What just happed in America on Nov 4th, 2008 with Obama's win

These pictures were were taken at the election eve rally at the Prince William Fairgrounds in Prince William county, a few hundred yards from the city limits of Manassas, Virginia, November 3, 2008.

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Don't Vote ...

Leonardo DiCaprio
Tom Cruise
Cameron Diaz
Snoop Dogg
Harrison Ford
Julia Roberts
Ben Stiller
Will Smith
Steven Spielberg
Justin Timberlake
Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat
Zach Braff
Colin Farrell
Neil Patrick Harris
Scarlett Johansson
Shia LeBeouf
Tobey Maguire
Ryan Reynolds
Jason Segal

.... encourage you to vote

These public service announcements to encourage American youth to vote were created in partnership with Google, YouTube, Declare Yourself, and MySpace. The non-partisan PSAs, produced by DiCaprios Appian Way, were created to engage and inspire young people to vote and participate in the upcoming election.

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Calvin and Hobbes on War

more ..

On Victory Gardens in San Francisco and what's wrong with the American Green Movement

When I first read about San Francisco's Victory Garden, I was elated. Victory gardens were first planted in North America during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civic morale booster where community gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown.

San Francisco's Victory garden was started this summer in front of the City Hall as part of the privately sponsored "Slow Food Nation" festival. Once the food fest ended in late August, however, the mayor decided to keep the garden going as part of his drive to turn the Civic Center into a model of green sustainability.

Here is where dear ol' Gavin Newsom lost the plot:

Pricey security's at S.F. 'Victory Garden'

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is paying thousands of dollars a week in city money for private security guards to play scarecrow over the "Victory Garden" growing in Civic Center Plaza.

Only in this case, it's not birds that are being shooed away, but the homeless people and the drunks who drift into the plaza once the sun goes down.

The garden is a collection of veggies and herbs planted over the summer as part of the privately sponsored "Slow Food Nation" festival. At first, it was protected at night by volunteers.

It's amazing how quick we are to adopt "models of sustainability" but fail to encourage the community to build upon the initiative. Rather than spend thousands to keep the homeless away, the city should encourage all residents of that neighborhood, including the homeless to adopt the gardens. It has been done before in places like inner city Detroit an Kibera in Kenya. Detroit's gardens have no fences and greed has not been a problem as people take only what they need; many of the regular gardeners come from rehabilitation programs linked to the county jail; and offenders say they have earned self-respect, as well as local thanks, for literally doing the spade-work.

I had the privilege to work a block away from the San Francisco City hall for 3 good years; I have known some of the less fortunate who line those streets; and have seen them struggle to maintain the little dignity they can salvage in these harsh streets -- I appreciate all that the Mayor's office has done to highlight their plight but when it comes to the victory gardens, Newsom needs to rethink his stance.

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the BULL is King ...

BBC NEWS: A woman makes flower offerings before the statue of a bull outside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 22 October 2008. Indian shares have lost nearly half their value this year as the global financial crisis has rippled around the world.

The Importance of a Public Square

Yesterday I had the opportunity to witness an interesting public square standoff between an overzealous preacher and some teenagers professing an alternate deity -- ,a certain Lord Kromdor. While the impromptu spectacle drew a measurable crowd, it sparked an interesting point of discussion.

I am a firm believer that we could utilize our Public Spaces better in America. I come from a culture where the public square is called "chowk" and the local police station is called "chowki" because there is a strong tradition of the common square being a platform for people to openly voice their opinions.

It saddens me to see beautiful public parks like the Union Square or the Justin Herman Plaza lay empty on a nice summer day. Now don't get me wrong - I am no anarchist; Rather, world-over public squares are celebrated centers where cities come together to celebrate their very best - a space to celebrate our art, culture and music.

More about this as I research it further.

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married to the company

The story of a childhood friend and the Karmic Jacket

Does Karma really exist? - I often wonder if what goes around comes around or are we just living in a world of coincidences. Here is one such tiny story that makes you question the nature of things.

It all began in 2005 when a friend, who was visiting for the weekend, and I were off to explore San Francisco on a sunny afternoon. We stopped by the GAP at fisherman's wharf and as an impulse buy bought the same grey jacket that was on sale.

Years passed and I had given mine away to a poor panhandler who stood outside my office - the sleeves were a little bit longer and I had decided he would put it to better use. I had not given the issue a second thought until recently.

This long weekend, while I was visiting Los Angeles - I didn't have a jacket as I had anticipated a warmer weather. My friend instinctively lent me a jacket that he had at the back of his closet - later that night he decided that it looked better on me and since he hadn't worn it enough I should keep it. I protested, he insisted .. and finally I gave in.

As you must have guessed, it was the exact replica of the jacket I had given away (we had purchased them together, 3 years ago) - this did not occur to either of us until later in the week when suddenly it all came back to me. Perhaps this was the worlds way of adjusting itself - I had given away my jacket without a second thought - and through my friend's kindness the world had thanked me back with an unmistakable gesture.

Karma, had paid its dues by this one kind gesture.