Russian Legislative Elections 2007 (New York)

The first Russian Legislative Elections on a complete party-list proportional representation is to take place on Sunday, December 2nd.

Personally I feel very excited. Rather than listing the 14 parties whose candidates we'll have to chose, who anyone can google or check at wikipedia, I thought I would post the locations of the Voting Centers in New York City.

in Manhattan - The Consulate General of the Russian Federation at 9 East 91 Street, New York, NY 10128 (btw 5th and Madison Avenues)
4, 5, or 6 train to 86th Street

in the Bronx - The residence of the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN at 355 West 255 Street, Bronx, New York, NY 10471 (Right off Moshulo Avenue)
1 train to 242 Street OR BxM2 Express to Riverdale w/254 Street

in Brooklyn - The Millennium Theatre at 1029 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11235 (btw Brighton 11th and Brighton 12th)
Q train to Brighton Beach (B trains don't run on the weekend)

Don't rush fellow citizens, the voting hours are from 8:00 am to 8 pm. Don't forget your passports!!!

P.S. if anyone has other routes to the Bronx, don't hesitate to suggest it
P.P.S. the subway trains are my personal suggestion to be the nearest to the stated locations

One website, multiple libraries

That's exactly what I am searching for. As a matter of fact, I have stumbled upon this sort of website that would search the book I'm looking for at the different libraries in my city; public and college libraries alike. But alas, I didn't bookmark and after spending more time that I can spare googling I find this post to be my last resort hoping that someone might help me


I probably spend more time looking for that one website than I would have researching each database of all the libraries in NYC separately.

So, who knows what I want?

Women are more law abiding than men

They are!

Sex tourism has been the impetus for those out there who would cross the oceans to reach far lands where members of the opposite, or the same, sex with their exotic features and tanned beautiful bodies would perform the wildest of their fantasies, albeit at times in sordid huts, for peanuts.

So far they were older white males who were the culprits of violating young girls and boys. The fad now is prevalent among women in their autumn years. Preferring to have "non-business like" fun with salubrious young Kenyan men in their 20s, these British women gaily call it "havin' fun" in lieu of "safe sex".

I don't know how anyone can find this to be harmless pleasure, but I think it is sickening to manipulate the deteriorating economic conditions of these Africa dudes, or dudettes, and especially by old sagging horny libertines.

The bright side is that all guys are NOT under the legal age. Two thumbs up, ladies! *disgusting*

Extreme Engineering

As I was aimlessly wandering the byzantine alleys of the 3Ws, I stumbled upon this wonderful post at an interested blog.

Those of you interested in extreme engineering designs, check out deputydog's post

It is one of the largest hydraulic engineering structure on earth used as a storm surge barrier and, according to Wikipedia, ‘the largest moving structure on earth’. The maeslant barrier in the Netherlands.

Check the images

Conspiracy Theory in Unity High School?

If surveyed, the world's most popular name would be Muhammad, I'm certain.
The most recent "one" to be named was a teddy bear, in Khartoum, Sudan, of all the places. Don't fret, the decision has been arrived at in the most democratic fashion one could imagine; by voting.

23 students decided the teddy bear should be named Muhammad. Not Ali, not Bobby, but Muhammad. Their teacher, however, one Ms Gibbons, was taken into custody by the Sudanese authorities and jailed. According to State media she could be charged with blasphemy. Serious charge indeed! Interestingly enough, the complainers were the parents who brought their grievance to the Ministry of Education.

Now, I have two questions?
1- Was the Ministry of Education hibernating back in the day when we had "Taha Al-Qurashi" series? For those of you who do not know who Taha Al-Qurashi is, he is the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and the series, though not referring to the protagonist as the Prophet, but a regular student who kept getting diarrhea and getting admitted to hospital. *All I could remember*
2- What's the sudden interest in school activities by parents and State alike?


I guess they have exposed themselves to one of my favourite articles by Fareed Zakaria, "The Rise of Illiberal Democracy".

Croatia, Russia, and England

If it weren't for the Croatians, who beat the Brits 3-2, the Russian football team would have been disqualified from Euro 2008 Championship.
And if it weren't for Henry's gaffe, who mispronounced some words from the Croatian National Anthem, the Croatians might not have gotten "their luck of the Irish" to the detriment of the Brits.

In my view, this kinda luck, obviates any need for virtuosity or training. All one needs is sheer and mere luck.

Amazon.com Re-classifies "The Israel Lobby" book as Conspiracy Theory

My favourite professor has once discussed this book and it's credibility in terms of basing their explanation on theoretical ground rather than empirical observation. It is also on my "to-read" list.Amazon.com has just re-classified "The Israel Lobby" book by Harvard and Chicago U profs as a "conspiracy theory". Have a look at the most popular items in Conspiracy Theories. Anybody has a clue how it was classified before? But regardless of the category it was listed under, I think it is a conspiracy of a conspiracy

read more | digg story

Don't know him. Don't want to be him

Name: Vitaly Kaloyev [Russian: Виталий Калоев]
Age: 51
Occupation: Businessman
Citizenship: Russian
Ethnicity: North Ossetian
Tragedy: Loss of Family (Wife, son and daughter)
Accident: Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 Mid-Air Collision
Date: 1 July 2002
Site: Uberlingen, Germany
Crime: Killing a flight control officer, Peter Nielsen, of the Swiss company Skyguide
Verdict: Eight years incarceration

Recently, the Russian media has been intensively covering the early release of Vitaly from one of Swiss prisons. The Russian public opinion have expressed mixed emotion towards Vitaly's vendetta in Switzerland, but I am sympathetic. As a father who flew to Switzerland to scavenge for the bodies of his loved ones to be the first to identify his little girl at the crash sense and carry her, it is indisputable that his shock must have been insurmountable. What added insult to injury is the position of the Swiss company that sided with her employee, Peter Nielsen, who, according to Vitaly's testimony, shoved and threw Vitaly family's photographers on the floor when the former knocked at the latter's door seeking apology. That's when Vitaly stabbed him 5 times to death.

It's a classic example of an eye for an eye situation. I reiterate I sympathize with Vitaly, and my heart goes out to Peter's family for the loss of their loved one. Important to note, Vitaly waived the monetary compensation given to him for his loss to the Swiss family.


What a tragedy .......

I hate Thanksgiving

Perhaps I do not know the whole history of the discovery of the new lands, other than the naive Indians sloshing through the blue oceanic waters to greet their European killers, but I know for a fact that I hate the celebration behind it.

I hate the colours; brown orange autumn colours. They are depressing to say the least
I hate the food; sweet potatoes? pumpkin? corn bread? It's only the turkey that I can tolerate
But most importantly I despise the fact that people celebrate the killings of the native people of those islands and the main land that the culture is trying to sugarcoat with Thanksgiving.

Thanking my foot! Do the Aussies or the Kiwis celebrate their occupation of Australia and New Zealand? And do we actually need a set-up date to be thankful for what we have? Or is it just a way to justify our consumerist addictions?

It's never MY fault!

When is it that humans will admit and assume responsibility for their misdeeds, mistakes and otherwise unfortunate events?

I gave it a little thought, and if not all, at least most people blame anything and/or anyone but themselves 99% of the time. It's someone else's fault that one's life is not flowing smoothly, and if it isn't that someone's fault, it is God's will (which is again outta our control).

Deep down inside, as a procrastinator, when I am sweating at the 11th hour to submit that application online, I am as equally racing my thoughts of whom and what to blame if my application doesn't get through and my goodness gracious, if it doesn't, it's the computer's fault, the server's malfunction, even the full moon's fault that I didn't succeed.

When is it that humans, and me, will assume responsibility and say it to the world, YES it is MY fault. Personally, I doubt it if I'll ever muster that much courage. But, that's not my fault...... I was born a chicken :-S

Men and Insecurity Complex

RA: Jus' tell me you don't want to help me get that gig.
VIP: No, it is not so. But you're jus' "too smart"
RA: Oh! and that's a disadvantage??
VIP: Well.... yeah!
...........
RA: So, he doesn't want to hire me?
VIP: You're too pretty *gesticulating a fiery hand gesture*
RA *offended*: Meaning I'm too much in all aspects huh?
VIP: ...........

That was a part of a conversation with a VIP I've known since before my birth.

Men perceive women as dangerous species capable of plotting devious plans to attain their goals. And, they whine about their inability to understand how our cerebral transmission work. But, for women, the smart and confident ones that is, achieving that perfect balance between asserting themselves without invading the comfort zone of men, is difficult task to say the least.

Maureen Dowd, a fine intelligent woman, beautifully describes how women avert this dilemma

Professional women in their 20s are growing deft at subterfuges to protect the egos of dates who make less money, the story said, such as not leaving their shopping bags around and not mentioning their business achievements. Or they simply date older men who might not be as threatened.

But in a recent article, Lisa Belkin, in quoting a Catalyst research, states:

that women who act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes — defined as focusing “on work relationships” and expressing “concern for other people’s perspectives” — are considered less competent. But if they act in ways that are seen as more “male” — like “act assertively, focus on work task, display ambition” — they are seen as “too tough” and “unfeminine.”

So, insecure men! Which of the above stances you prefer?

Politically Correct?

I have had enough of adhering to "politically correct" terms. Not a sentence or comment can be passed without weighing its "correctedness" for the fear of offending someone or something for that matter. Suddenly using the word homosexual is incorrect but lesbian and/or gay is more appropriate.

What if I am gay but not really gay *you know what I mean?*

Linguists and etymologists must be suffering huh?

The world is going nuts I guess, or at least it is beginning to.

So, if you're self-conscious about being politically correct, refer to this list. It might help you

Update!

Alright, this has been a long break.
Let's see what have been done
1- Finished my thesis (that was hard labour!)
2- Punished myself by enrolling in graduate classes completely impertinent to my field of interest.
3- Read a couple of psychotic novels
4- Went to a hairdresser for the first time in my life and decided to let my hair grow (the two do not have a causal relation)
5- Developed a sense of interest in fashion and cooking :-S
6- Used hot vodka to cure my flu (God's forgiveness)
7- Cut off a couple of people out of my life, added a couple others


And now I shall sit down and ponder my future plans......
But most importantly, blogging will resume

ta-ta

Heart Broken Orange

Heart Broken Orange
Originally uploaded by `Unique~Pink`

Something to laugh at
yet another orange banana tale