Summer Photographs

"Have enough of Grasses Lets try something different...oops it little harder though"


"Why this guy staring ?"....can somebody name this Bird ? I do not know


"Something delicious for dinner".I do not know the name of this bird either, time to join birdology 101 class


"Nice pose, Looks like top squirrel model"


"That stupid Tortoise is crawling too far behind, may be I should take a nap"

Liberty Featured Number "45"

Dear Readers,
"Liberty Featured Number" is a new feature added to this Blog. Every week (Possibly every Friday) I will present an interesting number formally called Liberty Featured Number and a story associated with it. Hope you will find it interesting.
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45 is this week's Liberty Featured Number.

Studies have found that there are at least 45 different forms of "untouchability" being practiced by upper caste Hindus against Dalits in Tamil Nadu. Yes, 45 forms of "untouchability" in an Indian state which boasts itself as one of the most politically progressive and educationally advanced parts of the country.



Source:BBCnews.com

15 Days

Nepal is world’s newest republic till date. The used to be Himalayan Kingdom is Himalayan republic now and the “used to be” King is given a 15 day ultimatum to leave the palace.

15 days! Will he leave on will? What if he doesn’t? What will military do? What if military supports him and there will be another coup? (If this happens then I suppose there will be another revolution in some time) Do our politicians have guts to kick him out if ultimatum is crossed? Or say, does our country have capability to withstand this political upheaval (especially withstanding foreign pressure)?

These are some of the common questions crossing through Nepalese head at this moment. But every one of us is also hoping for the best. Hoping for the better tomorrow, hoping for the politically progressive Nepal, hoping for peaceful Nepal once again, and hoping for prosperity. Yes those were the hopes that helped us endure our wounded past and will inspire us for our safer, superior future

Dalit Christians

One of the biggest sins that millions of people in world commit everyday probably would be discrimination. Discrimination based on anything, everything. One of the natural instincts of the mankind is to rule, to be a ruler in some sense. I believe this instinct has helped them advance scientifically but when in comes between human themselves it becomes nasty, ridiculous and abominable at the same time.

I do not understand how thinking like certain bunch of people are untouchables can even cross through somebody’s head. I wonder if there’s any person on earth who truly believe its god’s idea (but many of them still insist it is). Its not that people do not know or understand they just love to be ignorant on several issues, issues those favors them.

There are endless topics which give rise to discrimination and thorough discussion on those topics is out of the scope of this Blog. Lets only take one issue “religion” this time. N….No…No I think u got me wrong, its not inter-religion discrimination I am going to talk about but its intra-religion.

You might have known it already, there’s been a mass exodus of Hindus from Hinduism to Christianity in many parts of Nepal and India (there might be in other parts of the world as well but I do not know), intra-religion discrimination being one of the biggest factor. The other big issue would be economy (You will find many Christians organizations working to persuade Hindus to change their religion by giving them financial benefit)

The lower cast Hindus or dalits or untouchables tired of social injustice considers Christianity as a better shelter. They happily change their religion from dalit Hindus to Christians.

But does this end their apathy? Does this end the sad part of the story and mark the happy beginning?

A blunt “No” is the sad answer and the obstacle to their path to social equality are again the similar bunch of guys, the converted Christians who at one frame of time used to be the so called high class Hindus, who are essentially the same person inside whatever religion they embrace and whatever name they give to their almighty.

Christians who originate from the lower “Dalit” caste still face the similar challenges; they still remain segregated from the community and again find themselves humiliated, with separate pews, services, churches, and enclosures in cemeteries. The word “Dalit” still keeps haunting them. The “Dalit-Hindus” after being converted to Christianity become “Dalit-Christians” instead of regular Christians.

Its in Nepal, its in economically booming India and even within Indians living in USA. The technological advancement, the booming economy, and higher education everything has failed to bring down this virtual wall that keeps untouchables out.

Shame on our civilization!!

Scientific Impossibility ?

We really did not have any work today. Everyone was slacking around, looking at weather predictions, talking about gas prices, amount of snow fall in South Dakota this year. So, having free time today I thought of reading little about Time Travel. Time Travel is such a Great idea for a Fiction but is it a scientific possibility? I am by no means qualified to analyze this. I do not understand the current physics how can I be able to analyze something that goes far beyond it?

The scientific world is so polarized in this issue that it just confuses me more. Stephen Hawking once said if time travel is possible where are the alien tourists from different time travelling earth and taking pictures around? Michio Kaka says perhaps we are not very interesting to these tourists from future. Are we worth a damn to these tourists? May be we are just too arrogant to think as technologically advanced and hope the tourist to visit us.

Well, there have been endless debates on this and we cannot really hope to get it resolved in near future. But history has taught us over and over again to be really careful to completely dismiss scientific ideas.

Here are few examples:

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." (Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895)

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." (Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943)

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." (Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977)

"The telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." (Western Union internal memo, 1876)

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." (Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French commander of Allied forces during the closing months of World War I, 1918)

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" (David Sarnoff's associates, in response to his urgings for investment in radio in the 1920's)

"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." (New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work, 1921)

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" (Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927)

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duell, commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899)


Sources for Quotes: Time: A Traveler's Guide, by Clifford A. Pickover