Obama and bipartisanship - An idea

It was sad to see a key procedural vote on Health Bill being passed without a single republican vote. I was watching the live coverage on CNN. Both Democrats and Republicans had some very good points on the bill. In the meantime stats say one American dies every 10 minutes for lack of insurance. Why can't the senate form a consensus on such an urgent issue?

I remember Obama promising bipartisanship in his administration. He cited how he worked with republicans in Chicago to pass many bills. But those promises have taken a backseat since he became President. I am surprised on how naively he invited republicans to some dinners at White House, and expected them to become his fans! That's not how it works!! I totally agree that it is not an easy task to make your political opponents agree with you. But the lack of effort to win them over is what concerns me.

For example, we have not seen any overtures to Republican side to get their support. As per their interview even they admit health care system is broken. I would have loved to see Obama asking both Democrats and Republicans to table a bill on Health Care. Each with their take on how to fix the issue. This would have produced a common theme around which the bill could have been built. It would definitely had been more constructive way to go!

Barack Obama and Nobel Peace Prize

Well well well. Why am I not surprised?! This is something the Nobel Peace Prize awardees have excelled in doing. Awarding it to someone who clearly doesn't deserve it, atleast as of now. I am just glad that other prizes like for Chemistry and Literature etc are not given on the same basis.

Can you believe that Gandhi did not receive Nobel prize, but Yasser Arafat did?? This particular award is something thats totally political and lacks any rationale whatsoever. I am not discounting the efforts Obama is making for peace, but what has he achieved? How would you feel if award for literature was given based on speeches instead of actual books? What if prize for science were given based on just theories but no actual evidence and inventions?! Obama has NOT achieved anything related to PEACE as of now. Trying to change US perception by giving speeches and pulling out of Iraq that was already planned by Bush doesn't qualify him. The only achievement I can think of is pressurizing Israel to pull out of Palestine. But that too was not followed by concrete actions against Israel. US even refused to support UN in investigating Israel war crimes. How can then Obama be even nominated, far less winning the award?

It is high-time the Peace prize committee gets its act together. The award should be given not to soothe someone's ego or in hopes that person will achieve something. It should be given to someone who has something to show for the award. This actually puts Obama in an unwelcome position. I am sure he would be thinking - "Why did they give the award to me?! Now, I will have to face crticism for something that is not even my fault!". I sympathize with him :-)

But anyways, I do hope that he does achieve something concrete. He does have the right attitude. Given a second term, he might be able to bring some kind of peace in Israel and Afghanistan. I will welcome a second peace prize for him when that happens.

Observe and Report - AWFUL movie

Yesterday, we saw Seth Rogan's movie - Observe and Report. I like Seth's movies and thought that it would be a good timepass. Was I wrong or what?! It was one of the most crappiest movies I have seen. There is no story, no acting, no concept.. I don't know if the person who wrote the script was high or something when he wrote it! Not to mention the producer who put his money into it!! I would give it negative rating if any rating site lets me!

Anyways, please avoid this movie at all costs. You will have saved yourself 2 hours of your time. I am writing this post at the request of my wife and brother, who suffered along with me.

Upcoming trip to Colorado

Hi Friends,
The planning is done, hotel/car and flights are booked. Colorado, here we come! We are going to this gorgeous place for a three day trip.

We searched the net a lot to comeup with a good itinerary. Finally, this is what we decided:
See Colorado Springs (Garden of Gods, Pike Peak) on day 1.
See Independence Pass, Maroon Bells (Aspen), and Lake Dillon on day 2.
See Rocky Mountains (Trail Ridge Road, Bear Lake, Alpine Visitor Center, and Mountain Shadow lake) on day 3.

I will let you guys know how the trip went. Do pass me if you have any suggestions! I wanted to see Denver and Aspen for a long long time now, finally it will come true. I am so excited! The only worry is weather as Colorado is already getting chilly. We will be there from Oct 2nd-Oct 4th.

Adsense Update 2

Hello Friends,

I have crossed the $20 limit finally!! In total there were around 42 clicks on ads on this blog, which translates to 50 cents per click. I have also updated my account information etc with Google. So I should be receiving money into my account soon.

I have also created Google Analytics account. The information that I can generate from here is just awesome!! I can see from which city page access came - to what kind of internet connection the person is using! Isn't that just awesome? It is mind boggling and puts the whole privacy issues to perspective.

Anyways, I am thinking hard to create another blog or site that can generate actual money for me. Any ideas are most welcome! This is real deal!! If you have not tried it, please do! Micro blogging is the way to go, and adsense can help you generate good revenue. It has really impressed me, so give it a try :-)

Barack Obama and George Lopez?!

Is anyone else annoyed by the fact that Obama is appearing in a commercial to promote Lopez's latenight show? I have been reading left's criticism of Obama - sometimes genuine and many times outright ridiculous. But no one seems to be talking about how inappropriate it seems when President of US is attempting to promote Lopez's show.

It's not that I don't like Lopez or Obama. I love 'George Lopez' show, and support Obama as well. Still, enough is enough. I have seen Obama appear on ads for Stephen Colbert, Conan O Brian, and now George Lopez. On top of that his dialogue is as lame as it can get - "George, you need to change to LateNight. That's the change I can believe in". I think a president needs to maintain a certain sanctity of the office, and needs to project an image of authority. With ads like these, no wonder many critics are treating him just like any celebrity. That is trashing his image whenever they get a chance.

It is time Obama puts his time into more pressing tasks at hand - stopping the divide that seems to be developing after his election, healthcare and ofcourse economic uncertainity.

Apple picking!

On Sunday Sep 13th, me and Reena went for apple picking trip. It was not just us, there were atleast 25 of us!! The place we went to was Joe Huber's farm near Louisville. It was a nice way to meet, have pot-luck and basically have a good time. As you can see in the picture, the food was awesome!


I thought that apples will not be good, but I was mistaken. The apples were just so delicius that we ended up buying some. Our friends were not as fruit shy as us. Many of them bought FULL packets. Well good for them, but I love paranthas in the morning :).. Anyways, one pic to end the post (courtesy of Shyam).. pls dont ooh and aww... :)

Adsense Update

As promised, I am updating the findings of adsense experiment. I received a total of 110 page impressions so far - which basically means my blog was viewed 110 times. There were 10 clicks on ads which generated revenue of $3.73. If you look at the revenue per click, it is pretty impressive. This definitely means that incase you are able to built a site which keeps people interested and has fair amount of clicks - you can get some green dollar bills in your pocket!

I will keep you all posted.

My Achkan

Hello friends, I wanted to share pics of my Achkan (also called Sherwani) with all of you. So here it is - the traditional Indian groom attire!!

Here is another pose with full Achkan:

The Adsense experiment

As you can see, my blog now has some ads. I just wanted to know how the ad model works in internet. What better way than to enrol in the same? Plus it would give me an incentive to write more, something that I have been thinking of doing anyways.

Obviously, I don't expect to earn much (or anything) from the ads in this blog. But it has the potential to give me some ideas on how to use the model in some way. Maybe I can come up with some good idea for a website and use it. Who knows, right? So start clicking on the ads my friends, and I will keep you posted on how these things work :-)

Spelling Bee 2009

Kavya Shivashankar won the 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. It was her fourth appearance in the Bee. I couldn't help but feel good that someone of Indian origin won the competition. Last year it was Samir Mishra, this year Kavya. The fact that 7 out of 11 finalists were of Indian origin gives you something to think about! The competition itself was extremely tough. I couldn't believe that these kids (12 or 13 years old) were able to spell the words that I couldn't even pronounce!! To make matters worse more often than not the words pronunciation is very different from its spelling. Hats off to all the participants, and special congrats to Kavya for her sheer hardwork and perseverance!

Another interesting point - Kavya is the seventh Indian American to win the contest in the past 11 years!! Go Indians!!

Guantanamo Bay

I don't understand all this hoopla surrounding the closure of Guantanamo Bay. I say enough with the political posturing! GOP and even many democrats are against closing it down on the grounds that detainees pose security threat to US. While security is a legitimate concern, some of the concerns raised are pure ridiculous. I almost laugh anytime I read that senators don't want detainees to be held in US prisons. Since when is US afraid that it's current law enforcement and judicial system is sub standard?

Going by the same yardstick, suppose Osama Bin Laden is captured. Unarguably he is THE MOST dangerous terrorist, right? Would the same senators say that he should NOT be brought to US for justice?? Just think about it. They send soldiers to fight in foreign countries surrounded by terrorists. But they wont allow suspects to be held in high-security prisons in their state. How preposterous!

The issue is black and white. The detainees should be tried in US. If it is believed that a prisoner is dangerous, evidence should be provided! Else they should be released back to their home country. If the home country doesn't accept them, it is US responsibility to accept them. The allied countries should not even come into picture. On the other hand, prisoners found guilty should be held in US prisons.

In this Obama era, too many politicians are invoking our fear of danger to US. It is really pitiful that people who authorized wars against two COUNTRIES are now afraid of INDIVIDUALS.

My Marriage!!

It all seems so unreal sometimes! Here I was few years back talking about what I felt about marriage. And today, it is my turn. Time sure flies fast.

Most of you already know that I would get married to Reena on Aug 9th. For those of you who don't, here are some details. I got Reena's number through my family. Yes, it is arranged marriage. I talked to her for the first time on October 17th. It seems so long ago!! We really connected well. We met a few times and we knew that we were right for each other. Our partners in crime were my brother and bhabhi. Monika, Kishore and Rishu were the ones helping Reena.

Roka ceremony was held in Cleveland on Dec 14th. I got to meet Reena's mom and brother also at that time. It was fun.

So 7 months and thousands of pics later, it is time to go back to India and lose my bachelor's degree!! I am getting really excited as the D-Day is approaching.

Over the past few months we have shared so many beautiful memories and trips. Hope that our journey together is as much fun as it has been so far.

Movies Review/Rating

Hi All,

Click here to view the ratings of movies I have seen

I have seen hundreds of movies over time. And I am also maintaining an excel where I list my personal rating. Sometimes, I even write some review for the movies. I am just sharing this list with you all incase you want to see some movie and want to get my opinion on the same!!

I might have missed many of the movies in the excel. But believe me, if you know some movies name, most likely I would have seen it!! SO you can post a scrap or drop me an email if you want my review. I will try to reply asap.

Enjoy!!

(Update -- Excel is also embedded below for easy reference)