Pearson & Penguin Books Warehouse Sale 2009‏

Chinese Kali Amman, Ipoh, Perak Tong

Perak Tong

12.8 metre sitting Buddha

A Majestic looking Goddess, in the form of Kali

Perak Tong is a limestone cave temple located at Jalan Kuala Kangsar. This
temple houses over 40 Buddha statues, the centre piece being a 12.8m high
sitting Buddha. Beyond the main altar, there is a passage which leads into the
interior of the cave. After a steep climb of 385 steps, the cave opens again to
reveal a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside. Visitors will also be
fascinated by the beautiful mural paintings of the cave's walls.

Historical Sites Perak

~ Rest in Peace Michael Jackson ~

MJ lived for his fans till the end...often misunderstood, he dedicated his mind BODY and soul for music and for his beloved fans the world over... Alas, it took his life! He gave himself up completely for the happiness of others! A true disciple of love devoted to his passion in a cruel world. He will always be remembered for the best of things...MJ will undoubtedly transcend time and matter! –RIP-

Racial Slur Legalised!

Agence France-Presse - 5/15/2009 4:47 AM GMT

Malaysian court allows use of racial slur in dictionary

A Malaysian court has said the use of a perceived racial slur in aMalay-language dictionary to describe the country's minority Indians ispermissible, according to a report Friday.The High Court allowed the use of the word 'keling', generally considered offensive by ethnic Indians, dismissing an appeal by an Indian Muslim group that had sued the government's language institute over its inclusion in theirdictionary, the Star newspaper said.The group had sought to remove the word from the dictionary and wanted it dropped from the names of buildings and roads, arguing that 'keling' wasinsulting and degrading to the Indian Muslim community, the paper reported.

The judge said the language institute was only carrying out its statutory dutyby including the word in the dictionary and that the constitutional right tonon-discrimination referred to individuals rather than institutions.The word 'keling' was originally used by locals to describe Indian migrants inthe 19th century and was used on signs and as place names by British colonial authorities.However, it is resented by some in Malaysia because it has long been used in a derogatory manner to refer to Indians.Issues related to religion, language and race are sensitive matters in Malaysia.About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. The country's minority Chinese and Indians are mostly Buddhists, Hindus orChristians.Ethnic Indians -- many of whom are descendants of labourers brought over byBritish colonial rulers in the 1800s -- complain they are marginalised in termsof education, wealth and opportunities.


< http://news.my.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3314925 >

HUMAN SKELETON OF PHENOMENAL SIZE DISCOVERED IN INDIA

From Newsjharkhand.com

Recently a human skeleton of phenomenal size has been discovered during
exploration activity somewhere in Northern India.

Exploration activity was taken up by an International Research Organisation
with the help of Indian army. The exact place of discovery has not been
disclosed yet due to security purpose. But the reports coming indicate of desert
area. Sands and sediments are known to be a good host as preservative of such
types of remains.

Seeing the conditions of the less damaged weathered bones it can be
inferred that the man either died or buried in the sand near the stream or in a
stream bed which may have flowed from the area in the geological past and soon
become buried in the sediments or it may be recent.

According to the article published by G. Subramanium in
Hindu Voice, the exploration team also found tablets with inscriptions that
stated that our God of Indian mythological yore, "Brahma" had created people of
phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since. They were very tall,
big and very powerful, such that they could put their arms around a tree trunk
and uproot it. They were created to bring order among us since we were always
fighting with each other. Later these people who were given all the power,
turned against all our Gods and transgressed beyond all boundaries set. As a
result they were destroyed by God Shiva. The Exploration team believes these to
be the remains of those people.

This mammoth skeleton reminds us about the Bhima and
Hindimba son Ghatotkach of Mahabarata and the found skeleton might have been
carrying the genes of those people.

Visit < http://newsjharkhand.com/National.asp?Details=180 > for the complete article.

The Mystery of the "Kasi Water Fall"?

During my recent trip to Mount Kledang with an Uncle of mine,we noticed a strange rock formation at Kasi's Fall. It stood out out from the rest of the rocks as they seemed like man made bricks or cut stones bound strongly with a cement-like substance and to make things even more interesting was the fact that there are objects embedded in these rocks which look like iron rods.To us they looked like rocks bound tightly with some kind of metal object which jutted out slightly.It looked like the foundation of some ancient construction.These rocks and "iron" appeared to have firmly stuck on to each other, almost as if it were the base of some concrete structure? Perhaps this site needs to be examined properly by professionals.Could it be ramnants of something ancient or is it simply something more contemporary??? :)

Kasi's Fall - Mount Kledang, Ipoh

Kasi's Fall was named after Mr Kasi, a grand-uncle of mine who discovered it during one of the earliest expeditions into the heart of Mount Keledang.He was an engineer in the team that built the road into the mount which goes right up to the summit.

Mount Kledang - Ipoh

The Retreat :)

Here are some pictures from my brief visit to the Lambak Mountain in Kluang, Johore :)

Russian and US Satalites Collide!

Debris From Space Collision Poses Threat to Other Satellites

By Tariq Malik
Senior Editorposted: 12 February 200910:17 am ET

Scientists at NASA are keeping close tabs on two clouds of debris from Tuesday collision between U.S. and Russian satellites to determine how much of a risk they pose to the agency's Earth-watching spacecraft and, possibly, the Hubble Space Telescope.

The rare collision between a U.S. Iridium 33 communications satellite and the defunct Russian military communications satellite Cosmos 2251 is unprecedented, marking the first time two intact satellites orbiting Earth have accidentally crashed into and obliterated one another, NASA officials said. Their smash-up created two large clouds of space debris that are currently being tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.

The debris poses a greater risk to science satellites than to the International Space Station, which is currently home to two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, since the collision occurred 490 miles (790 km) above Siberia. The space station flies in an orbit about 220 miles (354 km) above Earth.

"This is like over 400 kilometers above the station, so we do believe that some of the debris is going down through station altitude. But it's a very, very small minority of the debris clouds," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "For robotic spacecraft at higher altitudes, the answer's a little bit different. So one by one we'll be looking at those."

Earth observations satellites, such as NASA's Aqua and Aura spacecraft in orbit 438 miles (705 km) above Earth, are particularly vulnerable - though the risk of an impact is still low - and there's another satellite in a 497-mile (800-km) orbit just above the impact level, Johnson told SPACE.com late Wednesday. The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth at about 372 miles (600 km), Johnson said.

"That's a little bit farther away, but it's a lot bigger too. All that matters," Johnson said of Hubble. "It's about how close you are to the debris cloud and how big you are."
It will be weeks before the U.S. Space Surveillance Network pins down an accurate count of the number of individual debris pieces created in the event, but unofficial estimates put the damage somewhere in the 500 count. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network is currently tracking more than 18,000 separate man-made objects and debris at any given time, officials with the U.S. Strategic Command said Wednesday.

"This is the first time we've had two intact spacecraft collide, so it is a big deal," Johnson said. "But you know, it's not unexpected."
Johnson said that some satellites fly within a few hundred meters of each other every day. Each year, there are about six instances in which old satellites and satellite parts break apart in what scientists call "fragmentation events." Satellite components or spent rocket stages have accidentally collided three times before in the last 20 years.

In June 1997, an unmanned Russian Progress cargo ship slammed into Russia's Mir Space Station, damaging a solar array and radiator, and punching a hole in the ship's hull that depressurized one of its modules. Unlike Tuesday's collision, that Progress spacecraft was deliberately heading for Mir, where it was expected to dock in a rendezvous system test.
"This was going to happen," Johnson said of Tuesday's accidental collision. "There was no doubt that it was going to happen."

Johnson said the chances of a satellite being damaged by the debris from Tuesday's collision are admittedly low, but as the collision itself proved, such things can happen. He does not expect to see reports of many secondary impacts from the event.

He pointed out that when China intentionally destroyed one of its aging weather satellites during a 2007 anti-satellite test, the impact created a cloud of more 2,500 pieces of debris.
"We don't know if any of them have hit any other satellite, alive or dead," Johnson said of the Chinese test debris. "So the odds are still very small, but they're bigger today than they were two days ago."

< http://www.space.com/news/090212-satellite-collision-update.html >

Can We Develop Superhuman Senses???

BLIND British children are to be taught a pioneering bat-style echolocation technique to visualise their surroundings.

The children are learning how to build up detailed images of the world around them by clicking their tongue and interpreting the sound as it echoes back.

The technique is used by animals such as bats, dolphins and whales to navigate and hunt in the dark.

more

Celebrating a Revolutionary - Charles Darwin!

By RICHARD INGHAN

The world marks the 200th birthday of the man who cast out the human species from the epicentre of the natural world, and discovered a fundamental law of nature.
TWO hundred years ago, in a wealthy household in rural England, a child was born who, in a quiet, dogged, and utterly peaceful way, was destined to become one of the greatest revolutionaries who lived.

Armed just with a pen, Charles Darwin reforged our concept of nature and humanity’s place in it, ignited a social debate that blazes to this day, and shook the foundations of religions.
He bequeathed a theoretical legacy – the principle of evolution by natural selection and the origins of man – that has not only survived assault by Creationists and other critics but also remains a pillar of modern science....

more

Lunar Eclipse!

Eclipse of the moon this Monday

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians will get the chance to observe a penumbral eclipse of the moon for four hours on Monday starting from 8.39pm, said the National Space Agency (Angkasa).In a statement, the agency said that the phenomenon would be easily visible as 89.9% of the moon’s disc would be in the shadow of the earth’s penumbra.Members of the public are invited to witness the phenomenon via telescope at the National Planetarium or live via its website http://www.angkasa.gov.my/ from 8.30pm until midnight. — Bernama

Interesting Facts on Malaysian Politics!

In Parliament

Penang State Assembly

malaysianindian1.blogspot.com

Selangor State Assembly

malaysianindian1.blogspot.com

Perak State Assembly

malaysianindian1.blogspot.com

The Revival Of An Old Beast!

Thousands of years after the last mammoth disappeared across the face of the earth, scientists have recently sequenced 50 percent of the beast’s nuclear genome. This is the first time that so much genetic material of an extinct creature has been retrieved. This has provided insight into the evolutionary history of mammoths. But most interestingly it has brought scientists a step closer towards being able to resurrect a mammoth.

Thus far the mammoth genome exists only in bits and pieces. With the complete genome of the mammoth, scientists may one day be able to bring the mammoth back. It is estimated that around 400,000 changes to the Mammoth’s Genome is needed to produce an animal that looks a lot like a mammoth; an exact replica would require several million. So watch out for a Mammoth coming to a Zoo near you.

The Human Body!

According to yoga, the human being is composed of several concentric
bodies, or sheaths of energy‑ consciousness, from gross to subtle levels.
1. The physical body: the material, visible part of the human being,
including the body consciousness at the cellular level which acts without any
mental will of our own or even against that will; it has emerged from the
Inconscient, the inverse reproduction of the Supreme Superconscient.
2. The vital body: the life nature made up of desires, sensations,
feelings, passions, energies of action, will of desire, possessive and other
related instincts, anger, fear, greed, lust, sorrow, joy, hatred, repulsion,
pride, small likings and dislikings, etc.
3. The mental body (manas): sense‑mind; that part which has to do with
cognition, perception through the senses, the reactions of thoughts to things,
the putting out of mental forces for realization of an idea; the expression of
ideas as through speech.
4. The intellectual body (buddhi): reasoning‑mind; that which analyzes,
synthesizes and constructs ideas from signs, indications and gathered data; mind
is a subordinate power of Supermind which takes its stand in the standpoint of
division, actually forgetful here of the oneness behind, though able to return
to it by reillumination from the Supramental (Truth‑Consciousness).
5. The spiritual body: the eternal true being or Self of the individual;
the spiritual consciousness is that in which we enter into the awareness of
self, the Spirit, the Divine and is able to see in all things their essential
Reality and the play of forces and phenomena as proceeding from essential
Reality.

(Aurobindo, 1978, pp. 10, 55‑91, 147‑148, 160, 177, 198, in Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition,p.21)

The Fight Against the Terror of Chewing Gum !!!

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The country that gave the world chewing gum is getting gummed up: The average square yard (meter) of Mexico City sidewalk has 70 blobs of discarded chew.

Now Mexico is responding with innovations ranging from expensive sidewalk steam-cleaners to natural chewing gum that breaks down quickly. It's even telling its citizens (gulp!) to swallow their gum.

more from AP

Key to Finding a Rewarding Career

After going through many career websites I found why do so many young people, upon graduating, have such a hard time finding a rewarding job or a calling?

Firstly to find your calling you need to know what you like to do. But by the time you graduate, schooling has eroded your natural sense for detecting things which genuinely excite you. Think about it - You have just spent the last 17 or so years in a formal schooling environment non-stop. Since young an authority figure has always been telling you what to read, study, and write and then monitoring all that you have done. Most of the time you are answering questions rather than asking them.

Formal schooling has a tendency to promote breadth and not depth. How many times have you given up your interest of reading further into a module you enjoy due to the workload of the other modules? How many times have you not pursued your passion, in fear of not making the grades for the rest of the modules?

Do you remember the times when your parents reviewed your report cards, telling you to improve on the Cs but never telling you to focus on the subjects you got As for? In school you're taught to pursue a broad area of studies and not thought to specialise. But in the real world only those who can discover and build upon a couple of core natural strengths and interests are rewarded.

Therefore to conclude, formal schooling dulls one's exploration of natural interests. So ask yourself what you naturally enjoy and then pursue it vigorously. This so called unusual behaviour may not go down too well with the people around you. Unfortunately, asking yourself this very question is the key to a rewarding real-world career! So you decide - be pretty good at lots of things or be extraordinarily good at one thing.