Animal Care ***

Windfall ***

For years I have often received emails from sundry Africans, telling me that someone has passed on, and left a huge fortune, which needs to be moved out of Burkina Faso or Burundi or some other God-forsaken African country, and my help is indispensable in this noble effort. After several such emails, my excitement waned. It dawned on me that it was too good to be true. These were fraudsters.

But now, my luck is turning. I have received an email from a Dr. Charles Nkrumah, the Safety & Security Minister in charge of the African Union Anti-Fraud Unit. He has mentioned a team from the African Union Anti-Fraud Unit had been working in collaboration with the United Nations (UN) in stemming these evil fraudsters. The team swung into action on the high rate of complaints they had been receiving from United Nations (UN) on the level of scam artists/fraudsters with African nationalities. All the Internet Service Providers had noticed the increased email traffic originating from Africa to other continents.

It warmed my heart to hear that the team had arrested three hundred and six (306) scammers so far and the raid is still on. They have recovered a total sum of US$3.2 Billion from the fraudsters, both cash and assets confirmed to have come from their victims. And as they carried out the raids, they found hundreds of thousands of email addresses of victims from the fraudsters’ address books. This is how they found me.

Now comes the best part. The African Union (AU) with the United Nations (UN) are making refunds of US$750,000.00 each to victims whose email addresses were listed in the scammer's address books. And this includes yours truly.

I have been asked to contact Rev. Alan Fryer( who by the way is from USA, and who was appointed by United Nations). I was also kindly advised not to contact those scammers again.

Watch this space. I will be back once I get the money.

Halili - man of principles *

Halili is a principled man. Says Nazri. Nazri said that Halili found it perplexing that he was not nominated as the PKR candidate for Hulu Selangor. On this noble principle, Halili quit PKR and joined UMNO. Nazri also said Halili was a boost to UMNO.

The Master Stroke ***

Ghosal’s mind was in turmoil. He was not prepared for this. He had been indoctrinated for far too long. It was supposed to have been a lifelong struggle. The cause was paramount. Death or victory. Those were the only options. So how could Jain do this now? It was like abandoning ship. In mid-ocean.

Ghosal looked at the others. He could see listless faces. It was obvious that the others were equally aghast. They all sat like zombies. Ghosal’s gaze shifted to the back of the large warehouse. The plastic explosives were stacked high. The complicated electronic gadgetry was strewn all over the benches. He thought back at all the efforts that had gone into the project. All the preparations. All the training. And now, Jain had just dismissed everything. He had effectively surrendered.

Jain looked at them pitifully. The relentless courage, idealism, unquestioning loyalty, which he had at one time seen in these men and women was gone. They sat there devastated. Broken and aimless. But he had had no choice. The announcement by the Government was a master stroke. It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

The Government of India had enacted a new Visa rule. It required a 2-month cooling off period between visits. It was aimed at thwarting terrorists. And it had worked. Jain had realised the futility of his group's struggle. He had announced their disbandment.

Camry ***

Camry. The name rolled on Visu’s tongue. He thought of the car at least a dozen times each day. And whenever he passed one on the road, he would slow down his battered 10 year old Kancil, and wind down the window to have a good look. If he came across a parked Camry, he would walk up and stroke it gently. It was his lifetime desire. One day. One day he would own one.

Visu earned a reasonable salary. But the Camry was not within reach. Especially because he would not settle for anything less than a new 2.0G. But he had been scrimping and saving. In the meantime, he drove a jalopy. He had even put off his marriage. The Camry was a higher priority. And now it was within reach. At last. This evening he would visit Tommy, the salesman at Toyota, and put down a deposit.

He drove along in a reverie. It was awhile before he realised his phone was buzzing. “Hello. Yah, this is Visu. What ? What the hell you talking about? No. This can’t be. Wait, I’ll come there.” Visu was in a daze, trying to focus. His head swam.

***
Visu sat at his mother’s bedside. It had been a tough three months since she had the stroke. But she had pulled through. She was almost normal now. Visu looked down at his mother. He no longer thought of the Camry. He could not think of it. His savings were exhausted and he was deeply in debt now. But he had his mom.

Nobel essay ***

Enjoyed reading this essay, by 2009 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. He recalls his Indian roots, the shaping role of his exceptional parents and teachers, the affective care he received from his grandmother and aunt and the twists and turns of his scientific life.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/08/stories/2010040854741100.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/09/stories/2010040955531100.htm

The Sacred Resolution *

Resolutions. Its time to do it. No more comfort zone. Time to pull up the socks.
1. It is a crucial goal to help the world's poor to access equal opportunity. Money is a big problem. A challenge really. So there is a need to target efforts on creating wealth. Removing barriers and mental blocks. It is exciting. Here is a real work plan - which will hopefully allow all the downtrodden to walk tall again. A magic formula really. As a lifetime poor-friendly person (at least at heart), it is hoped that this initiative will encourage greater interaction and understanding among humans, as they are elevated to the same wealth class.
2. Animals - what really justifies their subservience ? Nothing really, except our convenient arguments. The fact that animals cannot reason (maybe cannot even think?) let alone argue, is a good reason why we should not apply reason in this matter. Animals are our brothers and sisters (and so on). Just accept it and move along.
3. Spirituality - A compelling argument has it that spirituality is superfluous. A bombastic oddity of an accoutrement which we hide under - to help our egotistic pretences. So off it goes. Just go with the flow.
4. April fools day - this day is sacred. I rest my case.