Thoughts: F(UN)limited

Olympics: The greatest Event of Humanity

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:35:00 +0000

Olympics are no doubt the greatest sporting event on the planet. I am big fan of Olympics and I love watching them. In the Olympic events the whole world participates unlike other sports such as baseball or football or even hockey where handful of teams from different regions play against each other and call it a world cup or world series representing just a fraction of some regions, not exactly the whole world. I can never figure out why they call it a world series when a single nation's teams are competing against each other rather than other continents or countries.

Olympics in its true spirits is a world sporting event where the best athletes or teams compete and come out as world champions in a factual sense. Olympics represent pride, sportsmanship, competitiveness and friendship, as the finest unite and come under one roof to perform their best. Here every inch or even a nanosecond can cost them a second place or maybe even the last place. Olympics represent unity and peace. This is the only place you will see Israel walking with Palestine, South and North Korea under one roof or Iran hugging arch rival Iraq. Every nations true worth is measured by the number of medals won by their countrymen or women. In Olympics it doesn’t matter if a country is superior in warheads, economy and social status everything is equal at the same level until you see the finish line, where the real superior emerges often called the “winner”.

The Olympics teaches us that we must love, respect and believe in each other. It makes us believe that we can be one “global nation” or a global citizen rather than an American, or a black or a backward caste, inhibiting some of the wasteful notions which divides us. It shows us the real power of women, that women are no less than men and can be as competitive or even better than men in any sport. Here, there is only one language the language of winning, there is only one culture the culture of competition. Olympics also is mix of art, crafts, music and celebrations where people have an opportunity to enjoy, sing and dance together hand in hand shaking a leg to the tunes of friendship and love in togetherness.

It also teaches us some great skills like discipline, time management, team spirit, hard work, focus and good assertiveness. It teaches us to fail and then to improve upon our failures until we get that gold in our laps.

Olympics makes you realize that it is possible to live united as “One World” where there are no boundaries, no religions, no gender inequalities and no politics and where everything is a fair play. We need that kind of world now, if we can live 15 days united like this under one roof and still be happy we can live 150 years or maybe 1500 years.

Since birth we are told that we belong to this country, this religion and a superior caste, we buy our black children black dolls, we tell them that we are the best religion and must hate people who practices another one. In schools we are always taught about boundaries in geography, wars in history and that woman are inferior in biology. When we grow old we learn about greed in business we are taught to bribe since birth. We are trained to kill; we treat someone not born in our country as different. But we are never taught about "world unity"

In Olympics you can see people have similar traits everyone who fails cries, everyone who wins grins, every person has the same habits, similar reactions or emotions. But when we see outside the World of the Olympics we think them as different, we are not ready to accept them and accuse people having a western culture or orthodox eastern habits and seclude them as foreigners.

Olympics is not only a sporting event, it’s a great medium to commune unity. I wait for it every 2 years. Recently the winter Olympics were held in Vancouver. Although, I don’t play any sports that were held in the sporting event, I loved watching it. I learned about several strange countries, saw people with unusual names. I saw Wayne Gretzky carry a torch in the rain and drive down the street in the back of a Silverado. I felt bad for the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who died while practicing. I was upset when USA lost to Canada in the most nail biting finish, even though I am not a fan of Ice hockey. Olympics always gives me a character of oneness.

Canada did full justice hosting the games, they were a good host. They performed well in the games and came out winning 14 Golds, the maximum by a country. The city is beautiful. The venues were modern. The transportation was efficient. But this wasn’t about logistics. In the end it’s the people that power the movement mattered the most. The Canadian's pushed these games back from the brink of disaster and right off into history. They managed well the opening ceremony wasn’t as extravagant as the one in Beijing in 2008, but the winter Olympics ceremony was awesome I have never seen such a laser and lights show.

The United States set a new record for the highest total of medals won at a single Olympic Winter Games with 37. It has the maximum number of athletes sent by any country competing in almost all events. US pretty much dominated the games. The Chinese and Koreans emerged and gave tough fights although they are not popular in winter sports.

The Olympic torch has gone dark and games have ended but I am not done yet, I still have to tell you about the events and the people which made these winter Olympics a memorable event so watch out for more soon………

The inscrutable American’s - A Journey and all That..........

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:49:00 +0000

The inscrutable American’s is not a hate tale of conspiracy against America or a biography of a lost soul in an unfamiliar territory. It’s a story of a hilarious outtake on an Indian's experiences in the US.

It’s a journey which every Indian must have taken as a student and can relate to some of the cultural shocks that the character experiences. This book will have you in splits and wits. An interesting read which will make you think about some of your personal experiences as an alien student in this strange foreign land of dreams.

Although, it was written in 1991 at the time when India was a third world country and some of the descriptions seems to be really outdated for today’s times when India is modern, emerging and at the forefront of the world (I just read today India is going to be 3rd Largest economy by 2020). Unlike 1991 if someone comes today from India, there not much of a difference in living standards. Anurag Mathur, the writer has done an amazing job of describing the journey of Gopal physically, mentally and emotionally over a period of one year. A journey which can be described with the old-cliché, a journey of self-discovery, realization, acceptance and separation. The humor, the Indian English and the author's depiction of Gopal is what makes this book an excellent read and I am sure you won’t put it down as every next page is more intriguing read then the previous one. I couldn't stop laughing at the Gopalisms, which are direct translation from his native language to English.

This book although fiction raises some good points and propels with a lot of issues and gives us the prospective of both the good and the bad of America. It talks about the cultural and ethnic values of India and how a person who has never stepped out of his protective surroundings finds it hard to shed those values and mix them with the unfriendly western culture. It talks about the social acceptance of new people, cultures and even food. It shows us what goes on in the mind of a new immigrant alien and that people are alike everywhere it’s just the skin color that separates them.

The book starts off being funny & witty, then later moves into more serious issues. The book I feel can be divided into three parts. The first part deals with Gopal's amazement in his introduction to the great land. The way he discovers new things and concedes that America indeed is a strange world. He talks about the differences between two worlds unknown to each other. This part is mostly funny and will definitely get you to grin or chuckle multiple times. I laughed till the tears rolled out. This part will get you hooked to the book.

The second part deals with the stark realities of living in USA and it even makes one realize that America has a dark side too and is not all that rosy as presented to the rest of the world. This is the body of the book. This part talks about new discoveries, the racial discrimination, the liberation of mind, the fear to change, the fear of acceptance in an alien society, the educational system, the issues with staying away from meat, his introduction to bars, beers & cigarettes, and his introduction to women sometimes in strange ways, his perception of the Americanism and people around him, his bondage with Randy, Gloria, Sue and Anne and off course his mannerisms which gradually changes and starts becoming more Americanized.

And the last part the end where he has to part with his friends, the education and return to India to manage his old business, the boring life according to him which has been pre-set and arranged for him and back to interdependence rather than independence he discovered here in the US. This part is really touching and gives you a sulking feeling.

I feel the author has shown a great depth in writing the book and each character has made an impact on Gopal’s life. All the characters complement each other very well, especially the characters of Randy & Gopal. The other characters of Gopal’s cousins in the USA, the dean & his wife, his landlady Gloria, his crushes Anne & Sue, Randy parents, the white guy with leaflets, the African-American student 'peacock', the other Indian student Anand who calls our hero as 'Goh-Pal' are all different, funny and you can easily relate to them as one of your friends you made in the US.

This is a recommended read, you can relate to parts in the book maybe some and all that........

A True Inspiration: Dream your dream and it turn's into a reality

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:59:00 +0000

Any time anyone tells you that a dream is impossible, any time you’re discouraged by impossible challenges, just mutter this mantra: Tererai Trent.

Of all the people earning university degrees this year, perhaps the most remarkable story belongs to Tererai (pronounced TEH-reh-rye), a middle-aged woman who is one of my heroes. She is celebrating a personal triumph, but she’s also a monument to the aid organizations and individuals who helped her. When you hear that foreign-aid groups just squander money or build dependency, remember that by all odds Tererai should be an illiterate, battered cattle-herd in Zimbabwe and instead — ah, but I’m getting ahead of my story.

Tererai was born in a village in rural Zimbabwe, probably sometime in 1965, and attended elementary school for less than one year. Her father married her off when she was about 11 to a man who beat her regularly. She seemed destined to be one more squandered African asset.

A dozen years passed. Jo Luck, the head of an aid group called Heifer International, passed through the village and told the women there that they should stand up, nurture dreams, change their lives. Inspired, Tererai scribbled down four absurd goals based on accomplishments she had vaguely heard of among famous Africans. She wrote that she wanted to study abroad, and to earn a B.A., a master’s and a doctorate.

Tererai began to work for Heifer and several Christian organizations as a community organizer. She used the income to take correspondence courses, while saving every penny she could. In 1998 she was accepted to Oklahoma State University, but she insisted on taking all five of her children with her rather than leave them with her husband. “I couldn’t abandon my kids,” she recalled. “I knew that they might end up getting married off.”

Tererai’s husband eventually agreed that she could take the children to America — as long as he went too. Heifer helped with the plane tickets, Tererai’s mother sold a cow, and neighbors sold goats to help raise money. With $4,000 in cash wrapped in a stocking and tied around her waist, Tererai set off for Oklahoma.

An impossible dream had come true, but it soon looked like a nightmare. Tererai and her family had little money and lived in a ramshackle trailer, shivering and hungry. Her husband refused to do any housework — he was a man! — and coped by beating her.

“There was very little food,” she said. “The kids would come home from school, and they would be hungry.” Tererai found herself eating from trash cans, and she thought about quitting — but felt that doing so would let down other African women. “I knew that I was getting an opportunity that other women were dying to get,” she recalled. So she struggled on, holding several jobs, taking every class she could, washing and scrubbing, enduring beatings, barely sleeping.

At one point the university tried to expel Tererai for falling behind on tuition payments. A university official, Ron Beer, intervened on her behalf and rallied the faculty and community behind her with donations and support. “I saw that she had enormous talent,” Dr. Beer said. His church helped with food, Habitat for Humanity provided housing, and a friend at Wal-Mart carefully put expired fruits and vegetables in boxes beside the Dumpster and tipped her off.

Soon afterward, Tererai had her husband deported back to Zimbabwe for beating her, and she earned her B.A. — and started on her M.A. Then her husband returned, now frail and sick with a disease that turned out to be AIDS. Tererai tested negative for H.I.V., and then — feeling sorry for her husband — she took in her former tormentor and nursed him as he grew sicker and eventually died.

Through all this blur of pressures, Tererai excelled at school, pursuing a Ph.D at Western Michigan University and writing a dissertation on AIDS prevention in Africa even as she began working for Heifer as a program evaluator. On top of all that, she was remarried, to Mark Trent, a plant pathologist she had met at Oklahoma State.

Tererai is a reminder of the adage that talent is universal, while opportunity is not. There are still 75 million children who are not attending primary school around the world. We could educate them all for far less than the cost of the proposed military “surge” in Afghanistan.

Each time Tererai accomplished one of those goals that she had written long ago, she checked it off on that old, worn paper. Last month, she ticked off the very last goal, after successfully defending her dissertation. She’ll receive her Ph.D next month, and so a one-time impoverished cattle-herd from Zimbabwe with less than a year of elementary school education will don academic robes and become Dr. Tererai Trent.

300 Mistakes and Counting..............

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:24:00 +0000

I Recently read Chetan Bhagat’s “The 3 mistakes of my life” a story about three down the street, regular out of college struggling young boys with different passions but similar motive, the motive to help a young boy succeed. In the story the characters have to deal with religious politics, earthquake, riots, unacceptable love and their own mistakes and the mistakes of others. The book has some real life events and the main premise revolve around those events. It is a good and engaging read right from the very beginning but in the end it becomes a little vague and feels like as if one is reading a movie script. I STRONGLY recommend “The Three Mistakes of my life”. It’s heartening and feel-good. Do give it a try if you’re down with a bad mood and I’m sure it’ll lift your spirits.

After reading the book, I kind of felt that it pointed out some mistakes within our theoretically diversified, yet single minded society, our complex system and us as individuals. This book made the youth wary of some things which we take for granted. I also felt that it made some points the country is, or was going through at the time the book was written:

1. Smaller town people Vs Big city miscreants
2. Conservative mentality of people
3. Extremism in politics and Religion
4. Prejudice towards agnostics and atheists
5. Poverty amongst the brighter lower-middle class
6. Money is power and power is success
7.Unprotected sex without worrying about the consequences
8.Offbeat ideas receive suppression
9. Lack of sports education/infra-structure in schools and colleges
10. Completely study oriented schools
11. Businesses are extremely risky
12. Swanky malls with poor construction designs
13. Drift between religions, castes and age groups
14. Conservative and Stereotyped mentality of parents
15. Hypocrisy among public, politicians, and everyone alike
16. Lack of awareness, foresight and ideas due to lack of quality education
17. Smaller schools lack funds and money in everything
18. Heavy mugger-friendly curriculum
19. People just want to earn, and passion for anything is dead
20.Prodigies and talented folks are mostly unrecognized and all that dies away as unharnessed potential
21. Male dominated society
22. Selfishness and greed
23. Blind love causing drifts
24. Giving too much importance to cricket trhan other sports
25. Blaming others for your failures
26. Harming innocent people for your self-interests
27. Moral wrongdoings

28.

29.

30.

Well, these were some 30 mistakes I could think of the 3 mistakes of my life had pointed out, there are plenty and I can go on; maybe write another book following this one but I personally believe that mistakes can be the most powerful teachers you will ever have. Success can be more gratifying, but it is often the mistakes that show you the need for new values and behaviors that will make the greatest difference in your life. Mistakes help you learn what works and what doesn’t work. The day you realize that you have committed a mistake that day is your first step of the process to success. For example Children will keep falling and getting up until they finally learn to walk. They are not afraid of falling, because their mistakes are part of the process. Make room in your life for mistakes and you will know the value of success and enjoy it when it comes to you.

I myself have committed mistakes all the time in all shapes and sizes of different shades and my count just not stops at 3, it’s probably 300 and counting………….

It's the 8th

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:37:00 +0000

Time has flown, it seemed like just yesterday I packed up and said goodbye to family and friends in India and hopped aboard united airlines, the last united flight from India, to make a new life in Amreeca. Well that was 9/11/2001. It’s been incredible eight years. I have grown since then, I have gained so much experience, made many friends and lost few. I have gained lot of knowledge both good and bad. I have learned a lot and have become wiser. It has been truly great so far but I will never forget 9/11.

To wind back 8 years ago on this day, US had been forever changed by a senseless act of terrorism. 8 years ago, the world around us changed in dramatic and unprecedented fashion and in ways we are still discovering. While our collective pain has become less, individual pain remains sharp and our collective consciousness remembers. Let us never forget the way it felt that day. We will be touched by September 11, 2001 for the rest of our lives in ways I cannot begin to fathom. I remember saying that everything had changed and everything looked different. Hardly a sublime statement, but true. I still remember that day when everything came to a standstill and can feel the pain of the people who lost their loved ones as those incidences I saw through my own eyes sickened me for quite a long time.

I want to remember and pay homage to the victims who died on this day. I want to salute the people who sacrificed their lives to protect US, such as the heroes of United 93 and the firefighters, NYPD and enumerable volunteers.Today, I want to pay respect to those who had put down their lives while rescuing a stranger without selfishly thinking about themselves or their families. I want to remember all those who have given their lives since then, protecting us!. All These people teach us the lesson to believe in unity and integrity and above all God.

Lets hope for a united World and lets pray for those serving our country, lets remember those who perished that day and their families. And lets hope that God bless us, who remember that day.

It's been 8 long years and the Journey continues as I go remembering, discovering and progressing myself along with the memories of 9/11.

The Real Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:50:00 +0000

This story is in continuation with “A true incident”, please read that before going on to this….

All my doubts were still on the dishwasher maintenance guy and I kept on convincing the landlord but due to lack of concrete evidences I couldn’t really prove it. I also called Dell and told them about the incident and as the product was registered with them they agreed to inform me if they notice any activities on my account. At first I had little hope of getting my belongings back but with time and as months passed the unpleasant incident started fading off my mind. I was also upset because there was a lot of personal data on my laptop and losing that meant losing all my previous years’ works. I lived in that studio for few months before moving out of the city due to professional reasons.

It had almost been nine months since the burglary incident happened. Now, I was working someplace else away from family and friends but I had made some new friends and got adjusted to the new place. My sister lived in another city and I visited her often. One time when I visited her she handed me a small package from Dell. I thought it was a laptop battery as one of those battery replacements Schemes by Dell were going on at that time; I was surprised because I never ordered one myself. I un-wrapped the package and found a laptop hard drive. It wasn’t of any use for me as I didn't want to replace my hard drive as my current hard drive was working just fine and moreover I had a lot of data stored on it, which I didn’t want to switch. I thought of selling it on EBay.

At home, as I was going through the package I noticed something very strange, I saw an unfamiliar name and phone no., below my name and address on the packaging slip. At first I thought it must be a glitch but the phone no. appeared to be the area code of the place I previously stayed, I was stunned. I immediately started linking all the pieces and figured out that this could be the person who has my laptop. I also noticed the asset tag number which is unique for each laptop and this one matched with my old laptop no.

I was thrilled that this could be the person who stole my laptop and might have ordered the hard drive and since Dell had the laptop registered under my name they sent it to my address instead. I was also angry at dell as I had reported the theft to them still they were communicating without verifying any details with me, the real owner. At first, I thought of calling the person but was a little scared, after making a decision to report this to the police and let them investigate, I called the local police station and provided them with all the details, to my surprise they claimed that they can’t take any actions or help me in this matter even though I have all the evidences. I was dumbstruck as if lightening has crossed over me, I thought police was here to protect you and help you out. I then called the detective agency but according to them the report had been archived and my case was closed as this was just a small theft. I was helpless, a little ray of hope I had of getting my precious laptop back was being darkened by the eclipses of immoral and unjust behaviors of the law authorities.

This is when I decided to take matters into my own hands even if it meant going against the law. Although I was a scared and didn’t know how to proceed, I decided to call the phone no. on the packaging slip. As the phone was ringing my mind was clouded with numerous negative thoughts, I thought that I might be dealing with a gang or mafia or a criminal as I had never ever communicated with any such people before. A boy answered my call. I asked him if I can talk to the person whose name was listed on the package. The boy told me that it was his mom and that she was at work at that moment. I then asked him if they own a dell laptop and whether they had ordered a hard drive replacement from dell. He thought that I was someone inquiring from Dell and answered all my questions. As soon as I got confirmed that they have my laptop, I told him that I am the original owner of the laptop they had stolen from my apartment. I threatened him that I will report this to the police if they didn’t return it back to me. The boy got scared and told me that he is just a high school kid and don’t do such things and his mom didn’t steal it, she bought the laptop from someone, he sounded very innocent but I was on fire and had no mercy for the kid or for his mother. I then told him that I will call up later to speak to his mom.

I called up later that night, this time the lady herself picked up the phone. I got her aware of the whole situation and told her that she has my laptop and if they don’t return it, they would go to jail, even though i knew that the police already refused to help me in this matter. She appealed that she didn’t steal the laptop instead she bought it for $250 from someone on the street. I told her to return my laptop as early as possible; otherwise she would be behind bars. She started pleading, for mercy, explaining that she has a family and a respectable job and that I should not report her to the police. She said that she will mail the laptop back to me in a package. First I agreed to it but then I thought she might break it and send it to me and blame the postal service for the damage. I immediately analyzed the situation and instructed her to deliver the laptop in-person. She herself got terrified by this and started insisting repeatedly to not to inform the police or get any cops along with me. We decided to meet at a crowded public place in the city. The time was fixed at around nine in the morning. I couldn't sleep the night before, may be because of the anticipation to get my laptop or fear or agony she might cause to me.

At 7 am I got a call from that lady, I was still in bed. I thought she might be cancelling the plans or maybe refusing to give back my laptop. Instead she had called to confirm the place and asked me again to not to get any cops I assured her that if she returned my laptop I will not take any actions. I got ready and went on to get my prized possession, almost nine months after it was taken away from me. I myself couldn’t believe that this was happening. Lot of mixed thoughts were going on in my mind I was scared, excited, angry and delighted all at the same time.

She called me again sharp at nine to let me know that she has reached the designated place. By now it was confirmed that she was more scared then me and she wanted to get done with this burden too. There was a lot of traffic and an hour fifteen minutes journey took me almost two hours, on my way i had a fear that she might have left the place as I was late by an hour. Finally I reached the spot, the only identification she gave me was that she will be standing near the subway gate and wearing a green outfit. I didn’t provide her with any identifications of mine and she didn’t ask for any.

As I was walking I saw an African American lady with green scrubs holding a small bag on her thin shoulders, she looked short and timid. She was nothing like the image of a person a thief would have. Well I approached her cautiously and pronounced her name very politely; I was not scared anymore and sounded confident. She hesitated a bit and responded shyly handing me the laptop, I grabbed it quickly without even looking if it was the right one or opening to see if it still works. I again asked how she got the laptop. She told me that she bought the laptop from someone on the street and that she paid for it in cash. I was surprised to hear that and thought she was making up stories to cover up for the thief maybe a gang, she didn’t seem like a affluent person carrying $200 in cash and paying for it on the road without even finding out if the laptop ever worked. She was wearing a scrub, so inquisitively I asked her where she worked she said that she is an assistant nurse in a hospital. We then parted our own ways. I just ran off from the scene to the nearest shop.

I immediately went to a café to check if it was working, everything was intact accept all my old data had been deleted, well I was content that at least I had my laptop on me. I came home all happy and triumphed as if I had won a long lost battle.

I have been fortunate throughout in a lot of situations where I have lost possessions and have got them back as twice I got my lost cell phone back, once I lost my wallet full of credit cards and cash and I got it after almost three weeks, with everything intact but that’s another story.

The person who stole my laptop is still a mystery, maybe the burglar was known to her and she was trying to cover up for him. She had no idea about my microwave oven. I still wonder why police refused bluntly to help me. I had already filed a report for my stolen laptop with Dell, they actually encourage you to call if you loose any items as with asset tags its easy to locate the laptops but she was communicating with Dell constantly. When the detective had the hand prints and the name and telephone no. he could have easily done a investigation and catch the real culprit, but I guess they were lazy. This is the best Law and order department and the most reputed brand of the world. I still can't figure these out.

The chances of getting back my laptop were almost one in a million, and I still think this was an impossible situation, rather a miracle. I will call it destiny or luck or may be a desire of hope. This incident made me realize that one should never give up and always keep trying. This also taught me to deal with a tough situation. It has been three years since this incident took place but being my real true story, it is still fresh in my THOUGHTS and whenever I think of this incident I always believe that “When you really want something the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it”

A true Incident

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:18:00 +0000

In this long and tough journey called life, several interesting good or bad incidents happen some of which you will always cherish and remember others you would just like to forget like a bad dream. There are also some incidences which makes you believe in hope, optimism and destiny. A very interesting but unbelievable event happened with me where there was loss, grief, belief, hope, poise, quick thinking, prowess, joy and triumph.

Since the time I had known that it exists, I had always admired its sleekness, the usability, the convenience it provided and always wanted to posses one, but somehow never had a chance to own it, until my graduation. I was very happy to get it; it was a graduation gift from my parents and was a very prized possession for me. It was my first laptop I had ever owned. I could do anything with it anywhere. I felt free; it had made my life easier. I was obsessed with my laptop so much that I took it everywhere I went. Suddenly everything seemed to be working in my favor and I got my first job, out of college and since I started earning I moved to my own rented studio apartment.

It had just been ten days since I moved into my new place and I was still trying to unpack and settle-in. Life was going easy but busy. I was in a regular nine to five job. I always left early and came back tired as I was new and getting used to the workplace.

It was like any other bright morning and I left early to get to work. It was a Friday, I was exhausted with a whole week of grilling activities and just wanted to get over, go back home to relax and spend some time with friends over the weekend. As I finished my work my tired body hurried straight to my apartment. As I reached my apartment building I rushed through the door into my studio. I went in and changed from my office gear, relaxed a bit and ate a left over meal from previous night. I was happy to be back home. I was so tired that as soon as I lied on my bed I drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, I woke up with a thud sound, it was my neighbors playing their heavy metal, I cursed them and tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t so I decided to do something else.

I thought of checking my emails and looked around for my laptop. I realized my laptop wasn’t at the place I last left it. I looked around patiently, but couldn't find it anywhere. I had no clue how my laptop just disappeared. I thought my friend who I had left a spare key to my apartment, might have taken it. As I was calling him I noticed another thing, the microwave oven over my kitchen counter was missing too. Now I got worried and looked around for other things, everything else my clothes, shoes even my new vacuum cleaner were untouched and intact at the right place. I checked each and every window and door if there was a break-in through any of those, but to my surprise there wasn’t even a scratch I couldn’t figure out how someone could get into the apartment and take all that heavy stuff without breaking into those doors or windows. Even, some haunted stories started churning into my confused mind.

I decided to call the police immediately and file a report of stolen goods. The funny thing was since I had moved in ten days back and my renters insurance was supposed to start two days later, I couldn’t even claim anything for insurance. The cop arrived, did some routine checks, asked me few questions and made a report and as he was examining my apartment I noticed some hand impressions of grease on my kitchen counter table. I started assuming that this could be some maintenance guy, as being a rented apartment I had requested my landlord to repair the dysfunctional dishwasher. It was almost midnight and I wanted to sleep but couldn't, it was such a dreadful night.

Next morning first thing I called the landlord, they didn’t care much and it felt like that burglary is a routine word to them and it happens regularly in that place. Well, nobody had still figured out how the burglar got in without breaking anything, as I was at my apartment front door I saw a small slit between the door panel and the door frame, if you put a thin knife or object between that and push it hard against the lock you could easily open the door. Now I figured how it all must have happened, the burglar opened the door got in, took the stuff out, pushed the door lock back in place and closed the door behind him all this in the middle of the day on a very busy street. I immediately called a locksmith to fix my door and change locks.

Gradualy,things started to settle down and there were no more break-ins or burglaries. Meanwhile I bought a new laptop and a microwave. I moved on with a normal life as days, weeks and months passed and this dreadful true incident started fading of my THOUGHTS, but sometimes I used to remember that laptop as it was one of my most prized possessions, I had owned......to be continued

Well, this story isn’t over yet there is more interesting truth to it, I will publish the rest of it next weekend until then I will let you the reader guess, of what happened next.

Whether the landlord claimed responsibility?

Was it the maintenance guy?

What happened to the police report and did the detective find something?

Was it someone I knew, who knew about all my stuff and location?

Did I get the laptop and my microwave back?

Or just nothing happened and I moved on….

Believe me the story gets more interesting from here

I am just not Lucky Enough

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:06:00 +0000

“I didn’t get a job, because I am not lucky”

“I am not lucky enough to earn a raise”

“I am not lucky to win this game”

“I am not lucky to win a lottery”-may be true

We often say these words and blame our luck for every situation, but we never realize the real facts that has lead us to that unpleasent situation. We blame our luck if something adverse happens with us. I myself blame destiny and bad luck, sometimes. Blaming others, somehow gives us a kind of consolation to cover up our actions and wrongdoings which lead to that undesirable happening and then instead of blaming ourselves we just say “it’s my bad luck” and then instead of taking any actions to counteract and improve upon it we just sit back and wait for the luck to get better. This is how we become victims of destiny and life.

On the contrary, when Good things happen, it’s just only about us, our skills that lead to success, we like to praise us, self-reinforcing our own pride and arrogance. It’s rarely ever, "am I lucky” and it’s never "thank God". It’s only "thank God" when a disaster is avoided, not when un-instigated good things happen.

It’s always good to think of reasons, but rather than blaming our luck we must take the responsibility of everything that happens to us and if we do this we will feel immense power which will turn us from a helpless victim to a sure shot winner. Although, It takes a lot of efforts and courage to take the blame on us and taking the responsibility but once we do it the rest of the task to accomplish something gets easy. We have the complete control on how we react to things ( in this case our luck) and we must use it to our advantage.

Taking the responsibility makes us action oriented. We know it’s us who has to do something about it instead of waiting for situation or luck to change and once we take that action we will see our mind working toward the solution and finally towards making us a winner. There is no such thing as a foreseeable future however; we can set ourselves up to make sound decisions.

Remember, no one can be blamed for luck, good or bad. So next time if something bad happens to you, just don’t blame your luck and be called a victim of destiny, rather gather your positive THOUGHTS and put those Thoughts into good actions, it’s in your hands to change your luck the way you want it as “Luck favors the prepared, not the beaten”.

A Joke with a message

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:23:00 +0000

A concerned husband went to a doctor to talk about his wife. "Doctor, I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things."

"Well," the doctor replied, "go home and tonight and stand about 15 feet from her and say something to her. If she doesn't reply move about 5 feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this so that we'll get an idea about the severity of her deafness."

Sure enough, the husband goes home and does exactly as instructed. He starts off about 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she is chopping some vegetables and says, "Honey, what's for dinner?" He hears no response. He moves about 5 feet closer and asks again, No reply. He moves 5 feet closer, Still no reply. He gets fed up and moves right behind her, about an inch away, and asks again, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

She replies, "For the fourth time, vegetable stew!" you deaf bugger and if you ask me again, maybe i'll change my mind and you ain't getting any.

It happens a lot of times when we feel that the problem is with others and we blame them on self interpretations rather than finding out the cause and effects of a problem, but in actuality the problem could lie with us.We often think that we are near perfect and that we are doing the right thing and put all our energy and thoughts in finding faults with others rather than thinking of solutions to correct ourselves, we also often do it to cover up our wrongdoings in front of other.

We must learn to accept failure and be ready to identify faults within us before pointing a finger on others. We must learn to identify our problems before someone backfires at us as it will be too late to go back and correct ourselves and too late to repair burnt bridges with people around us. So learn to accept faults within you and don’t blame others, and if you still haven’t learned you might become a joke like the one above.

I am You and I am Me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:44:00 +0000

I am the loneliness of the crowd…

I am the silence of the talk…

I am the dryness of the rain…

I am the oneness of the many…

I am the softness of the hard…

I am the wetness of the dry…

I am the happiness of the sad…

I am the oneness of the many…

I am the solitude of the open…

I am the darkness of the light…

I am the shallowness of the depth…

I am the oneness of many…

Coz’ I have been the one among many and many within…the one

Co-Lyricist: Shweta Moonat

An Incident which made me think

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:10:00 +0000

There are a few incidents in your life which seem like normal and you let them pass on with your everyday busy life, but if you give them a thought they leave a lasting impression and could change the way you perceive things.

Something like that happened with me a few days back. It was a hot summer busy day I was going to volunteer at a community hospital to help poor patients. I was infuriated because of the heat, so I thought of getting myself some energy drink, I looked around and saw a Jamba Juice shop a few feet away. I licked my lips and swamped over the NYC crowd to get to the other side of the road. I was acting as if I just came from a desert.

Just as I was about to order, a middle aged man came to me begging for some money. This was the last thing I wanted and I looked over to the other side completely ignoring his scruffy appearance and torn clothes. I was least interested in this person at this time and moved forward to order my sunshine delight.

What I saw next completely took me by surprise. There was this young teenager who gave his drink to that man without the beggar even asking that young teen for any help. I felt ashamed of myself and thought, what’s the use of me going to volunteer and help a few hundred people when I can’t help this one person. It was too late now and I drank over my guilt with my sunshine delight.

Well, I know it is hard to help each and everyone, but lend a hand when you can and where you can and pride yourself in helping others. Make it a point to do some good deed every day, or make someone smile because that smile will make your life worth living, try! And come back here and share it with others. And if you have a story which left a lasting impression on you or made you think please share it too.

Health Care Reform: An Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:38:00 +0000

This an Overview of what Obamacare is going to do in order to provide Health care for all Americans, But I think it is essential to develop the best health care system in the world for all Americans. In that "best of all plans" we need to reward new technological breakthroughs and procedures, pay promptly for services and goods provided, and develop standards for acceptable care and facilities. I will use the House plan as the jumping off point and note differences with the Senate’s version. Here we go

The Current Proposed Plan:

· Costs $1.04 trillion over 10 years (Congressional Budget Office) [Senate plan would cost more]

· Covers 97% of legal American citizens

· Mandates all individuals to purchase insurance or pay penalty of about 2.5% of gross income

· Establishes insurance exchange where consumers can compare policies and buy coverage

· Includes Public Options to compete with private insurance

· Individual subsidies: The government will offer assistance (credits) on a sliding scale up to four times the poverty level (up to $43K for individual and $88K for a family of 4)

· Requires employers to provide health coverage or pay a fee to the government [Senate plan is $750/employee for employers with > 25 employees]

ü Payroll > $400,000 = 8% of Wages

ü Payroll $250,000-$400,000 = to be determined (smaller penalty)

ü Payroll < $250,000 = NO FEE

· Bars insurance companies from denying coverage due to illness or health status

· Eliminates insurance company lifetime caps

Where’s this money coming from?

Under the House plan, there are three main sources available to fund health care [The Senate plan seemed to pass over this not-so-small detail]:

1) New Taxes on Wealthy Generating $544 Billion

· 5.4% surtax income > $1M

· 1.5% surtax on income $500,000 - $1M

· 1% surtax on income $350,000 - $500,000 (starts at $280,000 for individuals)

2) Surcharges on Businesses

3) Reduction in spending for Medicare and Medicaid

Sticking Points:

· New taxes on rich

· Impact on small businesses

· Change in care–Americans will wonder whether their doctors will participate in public op

What’s next?

Now the fun begins. The Senate Health and Finance Committees must agree to a unified version of the bill. Then, the House and the Senate start to wrangle over a compromise. Once that’s done, the bill goes to the President for signing.

Effective job search strategies in a downturn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:32:00 +0000

Following this process will definitely help you to find the right long-term opportunity, as opposed to just another job.

1) Define your scope by answering the following three questions: a) What industries do I want to work in (no more than two)? b) What size company am I comfortable working at (start up? mid-size? large corporation?)? c) Where geographically do I want to live?

The classic mistake that many job-seekers make is defining a scope that is too broad. Narrow your scope aggressively, and know that you can expand later if necessary. By narrowing the scope you will dig deeper in the space, which will allow you to find hidden opportunities (which are always there), and you will have a better and more convincing story for hiring authorities.

2) Create an exhaustive list of all companies that meet your scope. A manageable scope is anywhere from 15 to 50 companies that align with your career goals. Any less and you're unlikely to find a good opportunity, any more and you'll spread yourself too thin. There are multiple ways to find this information. If you have access to pay services such as Hoovers or ZoomInfo, those are best. You can also Google your scope for free: for example, Googling something such as "Chemical companies in Chicago, IL" will get you started.

3) Research and prioritize your list of companies. Simply go online and review the websites of each company in your scope. Force yourself to rate each company as either a) high interest; b) some interest; c) no interest. It's easy to fall into the trap of prioritizing companies based on the open positions they list on their website, but don't make that mistake. This is not about what positions a company has listed publicly (which is never an accurate reflection of a company's hiring needs). Instead you're simply trying to prioritize which companies you want to work for, regardless of what you believe they are looking to hire.

4) Identify and call the appropriate hiring authority at your top target companies. The hiring authority is effectively the person to whom you would report if you were to join the company. This is NOT human resources (unless you desire to be in a human resources role). Identifying this person is not always easy as many companies (especially large companies) will not tell you who sits in a specific position when you call the main switchboard. If your hiring authority is a senior person then you can likely find their name on the company's website. Secondly, you will be surprised by how much you can learn via Google as well: for example try Googling something like "Who is the Vice President of Finance for Dow Chemical?" Lastly, I strongly advise growing your LinkedIn network and using Linked In search to identify potential hiring authorities in your target companies.

What you say to this person is clearly important. I believe that a simple, straight forward message is best. Your script (which you should write out and practice) should include the following topics: a) this is who I am; b) this is what I do (or have done); c) I have no idea if you're looking for someone like me (this provides a nice disclaimer which allows the hiring authority to drop their guard); d) but I'm interested in you and I would appreciate the opportunity to set up time to speak with/meet with you. Note that it is likely that you will get this person's voice mail. In this case your message should be largely the same as what I've listed above, just in an executive summary format. If you're calling a senior person then you'll likely get their Assistant on the phone. In that case you should communicate with the Assistant almost in the same way you would with the hiring authority, as they will be passing your message along to their boss (the alternative is to wait until after 5:00 pm when the Assistant has left for the day).

Many of you may be asking "Why call a hiring authority if they don't have a job posted?" The reason is two-fold: a) Many companies don't post every role they're looking to fill. b) Hiring Authorities are always looking for great talent, even if they don't have an open requisition. I've heard countless executives say "I don't have an opening, but I'll create one for this person."

5) Be highly appreciative to those that help you. Be sure to get the email address of everyone you speak with and send a brief thank you note. In your email be sure to list your career goals (in two sentences or less) and don't hesitate to attach your resume. You'll be surprised by how many calls you get from people that received your resume from a colleague you sent it to.

The key to this approach is Polite Persistence. Don't just call the Hiring Authority once and give up. These are busy people, and there are a lot of things vying for their attention. My rule of thumb is to call the individual three days in a row, and then send an email.

Coutsey: Chad Oakley

The End, which was a new begining

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:55:00 +0000

There have been quite a number of fine and terrible moments in my life, some I would like to remember some of them I would just like to forget; but there is one event, a particular date I can never forget that changed the world around me. This was when I came to the US. I was all alone but was really excited about coming to America. The land I have seen through the 35mm screen of Hollywood or read in newspapers and magazines.

The day finally arrived I was about to leave my parents, my family my little sister and my friends, I have had for my entire life. I bid farewell to them, boarded my plane and left to explore the whole new world ahead of me, all alone. After a long and tiring journey of fifteen hours sitting on the plane, as I was too scared to get up as somebody might steal my stuff overhead my seat, I finally reached US. I was tired, jetlagged and scared but some part of me was exited to Explore America, "The land of dreams". I landed later than the scheduled time due to some landing delay at Washington Dulles airport ,went through the customs and just as I was about to look for the gate to catch a connecting flight to Philadelphia I heard that my flight has been cancelled due to bad weather.

I was upset and went to one of the counters to inquire about my flight. She looked at me for a moment as if was an alien, and sure I was for her as she was for me, in this alien land. I asked her if I could take another flight to Philadelphia and she said that there is none, but after a pause she told me that she could put me in some other airlines on another flight. I was so happy and thanked her for her kind gesture and thought that people are so friendly and helpful here even to aliens. Well I went to the terminal as indicated by her. I checked in one of the counters but she said that she doesn't have any info about me. I was annoyed by this and my tired feet dragged my body and I went back to the earlier terminal. She sent me to some other airline counter but was no help and still the same as they didn't have any info about me. I again went up to that lady she was rude to me this time and told me that she cant help me anymore. I was helpless and thought that I have come to a wrong place and wanted to take the next flight back home.

I heard other fellow passengers having the same problem and discussing about other alternatives to reach their destinations. I asked one of the passengers and luckily he was on his way to New York. He talked to few other passengers and decided that he would rent a car and drive me along with three others. At first I thought for a while what if they take me to some deserted place in the car and throw me out of the window and take all my belongings. Well, somehow I gathered courage and decided to go along, the lady at the counter took us to the plane parking area and it took us quiet some time to identify our luggage as it was dark. I was little nervous, we rented the car and started driving. Well it took us around three hours to reach Philly and it was early in the morning.

I remember asking someone what day it was as I had lost track of time due to change in time zones and someone said it is September 11.

Yes, it was September 11, 2001. The day everything came to a halt. The day everyone’s lives would never be the same again. The day thousands of people lost their loved ones. The day I, like the rest of world will never forget. The people I drove with dropped me at the airport I thanked them and called my cousin.

He came to pick me up it was around 6 am and I saw America for the first time. It all looked huge to me; tall buildings, long roads, and hoards of people trying to kill each other just get to the other side of the road.

Anyways, I was tired and reached my cousins apartment and collapsed on the bed. After some time I heard some noise it was my cousin trying to wake me up. He told me that there is a plane accident on WTC. We switched on the TV and within a minute we saw another plane crashing into the building.

I was still half asleep and wanted to go back to bed. By now we could see a huge lump of smoke on the TV screen. After some time we heard a knock on his door it was his neighbor telling him that everyone has been asked to evacuate their buildings as it could be some kind of terrorist attack.

I got scared, well we picked up few belongings and headed out. Outside on the street there was panic everywhere I could hear ear deafening sirens moving in all directions. We headed to the nearest subways station, it was being closed. We took a cab to get out of Philly to my aunts place in the suburbs. I could see everyone running here and there. As we were walking heard that there have been a terrorist attack and all roads to have been shut we were just lucky to get out. We heard that another plane crashed into pentagon.

Somehow we reached my aunt's place I could hear people shouting hysterically everywhere. Everyone was upset. I was numb as I didn't know what to do and also because I was tired.

I went to bed but couldn't sleep. I could hear people crying and shouting in my nightmares. At one moment I thought I was better off back home there were hundreds of questions running in my mind like, why have I come here? What is going to happen to all of us? And so on.

When I woke up it was almost dark. The house was silent .I was cold for a few days didn't speak much to anyone. I looked at my diary I had made plans to a NYC city tour and WTC was on top on my list. Well I thought I would never be able to see it. For around three days we didn't go out of the house much and later I came to Philly and things started getting back to normal for everyone but not the same way it used to be.

I was nervous and sad by witnessing events I have never had thought even in my dreams. I was all alone in this new changed world all around me and it didn't appear to be as pleasing and attractive as I thought it would be before I came here, but as days, weeks and months passed and now it has been years I overcame all fears and nervousness and this alien world has become my home, my friends have become a part of my life.

But whenever I look back and remember 9/11 I tremble remembering those images I had witnessed and the world around me which changed forever. And this was reality and not the "land of dreams" making 9/11 the first day in US and most memorable day ever in my life.

I wrote this article many years back and the incident i had witnessed is still fresh in my life. I pay my homage to all the families and victims affected by 9/11.

My PACE Story

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Last Month I was chosen to write an article about my self in my University's Alumni monthly newsletter " PACE Alumni E-connect"

My Pace Story

Rahul Aran ‟09

When I was a young boy, I wanted to be an airline pilot or navigator so I could travel the world. Coming from a family of healthcare professionals where my father is a cardiologist and my mother is a nutritionist, I have watched the delivery of healthcare very closely and constantly felt that patient care in todays hospital environment goes beyond the clinical aspects of not just treating patients but also giving emphasis to a more holistic experience. Therefore, I decided to pursue a career as a regulator of healthcare policies.

I am passionate about helping people and want to create a foundation of which to build a healthy community. I desire to be a driving force in designing and implementing an efficient and cost effective management solution in the healthcare delivery system.

In my mind, NYC was where I wanted to be to continue developing my knowledge base and skills in healthcare. Also, I believed NYC held many advantages with its rich diverse population and multiple opportunities. Upon my arrival in the city, I immediately started my search for a University that would offer me an advanced degree in healthcare. Only two institutions satisfied my needs, NYU and PACE. In my attempt to gather information from NYU, I got as far as their Admissions Office. Even though NYU is a notable institution, my decision to attend PACE rested on three things: a personal recommendation, an open communication with faculty and a flexible program schedule.

My first contact with Pace was through my friend he suggested that I give Pace a try. I found that there were no barriers between Pace faculty and my inquiries. At the time of my search, Dr. Brian Nickerson was the director of the MPA program at Pace. I truly appreciated the opportunity to speak with him prior to making any decisions.

A few short weeks ago, I received my MPA graduate degree from Pace University. It was a very proud moment for my family. My parents flew in from far east and other family members who live in New Jersey attended.

I have held several jobs from an analyst to a researcher with both large and small companies. Each job experience has enriched my network of professional and personal contacts. I am thankful for the innumerable support and opportunities both at the academic and professional levels received at Pace University. I look forward to a lifelong connection with my alma mater. If you are interested in discussing healthcare policies, visit my blog at www.kingcorp.blogspot.com

New York Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:12:00 +0000

It has been few years since 9/11 happened and it definitely is a very sensitive issue as it changed the carefree life of Americans into fear, at least for me as whenever I think of 9/11 it brings back those memories which I really want to wipe out of my mind but can’t as that was my first day in the land of dreams which turned into a nightmare.

Well, coming back to the movie this was a brilliant and first attempt by bollywood on the 9/11 issue. Although I thought it went a little away from the subject and some scenes were weak in portraying the real issue with too much of emotional drama.

All the three lead characters are Muslims affected by the 9/11 in varied ways and to different degrees. Sameer turns a scapegoat of the situation; Omar's identity gets him in trouble and is confused between loyalty, friendship and love. Roshan's character offers that ray of hope prevailing amidst discriminating humankind while serving his homeland (all three of them were Muslims). Unfortunately the wide scope it could have represented with the contrast of the characters wasn’t used to film's core theme and lacked the contemporary nature to truly challenge the political placements.

Though the film still uses its narrative to good effect and it is a well formed combination of Omar's life and highlights just how different the world has become for him. At first America is seen in a negative light for torturing Muslims and then the films moves to Muslims standing up against terrorism to make a better life for Muslims in America. These two core messages keep playing until the conclusion and whenever the film appears to be pro Muslim it undercuts this peaceful tone with America’s hate for immigrants and Muslims. Both sides were right and wrong in their own ways. There is a bit of a love triangle typical of Yash Raj Films with Maya dedicating her life for her husband, Omar secretly loving Maya and entering their lives just because he still has a soft corner for her.

New York is an interesting film but fails to deliver the message it could have, but has an excellent epilogue delivered by Roshan in the ending scenes. It hasn’t broken any new grounds on 9/11 issue but has refreshed the memories and the turmoil some innocent people had to go through. I still see the pain of 9/11 around me and it “hurts”.

20 ways to eat healthier Food & Diet: self.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:44:00 +0000

20 ways to eat healthier Food & Diet: self.com

Shared via AddThis

iPhone blog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:51:00 +0000

My first entry through my iphone

National Health Insurance: A possible solution.... Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:15:00 +0000

Types of Insurance:
Single Payer Health Care: Some countries implement national health insurance through taxation or by legislation requiring compulsory contributions to a national insurance fund operated by the government from which medical expenses are provided by private entities (doctors and hospitals). This is known in the United States as single-payer health care.

Socialized Medicine: Some countries implement national health insurance through taxation and/or by legislation requiring compulsory contributions to a national insurance fund operated by government, but the money can only be spent on health services commissioned by government. This is referred to by some in the United States as socialized medicine. An example of this is the UK's National Health Service.

Equalization Pool: Some countries implement national health insurance funds which must provide a minimum standard of coverage and are not allowed to discriminate between patients by charging different rates according to age, occupation or previous health status. To protect the interest of both patients and insurance companies, the government establishes an equalization pool to spread risks between the various funds. Thus a fund with predominantly younger, healthier patients pays into the pool, and older, sicker patients may receive from the pool. The government may also contribute to the pool as a form of health care subsidy.
Social Health Insurance: countries are largely funded from contributions by employers and employees to sickness funds. Funds do not come from the government, and neither from direct private payments. This system operates in many European countries such as Germany, Belgium and Ireland. These countries have a social health insurance systems which is characterized by the presence of sickness funds, which can be based on professional, regional, religious, or political affiliation.

Here is a little background on the proposal for NHI
Historical Background:
political efforts:Theodore Roosevelt was the first presidential candidate to call for national health insurance in his 1912 third party bid for president. The only major national health insurance proposal introduced in Congress during this period was a House Joint Resolution submitted in 1916 by a Socialist Congressman Meyer London from New York's East Side. Most of the action was at the state level, with universal coverage initiatives discussed in CA, NY and several other states.

Oppositions: Woodrow Wilson, when became the president in his first inaugural address in 1913 had suggested the federal government should safeguard the nation's health but he never seriously pursued this issue during his presidency as he was preoccupied with other issues in his first term such as World War I. In Wilson’s second term as president there was a congressional initiative hearing even though it was never voted on in the committee.
Several groups who had initially supported national health care reforms began to change their position. Health care reform came late in the Progressive era when a more conservative atmosphere was covering the United States. World War one was also a major reason why national health insurance care reform never gained much momentum. The public's attention was taken by the war. Because national health insurance began in Germany, it was seen as unpatriotic during the war to support the movement. Medical profession, labor organizations and businesses groups because of their self interests clashed in ways prevented reform from becoming a reality.

On the state level between 1915 and 1920, eight states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) appointed official commissions to investigate health insurance. The "Standard Bill" for health insurance was drafted by the American Association for Labor Legislation in 1915 and introduced in a number of state legislators. In 1919 it was introduced in a bipartisan manner and held strong support from labor groups and civic associations, but no state bill was ever enacted because of growing oppositions. Doctors initially supported the idea of universal coverage at the state level, but ultimately came to the conclusion that government medicine might pose a serious threat to their livelihoods. They were successfully able to organize strong opposition to reform initiatives so that nothing was enacted. Pharmacists opposed the legislation because prescription drugs insurance payments, they feared would destabilize their business. While commercial insurance firms did not offer health insurance during this period, a large part of their business was offering burial insurance to pay funeral costs.

The fact that people generally felt actual health insurance (as opposed to sickness insurance) was unnecessary prior to 1920 also helped to defeat proposals for compulsory, nationalized health insurance in the same period. Although many European nations had adopted some form of compulsory nationalized health insurance by 1920 the proposals sponsored by the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) to enact compulsory health insurance in several states were never enacted.

However, later The Social Security Amendments of 1965 created a governmental health insurance program known as Medicare intended primarily for the aged. In 1993 President Bill Clinton introduced a plan for universal health care coverage but a negotiation could not be reached with the opponents in Congress and the bill died.

Single payer as National Health Insurance:
Single payer is one alternative proposed for reforming the U.S. health care system. According to the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Heading thesaurus, a Single Payer System is
“An approach to health care financing with only one source of money for paying health care providers. The scope may be national, state-wide, or community based. The payer may be a governmental unit or other entity such as an insurance company. The proposed advantages include administrative simplicity for patients and providers, and resulting significant savings in overhead costs.”

A Single payer system would provide universal coverage with at least the same quality and lower costs. The term single payer is sometimes used in the U.S. to distinguish systems paid from a single (governmental) source with other systems of health care in which the government has a higher degree of control including administering hospitals and employing doctors and staff, though logically these too are single payer systems. When the term single payer is used in this way, doctor’s practices and hospitals may remain private and negotiate with the government for fees.

The United States, Canada and Australia have single payer health insurance programs named Medicare; however, Australia's program provides universal health insurance, while U.S. Medicare is only for senior citizens. Government is increasingly involved in U.S. health care spending, paying about 45 percent of the $2.2 trillion the nation spent on medical care in 2004.

The Veterans Administration is a single payer system and provides excellent quality. In a peer reviewed paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers of the RAND Corp. reported that the quality of care received by Veterans Administration patients scored significantly higher overall than did comparable metrics for patients in the rest of the U.S. health system.

Obama Vs McCain Healthcare Reforms in a nutshell

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:28:00 +0000

With Presidential elections less than sixty days away here is an overview of both the candidates Health reforms for Americans. Both have their Pros and cons, whoever wins have to fix the 1.6 trillion dollar industry.
OBAMA
Affordable national plan based on Congress's own insurance, available to small businesses and individuals without coverage.
Create national regulator to ensure that private insurance plans are fairly priced and available to all. Medicaid and existing employer plans untouched.
Pay for it by levying a payroll tax on any employer not providing insurance; subsidize some small businesses and exempt the smallest businesses and startups.
Universal coverage mandate for children only.

McCAIN
Make health insurance portable from job to job across state lines; work with states to create guaranteed-access plans.
Offer families without coverage through jobs a $5,000 tax credit ($2,500 for individuals) toward the cost of private insurance.
No universal coverage mandate.

BOTH CANDIDATES
Propose a variety of cost-cutting schemes, such as re importation of generic drugs, investing in information technology to drive efficiency, and medical-liability tort reform.

Remembering 9/11

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:31:00 +0000

9/11, a day which will never be forgotten. A day which bought the World's most developed country and superpower on it's knees for a moment. A day which will be remembered by many lovers, wives, sons, husbands and mothers who lost their loved ones. 9/11 will be remembered as a day when many firefighters, volunteers, policemen and United 93 hero's sacrificed their lives for strangers.
This day also holds a very special significance in my life. This was my first day in United States of America. This is the day I will never forget for the rest of my life. I will always remember, what I and people around me had gone through. I can never forget this day as it changed the world around me forever. Although it has been seven long years, the scenes of 9/11 are still fresh in my mind as if it was just yesterday. The day still sends chills down my spine. The horrifying scenes of smoke and bodies still make me depressed.Whenever I look back and remember 9/11 I tremble remembering those images I had witnessed and the world around me which changed forever. And this was reality and not the "land of dreams" making 9/11 the first day and the worst day in US and the most memorable day ever in my life.

National Health Insurance a possible solution to US healthcare crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:33:00 +0000

Health care spending continues to rise at the fastest rate in our history. In 2007, total national health expenditures were expected to rise 6.9 percent which is two times the rate of inflation. The total spending was $2.3 trillion in 2007, or $7600 per person. Total health care spending represented 16 percent of the GDP.U.S. Health care spending is expected to increase at similar levels for the next decade reaching $4.2 trillion in 2016, or 20 percent of GDP. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,400.

Despite this expenditure, the current U.S. system fails to provide universal health coverage. Nearly 47 million Americans or about 16 percent of the population lacked health insurance in 2006.The lack of universal coverage contributes to another flaw in the current U.S. health care. In dimensions of performance, it under performs relative to other industrialized countries. In a 2007 comparison by the Commonwealth Fund of health care in the U.S. with that of Germany, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, the U.S. ranked last on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes.

Policy experts agree that our health care system is puzzled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, inappropriate care, waste and fraud. These problems significantly increase the cost of medical care and health insurance for employers and workers and affect families.

To overcome such high costs some policy makers and political representatives have proposed National Health Insurance as a possible solution. National Health Insurance is a government operated or publicly funded system of insurance that provides financial benefits and medical services to persons in need of a treatment or disabled by sickness or accident. Typically, most health care costs are met by the population via compulsory health insurance or taxation, or a combination of both. National health insurance systems are found in many countries, particularly in Europe. In the United States health insurance has been provided by private enterprise on a voluntary basis.

National Health Insurance at political level:
In Congress, Rep. John Conyers has introduced The United States National Health Insurance Act (HR 676). As of January 2008, HR 676 has 88 co sponsors. It was first introduced, with 25 cosponsors in 2003 and since been reintroduced each session. The act calls for the creation of a universal single payer health care system in the United States, in which the government would provide every resident health insurance free of charge. In order to eliminate unequal treatment between richer and poorer Americans the Act would also prohibit private insurers from covering any treatment or procedure already covered by the Act. The bill is currently in the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health. The bill has drawn significant attention beginning in July 2007 because of the release of the Michael Moore documentary Sicko which focuses on the status of health care in the United States.

National health insurance is a priority issue among the presidential candidates for the elections in 2008. Hilary Clinton whose first attempt at a health care overhaul failed 13 years ago, suggests that that she would mandate coverage for 47 million uninsured Americans, provides tax credits for Americans who cannot afford insurance, offer more choices for coverage, end discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and expands Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Obama on the other hand suggests that all children will have health insurance and it will be paid for by rolling back President Bush's tax cuts for households earning over $250,000. Republican candidate John McCain is for free-market, consumer-based system he has pledged affordable health care for every American he says universal health care is possible without a tax increase. Whatever, their plan is the current system needs a fix before the projected health share of GDP crosses 20 percent by 2017.

National Health Insurance at State Level:
Inspired by the increasing number of uninsured Americans, the declining number of employ¬ers offering insurance to their employees and the lack of federal action, states are leading the way in health care reform. States are using market based initiatives, Medicaid and SCHIP expansions, and public-private partnership to increase access and affordability of insurance. Massachusetts is implementing a universal health care system by mandating that residents purchase health insurance .The City of San Francisco is also undertaking a universal health care system for uninsured residents. California, Maine, Vermont and Hawaii are also considering or seeking to implement universal or close to universal systems. Recently, a California State Senate committee voted on a bipartisan basis against a plan to help establish a $14 billion fund to subsidize medical insurance for 5 million uninsured Californians.

Possible Funding Models:
U.S could adopt a mixed model of funding. General taxation revenue is the primary source of funding, but in many countries it is supplemented by charge to the individual and/or an employer or with the option of private payments (either direct or via optional insurance) for services beyond that covered by the public system.
Another solution is a mix of public and private contributions. The majority of universal health care systems are funded primarily by tax revenue (e.g. Portugal). Some nations, such as France and Japan employ a multi payer system in which health care is funded by private and public contributions.

A distinction possibly can be made between municipal and national healthcare funding. For example, one model is that the bulk of the healthcare is funded by the municipality, specialty healthcare is provided and possibly funded by a larger entity, such as a municipal co-operation board or the state, and the medications are paid by a state agency.

Compulsory insurance could be enforced to cover up costs. This is usually enforced via legislation. Sometimes there may be a choice of several funds providing a basic service or sometimes just a single fund.

A risk compensation pool to equalize the risks between funds can be used. A fund with a predominantly healthy, younger population has to pay into a compensation pool and a fund with an older and predominantly less healthy population would receive funds from the pool. In this way, sickness funds compete on price and there is no advantage to eliminate people with higher risks because they are compensated for by means of risk-adjusted capitation payments. Funds are not allowed to pick and choose their policyholders or deny coverage, but then mainly compete on price and service. In some countries the basic coverage level is set by the government and cannot be modified.

Opponents of government mandates or programs for universal health care argue that people should be free to opt out of health insurance and that government programs would require higher taxes, increase utilization, and reduce health care quality. Opponents also claim that the absence of a market mechanism may slow innovation in treatment and research.

Possible Solutions:
National health care costs would be lower than the current US system due to lower administrative costs. By lowering these administrative costs the United States would have the ability to provide universal health care, without managed care, increase benefits and still save money.

The US denies access to health care based on the ability to pay. Under a universal health care system all would access care. There would be no lines as in other industrialized countries due to the oversupply in our providers and infrastructure, and the willingness/ability of the United States to spend more on health care than other industrialized nations.

National health care administered by a state public health system would be much more democratic and much less intrusive than our current system. Consumers and providers would have a voice in determining benefits, rates and taxes. Problems with free choice, confidentiality and medical decision making would be resolved.

For profit, managed care cannot solve the US health care problems because health care is not a commodity that people shop for, and quality of care must always be compromised when the motivating factor for corporations is to save money through denial of care and decreasing provider costs. In addition managed care has introduced problems of patient confidentiality and disrupted the continuity of care through having limited provider networks.

Insurance industry with some change in government mandates has the expertise to make universal health insurance possible by simply redesigning some insurance products and better utilizing the dollars we already have available. For example, every employer in this country is required by law to purchase workers' compensation. Most employers offer health insurance to some degree. However, job-related sickness or injury must be covered by workers' compensation. Off-the-job sickness or injury must be covered by health insurance. This has the employer paying out of two different pockets for one common end health insurance. By mandating universal health insurance and shifting the part of the workers' compensation premium that covers health issues to universal health insurance, these premium dollars will be better utilized.

Federal government along with state and local government in partnership and on a mandatory basis provide National health insurance by adopting as single type or a mix and match of multiple types of healthcare funding models and provide health coverage for all including the uninsured.

Another possible solution instead of providing NHI is enacting a standard health insurance deduction, expanding health savings accounts and deregulating insurance markets that could truly expand coverage, improve quality and make care more affordable

In establishing universal health care the best remedy for countries health care crises is not increasing government power, but increasing patient power instead. Affordable, high quality health cares a right of all Americans irrespective of age, race, income and residency differences in our society Any National payer system should have these two characteristics:
1) A defined set of benefits guaranteed to all citizens; and,
2) A global budget to pay for the health services provided (the fixed total amount of money that will be spent for one year on a given set of benefits offered to the entire population).

Health care Card In India for the poor

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana which was formally launched on the 1st of October last year to help provide smart card based cashless health insurance cover up to Rs.30,000 or $700 to the Below poverty Line or BPL families in the next five years under the Health Insurance Scheme. An estimated six crore BPL workers in all 600 districts in the country at one lakh workers per district would be covered for 120 district per year starting from this financial year. The Central Government has already issued Guidelines and a Draft Tender Document has been prepared and sent to all the States.
This is how it works, total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000/- per family, per annum, on a family floater basis. It would operate through cashless transactions and would cover hospitalization expenses, taking care of most of the illnesses with as least exclusions as possible. An initial allocation of Rs.250 crore has been made in the budget 2008-09. The Centre would contribute 75% of the annual premium whereas the States would be contributing the remaining 25%.
The use of smart card will make this project totally cashless and provide interoperability to facilitate use by migrant labor and use of IT applications for the poorest of the poor make this scheme unique in nature. The Scheme would use both public and private service providers for delivering the insurance package. It would also seek the contribution of Rs.30, by way of Registration fee, from the BPL beneficiary with a view to inculcating a sense of ownership in them. Fifteen States (Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal) have been approved. States of Orissa and Himachal Pradesh are likely to start very soon. All States, except the States in the North-East and J&K, have formally communicated their participation in this program. The Enrolment software has, by and large, stabilized but the real challenge would be the operation of Transaction software which will be used in the hospitals. The specifications for Transaction Software have been approved and released. A Certification System has also been put in place. A couple of Service Providers have submitted the software for certification.

The card is works at both public and private hospitals that have pre-enrolled in the program. The card system functions like a health savings accounts with s consumer-driven incentives to manage costs wisely. The program launched in April has already drawn 1.5 million enrollees. The government hopes 60 million more will join buy the 1st anniversary of the program.

The challenges are many; the back-end data base management which would ultimately make the scheme paperless can lead to fraud and insecurity. This is a long term exercise which will take a few months. If a person is not present in his home state he is not eligible he has to return to his home state to qualify. Not all private practices and hospitals will be willing to allocate discount rate for such a system and until now there are just few enrollees. This type of card should not lead to the market distortions that occurred in the United States after Medicaid and Medicare came into existence. Another challenge is that it only covers medication to a certain extent which would eat a large chunk of money. This is a good move by the government to help the underprivileged yet deserving population, we have to wait and watch how far this scheme is successful. While the use of the card is limited to care at hospitals, it still goes a long way to reduce the chance that medical debt will financially crush already-impoverished families. And with one-third of the world's poor living within its borders, India is right to address its health care challenge the budget provides for Rs.10 billion for the Aam Admi Bima Yojana that provides insurance cover to poor households. This will cover 10 million poor households in addition to the 10 million likely to be covered by Sep 30 this year.

Curtain goes down for the World in Olympics 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:26:00 +0000

The greatest show on Earth is now over and Phew!! we can catch some sleep. Although Olympics were full of controversies.It lived upto expectations. It was one of the most expensive games of modern times which China leaving no minute deatils left and spending more than 42 billion dollars. Chinese government even defied rain gods with them firing anti rain chemicals to avoid rains in main events.But, the main winners were any army of one million volunteers always smiling and won many a hearts.

Shortly after China was awarded these Games seven years ago, its sports leaders devised Project 119, an initiative to help boost their country to the top of the Beijing medal standings. One-one-nine refers to the number of golds given out at the 2000 Games in the medal-rich sports of track and field, swimming, rowing, sailing and canoe/kayak. In Sydney, China won only one medal, total, in those sports. Although the host country just won four medals in those sports they manage to grap the most golds a total of 51 and second to U.S in total medal tally. Most by any country in a single olympic games after USSR and US. China simply dominated in some events such as diving.

The surprise came from underdogs UK which was placed fourth in the medal tally with 19 golds after many dissaponted performances in previous Olympics. This came at the right time as UK will be hosting the next olympics and what better time than this to show the world they are ready for the world. Even Canada hit the gas after a sluggish start in Beijing to produce one of the country's best performances at a Summer Olympiad.

There also many first's. It was the first most non Bycotted games with 204 countries participating in 35 Olympic disiples. Afghanistan,Bahrain,Mauritius,Sudan,Tajikistan and Togo won their first Olympic medals. Bahrain, Mongolia and Panama won their first gold medals. Serbia won its first medal as an independent NOC, having previously won medals as part of Yugoslavia. It was the First games with least number of Positive Doping tests. India One it's first individual gold medal. It was also the most watched event both online and on TV.

Phelps dominance in the swimming pool, Bolts lightening performance on the tracks, and Walsh and May's countineous winnng streak made it even more exciting.

It was a mix of China's rich and thousands of years of traditions and modern china. The Bird's nest and watercube have registered themselves in the most amazing modern structures in the world. I am simply impressed.

Olympic Heroes and Villians

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:26:00 +0000

Heroes and villains of the Beijing Olympics
THE HEROES:

Natalie Du Toit: This 24 year old South African swimmer became the first female amputee swimmer ever to qualify for the Olympics, and placed a very commendable 16th in a field of 24 in the 10,000m swim. Du Toit first started competing internationally at the age of 14, but in 2001, her left leg was amputated at the knee after a car accident. The traumatic experience not only did not stop her from competitive swimming, but made her all the more resolved to be part of the Olympics —a dream she fulfilled this year, without the aid of her prosthetic limb! Read all about her inspiring story here.

Oksana Chusovitina: A mother's love knows no bounds and this is fully exemplified in the life story of Oksana Chusovitina, only one of a handful of women to stay in competitive gymnastics after motherhood. She formerly represented the Soviet Union and her native Uzbekistan and has competed for Germany since 2006. When her son Alisher was diagnosed in 2002 with leukemia and doctors in Moscow could not guarantee quality care, Chusovitina accepted an offer of help from the head coaches of the Toyota Cologne club and moved to Germany. With her competition prize money and funds raised by members of the international gymnastics community, she was able to secure treatment for her son at the University of Cologne's hospital while training with the German team. Chusovitina is the only female gymnast ever to compete in five Olympic Games, and won a silver in the vault final at the Beijing Games.

Dara Torres: This 41 year old Olympian has defied logic and stereotype to become the first woman in history to swim in the Olympics past the age of 40. At the Beijing Olympics, Torres took part in the 50 meter freestyle, 4×100 medley relay, and 4×100 freestyle relay and won the silver medal in all three events — beating competitors less than half her age. Last year, she twice broke her own American record in the 50m freestyle, 26 years after she first wrote the US record at 15 years of age.

Sheila Taormina: First person to compete in 4 Olympics in 3 different sports. ESPN suggests she could very well be the best athlete in the world. Taormina won a gold medal in swimming as a member of the 4x200 relay team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, transitioned to triathlon in 2000 and was a part of the pentathlon team in Beijing at the age of 39 years.

Eric Shanteau: Just a week before the US Olympic trials, this 24 year old swimmer learnt from his doctor that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Instead of abandoning his Olympic dream, Shanteau chose to delay surgery, swam in the trials, and won himself a spot in the US team with an upset second-place finish. More here.

Matthias Steiner: This hulk of a weightlifter stole the hearts of Germans all week for crying like a baby holding a picture of his late wife as he was presented with his gold medal. Their bitter sweet love story goes somewhat like this — one day, Susann was channel-flicking on TV and happened to chance upon Steiner in a weightlifting contest. Instantly smitten, she e-mailed him and after establishing contact took the train to Austria to meet him. The two fell madly in love and it was not long before Steiner applied for German citizenship. They were looking forward to come to Beijing together for the Olympics but a car crash before Susann's 23rd birthday ended her life. At her deathbed, Steiner pledged he would make their Olympic dream come true.

Shawn Johonson: She did it at a very young age of 16. Her parents had to mortgage their home to pay for her expenses.At the 2008 Summer Olympics Johnson competed in all four events during the team competition,in which the United States won the silver medal.However, since new information regarding the ages of some suspect Chinese gymnasts has surfaced, the United States women will receive the gold medal if any Chinese participants are found to be in violation of the 16-year-old age requirement.Johnson also won the silver medal in the individual all-around competition, receiving a score of 62.725.Johnson's teammate Nastia Liukin won the gold medal, receiving a score of 63.325.With Liukin taking gold and Johnson silver, this competition was the first time that the United States Women's Gymnastics team took both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition; this competition also marks only the fourth time any country has won both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition.She won the silver medal in floor exercise, with teammate Liukin taking bronze. She did, however, win a gold medal on the balance beam apparatus

Usain Bolt: Olympic chief Jacques Rogge does not think Usain Bolt is a hero and has even reprimanded him for his signature lightning bolt guesture, and not showing "more respect for his fellow athletes" nor shaking their hands. But we definitely think Bolt deserves a place in this list. After all, the Jamaican sprinter is the first man in history to set records for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m sprint at a single Olympics. And he has certainly charmed the world with his antics.

Michael Phelps: With eight golds won at the Beijing Games, US swimmer Michael Phelps brings his total number of Olympic golds to 14, making him the greatest Olympian ever. As a child, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and started swimming at age seven as an outlet for his energy. He excelled in it and was soon breaking one national age-group record after another. Today he holds holds seven world records and still manages to charm journalists and fans with his perceived humility, sincerity and killer smile.

Hugh McCutcheon: This coach of the US men's volleyball overcame news of the shocking on attack on the parents of his wife, former Olympian Elisabeth Bachman, which left his father-in-law dead and his mother-in-law seriously injured to lead his team to the gold medal.

Hiroshi Hoketsu: Hiroshi Hoketsu was 22 years old when he competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Even though he placed a disappointing 40th in the show jumping event, his zeal for riding was not extinguished. He switched to dressage and made time for training despite a demanding career in the pharmaceutical industry. He was an alternate in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and qualified for the Seoul Olympics four years later, but had to drop out because his horse did not pass a quarantine exam. But in 2008, at 66 years old, he placed first at the Pan-Asian Olympic qualifiers, helping Japan secure a team slot in the equestrian events.

Abhinav Bindra: At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5.This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Field Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.Bindra was rewarded by various Indian state governments and private organizations for his achievement.He is a affluent businessman. His group has a turnover of Rs. 300 crores (US $75 million) with interests in agro and dogfood-processing, computer gaming, livestock genetics and pharmaceuticals.Bindra is a fifth generation descendant of legendary Sikh warrior Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa on his mother's side.

Rohullah Nikpai: Nikpai started his training in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the age of 10During the bloody conflict over the capital city, his family left the city and settled in one of Iran's many Afghan refugee camps. He soon became a member of the Afghan refugee Taekwondo team. He returned to Kabul in 2004 and continued his training at the government provided Olympic training facility. Nikpai competed in the 58 kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics, defeating two-time world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain to win the bronze medal, making him Afghanistan's first Olympic medalist in any event.
THE VILLAINS:

Angel Valodia Matos: This Cuban taekwondo competitor was banned for life together with his coach after kicking the Swedish judge in the men’s +80kg bronze medal match. Enough said.

Ara Abrahamian: This Armenian-born Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler threw his bronze medal down on the wrestling mat after the medal ceremony and stormed from the podium, saying: "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold." His behaviour won him loud boos from Swedish fans who were present at the ceremony and the IOC subsequently slapped him with an Olympic ban for "violating the spirit of fair play".

CAUGHT FOR DOPING: North Korean shooter Kim Jong Su was stripped of his silver and bronze medals taken away for doping. Also expelled for doping violations were Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno and Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do.

POOR THING:
Matt Emmons: At the final rifle shooting event in the Athens Games four years ago, this New Jersey shooter threw away his gold medal that he was favoured to win by cross-firing. At an event afterwards, Czech shooter Kate?ina K?rková came to console him afterwards for his blunder, telling him he was the real winner. They ended up falling in love and coming back to this year's Olympics as man and wife. While Kate Emmons won the first gold medal awarded at the Beijing Olympics, Matt threw away another gold by scoring 4.4 in his 10-shot final round, the lowest by anybody in the competition. A 6.7 was all he needed to win gold, and nobody in the finals scored worse than 7.7 for any shot.