Professionals in Politics - Misfits ?

Yesterday, on NDTV We The People program, the topic discussed was Can Professionals Be Good Politicians ? Amongst the participants were two "star" independent candidates, Captain Gopinath (Deccan Airways) and Ms. Meera Sanyal (ABN-AMRO) contesting from prestigious Bangalore South and Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituencies. The limited influence of independent MPs was brought out by eminent lawyer Mr. Harish Salve. Of course, there were lot of people who vociferously supported these two and said it is time professionals enter politics and "clean up" the system. Though winnability of the independent candidates is doubtful, I feel it is a good sign that professionals are taking an interest in politics. One among the audience pointed out that Ajit Singh, who was earlier with IBM, did not do very well in politics. One swallow does not make a summer. Professionals can definitely make a mark. It is indeed a good sign that instead of shunning politics, some professionals are evincing interest and I am sure this will bring lot of people, who so far have avoided polling booths like plague, to come out and cast their ballots.

Fancy Truck art

Here are few pictures of European trucks whose trailers are decorated to look like the sides are missing and the products they are hauling are painted on the sides and back.
The first is of Pepsi cases and they are all stacked on the ceiling, and the bottom of the trailer is empty



The second is of a canvas tote bag.





The third is of a bottle of beer and looks so real, like it is coming out the side of the trailer.

Thoughts

This one from Benjamin Franklin.

There are two ways of being happy: We may either diminish our wants or augment our means - either will do - the result in the same; and it is for each man to decide for himself, and do that which happens to be the easiest. If you are idle or sick or poor, however hard it may be to diminish your wants, it will be harder to augment your means. If you are active and prosperous or young and in good health, it may be easier for you to augment your means than to diminish your wants. But if you are wise, you will do both at the same time, young or old, rich or poor, sick or well; and if you are very wise you will do both in such a way as to augment the general happiness of society.

What say you ?

Switch oFF Lights

On March 28th, 2009, you can switch off all lights from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm to observe Earth Hour. The lights will be switched off as an indication that you are committed to saving energy and is ready to take steps to save the world environment.

The lights out initiative, which began in Sydney in 2007 as a one-city environmental campaign, has evolved into a grassroots action that has captured the attention of the citizens of the world. In 2008, 371 cities across 35 countries turned their lights out in a united call for action on climate change.

Purely symbolic gesture, yes, but everything big has to start off with these kind of simple initiatives, right ?

IPL versus Elections

It is amusing the way Lalit Modi and his ilk are conducting themselves. Personally I am not happy that they are shifting their venue from India to England or South Africa. Some amount of planning could have avoided the matches's timetable clashing with Lok Sabha elections.

GI Tag

Of late, GI tag has been doing the rounds in media with famed Tirupati laddu and Bydagi chili seeking to obtain the GI tag. It piqued my curiosity and I googled to find this: "A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (eg. a town, region, or country). The use of a GI may act as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin."
I gathered from The Hindu that the GI tag has been awarded to a number of products or goods, including the famous Darjeeling Tea, Madhubani Paintings, Kashmiri Sozani Craft and Thanjavur Paintings.

Stark Contrast

I read these two news items recently and cannot but wonder......

Female monkeys in Thailand have been observed showing their young how to floss their teeth - using human hair.

Researchers from Japan said they watched seven long-tailed macaques cleaning the spaces between their teeth in the same manner as humans.

They spent double the amount of time flossing when they were being watched by their infants, the team said.

This suggests the mothers were deliberately teaching their young how to floss, Professor Nobuo Masataka of Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute said.


WINNENDEN, Germany — A teenage gunman killed 15 people, most of them female, on Wednesday in a rampage that began at a school near Stuttgart in southern Germany and ended in a nearby town, where he then killed himself after the police wounded him.