Aliens and Religion

I saw a show on TV the other day about the existence of Aliens and how the World religions would fall apart if the fundamentalists accept the Alien existence. I totally disagree. On the contrary it will be a good thing if we ever know of any Alien life to show us that we are not alone in this Universe. My belief always has been the following:

Life on Earth evolved and was different in different parts adapting to different climates. All forms of life evolved and eventually the Humans evolved also. The wise men learned many things both good and bad and "instinctively" and out of love and kindness towards their offspring wanted to pass on the good so their offspring doesn't have to experience the bad as they did. So they started prophecy and taught their offspring to the best of their capacity. The young wanted tangible proofs to believe anything. It is here the scenario gets a little blurry. While I believe that God has manifested himself/herself to the Man ages ago, I have not seen any proof either for it or against it. I bet the wise men fought over it also for some may have had the opportunity to see the divine power manifest to them and others have not, but both kinds of men have good intentions to help their progeny. Thus evolved the concept of religion. They then used this concept in their own ways (Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, etc.) and customized it to their own taste based on their climatic conditions. I am less inclined to calling all religions a fallacy but proof of concept for any religion is beyond any one man, woman, nation, world's capacity. We either have to accept it as is and attempt to explain its evolution or totally deny it. I for one believe in not one but all religions. My theory above makes a compelling case for me to accept all religions as equal and good.

So somewhere in other solar system(s) something similar might have taken place and they might be in the same boat as we are as far as wondering about "Aliens" and their existence. Considering how little we know about this Universe and yet how vast it is, this is the least we can accommodate to show our faith in the Super Power. The same Super Power who many believe created this Universe and our Earth might have created other similar Earths elsewhere as well.

Stop Gulf Oil Spill

Haiti Relief

The Public support for Haiti is impressive. Even though the help is amazing the devastation is still unprecedented. It is especially heart-breaking to see innocent kids and older people helplessly waiting for help. From the bottom of my heart I personally thank all those who stepped forward to help these victims of natural disaster. May God bless everyone in need and those who are helping those in need.
Please help by going to the numerous sites online to help Haitians:
hopeforhaitinow.org, or call 1 877 99 HAITI
(http://crisiscamphaitipdx.eventbrite.com) to volunteer your technical support, etc.

Slumdog Millionaire

I watched this movie with my wife yesterday and despite being an Indian I was shocked to see some of the things shown in this movie. Not that they are false but perhaps they are true. It broke my heart when I saw kids wandering in the filthy landfill looking for food or salvage whatever they can. And those that take advantage of even these poor kids. A kid who can sing good can earn some money by begging, but a blind kid who can sing good can earn double. God please stop this sort of cruelty in the World. But in a country with 1 billion+ people un-imaginable things happen that literally shock many. The unspoilt mind of kids is displayed very vividly in this movie when an Amitabh Bachhan's fan literally swims out of "shit" to get his favourite actor's autograph. The kid who made it to the top with nothing but knowledge still is persecuted for possessing knowledge that others who are rich and come from posh localities didn't. An excellent characterization of slum dwelling in one of the most crowded cities in India is depicted very cleverly and clearly. I only hope Danny Boyle and others who gained so much fame and fortune by portraying the slums of Bombay would give back all of it to help change the course of the "Destiny" of these slum dwellers. Story line is good too. I am so glad for Jamal for finding and uniting with Latika.

Use them to prevent future Ponzi schemes

Remember the real life character Frank William Abagnale from "Catch me if you can" book/movie? I think with Madoff we should do something similar. We can confiscate his assests and distribute to the "investor" "victims" to reconcile and restore whatever justice can be restored. I am puzzled with the combination of these two words at once. Invester by its very name is someone who takes risks. Investing in Madoff's scandal is no matter how Ponzi it may look, is still a sort of risk. In this particular case it is 100% risk which the investors probably didn't realize or did they? Anyway coming back to Mr. Madoff, the man pleaded guilty to all counts of fraud, etc. and seems to be repenting for his mistakes. I am not siding him or being compassionate toward him. But logically when you put someone this talented (regardless whether he is caught or not, he did have the brains to raise all this money for his program) in the jail it is quite useful to put them to best use to serve the society so future schemes of this sort can be prevented. If he is deemed to be the one of a kind Ponzi schemers then who best to catch such schemes in action than the guru (remember SEC --whom we pay Millions of dollars a year to do their job---and/or other or any organization federal or state DIDN"T catch him or his schemes early enough DESPITE tips by men like Harry Markopolos for almost a decade). My take on this issue is to allow Mr. Madoff to be used for the betterment of the society as Frank lectured FBI agents. This is one of the ways Mr. Madoff can pay to the tax payers as he plans to spend perhaps the rest of his life behind bars. Let him earn his food in the jail by giving back to the society what he took from the society.

Let me hear your take on this.

Being Considerate

I have been thinking about this for a while and can't procrastinate it any longer. I think we all have the power to be considerate and lend a helping hand to those effected by the bad economy. The unemployment benefit can only go so far and sooner or later it is going to expire for some. My idea is to create an organization or a group that will collect funds from people all over the US and/or World to take care of those who lost their jobs. The funds come from individuals who like to donate their pay for a few days toward this cause. I am sure there are more people working in the USA than those who lost their jobs. Let's try to remember the saying " A friend in need is a friend indeed ". I would like to hear anyone's ideas in the management of these funds.

Any ideas???

News Online? Have your say

I heard today (01/27/2009) that Oregonian is going to stop paper delivery in Eugene OR. This is the second largest city in Oregon. This will obviously save quite a few trees but at the heart of the issue is "How are people going to take it?". Have your say on this.

My take on it: People developed a connection to Newspapers over the years. The new generation of people are quite adept with computers and know their way around and can find out why, what, where and how quickly enough. As for me I use both means to access latest news. But what about those old timers and those that are attached to newspapers? A sudden discontinuation of printed papers will have a tremendous impact on these people and could have unimaginable results. Will they completely ignore news and move on with life? or will they make an effort to learn how to operate a computer and start using them or will they get their daily dose of information from TV networks?. I feel there should be programs to train these people to use computers to find their way around. Without this a vast majority of people will be left in the dark which is not good for them and hence the society. Information is power and it is in everyone's best interest to have information made available to everyone at their convenient method. An effort should be made to acclimate them to another means of accessing information.