CORE 05: Alaska - Here I Come

Hi Ho it's off to Alaska we go. At last, the day has come. Me and my colleague Vishnu will be leaving to Alaska tomorrow early morning. I have done my packing and ready to go with a camcorder, few clothes and a ton of expectation. If the weather gods are smiling, we should have a wonderful time there.

If I have some time, may be - may be, I shall post a travelogue and turn to find a the next place on the map to where I shall go.

CID 03: McCain On Obama's Nomination - Nice Touch

I was watching CNN and saw this ad, which aired just a few minutes ago (8:30 PM EST) in CNN.

With the Republican machine going on full attack mode on all the last three days, an ad with such explicitness was like a sudden brake. Of course it is a stunt for the general public, but I liked the way the ad was delivered.

With such a huge publicity for Democrats, I doubt the Republicans will be able to match it. I will have to wait and watch how the Republicans are going to compensate for this lack of publicity.

CID 02: US Presidential Elections - Setting The Context

Normally, I wouldn't like to involve myself politically, as it is not my cup of tea. I believe in talking about something that you know about. Well, I am no good in administrations, but sure as hell interested in them.

I have despised the Indian Politics arena and would like to describe it like everybody else - Sewage. So, now what do I know to write about the US Presidential Elections, where I actually do not even have a vote. The answer is simple. Freedom of Speech as is bestowed upon anyone in a free country, a democracy.

Truth be told, I did not know the major parties. Of the whole lot of Presidential nominees, I knew only two people by name, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. Yes, of course I knew that there were two major political parties, but trust me, it was only the courtesy of Stephen Colbert Report (Oops... Another Presidential Nominee right there). Sorry Stephen, but I do agree that you ARE America.

This was all last year, in 2007, when there were debates. I was so not interested in the presidential elections, simply because, it didn't matter to me, but times changed and I did start following the debates and got curious.

It took me a while to even realize that Hillary and Giuliani were not on the same party and I never understood the concept of debates till then. I was so naive to have believed that debates are the only place where people get to judge the candidates and the primary elections actually decided the US President!

So, here I was, entirely new to the US election arena, trying to find my way out and trying to be a part of the conversations with folks at work, and straight away, my favourite was Rudy Giuliani. He was the mayor who rebuilt New York post 9/11 and was against Hillary. My reasoning had nothing to do with their credentials, but by just their levels of popularity. Hillary, being the wife of Bill, brought back the impeachment proceedings, and his wife who tolerated it. Also for some reason, it looked to me like the family politics back in India. So I disliked Hillary in the beginning.

As I started learning more about the parties and what they stand for, I found that both the parties had some very good principles, but some that I would like to disagree. No party was worse to me, but the tenacity that Hillary showed during debates really made me stop and look. The Hillary hater in me actually started to wane.

Again, I still do not have a say whatsoever, but I have my favourite now and it is John McCain. The logo on the top right of my blog is a mark of my support to him.

Here I am, who would look like a typical politician, changing his support so quickly, so often, within a small period of time. As the wise say, you learn from time. Trying to justify, can I say that I'm making some educated decisions here?

For reasons known only to me, Barack Obama was never even in my top 10 of all the nominees (Both parties together). Right now, I do not want to go deep into it, but I'll hold on to my thougths. Anyways, he is the Presidential nominee from the Democratic Party. He had announced his VP nomination today as Joseph Biden. Let us see where this goes.

I am trying to refrain myself from making any political posts, but I am not sure if I would succeed. You see things on the Internet, on the TV and sometimes, you get frustrated. I am known for that, so you might start seeing posts, but the bottom line is anyway to stay out of trouble in a foreign country.

CORE 04: Vijender - Making a statement

There is no need to mention the hype surrounding Vijender's assurance of a medal at the Olympics. I finished watching the match and the Cuban boxer, true to his titles won, had a run for Vijendar's money. The result has indeed crushed the hopes many millions when he lost, but hey, he was the one who pushed India to its best Olympics performance ever.

Kudos to Vijender on a well fought Olympics campaign. You are now one among the stars.

CORE 03: Sushil - You rock

All right. Just when I had given up hope. To be honest I wasn't pinning my hopes on Table Tennis and went to sleep. Of course I was surprised to see a new entry in the wikipedia page of India at 2008 Olympics.

It was Sushil Kumar, in the 66 kg freestyle wrestling. Congrats Sushil. Your achievement is as important as that of Abhinav. I think there are at least a few who are genuinely proud of you.

CORE 02: Abhinav - Thank You

Yes. The day we thought would never come, is finally here. An Olympic Gold Medal for an Indian in an Individual event. Congratulations Abhinav Bindra on your Olympics Gold Medal in the Air Rifle at Beijing. May I be the one of the first bloggers to congratulate you. May you reach new heights and further your achievements.

- A Fellow Indian


EDIT: Thanks again, for specifying the issue to the point. NDTV interview here.