal investments by fostering coordination between existing
and new clean energy innovation programs to spur regional public-private
collaboration, strengthen clean energy industry clusters, and accelerate technology
innovation, manufacturing, and commercialization.

Last February, President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Some of key points related to clean energy are summarized below:

1. A three-year extension to Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind, which would have expired at the end of this year, and an extension until the end of 2013 for geothermal and biomass renewable-energy projects.
2. $ 2.0 billion worth, energy related manufacturing investment credits.
3. $ 16.8 billion in direct spending for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs over a period of 10 years.
4. $ 11.0 billion to modernize the electricity grid. This includes $4.5 billion in direct spending to modernize the electricity grid with smart-grid technologies and  $6.5 billion for federal power marketing administrations to assist with financing the construction, acquisition and replacement of their transmission systems.
5. $2.0 billion in loans to manufacture advanced batteries and components for applications such as plug-in electric cars.
6. A tax credit of between $2,500 and $5,000 for purchase of plug-in electric vehicles, available for the first 200,000 placed into service.
7. $6.0 billion for temporary loan guarantee for renewable energy power generation and transmission projects.

The City of Chicago is also undertaking projects to promote clean technology and sustainable infrastructure. Currently 250 buildings are under construction to qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, more than any city in the US.  Chicago Green Homes Program uses a point based system to award builders and construction companies with star ratings for employing green materials and technologies. Chicago was highly instrumental in helping a statewide legislation to pass Renewable Portfolio Standards for Illinois utilities, which requires that 10 percent of power supplied to the state come from renewable sources by 2015. According to the Standard, a minimum of 75 percent of this renewable energy must come from wind power, and the remaining amount (25 percent) from other eligible renewable sources.  As part of continuous effort to improve air quality, the City of Chicago  is working with the  Chicago Area Clean Cities  Coalition and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles in municipal fleets. The City has already transitioned 1,200 of its municipal fleet to alternative fuels.

The Perfect Power project at IIT would be developing nation`s first, one of a kind, high reliability distribution system. IIT has partnered with  Galvin Electricity Initiative  and the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the Perfect Power System. Self sustaining infrastructure, sustainable energy systems and green buildings, consumer friendly interactive power delivery options, and utilization of distributed intelligence to develop a smart micro grid to improve the overall reliability of  the system are some of the prime objectives of this project. IIT also received $8 million grant from Department of Energy to perform focused research on critical wind energy challenges identified in the “20% Wind Energy by 2030” report, including wind technology challenge, grid system integration, and workforce challenge.  ComEd is planning to launch a “Smart Grid Innovation Corridor” in Bellwood, Berwyn, Broadview, Forest Park, Hillside, Melrose Park, Oak Park, River Forest and Chicago’s Humboldt Park to test rooftop solar and electric vehicle charging stations. The  city of Naperville expects to save residents about $22 million and reduce 180,000 tons of carbon emissions in about 15 years by investing in infrastructure and electric utility system upgrades as part of their smart grid initiatives.

As we move forward, green technology would attract significant investments, federal policy initiatives and consumer awareness .  Time is ripe to shift our focus on making wise energy choices to create a cleaner, sustainable, healthy and secure nation. Energy conservation would lay the foundation of energy independence which would further ensure that our future is controlled by us and not the other way and our economic prosperity can be decoupled from foreign oil dependence. By turning a blind eye towards the energy crisis, we are trapping our self in ignorance and passing the buck to the future generations to pay for the wrong choices we make.

A few fundamental clarifications:

1) The Islamic Community Center is going to be built exactly at Ground Zero. NO! The proposed construction site by the Cordoba Initiative is a couple of blocks away from the WTC site. There was a Burlington Coat Factory, which was damaged on 9/11, that would be used to build the community center. Associated Press even circulated a notice cautioning against the usage of terms “Ground Zero Mosque” or “Mosque at Ground Zero.” “Cordoba House” is a more accurate reference, which includes a mosque and a community center, in addition to other amenities like an auditorium, swimming pool, playspace for kids and classrooms.

2) The Center provides facilities that only cater to Muslims. NO! Imam Fesial Abdul Rauf, the spiritual leader behind the Cordoba Initiative, says there would  be separate prayer rooms for Jews, Christians and other faiths.

3) A mosque in Manhattan is unheard of! NO! Since 1970, Masjid Manhattan has been peacefully conducting its daily prayers and services about 5 blocks away from ground Zero.  Muslims pray almost 80 feet away from another attack site in Pentagon City chapel. The proposed mosque is a large scale replacement for the Al-Farah mosque, which stands about a dozen blocks away from Ground Zero.

Proponents of the Park 51 Project argue that the community center is nothing but a committed extrapolation of conscious efforts by the Muslim community to holistically integrate their Muslim identity with the American identity. The community center would also serve as a means and a tool to dispel ignorance about Islam, remove uneducated stereotyping of Muslims, promote interfaith dialogue and spread the message of peace and tolerance. Cordoba, in fact, refers to a place in Spain, where once Jews, Christians and Muslims all peacefully coexisted. The proponents want to utilize the opportunity to remind the general public that Ground Zero should not be exploited to promote messages of Islamophobia, prejudice and hatred.

Opponents of the Park 51 Project argue that it is an insensitive move by the Cordoba Initiative and the people supporting them to build a mosque near Ground Zero. Politicians like Senator Harry Reid, Governor Patterson, Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle have expressed their disapproval of not the mosque itself but of its chosen location. Almost every poll conducted by various agencies, such as CNN, The New York Times, and Fox News, reports that a majority of Americans (in excess of 50%) oppose the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero. Far right politicians like Newt Gingrich called the project a symbol of “Muslim Triumphalism” over American values. The very notion of Ground Zero being the place to host a community center to promote peace, is being viewed as insulting and sacrilegious by the families of 9/11 victims. Opponents have also come down severely on Imam Rauf. The Imam reportedly said during the CBS 60 Minutes show that he “considered the U.S. as an accessory for the 9/11 attacks.” WSJ reports that the same Imam issued a letter in 1979 stating that the Iranian revolution was inspired by individual freedom and rights, which Americans hardly believe. Opponents are not completely convinced by Imam Rauf as a peacemaker and interfaith dialogue promoter.

What started out as a local zoning dispute has snowballed into a national debate. What was meant to be a unifying force of faiths has created new rifts and divisions amongst the American people. Whether this existing divide in ideological and political perspectives will be used to cultivate mutual understanding and dialogue between Islam and the West is left to be seen. Muslims all over the world, and in particular American Muslims, who are determined to dispel phobic notions about Islam, are once again at the crossroads of faith and reason. The American public is intelligent enough to draw a line between religion and politics by not expressing their views through the prism of being strictly Islamic, or strictly American. As we silently mourn the demise of nearly 3,000 Americans on that fateful day, let us look beyond faith and reason, and pray for global peace.

This post is an outcome of a lighthearted conversation with my friend. This blog entry is the culmination of unwanted/irrelevant observations done over the past decade. Intended to resonate with Sri Vaishnavas, who were driven out of the country due to lack of meritorious intellect, very low DOTE/TNPCEE/TOEFL/GRE/CECRI/any other paper based/computer based tests that involves understanding of fundamentals. Family compulsions, emotional bondage, deprivation of useful education or mere glamor of white skin or clean roads/air/water/life style or seeing Washington instead of Gandhi on your wallet are some of the other reasons that would have prompted you to travel out of India. All observations made are purely coincidental meant for fun and does not refer to any person living/dead, insensible/ or otherwise

1. You are a NRI, if you paid extra for baggage and carried only pickles/lentils/groceries/Thirupathi laddu/Kumkumam/Akshathai/Poonal/Pithalai Soombu/Sambrani in it.
2. You are a NRI, if you wallet has more number of pictures of gods than other official ids+dollar bills+credit cards+photo of family/kids.
3. You are a NRI, if  your Upanayanam was did on the same day as you wrote your GRE and Samshrayanam few days before you intend to leave to US.
4. You are a NRI, if you follow Sastram so much that you travel in/out of India just to do Sethu Snanam (please note refers only to Thirupullani and not Rameshwaram and not Mahabalipuram which refers to Ardha Sethu)
5. You are a NRI, if you think requesting the subway guy to change gloves makes your food more acharam.
6. You are a NRI, if whine continuously about Thirupathi/Srirangam/Kanchipuram, yet request your company to process your Green card on EB1.
7. You are a NRI, if you crib about tipping especially in an Indian hotel , even after requesting extra raitha 4 times and give excuse that “he is just and indian and this just an Indian hotel”
8. You are a NRI, if you insist in performing Dwadasi Paaranai, without even performing Upavasam on Ekadasi.
9. You are a NRI, you buy snow shoes from Woodlands(Adyar branch) and use it for all purposes (indoors, outdoors, snow, skiing, biking, walking, shopping and even shitting)
10. You are a NRI, if your perform Sandhyavandhanam at the stipulated time, that too only on Day Light Savings day and that too only PrathaSandhyavandhanam.
11. You are a NRI, if you blame everything on DMK or BS (Baaghawada/Bagwadh Sankalpam).
12. You are a NRI, if you are at your best discipline and behavior whenever there is a white guy in the room.
13. You are a NRI, if you complain about Britishers ruling India for 3 centuries for your pathetic, thick, accented, heavy dose of mother tongue influenced english.
14. You are a NRI, if you perform Sandhyavandhanam wearing socks on wooden floor in Winter. More wood == more acharam for NRI
15. You are a NRI, if you record and rerecord your voicemail over and over (minimum 25 times) to find the closet possible audio resembling American accent.
16. You are a NRI, if you are caught by your IT department trying to install unauthorized Tamil fonts, simply to read Thuglaq, Mangayar Malar, DhinaMalar and DhinaThanthi.
17. You are a NRI, if you try to over use your Iyengar Paribashai even while using swear words in Tamil.For ex: Saying Sambar instead of Kozambu is abacharam and Wo&%&& inga varum, seriyana W&*$$#$zhi voi neer is perfectly acceptable.
18. You are a NRI, if the number  of SriVaishnava e-groups you are member of is more than your age and/or is inversely proportional to the actual Sampradayic Intellect you possess.
19. You are a NRI, if you insist on marrying a women, who has the same qualification as you but still confine her to domestic chores or extra curriculars.
20. You are a NRI, if you systematically enforce madi/acharam/anushatanam on yourself and on your wife with the sole purpose of vacuuming her of whatever good knowledge she has and trivializing her.
21. You are a NRI, if you eat veggie food in non-veggie hotel and still proclaim the food is acharam enough.
22. You are a NRI, if you carry COSTCO branded water bottles even when you goto India, complain that there are no tissues in the bathroom, come back here and whine that there is no bucket in the restroom.
23. You are a NRI, if you use SKYPE for everything ranging from cookery recipes to Vedham/Prabandham/Upanyasam.
24. You are a NRI, if you find fault with every other SriVaishnavan around you and give lame excuse that he is not SriVaishnavan enough/Bagawathan enough.
25. You are a NRI, if you courier US time zone based Panchangam and Thirupavai/Srimad Bagwatham based thematic calendar every year from India.
26. You are a NRI, if your refrigerator has minimum of 3 jars of peanut butter, Maggi ketchup, Priyas Oorga and Gangai Theertham.
27. You are a NRI, if you were silk smitha standard transparent dhoti/veshti and crib about others dressing etiquette.
28. You are a NRI, if your Gtalk/Facebook status message is a direct Ctrl CV of a e-book from Sundaravalli or Ahobilavalli.org
29. You are a NRI, if you post a vedic/sastric quote and keep commenting on the same comment, like your own album pictures, comment on your own pictures and add chicks on facebook, just to check their photo album.
30. You are a NRI, if you are obsessive in using BS and “Narayana Kali Muthirthu” quote very 108 seconds.
31. You are a NRI, if your India trip is determined by the following variables: Maximum visitable divya desams, price of potato/thoram parupu,/ghee, Acharya`s sancharam schedule, availability of Vaathiyar at Thirupullani to do Sethu Snanam, wife`s rapport with your mom, kids digestive system, and Narada Gana Sabha kutcheris/crazy mohan dramas.
32. You are a NRI, that you care so much about Hiroshima/Nagasaki that your garage MUST have a Toyota Corolla/Camry or Honda Civic/Accord or both.
33. You are a NRI, if you have an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) in CTRL CV`ing whatever you read from Nrusimapriya/Ranganatha Padhuka to all your friends on your IM.
34. You are a NRI, if you suffer from PBD2(Post Bharanyasam Delusion), the OCD to join every orkut community/facebook group/yahoo e groups and try to proclaim Sriman Narayana is the supreme and canvass heavily against demi god worships (Sivan, Parvathi etc). You must have prior symptoms of PBD1(Pre-Bharanyasam disorder, where Bharanyasam simply refers to not eating outside and the assumption that Bharanyasam is done only during your old age/last few years of life).
35. You are a NRI, if you deliberately post in every imaginable online forums, in a language other than common medium of communication. The post MUST and WILL ONLY carry derogatory messages about other philosophies (dwaitam, adwaitam, Charvakam) other than Visistadwaitham.
36. You are a NRI, if the first activity you do after Bharanyasification is bashing other gods/philosophies and consider yourself as a league apart from other low lifers.
37. You are a NRI, if “U” blame “Y”ourself for incidents that happened centuries back without any reason.
38. You are a NRI, if your orkut/facebook album reeks  of pictures from google images or pbase/com/svami gallery which includes only pictures of temples/deities/acharayas.
39. You are a NRI, if you consider waffles/pastas/bagels as acceptable forms of bagwann nivedita breakfast.
40. You are a NRI, if your Upavasam day is followed by breaking fast with Dunkin Donuts` everything bagel (veggie cheese spread on the side) and medium hot coffee extra sugar.
41. You are a NRI, if you watch webcast of Thirupathi brahmotsavam every year without fail through your T1 internet connection at office but have never seen it live in Thirupathi during the initial few decades of stay in India.
42. You are a NRI, if you consider you can go scott free by doing anything before marriage and suddenly within hours after getting married, you become a protype gentleman+ agmark bagawathan ( atleast the psychological feeling).
43. You are a NRI, if you consider frozen veggies as acharam enough and the swad rice you cooked the night earlier becomes unfit for consumption according to Ahara Niyamanam.
44. You are a NRI, if you hate video games, but still end up being Wii partner for your kid and insist on playing only NFL/Baseball and call cricket as too Desi to be played in the US.
45. You are a NRI, if you insist on your wife wearing a Saree but you take the liberty to where anything and call it as part and parcel of american culture.
46. You are a NRI, if you are unable to have a healthy conversation with fellow SriVaishnavas without uttering the D word, F word or the C word , a minimum of 12 times.
47. You are a NRI, if a divine road trip (Divya Desa Yathra) in the US is nothing but cross coast driving accompanied by heavy dose of Gossip+ Periyar bashing+mid life crisis talks.
48. You are a NRI, if you do special aradhanai to perumal on Dec 31st, Jan1st, Nov 24th, Sep 3, May 29th and July 4.
49. You are a NRI, if you insist on having Honey Bunches Oats/cereals and ridiculing every other form of south indian/home made/amma`s breakfast while staying during a brief stay in India for vacation/leisure purposes.
50. You are NRI, if you formulate your own recipe for a coffee at STATBUCKS and insist that it costs only $1.60, incl tax even if the Barista looks at you with highest levels of disrespect/disregard/disgust.
51. You are a NRI, if you perform (given the minimal amount of time/space/opportunity/attention) you show massive testosterone surge in performing all Nithyakarma/Anushtanams in the center of the hall, in front of at least 2 dozen people, with eyes closed and pretending as though none noticed you.
52. You are a NRI, if you buy NORLECO/PHILLIPS wet&dry trimmer for Sarva-Anga Shavaram.
53. You are a NRI, if you still use Sudarmani/VIP/Tantex brand vests and briefs from the same location in India simply  due to sentimental value.
54. You are a NRI, if you steal stationary materials from office and give it to your kids on Hayagriva Jayanthi and enforce that it be kept in Perumal sannidhi first.

54 more to come………………………………………………………………..