I Love You

I read this somewhere. I thought I would share this with you. 

In a relationship seminar for women, the leader asked “who loves her husband”. Almost all the participants raised their hands. The leader then asked the participants to send an SMS message to their husbands with the text “I love you, darling”.

Some of the replies they got: 

1. Who are you? 

2. Mother my children, are you ill? 

3. I love you 

4. What you did do to the car? 

5. What do you want? 

6. ??? 

7. Be direct, how much do you need? 

8. Do I dream? 

9. If you do not tell me to whom you wanted to send this, I will kill you! 

10. I told you to stop drinking 

11. Regardless of what you want, the answer is no!

Self-Immolation

A supporter of Donlad Trump set himself on fire across the courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial. 

Actually, the practice of self-immolation was started in India many centuries ago thru sati. This was a practice in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. This practice was stopped by Lord William Bentinck in 1829. He was the first Governor General of British-ruled India. 

In modern history, the first self-immolation was conducted by Thich Quang Duc during the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese monk set himself on fire in Saigon in 1963 in protest of the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. A few others in USA self-immolated as a means protest during the Vietnam War. 

Many Tibetans set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule in Tibet. 

Self-immolation was not just to protest war. During the 1960s several people in Tamil Nadu self-immolated in protest of the implementation of Hindi as a national language. 

Some psychologists call self-immolation is a form of suicide and due to mental illness. 

Do these people achieve their goal by doing self-immolation. I know, at least in one instant, they did not. And here are the details. 

Vaiko was an upcoming leader in the DMK party. Karunanidhi thought Vaiko may become a competition for his son Stalin. So Vaiko was thrown out of the DMK party. He formed his own new party called MDMK. Many people who followed Vaiko came out of DMK and joined Vaiko’s new party. 5 followers of Vaiko who could not bear him being thrown out of DMK self-immolated and died. 

Vaiko kept the photos of these 5 guys in the living room of his home. But what is happening today! The same Vaiko begged Stalin for a single seat for his son during the recent Lok Sabha election. Those 5 guys would be spinning in their graves.

In Search of Food

Decided to go to Davis, California, today. Wrong decision. 

Today, Sunday, is Easter Sunday. Religious holiday. Freeways were flooded with cars and traffic jam. Davis is 77 miles (124 km) from my home. Usually, it takes about one hour and 7 minutes. Today, it took more than 2 hours. 

There were 2 of us visiting a student in Davis. University of California is located there. It is a typical university town. That means 95% of the population is connected with the University. Students, Professors, Staff, etc. 

We were looking for a restaurant to eat lunch. Never try to eat out lunch on a religious holiday. Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas. Most of the restaurants will be closed, except of course fast-food joints like McDonald’s, Taco Bell. It also depends upon the franchisees. 

Mexican restaurant was the unanimous choice of all 3 of us. The local host said he knows a very good restaurant and we drove there. It was closed due to Easter Sunday. He said he knows another restaurant. This time I told him to call and enquire if they are open. He called and said they are open. We drove there. They are open but only for “take-out” and no sit-down lunch. 

There was a momos restaurant that was open nearby. But I vetoed it because I don’t like momos. 

We walked aimlessly for 15 minutes. Then I saw an Indian restaurant. I said we can go there. The other 2 guys were reluctant because they are not fond of Indian cuisine. The host even said he never heard of this restaurant.  I said at least we should try this restaurant. 

It was a all you can eat buffet. I usually avoid Buffet in Indian restaurants. They would advertise 14 items. At least 8 of them are different pickles, salad, raita, and papad. It was a pleasant surprise in this Indian restaurant. Buffett consisted of the following: 

Onion Pakoda, White Rice, Veggie Briyani, Chicken Briyani, 6 veggie dishes, 6 chicken dishes, naan, and gulab jamun. 

We came out satisfied. Went in expecting a 2 but came out with a 7.

Juicy Court Case

Donald Trump is facing many court cases as a result of his disagreement with the 2020 Presidential election results. They are: 

Classified Document Case – Trump is charged with taking secret classified documents with him when he left office in 2021. 

Election Interference – Trump is charged with instigating his supporters to protest at the Capitol building (Parliament) challenging the election results. 

On the above 2 cases, Trump is pleading Presidential Immunity. That is, he is absolutely immune from any law suit while in office. The prosecutors rejected this argument. They asked the supreme court to rule. The SC refused and asked them to go thru court of appeals. The court of appeals rejected Trump’s claim. Now Trump has appealed this to the Supreme Court and they said they will hear his case. (Remember Supreme Court has 6 to 3 judges in favor of Trump.)

Now for the juicy court case. 

State of Georgia – Trump and 18 others have charged with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law by scheming to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss. Miss Fani Willis is the District Attorney (Public Prosecutor) handling the case. She appointed in 2022 a special prosecutor named Nathan Wade to be the lead prosecutor to handle this case. Mr. Wade was paid $650,000 for this. 

One of the defendants’ lawyers filed a motion with the judge that Willis had an improper and clandestine relationship with Wade and demanded all charges against her client be dropped. That lawyer argued that Willis should be disqualified from the case because “the district attorney chose to appoint her romantic partner.” 

Willis admitted her romantic relationship with Wade but said it happened after she appointed Wade in 2022. But the opposition lawyer filed that the romance began in 2019 and she knowingly appointed her romantic partner in 2022 and paid him $650,000. The lawyer claimed they took trips out of the country and cruise. Willis testified that she reimbursed Wade for her portion of the expenses thru cash and other means. (I wonder what other means mean) 

The judge gave his ruling today. Either Willis or Wade withdraw from the case. This will help Trump because when his trial begins along with 18 others, their lawyers will bring up this case again and again in front of a jury. 

Latest news. Special Prosecutor and boyfriend Wade resigned.

Strange but True

A friend of mine used to go to his uncle’s home in a village to spend his summer vacation. There were about 15 of his cousins spending the summer vacation there. 

They had a huge backyard with lots of trees. Mainly coconut trees. Plus a few others like many vegetables, curry leaves tree, banana trees, orange trees, and a lone tall jackfruit tree (in Tamil Palaappazha maram). 

Even though everything was producing results, the jackfruit tree was not producing any result. It has been there for more than 10 years. 

One day, the aunt called my friend and asked him to do a favor. She asked him to get naked and go to the backyard and hug the jackfruit tree and come back. My friend said what the heck are you talking about. I will not do that. But the aunt begged him and since he loved his aunt, he said I will do this on 2 conditions. 

I will do this when no one is home. 

You should never ever tell anyone I did this. 

Auntie agreed. One day auntie sent all the other cousins to a movie in a nearby town. My friend undressed, got naked, went to the backyard, hugged the jackfruit tree for just a second, came back home and got dressed. The whole episode took less than 30 seconds.

 Auntie never talked about this incident to anyone. No one else knew. 

Bingo, from next year onwards, that jackfruit tree gave at least 10 to 15 fruits every year for the next several years. 

Is this a coincidence or is this a strange phenomenon!

Republican Primary Update

So far, there have been primary election in 3 States. Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Donald Trump trounced his opponents in all 3 states. There were only 3 people contesting against Trump. 

Vivek Ramaswamy – withdrew from the contest after the Iowa primary and gave full support to Trump. 

Ron DeSantis – withdrew from the contest after the New Hampshire primary. 

Nikki Haley – South Carolina is her home state. She was a popular Governor of that state. But Donald Trump trounced her today by a margin of 60% to 40%. Nikki does not want to quit. She wants to fight Trump in the coming primaries. Next primary is on March 5. It is called Super Tuesday. 15 States and one union territory will be voting. It looks like Trump will be the victor on Super Tuesday also. 

Mr. Trump says he is considering 6 people for the Vice President slot. Two of them are Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard. 

Tulsi was a Democrat and resigned from that party in 2022. With the name “Tulsi”, lot of people think she is of Indian origin. She is not. She is an American Samoan born and brought up in Hawaii. Tulsi is a vegetarian and a practicing Hindu. She is a combat veteran holding the rank of Lt.Col. Well liked by people in both parties. 

Stay tuned for Super Tuesday.

Yogi's Quotes

I was reading a news item that said: 

“This application is déjà vu all over again”. 

This is one of the famous quotes by Yogi Berra. He was the Manager for the New York Yankees, a professional baseball team. But Yogi Berra was more famous for his quotes, ala, Rajni Kanth quotes. I don’t know if I wrote a blog post about Yogi’s quotes or not. Anyhow, here are some of his famous quotes. 

It ain’t over till it’s over. 

You can observe a lot just by watching. 

He must have made that movie before he died (referring to an actor). 

I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early. 

If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him. 

Baseball is 90% mental – other half is physical. 

Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. 

I take a 2-hour nap – from 1 o’clock to 4 o’clock. 

Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel. 

It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility. 

You should always go to the other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours. 

If the fans don’t come out to the ball park, you can’t stop them. 

And finally, my favorite: 

Yogi goes to a pizza corner and ordered a pizza. The waiter asked if Yogi wants him to make 6 slices or 8 slices of the pizza. Yogi said: I am very hungry and so make it 8 slices.

War Over Tea

It is after all just tea. Can a war break out between 2 countries? That too between USA and England? 

There was already a problem with USA and England. On December 16, 1773, Boston citizens, angry over imposing taxation without representation, dumped several bags of tea imported by British East India Company into the harbor. That was called “The Boston Tea Party”. This was the first major act of defiance to the British rule by the Americans. This rallied the Americans to fight for independence from the British. 

Americans did not get independence from the British. They kicked the British out of their country and declared independence. 

Now another brouhaha is happening over tea between USA and England. A Chemistry Professor in USA advised adding a pinch of salt to cups of tea. She also encouraged drinkers to steep their tea quickly by dunking and squeezing the bags. 

Her name is Michelle Francl. She said “But even after all these years of drinking tea and researching chemistry, I learned new things about what is in my cup and how to make the very best cup of tea.” 

She writes that sodium helps to block a chemical reaction that makes tea taste bitter, and claims squeezing teabags reduces “sour-tasting tannins.” 

Her ideas have sparked uproar in England. The US Embassy in London has to distance itself from this research. 

UK Government responded: “We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly... Tea can only be made using a kettle.” 

The US Embassy made a statement: “The US Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way — by microwaving it.” 

And for now, World War 3 between these two friendly countries was avoided.