Controversial book!

Book on the Mahatma stirs up a storm in Orissa from sify.com

"Michha Mahatma, claims Bibudharanjan, exposes what he calls the “false Mahatmahood” of Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi. “Gandhi is true but Mahatma is false. He was a man with all human failings but he covered them up all in his autobiography My Experiments with Truth in such a way to project himself a Mahatma. After his death his followers continued to cover up the unpalatable side of Gandhi and even went to the extent of blacking out his son Harilal's write up published in the Hindustan Standard a few days after his murder,” he says.
“In my book I have attempted a total and unbiased evaluation of Gandhiji, basing everything on evidence and documents. If the truth explodes the myth of Gandhiji's Mahatmahood, so be it. Why are the followers of Gandhi, who made a name for himself as a seeker of truth be agitated?" says Bibudharanjan.
In Michha Mahatma Gandhi's experiments with his self-imposed celibacy come in for criticism. Gandhi has been portrayed as a bad husband and a terrible father. "
...
"However, Bibudharanjan is unfazed by all the dharna, police complaints and threats. "I am open to criticism. But let them go through the book and then criticise me! Not a single word is my figment of imagination. Everything is based on research. When the so-called Gandhi followers show such intolerance it explodes the myth of Gandhi as Mahatma because he too was intolerant to criticism!" "

quote

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.
-- Chinese Proverb

What affect will these comments have?

'War on terror a struggle for soul of Islam' from IE

"He cited India as an example of how democracy can defeat the 'jihadi appeal' to Muslims.
"Democracy does seem to weaken the appeal of the terrorist extremists. As our Indian friends are quick to point out, India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. Yet thus far Muslims from India have not been discovered participating in the global 'jihad' in either Afghanistan or Iraq," he said."

Why do such people still hold offices?!?!?!!!

Gujarat IAS officer sent back from Bihar after he said ‘can’t have Dalit, OBC staff’ from IE

""Don't you have a software that identifies officials by their caste?" an IAS officer appointed by the Election Commission of India as an observer for the Bihar polls reportedly wanted to know from the state officials. When he was told that there was no such software, he allegedly pitied the condition of Bihar. "We have an excellent software in Gujarat." "

:))

Humor: Apple, Sony Fight for Space in Our Head from msnbc

This is almost the full article

"The Apple CEO, who last week became the first to have the iPod Micro implanted into his brain, showed how music can be downloaded via a USB port discreetly located on the back of his neck. Jobs said that the Micro can store up to 2,800 songs and that the tracks can be shuffled by blinking one's eyes or nodding one's head, making it possible to listen to music in a classroom or at the office without anyone else knowing it. He demonstrated by rocking out to the song "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas, declaring the sound quality inside his head "awesome."
While Jobs said that as many as 100 million Americans could be hardwired for sound by 2008, Sony Corp. CEO Sir Howard Stringer served notice that his company was rolling out a new, super-tiny PlayStation Portable that could also be implanted directly into the brain. "There's a lot of room in the average American's head and we intend to fight for every square inch of it," Howard told reporters.
Elsewhere, thousands lined up to buy Powerball tickets when lottery officials announced that the grand prize would be a full tank of gas."

Stem cell research follow up

Stem Cell Side Shows from NYTimes

"'Scientists experimenting with mice have devised two new ways to derive embryonic stem cells without destroying viable embryos. The work is being hailed for its potential to sidestep some of the ethical controversies that have slowed stem cell research in this country. But each of the new techniques raises ethical issues of its own, and neither is apt to be ready for use in humans for many years."

Way to go Satyen Nair

http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/october/121281.htm from Midday [via IndiaUncut]

"When Nair approached Pawar, the policeman abused him and shrugged him off. But he got help from some rickshaw drivers in the area. They caught the constable and took him and the girl to the police station.
Nair said that the constable tried to bribe him with the promise of Rs 15,000 to keep mum about the incident."

When I first saw the heading of this article I was going to just put it in the back of my mind like the many others that I read and try to ignore. But this I think needs mentioning... It takes normal people with a little courage to make the difference.

I ask myself what would I have done? What would you have done ask yourself?