How We Throw Money Away

As food prices soar and pain at the pump grows to an unbearable level, it's a perfect time to look at the money wasters in our life. So for the third time, we asked our readers what they think are the top ways to waste money. Click through our gallery and see if you agree with this list that we pulled from our AOL message board. Are there worse ways you waste your money?

Convenience Stores
"The reason I refer to convenience stores as "vampires" is because they suck money out of you a little every day. By the end of the month you can't imagine the large amount of money you gave them ... Everything except the newspaper is overpriced in these stores. Even worse is the fact that what they sell is not good for you -- donuts, cupcakes, beef jerky, cigarettes, lottery tickets etc."

Tanning Salons
"I agree on tanning salons [being a waste of money] ... Why not just be what you are? All that tanning will just lead to skin cancer and then you will have an even bigger expense for treatment."

Movie Rentals
"Before you PAY to rent a movie, check first with your local or county library, they have 1000's of movies you can take out for FREE. You are paying for this through your taxes so why not get the benefit."

Disposable Razors
“I'm sorry, but I think it is crazy to spend $10.00 on a razor with blades you throw away and have to spend $10.00 on more blades each month. You can buy a pack of razors for a $1.00 and the whole thing goes in the garbage and save $9.00 or ... spend a little more and buy a good electric razor and save the landfill. Why spend $160.00 a year on blades? You can spend $60.00 one time and buy a good electric razor and have it for 3-4 years and save $580.00."

Pet Clothing
"The prices of pet clothing & accessories are ridiculous. A thread and needle can add a few bells or bows to a collar. A grandmother or friend could knit or crochet a sweater or sew a blanket. A store-bought [pet] sweater could run you $25, or a decorated collar $9 versus a plain one for $4."

Nail Salons
"Routinely spending $60 for a mani and pedi [is a waste of money]."

Eating Out on Lunch Break
"Packing your lunch is not only a healthier choice, but also saves you a good amount of money that could be spent elsewhere. If you're eating out every day, spending about $7 a day, you could save around $700 a year, just by packing your lunch two times per week."

Not Shutting Lights Off
“Not shutting the lights off behind you is one of the biggest money wasters in the U.S. Do all offices buildings work 24 hours? Why can't the cleaning staff turn the lights on and off? Why do buildings need to be air-conditioned at night, especially when there is no one there! Energy saved is energy produced. An average household can save at least 10%-12% off their monthly electricity bills. Offices can save much more!"

Caring for Lawns
"Stop wasting money and resources on feeding, watering and cutting a lawn. Plant trees, bushes and most importantly, vegetable gardens. A lawn is ridiculous. You make it grow so you can cut it down. I've never understood lawn people."

Death Row Inmates
"My biggest issue with wasting money is on convicted murderers [who are] on death row for years, sucking the money out of taxes for horrific crimes that they committed. And we the taxpayers keep on paying each year for thousands of these scum bags! Now, let me tell you how I really feel ... "

Clothes Dryers
"Hang your clothes to dry or use a dryer only for socks, underwear and other small items you would feel odd hanging outside. You can also put a drying rack in the basement. Dryers use lots of electricity and gas, plus ruin your clothes over the long term. Dryer 'lint' is your clothing falling apart!"

Buying a New Vehicle
"You lose a huge chunk of value just driving it off the lot! Buy a 1- to 3-year-old vehicle and you get the same warranties at a much cheaper price!"

Huge Houses
"So many people think that if you have a big house you seem more important. No, you don't. You should buy a house that is the right size for your family. If you have a spouse and three kids you should get a four-bedroom house, not an eight-bedroom house."

Alcoholic Drinks at Restaurants
"It is ridiculous some of the prices [the restaurants] charge. And go ahead and order a margarita, that's where the moneymakers are for the restaurants. Buy two and you could have gone and bought the ingredients to make your own and have a few friends join you at home!"

Over-Packaged Items
"Examples that really bug me are individually-wrapped things, such as cheese. I buy sliced cheese and am perfectly capable of using one slice at a time without extra pieces of plastic to help me figure out how many slices I am using. Quite a few things come in boxes that seem to be almost twice the size of the item ... It also seems like the smaller the item, the greater the chance it will get more packaging to make it look like you are getting more for your money."

Disposable Diapers
"Without a doubt, disposable diapers are a big waste of money, not to say adding to the landfill problem."

Using 'Super Gas' in Your Tank
"Why waste money on higher priced gas? It has no effect on the efficiency of your engine."

Energy Drinks
"Rockstar, Red Bull, Monster ... and so many more. Maybe if people would get off the Internet, stop text messaging incessantly, and go to bed at a decent time of the night, they wouldn't need energy drinks every day to keep them going, which then end up keeping them awake late into the night yet again and causing a vicious cycle. Not to mention the high levels of caffeine are addictive, so people get completely hooked. I know many people who drink 2-3 energy drinks a day at $2-3 each. That's $4-9 a day."

Plastic Cups
"Just use a glass. Why pay for a cup everytime you drink at home? And adding to our land fills??"

Disposable Cleaning Supplies
"Disposable scrubbers, dusters and wipes are the most wasteful items in the store. Swiffer anything, throwaway toilet scrubbers and pop-up wipes are waste in its purest form. Reusable scrubbers, brushes, mops and rags are far more economical and environmentally friendly." Another User Adds:
"You are buying your trash and it's expensive!"

Playing the Lottery
"I cringe when I see elderly people who are cashing their (Social Security) checks then buying their lotto tickets ... I work in a grocery store ... (and see) lonely housewives spending over $50 a day on scratchers and lotto numbers so they can talk to the gals at the service desk about their day/lives/husbands ... I can't see spending hundreds of dollars a month or a week, just to get thrilled over winning $25-50 ..."

The Wedding Industry
"They are making huge money on things like veils. I made my daughter's veil excactly like the veil at the bridal shop that was going to cost us $200. It cost me $7 for some tulle and a couple of combs, and the one I made was actually better made and more finished looking. It took me 45 minutes to do it ... Also (there is) huge money in weddings in general and they only last a few hours ... Keep in mind it is a party that is over in a few hours and you are left with a huge bill to pay."

Convenience Store Drinks
"Buying bottled drinks at the convenience store is the biggest waste of money and adds up fast, if you do it daily!"

Designer Skincare
"The best way to take care of your skin is vitamins, water, sleep, genetics and sunblock. Spending hundreds of dollars on skincare is a waste."

Extended Warranties
"It's a waste of money to purchase an extended warranty for small inexpensive items such as radios, DVD players, vacuums, etc. The manufacturer's warranty is sufficient. Retailers and dealers will always offer extended warranties -- but they are not always necessary."

Brand Names
"We constantly purchase brand names, and I don't mean clothing. Food and medications, just to mention a few. Food brands add marketing and advertising costs just like the big pharmaceuticals. Is Kraft, Goya or Campbell's so much better than supermarket brands? Is Bayer or Advil so much better than "I-don't-know-this-brand" aspirin and ibuprofen. Sometimes it is, but very rarely. Marketing and advertising don't make products taste or work better they just add to the final price of a product."

Luxury Hotels
"Unless you are going to spend 24 hours in your room, why would anyone want to spend $200-$300 a night to sleep?"

Driving a Gas Guzzler
"Buying an SUV or other large vehicle is the biggest waste of money and it will get even worse as oil prices inevitably will keep rising."

Coutesy: AOL Money

The Servers Strike Back

I came across this posting in AOL.

http://food.aol.com/top-11-annoying-restaurant-trends

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Hey, we're pretty easy customers to please. We don't get wacky with special order demands, and always tip pretty darned well. Still, we can't help wishing a few restaurants trends were permanently off the menu. Read on for our thoughts on daily specials, bottled water and the ubiquity of freshly ground black pepper.

Recitation of the Specials
Would it really be so hard to print it out or write it on a board? That way we'd actually remember if the beet 'n chive compote came with the lamb or the duck, and wouldn't have to feel like such a stingy nincompoop for asking the server to say the price out loud.

I'm Sorry, We Just Sold the Last One
Yet you taunted us with the five-minute description just now?

Bottled Water Up-selling
Putting aside the negative environmental impact of all that excess glass & plastic, are restaurateurs implying that the H20 they're using to cleanse the veggies and cook the pasta issomehow sub-palatable, or are they just trying to dunk the customer? We'd rather splash our cash on desserts and apps than pour it out on something that should just flow freely from the tap.

Up-selling In General
While we're certainly sympathetic to waitstaff who, due to the untenable circumstance of sub-minimum wage base pay, rely on percentage-based tips, but really -- if we wanted to start with an appetizer, we would have ordered one.

Every Ingredient
"Organic Peruvian Tangelo Seared Aged Newark Wildebeest on a Bed of Wilted Gowanus Farms Pre-Natal Endive" - We're loco for locavorism and super-psychedfor sustainable organic farming, but it doesn't taste any better just 'cause we know the name of our tenderloin's first cousin and where it went to summer camp.

The 'Tini Suffix
Flirtini. Chocotini. PB&Jtini. Just 'cause it's in the V-shaped glass does not a martini make it. Certainly we're huge fans of the mixological madmen shaking up Lavender Wonderbread Fizzes and Cranberry Clorox Collinses at our favorite gastro-boites, but if there's anything other than gin*, vermouth and an olive or a twistin the glass, it may be a drink, or even a cocktail, but it ain't a 'Tini. (We blame Sex and the City, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

Would You Like Freshly Ground Black Pepper On That?
No. No we wouldn't. And you're scaring us with that Louisville Slugger of a spice grinder.

Trios & Duos
"Heirloom Pork Prepared Two Ways with a Roulette of Seasonal Carrots"
Is the chef hedging his bets? Did he or she run short of some critical ingredient and have to go halvsies? Oneof the bunch is bound to outshine the other, making you wish you'd gotten a stab at a full-sized portion of that instead.

Over-pouring
Attentive service is certainly something to be celebrated, but the slow 'n steady sippers among us are kinda getting corked when we're sharing a bottle of wine with someone who's quicker on the chug than us. If our servers would just give us a chance to catch up instead of topping off after every couple of sips, the whole party might stand a chance of staying sober through dessert.

Prix Fixe Only
We're all for putting our palates in the hands of a capable chef, but do we have to fork over our wallets as well? Prix fixe meals can be a great supplement to an a la carte menu. However,for sharing a meal with folks of far-ranging tastes (not to mention budgets), the inflexibility is often more an ordeal than a deal.

Expensive After-Dinner Tea and Coffee
We get that this stuff isn't free, but when we look over the tab and see that the no-frills cup o' joe guzzled up $6 bucks, we tend to get a teensy bit "tea-ed" off. For that, we could have gone for a Grande Mocha-Choca Ya-Ya Latte at the BigBucks down the street.

And now your favorite Restaurant's Servers Strike Back......

DON'T TALK DOWN TO ME
Quote: "I hate when customers speak down to me like I am a teenager/20-something because I look young. I am 30 years old, and have been serving food for 20 years."
"For those of you who think servers are stupid, ignorant, or somehow below you in class or social standing, etc., let me just say that I am far classier than most people I served. Most of the people I worked with were extremely classy individuals as well. Money does not equal class."

PLEASE DON'T CAMP OUT
Quote: "When it's closing time, please GET OUT. How would you like it if someone came to your office five minutes before you closed and kept you there an extra two hours?"
"Remember that every minute you occupy one of our tables is affecting our income for the night. If you sit for two additional hours chatting after settling up and drinking water, consider compensating us for that time, especially since most good servers will continue to check up on you and refill those sodas and waters. If you buy drinks at the bar and then move to our tables and just sit talking, remember that table represents our livelihood. The longer you sit not tipping us, the less our hourly rate comes out to at the end of the night. Many servers only get between two and five tables to earn off during a shift. If they lose one for a couple of hours to "campers", as we call them, it can make a big impact at the end of the shift."

WE DON'T LIKE RECITING THE SPECIALS, BUT...
Quote: "We used to have our specials typed up on a separate piece of paper that was on the table when the guests sat. 95% of the time, the guests did not see it, or did not care to read it.It is well known that a guest will be more interested in ordering a special when they hear it from the servers mouth."
"Do you REALLY think I want to stand there and recite 10 specials to you, only to have you say "What was the third thing you said?"
"No one pays attention to special boards."

IF YOU CAN'T TIP, DON'T EAT OUT
Quote: "Oh and here's a little tip for those of you who don't know: we don't just want tips for our pocket, we want 'em for the food that Uncle Sam taxes US to feed you. That's right, I get taxed for what I sell. So if you order a huge meal, and then sheepishly tell me that you're sorry but you just don't have enough for a tip, I may smile and say, "That's ok, just get me next time." (Which is exactly what I do.) But inside I'm thanking you for giving me the privilage of paying for part of your meal, and for working for you for free. I'm sure my kids will too."
"Does anyone realize what a waitress/waiter gets paid an HOUR!?!? I work in a restaurant that is like Eat n Park. Make ALMOST $3.00 an hour for wages, but HAVE to pay TAXES on $4.35 an hour! If I do not "bust my butt" and try to get AT LEAST 15% TIP from a table, I am LOSING money!"

JUST TREAT ME LIKE A PERSON
Quote: "I think that a lot of people might really be ashamed of themselves if they could witness their own behavior. for some reason, it has become socially acceptable to treat waitstaff like indentured servants. People should just stop, take away all the tangents and remember that they are dealing with a PERSON, with feelings. It truly is amazing to see how people act, especially when they don't realize they are being watched (or worse yet, when they knowthey have an audience)."
"People seem to totally forget themselves. I have an aunt who is a pretty cool person, until she walks into a restaurant. Is there a sub-culture that gets some secret, subconscious thrill from being able to put themselves on apedastal above another person, just because that person is literally depending on YOU for their very livelihood? Some of the behaviors I have witnessed from restaurant guests is reprehensible, and if some people would stop to chill out and listen to themselves for a minute, they might truly be ashamed."

TAPPED OUT
Quote: "Just so you know, the bottled water service is not meant to rip the money out of your wallets, but a precaution we must take because believe it or not, there ARE people out there who refuse to drink tap water."
"I live in Georgia, and since we are in a drought, it is required by law that I offer you bottled water!"
" As a server I am required -- REQUIRED! -- to ask you if you would prefer bottled or tap water, or I will lose my job. Why? Because some bozos atthe head office ran a report that says the customer will purchase bottled water 75% of the time when I offer it. We all should know that companies are about making money -- which the mark-up on bottled water obviously does."

UP-SELLING IS MANDATORY
Quote: "I'll let you in on a little secret -- we have meetings on up-selling and suggestive selling, and yes we have to go and listen to someone explain the importance of upselling for 2 hours at the butt crack of dawn on a Saturday. Sounds fun doesn't it?"
"All of the restaurants I have ever worked in require the servers to not only up-sell (for example, from tap to bottled water) but also require that they offer specific appetizers, desserts, and alcoholicbeverages. And the consequences for not doing these things can be anything from getting a "bad" section to being fired."

I'M BEING WATCHED
Quote: "At our restaurant (and most other high end major restaurants) we have what we call a shopper. This person basically grades us on our job, without us knowing, and we have to hit several key points. For example, if a couple of people at a table ask for the same glass of wine, we must offer a bottle. And we must tell you about a feature that is off the menu. We must offer cracked pepper. If we do not do this, we are reprimanded and maybe even have some good shifts taken away until you can prove that you are a quality server.
"Anybody can be a secret shopper. If these aren't met the server can be fired on the first offense. think about that next time you think the server might be helping too much. They are not just trying to make more money they also trying to save their job."

PLEASE WATCH YOUR KIDS
Quote: "We would not need to use the sweepers or brooms on the floors, if you and your kids did not act like pigs, throwing everything on the floor, just because you don't have to clean it up!"
"We get tiredof people that allow their kids to throw food everywhere and behave like little animals simply because they don't have to clean it all up (for that big two dollar tip no less)."
"I clean up after kids that are monsters (even puke!). How can you takethem out and let them act like that?"
Please do not let your children run around the restaurant. It's dangerous. Waitresses come by with big heavy trays filled with hot food, and she can't always see a small child.

DEALING WITH CHANGE
(Note - in our blog comments, servers asking if change is needed was the most common customer complaint.)
Quote: "I don't understand the gripes about asking if you need change. I work at a restaurant andif someone has cash (and most of the time I don't know because our checks are in books) I can't read your mind if you have a twenty or a hundred in there and I am not going to look until I get to the register, because it's rude. I ask becausesome people do not need change and get offended if I don't ask. So if you need change say so."
"Many places do not require severs to carry cash on them, SO if you do need change we have to go to the bartender, wait for him/her to see me, wait to give him/her the cash, then wait for it to be returned to me (many times the bartender is busy so this can take several minutes) only to go BACK to your table and have you say "Oh it's for you." I could have helped other tables or done another tasks and could get that change later or at the end of the night. It is NOT our way of asking for a better tip! It is our way of saying "Do you need me to come back to this table anymore?"

WE'RE NOT THE COOKS
Quote: "We did not cook your food. We only brought it to you. It is okay, if the food is not to your satisfaction, for you to tell us this, and we will bring you something else. But please remember we are not COOKS, we are servers."
"A restaurant is not a McDonalds. Our food is not cooked ahead of time so please allow ample time. Most of our food is cooked to order. If your food comes out and its not satisfactory, please tell your waitress. It is her job to take it back and get you what you want, but keep in mind that she didn't cook the food so there is no reason to be nasty about it."
"If you order something well done, duh, it's going to take longer."

We'd like to note that many of the restaurant employees who responded in the blog comments seem to really, truly enjoy their profession and the customers they encounter, and feel that it's just a small minority of patrons who behave badly. Since both sides have had their say, perhaps we all might be more considerate of each others' needs while dining.

DNA seen through the eyes of a coder

DNA seen through the eyes of a coder or If you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

http://ds9a.nl/amazing-dna/ Interesting article about DNA structures ...

If you like this article, try out the fiction The Judas Strain by James Rollins

ASHCROFT

ASHCROFT

General Ashcroft is visiting an elementary school in late 2003. After the typical civics presentation to the class, he announces, "All right, boys and girls, you can all ask me questions now."

A young boy named Bobby raises his hand and says, "I have three questions:
1. How did Bush win the election with fewer votes than Gore?
2. Why are you using the USA Patriot Act to limit Americans' civil liberties?
3. Why hasn't the U.S. caught Osama bin Laden yet?"

Just then the bell sounds and all the kids run out to the playground. Fifteen minutes later, the kids come back in class and again. Ashcroft says, "I'm sorry we were interrupted by the bell. Now, you can all ask me questions."

A young girl named Charlene raises her hand and says, "I have five questions:
1. How did Bush win the election with fewer votes than Gore?
2. Why are you using the USA Patriot Act to limit Americans' civil liberties?
3. Why hasn't the U.S. caught Osama bin Laden yet?
4. Why did the bell go off 20 minutes early?
5. Where's Bobby?

Mexico & Titanic

FOR ALL OF YOU THAT WONDERED....

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank and the cargo was forever lost! The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning which they still observe to this day.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th . . . and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.

THERE IS NO CHAIR

THERE IS NO CHAIR
An eccentric philosophy professor gave a one question final exam after a semester dealing with a broad array of topics. The class was already seated and ready to go when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on top of his desk and wrote on the board: "Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist."

Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over 30 pages in one hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair. One member of the class however, was up and finished in less than a minute.

A week later when the grades were posted, the rest of the group wondered how he could have gotten an "A" when he had barely written anything at all.
His answer consisted of two words: "What chair?"

Post Box City: Chelyabinsk-40 Part II

Part – II

A Secret Facility
A close study of Powers' account of the U-2 mission flight shows that one of the last targets he had overflown was the Chelyabinsk-40, a secret facility town that had not appeared on any official maps.

Mayak is a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant between the towns of Kasli and Kyshtym 72 km northwest of Chelyabinsk in Russia. The plant is in the Ozersk central administrative territorial unit, formerly known as Chelyabinsk-40, later as Chelyabinsk-65, and part of the Chelyabinsk Oblast.

The Mayak plant was built in 1945-48, in a great hurry and in total secrecy, as part of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapon program. The plant's original mission was to make, refine, and machine plutonium for weapons. Five nuclear reactors were built for this purpose. Later the plant came to specialize in reprocessing plutonium from decommissioned weapons, and waste from nuclear reactors.

By photographing the facility, the heat rejection capacity of the reactors' cooling systems could be estimated, thus allowing a calculation of the power output of the reactors. This then allowed the amount of Plutonium being produced to be determined, thus allowing analysts to determine how many nuclear weapons the USSR was producing. Air defence missiles were positioned around Chelyabinsk-40 because of its extreme sensitivity.

In the early years of its operation, the Mayak plant released vast quantities of radioactively contaminated water into several small lakes near the plant, and into the Techa river, whose waters ultimately flow into the Ob River. The downstream consequences of this radiation pollution have yet to be determined.

Accidents

Working conditions at Mayak resulted in severe health hazards and many accidents, with a serious accident occurring in 1957. In the past 45 years, about half a million people in the region have been irradiated in one or more of the incidents, exposing some of them to more than 20 times the radiation suffered by the Chernobyl disaster victims.

The most notable accident occurred on 29 September 1957, when the failure of the cooling system for a tank storing tens of thousands of tons of dissolved nuclear waste resulted in a non-nuclear explosion having a force estimated at about 75 tons of TNT, which released some 20 MCi of radioactivity.

Subsequently, at least 200 people died of radiation sickness, 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes, and 470,000 people were exposed to radiation. People "grew hysterical with fear with the incidence of unknown 'mysterious' diseases breaking out. Victims were seen with skin 'sloughing off' their faces, hands and other exposed parts of their bodies." (Pollock 1978: 9) "Hundreds of square miles were left barren and unusable for decades and maybe centuries. Hundreds of people died, thousands were injured and surrounding areas were evacuated." (Zhores Medvedev, The Australian, 9.12.1976). This nuclear accident, the Soviet Union's worst before the Chernobyl disaster, is categorized as a level 6 "serious accident" on the 0-7 International Nuclear Events Scale.

Russians driving through the area in the 1960s and later found a deserted region where road signs ordered cars to close their windows and not stop for any reason (these directives may still be in force). Russians then relayed this information to Western contacts, and thus Western intelligence agencies came to know of this region. Rumours of a nuclear mishap somewhere in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk had long been circulating in the West. That there had been a serious nuclear accident west of the Urals was eventually inferred from research on the effects of radioactivity on plants, animals, and ecosystems, published by Professor Leo Tumerman, former head of the Biophysics Laboratory at the Institute of Molecular Biology in Moscow, and associates.

CIA Involvement

According to Gyorgy (1979: 128), who invoked the Freedom of Information Act to open up the relevant CIA files, the CIA knew of the 1957 Mayak accident all along, but kept it secret to prevent adverse consequences for the fledgling USA nuclear industry. "Ralph Nader surmised that the information had not been released because of the reluctance of the CIA to highlight a nuclear accident in the USSR, that could cause concern among people living near nuclear facilities in the USA" (Pollock 1978: 9). Only in 1992, shortly after the fall of the USSR, did the Russians officially acknowledge the accident.

On 10 December 1968, the facility was experimenting with plutonium purification techniques. Two operators were decanting plutonium solutions into the wrong type of vessel. After most of the solution had been poured out, there was a flash of light, and heat.

After the complex had been evacuated, the shift supervisor and radiation control supervisor re-entered the building. The shift supervisor then deceived the radiation control supervisor and entered the room of the incident and possibly attempted to pour the solution down a floor drain, causing a large nuclear reaction that irradiated the shift supervisor with a fatal dose of radiation.

The Mayak plant is associated with two other major nuclear accidents. The first occurred as a result of heavy rains causing Lake Karachay polluted with radioactive waste to release radioactive material into surrounding waters, and the second occurred in 1967 when wind spread dust from the bottom of Lake Karachay, a dried-up radioactively polluted lake (used as a dumping basin for Mayak's radioactive waste since 1951), over parts of Ozersk; over 400,000 people were irradiated.

Present Situation
At present, some residents of Ozersk claim that living there now (2006) poses no risk, because of the decrease in the ambient radiation level over the past 50 years. They also report no problems with their health and the health of Mayak plant workers. These claims lack hard verification, and no one denies that many who worked at the plant in 1950s and '60s subsequently died of the effects of radiation. While the situation has since improved, the administration of the Mayak plant has been repeatedly criticized in recent years for environmentally unsound practices

Today the plant makes tritium and radioisotopes, but no plutonium. In recent years, proposals that the plant reprocess, for money, waste from foreign nuclear reactors have given rise to controversy.

Post Box City: Chelyabinsk-40

Part – I: Gary Powers

In July 1957, Pakistani Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was requested by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to establish a secret U.S. intelligence facility in Pakistan and permission for the U-2 Spy-plane to fly from Pakistan. A facility established in Badaber, 10 miles from Peshawar, was a cover for a major communications intercept operation, run by the American NSA. Badaber was an excellent choice because of its proximity to Soviet Central Asia. This enabled monitoring of missile test sites and other communications.

The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed Dragon Lady, is a single-engine, high-altitude aircraft, earlier flown by the Central Intelligence Agency. The U-2 Spy-plane could reach altitudes of 80,000 feet, essentially making it invulnerable to Soviet anti-aircraft weapons of the time. The U-2 was equipped with a state-of-the-art camera designed to snap high-resolution photos from the edge of the atmosphere over hostile countries that included the Soviet Union. These cameras systematically photographed military installations and other important intelligence targets.

U-2 "spy-in-the-sky" was allowed to use the Pakistan Air Force portion of the Peshawar airport to gain vital photo intelligence in an era before satellite observation.

The Incident

On 9 April 1960, the U-2 Spy-plane of the special CIA unit "10-10" crossed the South national boundary of Soviet Union in the area of Pamir Mountains and flew over four Soviet top secret military objects: the Semipalatinsk Test Site, the Tu-95 air base, the Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) test site of the Soviet Air Defence Forces near Saryshagan, and the Tyuratam missile range (future Baikonur Cosmodrome). The plane was detected by the Soviet Air Defense Forces at 4:47 when it flew away by more than 250 km from the Soviet national boundary and avoided several attempts of interception using MiG-19 and Su-9 during the flight. After U-2 left the Soviet air space at 11:32, it was clear that CIA successfully performed an extraordinary intelligence operation. In spite of the negative Soviet diplomatic reaction, the next flight of U-2 Spy-plane from the Badaber airbase was planned on the 1st May.

Gary Powers

Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot and a veteran of several covert aerial reconnaissance missions.

Powers was born in Jenkins, Kentucky, and raised in Pound, Virginia, on the Virginia-Kentucky border. After graduating from Milligan College in Eastern Tennessee, Frank was commissioned in the United States Air Force in 1950. Upon completing his training (52-H) he was assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia as an F-84 Thunderjet pilot.
Later in 1956 when he was with the rank of captain he was recruited by the CIA because of his outstanding record in single engine jet aircraft.

He carried out espionage missions using U-2 to snap high-resolution photos of military installations and other important intelligence targets from the edge of the atmosphere over the Soviet Union.

On May 1, 1960, thirteen days before the scheduled opening of an East–West summit conference in Paris, a U.S. Lockheed U-2 left US base in Badaber on a mission to over-fly the Soviet Union, photographing ICBM sites in and around Sverdlovsk and Plesetsk, then land at Bodø in Norway.

Soviet intelligence, including the KGB, had been well aware of U-2 missions since 1956, but lacked the technology to launch counter-measures until 1960. All units of the Soviet Air Defence Forces in the Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Ural and later in the U.S.S.R. European Region and Extreme North were on red alert, expecting the planned mission of U-2.

Powers’ U-2, departed from a military airbase Badaber on May 1, 1960. Soon after the plane was detected, Lieutenant General of the Air Force Yevgeniy Savitskiy ordered the air-unit commanders "to attack the violator by all alert flights located in the area of foreign plane's course, and to ram as necessary".

Due to the U-2's extreme operating altitude, Soviet attempts to intercept the plane using fighter aircrafts failed. Moreover, the U-2's course was out of range of several of the nearest SAM sites, and one SAM site even failed to engage the violator since it wasn't on duty that day.

Soviets had shadowed his plane from a lower altitude, then took him down as he crossed over Sverdlosk, which was deep in enemy territory.

According to the official version of the event the U-2 was eventually hit and brought down near Degtyarsk, Ural Region, by a salvo of fourteen SA-2 Guideline (S-75 Dvina) surface-to-air missiles. However, the plane's pilot, Gary Powers, successfully bailed out and parachuted to safety, although in doing so he violated his orders to destroy the aircraft were he to be shot down. To make matters worse, Powers was unable to activate the plane's self-destruct mechanism, as instructed, before he parachuted safely to the ground, right into the hands of the KGB.

Powers had been issued with a modified silver dollar which contained a lethal, shellfish-derived saxitoxin, although in the event he did not use it. In bailing out, he neglected to disconnect his oxygen hose and struggled with it until it broke, enabling him to separate from the aircraft. A subsequent missile salvo also hit the aircraft, further damaging it and would likely have killed Powers outright (he was captured soon afterward).

The SAM command center was unaware that the plane was actually destroyed for more than 30 minutes. One of the Soviet fighters pursuing Powers was also destroyed in the missile salvo.

When the U.S. government learned of Powers' disappearance over the Soviet Union, it issued a cover statement claiming that a "weather plane" had crashed down after its pilot had "difficulties with his oxygen equipment." What U.S. officials did not realize was that the plane landed almost fully intact, and the Soviets recovered its photography equipment, as well as Powers.

Four days after Powers disappeared, NASA issued a very detailed press release noting that an aircraft had "gone missing" north of Turkey. The press release speculated that the pilot might have fallen unconscious while the autopilot was still engaged, even falsely claiming that "the pilot reported over the emergency frequency that he was experiencing oxygen difficulties." To bolster this, a U-2 plane was quickly painted in NASA colors and shown to the media.

After learning of this, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev announced to the Supreme Soviet, and thus the world, that a "spyplane" had been shot down but intentionally made no reference to the pilot. As a result, the Eisenhower Administration, thinking the pilot had died in the crash, authorized the release of a cover story claiming that the plane was a "weather research aircraft" which had strayed into Soviet airspace after the pilot had radioed "difficulties with his oxygen equipment" while flying over Turkey. The Eisenhower White House gracefully acknowledged that this might be the same plane, but still proclaimed that "there was absolutely no deliberate attempt to violate Soviet airspace and never has been", and attempted to continue the facade by grounding all U-2 aircraft to check for "oxygen problems."

On May 7, Khrushchev sprang his trap and announced:

“I must tell you a secret. When I made my first report I deliberately did not say that the pilot was alive and well… and now just look how many silly things the Americans have said”

Not only was Powers still alive, but his plane was also essentially intact. The Soviets managed to recover the surveillance camera and even developed some of the photographs. Powers’ survival pack, including 7500 rubles and jewellery for women, was also recovered.

Ultimately the whole incident set back the peace talks between Khrushchev and Eisenhower for years. The Paris Summit between president Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev collapsed, in large part because Eisenhower refused to accede to Khrushchev's demands that he apologize for the incident. Khrushchev left the talks on May 16.

They interrogated Powers extensively for months before he made a "voluntary confession" and public apology for his part in U.S. espionage. Powers plead guilty and was convicted of espionage on August 19 and sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment and 7 years of hard labor. He served one and three-quarter years of the sentence before being exchanged for Soviet KGB Colonel Vilyam Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel) February 10, 1962. The exchange occurred on the Glienicke Bridge connecting Potsdam, East Germany, to West Berlin.

Today a large part of the wreck as well as many items from the survival pack are on display at the Central Museum of Armed Forces in Moscow. A small piece of the plane was returned to the United States and is on display at the National Cryptologic Museum.

Another result of the crisis was that the U.S. Corona spy satellite project was accelerated, while the CIA accelerated the development of the A–12 OXCART supersonic spyplane that first flew in 1962 and began developing the Lockheed D-21/M-21 unmanned drone.

The incident severely compromised Pakistan security and worsened relations between the Soviet Union and Pakistan. As an attempt to put up a bold front, Pakistani General Khalid Mahmood Arif while commenting on the incident stated that, "Pakistan felt deceived because the US had kept her in the dark about such clandestine spy operations launched from Pakistan’s territory." The communications wing at Badaber was formally closed down on January 7, 1970.

Though Powers claimed he had not divulged details of the U-2 program, he received a cold reception upon his return to the United States. Initially, he was criticized for having failed to activate his aircraft’s self-destruct charge designed to destroy the camera, photographic film, and related classified parts of his aircraft before capture. In addition, others criticized him for deciding not to use an optional CIA-issued suicide pin to avoid pain and suffering in case of torture. After being debriefed extensively by the CIA, Lockheed, and the USAF, on March 6, 1962, he appeared before a Senate Armed Services Select Committee. During the proceeding it was determined that Powers followed orders, did not divulge any critical information to the Soviets, and conducted himself “as a fine young man under dangerous circumstances.”

Return to US

After his return, Powers worked for Lockheed as a test pilot, later he co-wrote a book called Operation Overflight: A Memoir of the U-2 Incident , and then worked as an airborne traffic reporter for radio station KGIL in the San Fernando Valley. He was then hired by Los Angeles television station KNBC to pilot their new "telecopter", a helicopter equipped with externally mounted 360 degree cameras.

Powers died on August 1, 1977, when, upon his return from covering brush fires in Santa Barbara County, his helicopter ran out of fuel and crashed along with KNBC cameraman George Spears.

Many have wondered or speculated on how an experienced pilot such as Powers could have allowed the aircraft to run out of fuel. Allegedly Powers knew his helicopter had a fuel gauge error. When Powers fuel gauge indicator displayed "Empty", he actually had enough fuel for thirty minutes of flight time remaining. Apparently an aviation mechanic fixed the fuel gauge in the KNBC helicopter, but Powers was not told of the correction. When he was returning to Burbank from the brush fire coverage Powers fuel gauge displayed "Empty", but thinking he had thirty minutes of flight time remaining, he continued flying and subsequently crashed. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1998, information was declassified revealing that Powers’ fateful mission had actually been a joint USAF/CIA operation. In 2000, on the 40th anniversary of Powers being shot down, his family was finally presented with his posthumously awarded Prisoner of War Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross and National Defense Service Medal. In addition, then CIA Director George Tenet authorized Powers to posthumously receive the CIA "Director's Medal" for extreme fidelity and courage in the line of duty.

According to his son, when asked how high he was when flying on May 1, 1960, Powers would often reply, "not high enough".

End of Part I

Chanakya

Chanakya is a great Indian politician, strategist and writer of 350 BC - 275 BC. He was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta (c. 340-293 BC), and architect for him to rise to power. Some scholars consider Chanakya to be "the pioneer economist of the world".

Chanakya had composed two books, Arthashastra and Nitishastra which is also know as Chanakya Niti. The Arthashastra discusses monetary and fiscal policies, welfare, international relations, and war strategies in detail. Nitishastra is a treatise on the ideal way of life, and shows Chanakya's in depth study of the Indian way of life.

Chanakya quotes

"A person should not be too honest.
Straight trees are cut first
and Honest people are victimised first."

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"Even if a snake is not poisonous,
it should pretend to be venomous."

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"The biggest guru-mantra is:
Never share your secrets with anybody. !
It will destroy you."

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"There is some self-interest behind every friendship.
There is no Friendship without self-interests.
This is a bitter truth."

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"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions -
Why am I doing it,
What the results might be and
Will I be successful.
Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."

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"As soon as the fear approaches near,
attack and destroy it."

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"Once you start a working on something,
don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it.
People who work sincerely are the happiest.."
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"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind.
But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
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"A man is great by deeds, not by birth."

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"Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them.
By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."

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"Books are as useful to a stupid person
as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
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"Education is the best friend.
An educated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth."

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Some more details @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanakya

Barack Hussein Obama II

Cultural Integrity

In an interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family. "Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher." Obama has seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family, six of them living, and a half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband. Soetoro-Ng is married to a Chinese Canadian. Obama's mother is survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham. In Dreams from My Father, Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War.

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Web Article

In a web article posted in December 2006 [mediamatters.org], right-wing pundit Debbie Schlussel argued that because Sen. Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein, his late, estranged father was of Muslim descent, and he has shown interest in his father's Kenyan heritage, Obama's "loyalties" must be called into question as he emerges as a possible Democratic presidential candidate.

Snippet taken from the site: http://mediamatters.org/items/200612200005

Schlussel's column fits into a larger pattern in the recent media coverage and commentary regarding Obama. Indeed, like Schlussel -- who has repeatedly appeared on MSNBC in the past -- numerous media figures have gone out of their way to highlight Obama's middle name in recent weeks:

- During MSNBC's special election coverage on November 7, co-anchor Chris Matthews remarked that Obama's "middle name is Hussein" and suggested that it would "be interesting down the road."

- On the December 5 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, senior political correspondent Carl Cameron told viewers: "Though he's written two books about himself already, most people know very little about Barack Hussein Obama Junior's uncommonly privileged life."

- On the December 11 edition of CNN's Situation Room, correspondent Jeanne Moos noted that "[o]nly one little consonant differentiates" Obama and Osama. She then added, "[A]s if that similarity weren't enough. How about sharing the name of a former dictator? You know his middle name, Hussein."

- On the December 11 edition of The Situation Room, CNN senior political analyst Jeff Greenfield compared the similarity of Obama's "business casual" clothing to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "jacket-and-no-tie look." Greenfield concluded the segment by saying: "Now, it is one thing to have a last name that sounds like Osama and a middle name, Hussein, that is probably less than helpful. But an outfit that reminds people of a charter member of the axis of evil, why, this could leave his presidential hopes hanging by a thread." He later explained on the CNN website that he was making "a joke."

- On the December 14 edition of Hardball, NBC's Mike Viqueira announced "a man named Barack Obama, whose middle name, incidentally, is Hussein, running for president."

From Schlussel's December 18 column:

Many months ago, readers began asking me whether Barack Obama is Muslim. Since he identifies as a Christian, I said, "no," and responded that he was not raised by his Kenyan father.

But, then, I decided to look further into Obama's background. His full name -- as by now you have probably heard -- is Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Hussein is a Muslim name, which comes from the name of Ali's son -- Hussein Ibn Ali. And Obama is named after his late Kenyan father, the late Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., apparently a Muslim.

And while Obama may not identify as a Muslim, that's not how the Arab and Muslim Streets see it. In Arab culture and under Islamic law, if your father is a Muslim, so are you. And once a Muslim, always a Muslim. You cannot go back. In Islamic eyes, Obama is certainly a Muslim. He may think he's a Christian, but they do not.

Then, there are the other items in his background. As best-selling author Scott Turow wrote in Salon, Obama went to a Muslim school for two years in Indonesia. His mother, Anna, married an Indonesian man (likely another Muslim, as Indonesia is Muslim-dominated and has the largest Islamic population in the world).

And Obama has a "born-again" affinity for the nation of his Muslim father, Kenya, and his Kenyan sister. (Although Kenya is largely Christian, it has a fast-growing Muslim population that has engaged in a good deal of religious violence and riots against Christians. And Kenyan courts will apply Sharia law, when the participants are Muslim.) Wrote Turow:

Obama's father died in a traffic accident in Nairobi in 1982, but while Obama was working in Chicago, he met his Kenyan sister, Auma, a linguist educated in Germany who was visiting the United States. When she returned to Kenya in 1986 to teach for a year at the University of Nairobi, Obama finally made the trip to his father's homeland he had long promised himself. There, he managed to fully embrace a heritage and a family he'd never fully known and come to terms with his father, whom he'd long regarded as an august foreign prince, but now realized was a human being burdened by his own illusions and vulnerabilities.

So, even if he identifies strongly as a Christian, and even if he despised the behavior of his father (as Obama said on Oprah); is a man who Muslims think is a Muslim, who feels some sort of psychological need to prove himself to his absent Muslim father, and who is now moving in the direction of his father's heritage, a man we want as President when we are fighting the war of our lives against Islam? Where will his loyalties be?

Is that even the man we'd want to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, if Hillary Clinton offers him the Vice Presidential candidacy on her ticket (which he certainly wouldn't turn down)?

NO WAY, JOSE ... Or, is that, HUSSEIN?

Visit Debbie Schlussel site for more details: http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/12/barack_hussein.html

Anna Hazare and Ralegan Siddhi

Just do it

Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare (January 15, 1940), is an Indian social activist who is especially recognized for his contribution to the development of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Govt. of India, in 1992.

Making of Ralegan Siddhi into a model village
Ralegan Siddhi was one of the worst victims, hopeless social and economic situation and irresponsible village leadership before 1975 when Kisan Baburao Hazare, affectionately know as Anna Hazare served in Indian army, until he retired voluntarily in 1975. His close brush with death in the 1965 war changed the course of his life. He decided to dedicate himself to work for the welfare of others and returned to work for the betterment of his own village.

The dilapidate condition of the temple in Ralegan Siddhi, from where wood had been used to fuel the liquor dens, symbolized to Anna the condition of the village. Since the temple represents the cultural heart of a community, Anna felt that renovation of the temple would be the best way to demonstrate his unselfish motives and created an interest in his activities. With his provident fund of Rs.20,000/-, Anna began the Renovation. Inspired by his selfless devotion, first the youth, then the rest of villagers slowly began to rally around him. Villagers, especially the youth group began gathering here everyday to discuss their problems and matters related to the welfare of village.

Watershed development

Anna Hazare says, you cannot expect a hungry man to live by principles. His first priority will be to feed himself and his family. Even though jobs, mostly government and army, provided economic certainties for a few, most of the population still dependent on agriculture in Ralegan Siddhi. Anna realized that the only way to increase agricultural production in a sustainable manner was to build better irrigation system. Taking into account the geographical location of Ralegan, located in the foothills, Anna Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase ground water level. The first embankment that was built using volunteer efforts developed a leak and had to reconstructed this time with government funding.

Anna also took steps to stop the second big problem, soil erosion. In order to conserve soil and water by checking the run off, contour trenches and gully plugs were constructed along the hill slopes. Grass, shrubs and about 3 lakh trees were planted along the hillside and the village. This process was supplemented by afforestation, nullah bunds, underground check dams and cemented bandhras at strategic locations. The Watershed Development program turned into a huge success and helped increase the fortunes of many farmers as they now had a reliable source of water. Ralegan has also experimented with drip and bi-valve irrigation in a big way. Papaya, lemon and chillies have been planted on a plot of eighty acres entirely irrigated by the drip irrigation system. Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugar cane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds and certain cash crops with low water requirements were grown. The farmers started growing high yield varieties of crop and the cropping pattern of the village also changed.

As a result of this total agricultural production went up from 294.3 tones in 1975-76 to 1386.2 tones in 1985-86. At current prices it meant an increase from INR 346,000 to INR 3,173,000 i.e. 4.7 fold increases in quantity and a 9-fold increase in value.

Grain bank

As the production of grain increased in the village, the farmers who had excess grain were to voluntarily donate grain to the "Grain Bank" which was started in 1983. Villagers who did not have enough grain could "borrow" grain from this bank. The idea was to ensure that no villager would have to borrow money to meet food requirements. The grain from the "Grain Bank" is given in the form of loan and is monitored by the youth group.

Restoring the green cover
Trees are the greatest friend a man can have, they keep environment clean and healthy. They also fulfill the fuel & fodder needs of village. Recognizing this, the villagers undertook a massive tree plantation drive. Almost 300,000 to 400,000 trees were planted and nurtured. "Social fencing" was introduced whereby villagers voluntarily prevented cattle, goats and sheep from grazing freely. Open grazing was completely banned with a new emphasis on stall-feeding (Kurhad Bandi). The Sarpanch (head of the village council) of Ralegan narrates: "There is a surplus of fuel wood and fodder. We now help neighbouring villages in their time of need." As fodder became available in abundance, the productivity and number of milk animals increased.

Uprooting alcoholism
As the next step towards social and economical change, Anna Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of Alcoholism and ensured that all legal or illegal liquor shops and brewing was closed down. Also villagers were prohibited from consuming alcohol by obtaining from neighboring villages. The villagers decided that those men would be given three warnings, after which they would be physically punished. Twelve men who were found in a drunken state even after initial warnings were tied to a pole with help of youth group and flogged. Anna Hazare says, “Doesn’t a mother administer bitter medicines to a sick child when she knows that the medicine can cure her child? The child may not like the medicine, but the mother does it only because she cares for child. The alcoholics were punished so that their families would not be destroyed.”

It is now twenty five years since such measure were used to cure the village of alcoholism. Along with the removal of alcohol from the village, it was decided to ban sale of tobacco, cigarettes and beedies. In order to implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in ‘Holi’ fire. From that day, no tobacco, cigarettes, beedies is sold in any shop at Ralegan Siddhi.

Milk production
As a secondary occupation, milk production was promoted in Ralegan. Purchase of new cattle and improvement of the existing breed with the help of artificial insemination and timely guidance and assistance by the veterinary doctor has resulted in an improvement in the cattle stock. The milk production has also increased. Crossbred cows are replacing the local ones which give a low milk yield. The number of milk cattle has also been growing. This resulted in growth from one hundred liters (before 1975) to around 2500 liters per day which is sent to a co-operative dairy in Ahmednagar. Some milk is also given to Balwadi (Kindergarten or a play school in Ralegan Siddhi) children & neighboring village under the child nutrition program.

From the surplus generated, the milk society bought a mini-truck and a thresher. The mini-truck besides transporting milk to Ahmednagar is also used for taking vegetables and other produce directly to the market, thus eliminating intermediate agents. The thresher is rented out to the farmers during the harvesting season. Today Ralegan Siddhi earns nearly INR 10,000,000 per annum on dairy.

Education
In the year 1932 Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single class room primary school. In the year 1962, the villagers via community volunteer effort added more classrooms. By the year 1971 out of estimated population of 1209 only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to nearby towns to pursue higher education. But due to socio-economic conditions girls couldn't do the same and were limited to primary education. Anna Hazare along with the youth of Ralegan siddhi worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In year 1976 they started Pre School to the primary school and a high school in 1979. The villagers started taking active interest in the village school and formed a trust called “Sant Yadav Baba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal”. The trust decide to take over the functioning of the village school which was in bad state due to government neglect and also lack of interest on behalf of teachers who were moonlighting.

The trust got a government grant to the amount of INR 400,000 was got for the school building. A new school building was built in next 2 months with volunteer efforts and the money got via grant. A new hostel was also constructed to house 200 students from weaker sections of the society. After opening of the school in the village, a girl student from Ralegan Siddhi completed her S.S.C in 1982 for the first time. Since then the school has been instrumental in bringing in lots of changes to the village.

Collective marriages
Most rural poor get into a debt-trap as they have to incur heavy expenses at the time of marriage of their son or daughter. It is an undesirable practice but has almost become a social obligation. Ralegan's people have started celebrating marriages collectively. The feast is held together where the expenses are further reduced by the Tarun Mandal taking the responsibility of cooking and serving the food. The vessels, the Loud-speaker system, the mandap and the decorations have also been bought by the Tarun Mandal members belonging to the oppressed castes. From 1976 to 1986, four hundred and twenty four marriages have been held under this system.

Gram Sabha
The Gram sabha is an important forum for collective decision making in the villages. If villagers are involved in planning and decision making process, they are more open to any changes taking place in the village. In Ralegan Siddhi, the Gram Sabha meetings are held periodically to discuss issues relating to the welfare of village. Projects like Watershed development activities are undertaken only after they are discussed in the Gram Sabha. All decision were taken in the Gram Sabha. Decisions are taken in a simple majority consensus. In case of difference of opinion the majority consensus becomes acceptable. The decision of the Gram Sabha is accepted as final.

In addition to panchayat, there are several registered societies that take care of various projects and activities of the village. Each society presents its annual report and statement of accounts in the Gram Sabha every year. The “Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandali” monitors the educational activities. The “Vivid karyakari society” gives assistance and provides guidance to farmers regarding fertilizers, seeds, organic farming, financial assistance, etc. “Sri Sant Yadavbaba Doodh Utpadhak Sahakari sansta” gives guidance regarding the dairy business. Seven Co-operative irrigation society provides water to the farmers from cooperative wells. “Mahila Sarvage Utkarsh Mandal” attends welfare needs of the women.

Village birthday
In order to foster a sense of unity in the village, the Ralegan Siddhi family celebrate a village annual birthday on 2 October of every year. On that day:

* The eldest male villager is honoured as father of the village.
* The eldest female villager is honored as the mother of the village.
* New clothes are stitched for every infant born in the village during the past year, irrespective of the child's caste or religion.
* New brides who have come to the village during the past year are welcomed with the traditional offering of coconut, as they are the daughters-in-law of the village.
* Students who have been successful in education are honored.
* Youth from the village who have achieved something special are honored.
* All villagers gather in the evening during this occasion and have dinner together to celebrate the event.

Present
Today Anna has almost acquired the stature of a saint. He donated his land for the hostel building. He gives his pension money to the village fund. A confirmed bachelor, he lives in the village temple with a bare minimum of personal belongings. He eats simple food normally cooked for the hostel boys. Both his parents and brothers stay in the village but they are no different from him than any other family in the village. This moral authority growing out of his selfless life has made him an unquestioned leader of the village.
Anna's moral code of conduct is also quite strict. Anna believes that punishment is an essential component of the process to bring about conformity to social morality. When a child stole a fruit from a tree on the common lands, he was tied to a pole and the fruits were kept before him to teach him a moral lesson. The fruit bearing trees are not protected by any watchman. Not a single fruit is stolen and ripe fruits are distributed to balwadi children and the school children. Public beating was used not to create terror but to bring public shame on the defaulter so that he/she exercises more self-control. People are proud of Ralegan's achievements and they have a share and a stake in its glory. Therefore they would not do anything which will hurt Anna or bring a bad name to the village.

Arrest
Anna Hazare was arrested in 1998 when a defamation suit was filed against him by then Maharashtra Social Welfare minister Babanrao Golap. He was released following public uproar.

Early Life
Anna Hazare was born in a poor family. His father Baburao Hazare was an unskilled labourer and his grandfather worked for the army. The family's financial situation was tough. Baburao's sister, who was childless offered to take care of Anna and took him to Mumbai. Anna's father, Baburao had troubles meeting end and eventually had to sell of his farmland making life tough for the family. This forced Anna who was in Mumbai and just completed his seventh grade in school to take up a job. Anna worked for a florist at Dadar, Mumbai earning about forty rupees a month. He eventually started his own flower shop. Two of his brothers came to Mumbai to join him in his business increasing the family earnings soon to about Rs700 to Rs800 rupees a month.

In a couple of years Anna fell into bad company and started wasting his time and money on vices. He also started getting involved in brawls and fights, especially when he found some simple person being harassed by goons. He became irregular in sending money to his family. The word went around in Ralegan that he had become a bad character himself. In one such fight, Anna bashed up a person rather badly. Fearing arrest, he avoided coming to his regular work and residence for some time. During this period (in April 1960) he appeared in Army recruitment interviews and was selected to join the Indian Army.

For his initial training, he was sent to Aurangabad. After training, he was posted in Punjab as a truck driver. Being far away from home and separated from all his friends, Anna felt lonely. He also had bouts of depression and a feeling of aimlessness in life. He had once resolved to end his life and even wrote a suicide note. However, on further reflection, he realized that his suicide may affect the marriage prospects of his younger sister. Therefore, he decided to postpone the implementation of his resolution until his sister got married.

In the meantime, some events gave his life a new direction. During the Indo-Pak war of 1965, he was driving a military vehicle somewhere on the western front when he saw a Pakistani plane flying low overhead. He and his colleagues jumped out of the vehicle and took shelter in the nearby bushes, lying flat on the ground. The truck was blown up and all his colleagues were killed, but Anna escaped unhurt.

In yet another incident, Anna had a near escape when he was posted in Nagaland. One night, underground Nagas attacked the military post and killed all the inmates. Anna had gone out to answer nature's call at that time and, hence, he was the lone survivor. These two events had a deep impact on Anna's mind. He realized that his life was not to be wasted and he came to believe that God considered his life to be precious. Otherwise, he thought, he could have had died along with his colleagues in either of these incidents.

When these thoughts were churning in his mind, he came across a small booklet titled Call to the Youth for Nation Building by Swami Vivekananda in a book-stall at the New Delhi station.

Vivekananda thoughts gave meaning to his life and he decided to devote the rest of his life working for the society. He read many more books by Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. His thoughts started developing and in 1970 he told his parents about his decision not to get married. He urged his parents to go ahead and arrange the marriage of his younger brothers. The new-found desire to live beyond his narrow self interest later drove him to seek voluntary retirement from the Army and come back to serve his own village.

He wanted his native village, Ralegan Siddhi, to improve, but did not know how and where to start. He sought retirement and, finally, in August 1975, he got relieved from the Army and came back to Ralegan Siddhi for good.

Awards
- Padmashree award by government of India in the year 1990
- Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra award, by government of India on November 19, 1986 from the hands of Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
- Krishi Bhushana award by Maharashtra government in 1989.
- Felicitation by Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation 15 January 1987
- Felicitation by Pune Municipal Corporation.
- On April 15, 2008, Kisan Baburao Hazare received the World Bank's 2008 Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service: "Hazare created a thriving model village in Ralegan Siddhi, in the impoverished Ahmednagar region of Maharashtra state, and championed the right to information and the fight against corruption."

Quotations
Anna's philosophy is a mix of Hindu spiritualism and modern Hindu thinkers like Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave. Various quotations taken from Anna's lectures reflect this philosophy and his the foundation of his concept of model village.

* Over every huge tree that we see over-ground, there always is a seed that had submerged itself into the darkness of the soil.
* Ban on consumption and sale of alcohol lays the foundation of rural development.
* It is impossible to change the village without transforming the individual. Similarly it is impossible to transform the country without changing its villages.
* If villages are to develop, politics have to be kept out.
* Education without spirituality cannot help development.
* Money alone does not bring development, but it certainly corrupts.
* In the process of rural development, social and economic development should go hand in hand.
* The work of social transformation is neither easy nor impossible.
* The ultimate goal of all politics and social work should be the upliftment of society and of the nation.
* Books alone cannot prepare future citizens, it requires cultural inputs to do so.
* Educational institutions are not enough to make good citizens, every home should become an educational center.
* Indulgence causes disease whereas sacrifice leads to accomplishment.
* One should not accept anything free; accepting charity makes one lazy and dependent.
* It is experience that gives the direction but it is youth that gives the drive to every plan.
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Cell Phone Myths Debunked

You've probably heard a lot of urban legends about cell phones. They cause cancer. They crash planes. Like many myths and rumors, many of these stories are based on speculation, misunderstanding of technology, and outright lies. Then again, some of them have facts and experts to support them.

Here, we sorts through the mess and explains some of the most popular rumors and legends. Whether you believe or not is up to you.

Cell phones crash planes
Myth: If you use a cell phone while flying, the signal can interfere with the plane's compass and navigation systems, possibly leading to a crash.

True or False? It's debatable.

Anyone who's flown knows that flight attendants ask you to turn off all electronics, including phones, until after takeoff. According to one pilot who was interviewed by ABC News, the reason for this is so you pay attention to safety instructions, and, in the case of an aborted liftoff, "I don't want a laptop flying across the cabin."

A UK study in 2003 showed some interference with compasses and navigation systems, but that was done in controlled settings, not on real planes. More recent studies by the NASA and the FAA have found no instances where a cell phone caused a crash, although some pilots claimed otherwise.

Currently, the approach is "better safe than sorry," but they say that systems in aircraft are shielded enough not to be disrupted. As soon as it's proven that there's no link or threat, you'll be able to talk someone's ear off instead of watching the crappy in-flight movie.


Cell phones can cause gas station fires
Myth: While pumping gas, using or turning on your phone can release a charge of static electricity that will ignite the fuel.

True or false? False.

This rumor dates back to the '90s, when a phony e-mail made the rounds of people's in-boxes around the world. The e-mail claimed that Shell Oil had issued a warning about three instances of cell phones causing fires at the pumps. When contacted about it in 2003, Shell claimed it was a complete hoax and that it wasn't aware of any such incidents.

While it has been proved that static electricity can cause fuel vapors to combust, cell phones do not emit a strong enough amount to ignite anything. Smoking, however, will still cause problems.

Cell phones cause cancer
Myth: Prolonged cell phone use can cause brain cancer or tumors because of radiation.

True or false? Debatable.

Ever since cell phones became popular, both the media and average people have claimed that cell phones can cause cancer. Unfortunately, there have been many medical studies on the issue and they still don't offer any definitive proof.

A 2005 study of 4,000 Europeans by the Institute of Cancer Research found no link to any types of cancer among regular phone users, but did say that radiation could potentially cause adverse effects, so moderation was recommended.

Last month, an Israeli scientist claimed that phone use causes tumors in salivary glands, saying that regular users had an increased risk of 50% for developing tumors. A few weeks before that, an Australian cancer specialist said the exact opposite (same goes for coffee and breast implants).

For now, this one seems like a personal choice, so proceed at your own risk.

Cell phones can be used to open up locked cars.
Myth: Broadcasting the sound of a remote keyless entry device over a phone can open up a locked car.

True or false? False

The rumor is that if you have an extra key remote at home, you can call someone and have them hit the open button while you hold your phone up to the lock. Well, those entry systems use radio waves and proximity – think about when you've tried to open your car from too far a distance – and can't be transmitted over a phone.

Unfortunately, if you lock your keys in the car, you'll have to get your spare set or AAA to open it for you.

Cell phones use #77 instead of 911 for emergency calls
Myth: Dial 112 anywhere in the world to reach emergency services, or dial #77 to reach highway patrol anywhere in the U.S.

True or false? Mostly false.

You've probably heard a variation of this story: a woman gets pulled over by an unmarked car, suspects the cop is a fake, calls one of these numbers and is connected to a local police force that tells her that he is, in fact, a fake, and she escapes.

First off, neither of these numbers will automatically connect you to someone who can tell you right away that you're in danger. Calling #77 in some parts of the U.S. will connect you to the local highway patrol, but in many areas it won't.

The solution? Dial 911. It will connect you every time and it's the same amount of keystrokes.

The other is that 112 is a worldwide emergency mobile number that you can call from any location if you're in trouble. Well, you can call 112 in many foreign countries, as it is the standard emergency number, especially from GSM phones in roaming areas, but the number will not work in the U.S.

Again, stick to 911 domestically, and, go online to find out what the local emergency number is in another country before you leave the U.S.

Dialing a special code gives you extra battery life
Myth: Entering *3370# or some other code will unlock a reserve amount of battery to allow you to make another call.

True or false? False.

Sure, it'd be nice if this trick really worked but, unfortunately, once a battery's drained, you're out of luck. One European Nokia executive even called this idea "pure science fiction." Some phones actually use codes like that to enhance voice quality, which decreases battery life.

Instead, keep your phone charged and don't rely on this one.

Cell phones interfere with hospital equipment
Myth: Cell signals disrupt hospital equipment and can kill patients.

True or false? False.

Many uniformed people have claimed that the radio frequency signals from phones somehow screw up medical technology in hospitals, so it's unsafe to use your phone in any of these settings. Even some hospitals have cell phone bans as a way to avoid this potentially life-threatening scenario.

Thanks to a study by the Mayo Clinic, this was proved to be completely untrue. 300 tests using two cell phones, four carriers, and 192 medical devices were conducted at the clinic's Rochester campus over five months and not one problem occurred. The study even recommended that hospitals lift their bans, so you can forget about this one.

Hitting a button gets you a number that will help you get your phone back if it's stolen
Myth: Pressing *#06# will give you a serial number that you can use to prevent your stolen phone from being used and help investigators find it.

True or false? Both.

Yes, entering the code *#06# on many phones with GSM (those from T-Mobile or AT&T Wireless) will bring up a 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI number that is unique to your phone. It's also usually printed underneath the battery. Depending on your carrier, you could use this number, if you wrote it down, to flag the phone as invalid if someone tries to use it with a different SIM card or provider. Unfortunately, this doesn't really do much for you in terms of getting your phone back.

The smarter option is to just report the phone as stolen to your service provider, which protects your account from unwanted charges. And invest in some handset insurance since phones just about top the list of most frequently stolen gadgets.

Cell phone use lowers sperm count
Myth: Carrying a phone in your pocket and constant use can lower your sperm count (that is, if you're a guy).

True or false? True

Sorry fellas, but if you're on your phone all the time, you might have a lower sperm count or abnormal swimmers.

A study at a Ohio fertility clinic tested 361 men with infertility issues and divided them based on cell phone usage. Those who used their phone more than four hours a day were found to have much lower sperm counts and higher amounts of poor quality semen.

The study is being reviewed currently, as it didn't take other factors such as drug use into account, and follow-up studies will also test electromagnetic radiation on sperm cells in labs to see if they're directly affected.

It will be a while before we know anything for sure, but in the meantime, you might want to keep your talk time down.