We Are Sadder Than Mexicans?

New Scientist magazine published a study that says Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. Mexican are second. Both of those countries have had repressive authoritarian governments and rampant poverty, yet they are happiest. Damn, makes me sad to think about it.

Happy Birthday, Mohandas

Today is Mahatma Ghandi's 134th birthday. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God! Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare.

Of Course, This Isn't About Me

How swiftly men perish who praise themselves, unappraised of
Their real measure and unable to live peacefully with others.

Load too many of them and even peacock feathers
Would break the cart's axle.

-Tirukkural 48: 474-475

Is He Bragging or Complaining?

I was born from the nectar of immortality as the primordial horse and as Indra's noble
elephant. Among men, I am the king.

Among weapons I am the thunderbolt. I am Kamadhuk, the cow that fulfills all desires; I am
Kandarpa, the power of sex, and Vasuki, the king of snakes.

-Bhagavad Gita 10:27-28

But Do They Have the Death Penalty?

Scientists have discovered that monkeys have a sense of (in)justice. They don't like when another monkey gets rewarded more for the same task.

Superstitions

It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions. - T.H. Huxley

So, I guess the Big Bang Theory just isn't old enough yet for it to be superstition.

Hoy Es El Dieciseis de Septiembre

Hoy es el dia en que los mexicanos declararon su independencia de los espanoles. Es el dia de la libertad mexicana. Ahora, la pregunta pertinente es, cuando van a declarar su independencia de los EEUU?

No Shit

Sitting quietly alone
meditating is not hard.
What is hard is living
on a broad scale and
responding to the world at large.

- Wu Yubi (1391-1469)

Esta Muerto Bin Laden

Un experto del terrorismo dice que el video de Bin Laden que se revelo el anteayer es un montaje de imagenes previamente divulagadas. A mi quiere decir que el hijo de puta esta muerto. Lo que merece tambien. Que maten al otro, al Zawahiri!

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down

One of my all-time favorite hang-over songs was sung by Johnny Cash who died today. Have one more for dessert, Johnny!

�Caballo-Bomba?

OK, ahora dicen que est�n usando animales para sus bombas en Colombia. �Qu� vergonzosos! �Por qu� no se usan sus proprios cuerpos? A lo menos los palestinos se suiciden, y no matan a animales. Probablemente, es porque valen m�s los animales en Palestina que los humanos. �Cu�nto m�s?

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money...

The day has finally arrived that our beloved, twisted Warren Zevon has passed on to that eternal resting place (�I�ll Sleep When I�m Dead�) where he can reminisce with Lynard Skynard (�Play that Dead Band�s Song�) about the virtues of Alabama, and look away (�Desperados Under the Eaves�) to the time when Roland, Norway�s favorite son, caught Van Owen in a barroom in Mombassa drinking gin (�Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner�), and wait until we send for him (�The Envoy�) because there�s guns in Damascus, woe Jerusalem.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall tell the truth.

It Took a Canadian to Write This

Oh, those ten commandments! What was that about graven images? Hmmm...looks an awful lot like the monument.

The Noose Is Tightening?

Boy, it sure must take some strength to tighten that noose! It's been tightening for two full years, and it's not caught him yet.

So, How Do I Get This Guy As My Boss?

Free from desire,
He neither praises the peaceful
Nor blames the wicked.

The same in joy and sorrow,
He is always happy.

He sees there is nothing to do.

-Ashtavakra Gita 18:82

Gift of the Neo-Cons

From Asia Times Online: "So this is the gift of Washington's neo-conservatives to the world: instead of a democratic Iraq, a putrid state infected by a guerrilla virus and on the verge of a devastating civil and ethnic war." So, who's shocked and awed now?

The Peace Is Deadlier Than The War

The number of dead US soldiers since the President declared victory on May Day has now outnumbered those killed during the war. Some victory!

Rama vs. Allah

Allah, for the moment, has the upper hand in this battle. But, expect for Rama to get in some blows too.

Hardwood Floor?

Last weekend Jean and I went to Home Depot to see how much it might cost to get a hardwood floor in our living room, because the carpet in there was all worn out. We found these parquet tiles for $0.98 per sq. foot. Well, you can't beat that price! I mean usually the stuff costs $5.00 per sq foot. We measured the room and it's close to 350 sq feet. So we decide to buy it. She had heard a radio ad that said this company would come to your house and do 8 hours of work for $350. Well, putting all that together it's like $700 for a hardwood floor, when they usually cost around $4,000. So, Monday after work I go to Home Depot and buy the flooring. Jean called the company on Monday and they said yes they will do that work and yes it's $350. She called again on Tuesday to confirm that they would do the work for $350. Well, that afternoon a guy calls saying that she had been given the wrong price, that it would be more like $2000. So, we tell them to forget it. We try to find someone else and of course no one else does it that cheap either. Except for yours truly, of course.

Now, I'm not one of those guys that likes home projects. In fact, I hate them. I would rather pay too much than do the work myself. But, in this case, I really don't have any choice except to take the flooring back. So, I decide to do it myself. We spend last night moving furniture, and pulling up carpet. Today cleaning the concrete underneath, blah, blah, blah. So then about 11:30 this morning I started laying the wood tiles. I just stopped a little bit ago, and let me tell you, it is just as hard as I thought it was. It is not easier than I thought, and it's not harder than I thought (of course, I am naturally pessimistic and I thought it would be pretty nigh impossible to start with). Lemme tell ya, it's a bitch. My hands are used to typing as the most strenuous thing they do, so putting down adhesive, laying these interlocking tiles, and being on my hands and knees all day has just about done me in. So my hands and knees are all swollen and blistered. Poor me! Poor me! And I'm not even fucking through. I have the other half to go tomorrow!

Don't try this at home. Let someone else do it for you!

You Can Say That Again!

Prosperity and ruin issue from the power of the tongue.
Therefore, guard yourself against thoughtless speech.

-Tirukkural 65: 641-642