Year 2009 was another year full of lies, fraud and deceit, which ultimately stand exposed.

This new year, I expect that the Legal Terrorists will only show me the new depths they can sink into in their desperate attempt to bury the truth.

My new year message to them:

vinaaSa kaalE vipareeta buddhi!

Because, no one else in the world will come up such a careless edition of the Guide to Living. Today she had to take an important examination in her life. And here are some wonderful words of wisdom:

• (In response to my amma asking her about how she has prepared for the exam): Well, there was no point studying at the last minute mom, because that is called cramming and I am certainly not sure how nicely that would turn out. I am sure the last days before the exam are meant to be spent in relaxation. (Then my mom comes up with something about how she hasn’t seen my sis studying anything anytime and my sis goes): Mom, what’s the point of reading this stuff days before the exam. I am sure I cannot retain it in my memory for such a long time. So, her mantra of preparing for the exams: don’t study. Cool, except that I never had the guts to even think on these lines.
• Then, she came up with this caveat: Mom, do you think I will finish the exam in time.. By the time I shade my name into that bloody OMR sheet, I would have lost about a quarter hour. Other students get such a headstart compared to me. Don’t blame me for an incomplete answer sheet. You should have thought it through when you named me.

After the sample from the affected area, was then examined by a pathologist in the laboratory retained. A pathologist is a physician who examined tissues, blood and body fluids to diagnose disease. The test comes in the laboratory with the information about the patient, along with a description of the side of the body, from which the sample was collected. The pathologist examines the sample and then he / she provides a description of the fabric has. The fabric is thenstored in a suitable container.

Unfortunately, in the case of mesothelioma is difficult, the disease is by watching the cells of the fluid around the lungs, abdomen or the heart to diagnose collected through a microscope. An examination of the liquid can result in unreliable and inconclusive, and therefore have limited value. It is also difficult to pick up the disease from the tissue through the use of needles diagnosis, crops because of small sample size. In searchthrough a microscope, the cells of mesothelioma resemble other types of cancer. For example, it is difficult to distinguish between pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. In addition, the cells in the peritoneal mesothelioma and ovarian cancer cells are very similar when viewed through a microscope. Therefore, needle biopsies are an effective method in diagnosing mesothelioma. Electron microscope is a very powerful microscope that can magnify cell 100 times beyond the normal microscope (optical microscope). The electron can therefore produce more reliable results.

However, further tests and techniques are usually performed to distinguish mesothelioma from other cancers such as lung cancer. Immunohistochemistry is a test in which cell types are identified on the basis of various proteins on the cell surface. This test uses the techniques to identify the types of chemical substances (markers) that are included in > Mesothelioma. In the past, the type of chemical substances (markers) were used to distinguish mesothelioma from lung cancer "marker negative".

Pathologist who was tried markers in lung cancer, and not meant for mesothelioma. So, if were it not that the individual has had lung cancer. This made the diagnosis difficult to confirm. Today is the "positive markers are used, where, if we find some markers, it means that the cells are> Mesothelioma. Analysis of DNA microarray is a new test can be performed to distinguish between different gene structure of cancer.

 Want to keep IRS auditors away? Keep your earnings under $200,000 and they won’t bother you 99 percent of the time.

IRS enforcement numbers, released Tuesday, show that returns under that amount have a 1 percent chance of getting audited.

Returns showing income of $200,000 and above have a nearly 3 percent audit chance. The percentage jumps to more than 6 percent for returns showing earnings of $1 million or more.

The percentages apply to both individual and joint returns.

The number of audits jumped 11 percent from 2008 to 2009 for returns with earnings of $200,000 or more, but rose 30 percent for returns showing earnings of $1 million or more. For those under $200,000 the number of audits remained steady.

The IRS conducted 1.4 million audits of individual returns in the financial year ended Sept. 30, with more than 1 million conducted through correspondence with the taxpayer. The others were conducted through face-to-face meetings with IRS auditors.

The IRS does not do random audits, but does conduct “research audits” that will test compliance in business tax categories. In 2010, the target will be payroll taxes, according to Steve Miller, deputy commissioner for enforcement.

What happens if you’re audited while unemployed? The IRS may give you a break.

“While our assessments were up, the ability to pay went down drastically” due to the economy, Miller said. “We have a series of tools. We can have them pay partially, over time. If the money is not collectible, it’s treated as non-collectible. It’s going to depend on each case.

“We have to ensure there’s a balance between our responsibility to collect taxes with economic realities. We give people more time and determine how fast they can pay and whether they can pay.”

The total revenue collected from IRS enforcement actions, $48.9 billion in 2009, is a drop from $56.4 billion in 2008 and $59.2 billion in 2007.

Miller said the higher numbers in 2007 and 2008 reflect collections from settlements of several major tax shelter cases.

The IRS has stepped up its examination of tax-exempt organizations, checking the books of more than 10,000 groups in 2009 compared to 7,800 the previous year.

The number of business tax returns examined was down slightly in 2009 from the previous year.

Yesterday was a busy day. So basically I got up early in the morning at some 7:00 AM which is almost one hour later than my usual wake up time. I had to reach the exam hall by 10:00 AM and also that there was nothing else to do except bathing and brushing which I strongly felt I should have skipped.

And I was quiet relaxed. I sat straight thinking if I will even be able to answer a single question in the examination. Exams give a soar to my heartbeats. Since the last 6 months, I had been rescheduling study time-tables almost every other day and following none of them. I had also tried pretty hard to study; yes people try to get efficient at studies while I am still trying to study punctually. I am quiet aback because of my mind playing games with me all the time.

I got up from bed as there was no point sleeping in because I was already wide awake and thinking. Everyone in the house was awake actually. So I headed towards the bathroom and got inside. The first thing I noticed was my toothbrush missing. Gosh. I skipped brushing teeth that day.

I turned on both cold and hot water taps. I was still thinking what will happen in the exam. Though there was no point in keeping tension as I was blank in all the subjects for the exams. Tension would have done no good either way. So I just thanked God for all the wonderful things he had already given me and I was grateful for.

I reached the exam hall by 9:45 AM.I was still fearing if I had taken with all the important things for exam. Exams started 45 minutes later.

I was greeted by a young (and sucking) supervisor. No student likes the exam supervisor actually and not because they don’t look good but because that they are against mutual helping among students in exam hall. I never copy in exams.

He handed us the papers and started to speak out loudly the instructions. Damn Shit! I said to myself. In fact, I hate giving exams in winter. I think my kidneys work faster in winter. I just keep praying it doesn’t get forceful anyhow.

So for the next two hours, I was sitting quietly and writing. I strongly feel girls more important than exams. I kept eying a cutie around a corner. Though I tried to concentrate on my paper as much as I could, I was pretty impressed with her.

‘Hand me your papers!’ the supervisor called out as the bell banged my headache. I quickly handed him the paper and rushed to the bathroom where I could get off the heavy kidney feeling. I relaxed a bit when I felt a big gut inside my belly. Gosh, I had forgotten to sign my paper! I rushed there and fortunately, the supervisor was still there. I signed my paper. He was so polite, for the first time in my life I felt like some gratitude for any supervisor.

The second paper began in about one hour. It was Mathematics + Economics. The supervisor handed over the question paper to me. I browsed the whole paper quickly. Of course there was no point in looking at Mathematics. Whenever algebra and statistics come before me, I start to feel dyslexic. And why shouldn’t I feel? I am just one more human running from the curse of mathematics.

Anyway, I just ticked the economics answers and then sat looking at the faces of other students. Surprisingly I was not the only student who was interested in mathematics. Almost all of the students were looking at each other’s faces idly. That girl looked at me and simultaneously I looked at her. She was starring at me trying to look sexy, I guess. She blinked one eye strikingly. Run Run…from here or you will have to empty your pockets on her, I thought. Exams got over in the next ten minutes.

We all came out. A lot of people were cursing the mathematics paper setter. So…I just joined the curse party.

After the sample from the affected area, was then examined by a pathologist in the laboratory retained. A pathologist is a physician who examined tissues, blood and body fluids to diagnose disease. The test comes in the laboratory with the information about the patient, along with a description of the side of the body, from which the sample was collected. The pathologist examines the sample and then he / she provides a description of the fabric has. The fabric is thenstored in a suitable container.

Unfortunately, in the case of mesothelioma is difficult, the disease is by watching the cells of the fluid around the lungs, abdomen or the heart to diagnose collected through a microscope. An examination of the liquid can result in unreliable and inconclusive, and therefore have limited value. It is also difficult to pick up the disease from the tissue through the use of needles diagnosis, crops because of small sample size. In searchthrough a microscope, the cells of mesothelioma resemble other types of cancer. For example, it is difficult to distinguish between pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. In addition, the cells in the peritoneal mesothelioma and ovarian cancer cells are very similar when viewed through a microscope. Therefore, needle biopsies are an effective method in diagnosing mesothelioma. Electron microscope is a very powerful microscope that can magnify cell 100 times beyond the normal microscope (optical microscope). The electron can therefore produce more reliable results.

However, further tests and techniques are usually performed to distinguish mesothelioma from other cancers such as lung cancer. Immunohistochemistry is a test in which cell types are identified on the basis of various proteins on the cell surface. This test uses the techniques to identify the types of chemical substances (markers) that are included in > Mesothelioma. In the past, the type of chemical substances (markers) were used to distinguish mesothelioma from lung cancer "marker negative".

Pathologist who was tried markers in lung cancer, and not meant for mesothelioma. So, if were it not that the individual has had lung cancer. This made the diagnosis difficult to confirm. Today is the "positive markers are used, where, if we find some markers, it means that the cells are> Mesothelioma. Analysis of DNA microarray is a new test can be performed to distinguish between different gene structure of cancer.

Wooooah! 2 more subjects LEFT for me to murder! Hehehehe! Finished my maths paper and english paper. What’s left for me to study is Business Studies and Economics. Damn! Both are theoretical subjects!  I guess I need to go to the nearest petrol station to buy some oil huh? or walk to Tesco Express to buy cooking oil? ADD OIL! Muahahah! Don’t misunderstand people, its just the translation of Chinese – 加油 Anyways, 4 more days then Im done! CANT WAIT~!!

English paper was OKAY for me.What I studied came out in the examination which….make me very happy! I guess most of us were happy after that paper! Smileeeee…. Oh yea, did I mentioned to you all that my english lecturer actually dropped by to visit us while we were busy answering our papers? Yeah, I saw him. Well, ahem I glanced at him for awhile then, continue writing my long answer question. I don’t really know what to talk to him now, ever since he failed my last coursework. Pffffff~

Few hours ago, I finished my maths paper. The paper was fine, not that tough. At least I attempted to answer all the questions given. Hehe! Before that, I thought I couldn’t finish the paper. I don’t know what happened to me, I was looking at my watch and…….it shows me 3.30pm and I was like “OH SHIT!”. Why? I thought that my paper ends at 4pm (should be 4.30pm)! Then, I started rushing…. from question 3b onwards, rushed like hell. Sigh. Until the good looking invigilator(ahem) reminded us that we still have 1 hour left. URGH. I was wondering… How can I forgot my own exam timetable? Im so clumsy. I rushed for nothing. But overall, I answered all the questions and double check the solutions few times before I left the exam hall.

Now, please allow me to relax myself by watching few episodes of One Tree Hill before I start my revision for Business. Love!

TOMORROW IS THE DAY.

SOMEHOW I JUST HOPE THAT WE CAN STOP THE TIME, UNFORTUNATELY, WE CANT.

SO, LET’S JUST FACE IT BRAVELY.

ALL THE BEST.

Love

Because Photoshop… Trumps… Science… and…. reality. Perhaps in Al Gore’s pathetic little world… but to the rest of us? Not so much.

AP Global Warming Fauxtography?
Article: BigGovernment

Is the Associated Press distributing a doctored photo that news organizations are now running in their Copenhagen coverage?

Founding Bloggers’ very own, Allan Sluis, is calling attention to an image that just might be the latest example of what has come to be know as “Fauxtography” – or – passing doctored images off as good faith representations of reality.

Below is a detailed examination of the image, beginning with the shot as it was displayed Monday, December 7th, on Foxnews.com (Fox link via SPQA.org):

And here is the image as seen without the cropping Fox News applied. It is from the Baltimore Sun, dated July 2009:

Oh those poor geese flying right through those rust colored smoke plumes! They might start dropping out of the sky at any moment!

But what if the truth is not as apocalyptic as the AP image appears to depict?

A number of things about this image look unusual to Allan, who is a professional photo retoucher and graphic illustrator with nearly 20 years experience pushing pixels.

Below is the image with arrows highlighting specific features which upon close examination look very suspect, calling into question the honesty of the presentation of this picture.

Allan’s observations:

There is ample reason to believe that this photograph supplied to news organizations by the Associated Press has been substantially color-enhanced, perhaps to convey a false impression of pollution coming from a smoke stack from a purported coal-fueled power plant in Kansas. Here is a detailed description of the evidence that the original photo was either a black-and-white image, or a color image which was converted to black-and-white, and then colorized for dramatic effect.

A1: Note this area of smoke rising directly from the smokestack is mysteriously missing any orange tone.

A2: Notice the unusual falloff of orange color in the background clouds (yes, those are clouds) just to the right of the smoke rising directly from the smokestack.

A3: A close examination reveals an unnaturally saturated hard color edge on that particular smoke lump.

B: Another unnatural saturation intensity increase to the left of the arrow. Note how rapid the orange tint fades in intensity on the left and the right of the arrow point.

C1, C2 & C3: These three arrows surround an area of sloppy retouching where the color tint was painted in too intense and abrupt to be convincing. Note how this color area pops substantially and quite suspiciously. This is also direct evidence that the retoucher is likely deliberately trying to blur the distinction between the actual smoke rising from the smokestack and the BACKGROUND CLOUDS deceptively conveying the impression that the entire area is choked with nasty orange pollution. This deceptive color continues right across the top of the smokestack and to the right going right over the background clouds.

D: Another area marked by the arrow point where the background clouds were not completely color tinted by the retoucher and the background gray is visibly missing orange tone.

Next, Allan began to reconstruct what he felt the original image might have looked like before it was allegedly enhanced, and in doing so, made a surprising discovery:

The evidence that this photo was originally a grayscale or black-and-white image was arrived at with a simple Photoshop process. We encourage other Photoshop enthusiasts and experts to recreate our work. (Here is the largest version of the image we could find)

1) Add a “Hue/Sat” adjustment layer directly above the original jpeg.

2) Drop the saturation percentage for both the Yellows and Reds Edit category down to zero.

Note how the image is now a perfectly even balance of the Red Green and Blue. This is easily viewable in the Info palette as you move the cursor over the image.

This is only possible if the original image is black-and-white or grayscale.

In a normal full-color image, there WILL be variances in the tone of the blues and greens. The desaturating of the Yellows and Reds would not touch the cooler colors. The other colors are not there.

This leads me to believe that this is a black and white image that has been colorized!

It is not possible to know if the camera original photograph is a black-and-white, but the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that the jpeg being distributed was colorized from a black-and-white image.

Here is what the image likely looked like before it was colorized:

We also in Hue/Sat discovered that the tone of the smokestack itself has been darkened substantially. A simple “Lightness” move in the same adjustment layer to the Master category readily shows this.

Below is how the image is displayed on the AP website where they are selling it to news organizations. Note the creation date. This dud has been out there for a while:

Too not many remaining physicians sooner a be wearing been trained in pelt cancer examinations or watched or practiced the procedure, U.S. researchers report.

In a view of 342 local physicians in family nostrum, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and internal physic, researchers calm communication on the participants’ training and occurrence with film cancer exams as correctly as their au fait with of skill in performing the exams best buy Revatio.

“Clinical training representing the pelt cancer examination during residency was infrequent,” wrote Dr. Emily Wise, of the Boston University Votaries of Medicament, and colleagues buy Revatio no rx. “During residency, 75.8 percent were conditions trained in the husk cancer examination, 55.3 percent not at any time observed a skin cancer going-over and 57.4 percent not under any condition practiced the examination. Sole 15.9 percent of residents reported being skilled in the integument cancer examination.”

The researchers rest that performing four skin cancer examinations (there joined per year of residency) was associated with improvements in experience levels reported by the respondents Anti-diabetic. The findings are published in the October contend of the Archives of Dermatology.

Melanoma is the second-most simple cause of cancer in Americans superannuated 15 to 29. About one-quarter of melanomas are detected by means of doctors, degree than patients. Skin cancers discovered past doctors are generally thinner and eat a heartier prediction, according to background gen in the study Urispas generic.

“Visits to internists and family practitioners amount to up an estimated 40 percent of physician visits in the United States, and exactly two-thirds of patients with melanoma gunshot a physician visit in the year in the future diagnosis. Primary-care physicians are thus ideally suited to grade and triage high-risk patients and those with unbelieving lesions,” the study authors wrote buy Actoplus Met free consultation.

“Residency programs and medical schools may have neither the speedily nor the infrastructure to coach an knowledgeable, comprehensive study to all physicians in training,” they concluded buy generic Eurax. “At any rate, the prime capability faculty to show gratitude potentially under suspicion lesions and triage persons with such lesions should be a lively and level component of both training programs. If current physicians in training do not learn this skill show off in medical boarding-school or residency, there is a low good chance that they pleasure purchase this consciousness in their day-to-day way, which could acquire potentially spectacular consequences with a view melanoma recognition prosperous forward.”

Is it a coincidence that John 6:66 is about Disciples turning away and no longer following Jesus?  I know that verse numbers are a modern invention to help us study, but it’s interesting that the number given on that verse is three six’s.

This is a fictional story and readers are advised not to take this seriously.

I don’t know why I had to comb my hair, dress decently and always look cool when I know that there isn’t going to be an angel for miles who would stare at me and wish I would be with her forever. There isn’t a co-ed school in Saudi Arabia and I don’t get it at all why all the guys dress up so cool and go around in their flashy cars on the streets of Riyadh. Now don’t tell me their all gays. Can’t say thou! Well I always wanted to look cool. I made sure I always had my hair combed every hour, my beard and mush shaved every alternate day and that I wore descent clothing that would even make the devil drool.

The day came when I never wanted to see my face in the mirror again. The day I knew I screwed up.

Grade 11th – During 2nd term examination

Location: My dad’s apartment in Riyadh

Time: 10pm

Its winter and damn it’s so cold at night. I always have the habit of having a bath before going to bed. In Riyadh you can forget about owning a fan. Without an A/C in your apartment is like a new way of committing suicide. Before having a bath I switch on the A/C so that the room gets really cooled up. Like it when after having a nice hot bath and then getting under the blanket. It’s so cosy. It’s so nice and heavenly. It’s like you are floating high up in the sky and you have the clouds around you.

I had my bath. It took me 30 minutes. Trust me when its winter, you will be hunting around for some warmth. I stayed under the hot shower. The bathroom was filled with steam. I can’t even see my own reflection in the mirror and I didn’t care to see myself at the mirror at the moment. Just loved the way it felt under the shower.

I lost my track of time. After the shower I wiped the mirror with my towel and looked at myself in the mirror and thought why not shave now so that I don’t have to get up early tomorrow for school. I got my Business exam tomorrow. So I started to shave. Now I was in the bathroom for almost 40 minutes. Damn…. What was I thinking? While I was half way through the shaving process I found the bathroom a bit kind of stuffy. So I put on my clothes and opened the door and found my dad waiting outside.

Here goes…………..

Dad: (Sternly) Son, how long were you inside?

Me: (looking at the mirror and shaving) don’t know. (Why did I speak rudely? Was it because I thought my dad couldn’t mind his own business.)

Dad: (Voice pitch increased) Look at me when I talk to you.

Me: (In a cool voice) I’m shaving.

I knew the consequences if I dared disobeyed my dad. Then I keep asking this to myself up till now why did I ever do that?

My dad lost his temper; he dragged me out of the bathroom to the bed room, locked the door and slapped me. I raised my hand back at him. I pushed him. I pushed my dad. I knew from the look of his face that he was going to cry but he didn’t. He slapped me again. My mother heard the racket and begged my dad to open the door. She knew he wouldn’t. My dad hates losing a fight if he knows that he hasn’t done anything wrong. My mother lied and said that his elder brother and his family is here for a visit.

My dad stopped. He and I were both breathing heavily. I was scared. What did I do? I raised my hand at the one who clothed me, fed me, carried me when I was sick, taught me……..

He unlocked the door and walked over to his bedroom. And me, I didn’t know what to do. Damn…… I want to say I’m sorry but I couldn’t open my mouth….. I couldn’t move….. I just cried…..My mom just went to the leaving room and sat on couch with her eyes closed.

Ran nowhere…..

After about 10 minutes without a sweater or anything that would keep me warm from the bitter cold I just went to the main door, unlocked it and ran. I don’t know where my leg was taking me. I just ran.

I felt tired and stopped. On to my right I saw a building still under construction. I was so scared. I was in Saudi Arabia, not India…. O shit…. this is bad. I entered the building, it was dark inside and I stayed in it for one hour and 30 minutes. Just sat on a cement bag shivering from head to toe.

I gathered my strength to go back home. I took my time, walking slowly…. The street was deserted…. Not a soul….. Not a car….. Just the wind blowing and making the night spooky.

I reached my apartment at about 1:30 am. My mom was still in the same position she was when I left. My dad’s was in the bedroom. I later realised he never came out from the time he entered. I went over to my room and saw myself in the mirror. I looked like a dead kid who just got out of the morgue. I started cursing myself. I went to bed. Slept…………….

Next day……

Got up next day with a splitting headache and got ready to go to school. My dad and mom didn’t utter a word to each other. My dad dropped me and my mom in front of my school and left without a word…..without, “Good luck son. Do your exam well”.

In the exam hall

An hour has gone by since I got the question paper and still my answer sheet was blank. I didn’t even put my name on it. Just stared at a blank sheet. I couldn’t remember a thing. I couldn’t remember what I learned. 30 minutes left for the exam to get over and to hand over the answer sheet. I just wrote down all the questions what was there in the question paper on the answer sheet and submitted it.

A week later…….

We forgot what happened that night or is it nobody wants to talk about it. My results are getting declared tomorrow. My mom was busy checking over her student’s report cards one last time. My dad was at work. Its 6pm and phone rings. I pick it up and……….

Me: Hello

A lady’s voice: Is this Ryan’s residence?

Me: Yes and this is Ryan speaking. May I know who this is?

A lady’s voice: Hello Ryan. This is your business teacher speaking.

Me: (O shit…… this is bad…..Nobody from school ever call my residence number until unless it’s a complaint about me.) Hi mam, how are u?

My business teacher: I’m fine. But I don’t think you will be. Is your mom there?

Me: Y…Y…Yes Mam, she’s here. I’ll give her the phone.

As soon as I gave the phone to my mother I wished over a million times that this planet would just get sucked by a black hole.

My mother came back looking like as if she saw a ghost. I stared at her waiting for her to start screaming. Her eyes suddenly turned watery. She looked at me and said,” Your teacher called me to tell me your business marks. (She started crying badly) She said you got 5 out of 100. She wanted to tell me this now because she couldn’t keep this in her mind and couldn’t wait for tomorrow. She said you’re the only one out of 80 students to get such low marks.

I don’t know what I felt at that time. My mother sat on the couch, covered her face with her hands and continued crying. She cried till 8pm. My dad entered and saw my mom crying and he asked what happened. My mom told him everything. I expected my dad to get hold of anything his hands could get and start smashing me with it.

He didn’t, instead he asked me, “When I got angry with you, which exam did you write the next day? I said in a small and embarrassed voice, “It was Business Studies”.

The hardest word

My dad until now still blames himself. He thinks it’s because of him that I failed in my business studies. My mom as a teacher in the same school I studied never put her head high up. She always looked on the ground and walked. She avoided eye contact with any of the other staffs.

As for me…… I cannot get this thought of my head. Until now I never told my parents, “I’m sorry”. Maybe it’s because I was embarrassed to say this straight face to face. As their only son, I failed to repay them back. As a student, I was the worst in school any teacher’s son could be.

Yes, exactly a millennium ago.

 Then the whole Indian subcontinent was a conglomeration of small kingdoms. We belonged to a small one, may be the size of Delhi. It was independent, wedged between two powerful neighbors: the Samoothiripad in the North and some principality belonging to the area, now known as Thiruvithankur (Travancore). Our Cochin state was free from corruption. People were generally happy. One English writer described the India of those times as ‘thousands of villages’, each a republic governed by the village elders. None had money. Gold was used only for making ornaments. Wealth was measured in terms of paddy earned by each family (I am talking in terms known to me). The artisans made clothes, agricultural implements, gold ornaments; made tenements out of mud and hay or palm leaves (cobbler was unknown  as none wore foot wear). Brass and bronze works were excellent, as also wood work. Landlords enjoyed leisure and bonded laborers did the work. The latter were fed even when there was no work. All people were known to each other. Even in my childhood, thefts were limited to coconut and plantain! There was plenty of time for any leisurely activity like literature, sports and arts.

 All were happy, even though epidemics took a heavy toll of men but not animals.

Let us examine, item by item, how life was then and what we have achieved now.

1)      Life was secure then. None was worried about his future. Mostly, traditional vocations were followed, the society being caste-ridden. How will my children live after my time? The question never worried any body. Anxiety on this account was unknown then. Today, every moment we are concerned about it (of course, I am not talking about the Ambanis)

2)      All works were done manually. This kept life style diseases away. People were healthy. The rich people suffered from diabetes, B.P and heart attacks. The poor people were spared. Today, the middle class too have become rich as far as life style is concerned. We don’t exert. Remote control ensured that we need not even move. So we suffer from all diseases of the rich.

3)      The vaidyaji took care of health problems. I don’t remember ever going to a doctor. The Namboodri house stood in the middle of a spacious plot of land. We had our own well and at least one pond. No fencing, we never wounded mother Earth with the pick axe or spade. It was like a forest. Things just grew. Village people scouted for medicinal plants or mangoes in the season. They never asked us. In the month of Karkidagam (Sawan) ladies adorned the hair with “Dashapushpam” (ten flowers). After the land reforms, we too became proletariat, when our only source of earnings was taken away. The land was handed over to the tillers. Today land is fallow because none can afford to grow food. Wages are high and labour is not available in Keralam.

     I have digressed. We were discussing medicine. The vidyaji will only prescribe the medicines. If these cannot be had from the land, there is a shop selling them. Medicines, in soup form, were made at home. People may give some gift like plantain. The belief is that if vidyaji demands compensation, he will lose his ability to diagnose and treat the illness.

 When the people of the West were barbarians (say B.C1000) Ayurvedic system of medicine was well developed in India. At Rajgir in Bihar, I was shown the excavated remains of a hospital where the royal families were treated. Even today Ayurveda can hold its head high in certain fields. But the sanctity of the system was violated when it was commercialized. Now, medicinal soups are bottled and preserved, rendering them sometimes ineffective.

 Today, medical treatment is nothing but shameless exploitation of the masses. Multi speciality hospitals cater to the rich. The poor people survive by grace of God. 50% of the medicines sold in the market are absolutely useless. (It was in the newspapers.) All medicines have side effects. Fees must be deposited in advance (pity the vidyaji). As doctors are “manufactured” in thousands, who can guarantee their quality? (Merit is ignored; caste is the basis for selection of students). Each hospital should earn profit. Or else, it will be closed down. So it must be ensured that people fall ill, as frequently as possible. As soon as a baby is born it is given ten injections, to make sure that its immunity system doesn’t develop. The bird flu was unknown then. Today also desi chickens are not affected. Artificial methods have destroyed the capacity to resist diseases.

 To make people fall ill, fast food culture is deliberately encouraged. To the capitalist, a patient is also a consumer. The only aim is profit. To hell with health! We want every citizen to be in the hospital so that profit can swell.

4) Education was totally free of lucre then. I was thrilled to see rows of neatly made hostel rooms at Nalanda which was just a name until Sir Alexander Cunningham traveled in the foot steps of Huen Tsang and saw small hills covered with grass and shrubs. He suggested excavation of the area which was started in 1914. Even today, a few work men may be seen digging leisurely; it may take another hundred years at this rate, to uncover the whole township. More than four hundred years B.C, it was a beacon of learning, attracting scholars from all over the East. They did not come to get a degree and campus selection for lucrative jobs. They just wanted to learn. Among them was a young man. No body knew he was a prince. He came in tattered clothes and was emaciated like a beggar, after wandering in the forest, begging for food. His name was Gautama. He spent several years in the campus, endlessly discussing the causes of pain and misery and suffering of human beings. (At Bodh Gaya, he is depicted as  well fed and handsome- a real prince charming. His devotees want something pleasing to the eye). I admire him. I like to see Takshashila too!

 In the villages, education was the concern of guruji. There was close, personal relation- ship with Guruji and the students who stay with him. Remember the story of Krishna and Sudama who were ordered by guru patni (wife) to fetch fuel from the forest? (I am reminded of an incident I read in a memoir. An English lady accepts an assignment to teach English to the Crown Prince of Japan. She was going through some notes when she wanted the fan to be switched on. She asked the Prince and failed to understand the hesitation in her pupil’s face. Suddenly the realization came. How can anybody give orders to a Prince? Of course, the pupil obeyed.) No tuition fee.  In the end, some guru dakshina (gift) is given. That is all.

 And today? By any stretch of imagination, can you call it education? True learning should aim at liberating the brain power from the shackles of the body, so it can soar higher and higher towards the heaven, scanning the whole universe and beyond. The questions why and how should continuously and intensely torment the inquisitive mind. Learning is tapasya. (Concentrated study). Total detachment from the worldly chores is an absolute must.

 In the present system, children are being hypnotized to believe that every thing written in the text book is absolutely true. The only aim is to secure maximum marks in the examination, by hook or by crook. Whether you like a subject is immaterial. Money is the supreme god. (Lakshmi is worshiped by all, everywhere. Is there a single temple of Saraswati? I think there is one in Keralam) The best brains are hijacked by capitalism and enslaved to make more and more profit. Is there any wonder that educational standards are going down every year?

 In Russia, when capitalism was abolished in 1917, education became free. Science was made number one priority. (Here MBA is made much of because capitalists want them to work for profit).The results are there, for all to see. From the most backward state in Europe, Russia overtook the US in space research. The first man to go up in space was

a Russian. Production of electricity was taken up as the most urgent task. Heavy industry almost outpaced consumer industry. (Indian students who went to study in Moscow found soaps and blades stolen frequently).The all powerful Germans were defeated by Russians in second world war.Without heavy industry backed by S & T, this would have been impossible.

After 1956, the first science city was established in Siberia. From wilderness intended for exiling undesirable characters, Siberia became a treasure of coal, minerals etc. and fully industrialised, an achievement impossible under capitalism. Science is the instrument of this of this revolution.

 Today here we find education being converted into a lucrative industry, in which millions are invested to reap huge profits. Government schools are for the poor- no equipments, no teachers, and no books.

Order of preference of students seeking higher education is somewhat as given below:

 MBA

IIT

Medicine

Info technology

Commerce

Economics

Geology

Pure science

Geography

 Those who fail to get admission for the coveted courses, go for pure sciences. In communist Russia scientists were given maximum salary. They commanded great influence in decision making. Here in Delhi we do not have a science centre where those interested may gather together for a chitchat. Easy access to science literature is a must.

Many of you may think that modern science originated in the west. This is a total misconception .Some of the things our forefathers have recorded in so many words, are stunningly dazzling.

1) That the earth is a globe

2) Earth attracts objects towards itself

3) Earth is rotating: the sun and stars are stationary

4) Shadow of the earth is cause of lunar eclipse

5) Dalton’s atomic theory

6) that the foetus in the womb recognizes sounds and starts learning mother tongue, much before it comes out of the woumb.(Abhimanyu learned strategy of warfare, while still in Uthara’s woumb, according to Mahabharatam.I first read about it in Bhagawat puran.By sheer coincidence, actual scientific confirmation was reported in the newspapers at that period some 8 years back).

These are just a few instances. As all this is written in Samskrutam. People do not even know about it. It is a pity that we have to learn about such things from foreign sources.

Astronomy originated in India at least 5000 years ago. In Egypt too studies in this field progressed at that time. The Malayalam calendar came into existence 1184 years ago. It is based on the movement of the Sun around the equator .The number of days of each month is calculated every year, so that we are not aware of the leap year.

So, before the Malayalam era came into existence, how did they know their age? Each year was given a name. Only 60 years were given names; thereafter the names are repeated.

Each one  must remember the name of the month and Nakshatra (the name given to the group of stars where the Moon appears each day) and also the name of the year of birth , so that his age can be counted. (Like the week. If I am born on Wednesday my age will be the fourth day.) That is why sixtieth birthday is celebrated. The names of the years are repeated, after 60 years.

Two thousand years ago, an European was unable to tell his age. Intellectually, we were far ahead. The Nalanda Vishvavidyala and library were ransacked and burnt by Muslim invaders sometime in fifteenth century. That was the end of a civilization. Knowledge got fossilized in Samskrutam texts to be explored by European Indologists. If these books were available in Hindi or Dravidian languages, history would have been different.

5) Production of food grains, cloths, agricultural implements, kitchen utensils etc. was regulated according to the needs of the village.Transportation was restricted to the bare

minimum. I am not a historian. Perhaps conveyance was restricted to movement of goods.Today production is chaotic. In any society based on rational lines, the requirements will be calculated and production regulated according to the needs. In a market controlled economy, waste is inevitable. Any number of factories are producing cars. Think of the brain power used in designing. If all this is centalised (in this age it is easy) we can have the best model of cars, buses etc. Expenses on advertisement and sales can be saved. Cars will become cheap. Similarly food and other agricultural products can be produced according to requirement.There will be no shortages nor glut. Why can’t we do it? (See my article: Man is the most foolish animal in the world).

6) For sheer joy and entertainment people were engaged in cultural and sports activities. Competition was healthy and without rancour.

Today, what we saw in the cricket world is the influence of money. Before future historians, we will have to hang our head in shame!

Local festivals, drama , music etc were meant for healthy entertainment and people were not glued to their TV sets !

I don’t want to go back to AD 1008. At the same time, I want to change the system to be reorganized along rational lines. Are we not intelligent creatures?

I recently took one of our children to their yearly physical at the pediatrician’s office.  I like our children’s doctor.  He is good and interacts well with them.  His demeanor is calming.  He is thorough, but not too obtrusive to the children.  Children dred getting shots, but our pediatiran handles vaccinations well.  Most of all, we trust him.  My husband and I are very lucky to have healthy children who are active and athletic, but their pediatrician is also concerned about their well-being and that extends beyond the physical examination.

At the end of every visit, the children meet their doctor in his office.  I am also present.  I like this ending to their check up.  Our doctor gives us the opportunity to ask questions that can get more involved and in depth.  We are no longer in the medical setting of the examination room.  the kids seem more relaxed.  The doctor has our full attention.  The duration is only a couple of minutes, but that is all the time we need.

During this meeting, the doctor always asks safety questions directed specifically to our children.  The children are asked if they wear a seat belt or if they wear a helmet when riding a bike.  The doctor discusses the dangers of running in a parking lot and watching for cars while crossing the street.  He covers frequency of exercise and participation in sports versus sitting idly and playing video games.  I appreciate that he directs the questions to our children.  I never jump in and answer for them.  If the children are unsure of an answer, I let the doctor pull a response from them, not me.

The doctor discusses bruising by telling our children about black and blue marks and how some bruising is normal and acceptable for active children.  I know from my experience as a police officer that he is really checking for physical abuse, but the doctor never crosses the line and asks what I would feel are age inappropriate questions.

Although the doctor has never asked our children, I do know friends whose doctors have discussed gun safety with their children.  My husband and I are police officers.  Our guns are always secured properly, but there are many people who do not secure their firearms.  Guns in the hands of children is catastrophic.  We have discussed gun safety with our children.  But if questions about gun safety were brought up by their doctor, I would have welcomed them.

Doctors, specifically pediatrians, have the responsibilty of keeping our children healthy.  I believe healthy means mental and physical well being.  I also believe healthy means safe, which is security from physical, mental, and sexual abuse, guns, gangs, drugs, and alcohol.  Teaching young children about the dangers and awareness of these subjects can be taboo.

Many people will argue about who has the responsibility to safe guard the children and educate them about these ongoing problems.  Although I feel parents should be responsible to educate their own children, it is apparent to me that many parents are themselves, felons, and/ or inept.  Others believe that these topics should be handled in the schools.  Although I am not opposed to the schools teaching our children about gun safety and other issues, I believe school is for learning math, science, reading, and writing.  Schools are overworked as it is and should not worry about adding this to their curriculum.  With no one institution taking responsibility, pediatricians easily have the ability to cover these topics during the office visit.  Doctors have neutrality.  What better arena to help our children.  But if we allow doctors to continue questioning our children, where do we draw the line?

Are doctors crossing the MD line?

One of the most discussed headlines on newspapers and television screen these days is the endless pros and contras of National Exam (Unas). The previous administration insisted that National Exam had to be held. However, a group of students and parents has recently filed a lawsuit against the government at the Central Jakarta District Court, seeking to eliminate National Exam. The suit accused the state of denying the students the right to an education because they were unable to attend university after failing National Exam.

After a marathon of law process, The Supreme Court finally issued a rule demanding the government to take steps to improve the quality of education before another national exam can be administered. The latest news I heard said that the government insisted that National Exam will be held this year. I guess the government made the decision because they considered that it is the best to do as National Exam should be held after a while whereas there has not been any better substitute for the recent version of National Exam. Furthermore, if the government eliminated National Exam this year without any substitute, it also would be a foolish decision.

No matter what the government’s decision, I really respect their quick decision. We all need certainty within a very short period of time for preparing the exam. The condition could be worse if the government put off the decision.

Do we really need National Exam?

For government, National Exam is aimed to maintain the quality of education nationwide and to set up the national standard for junior and senior high schools. For this reason, the previous administration insisted that National Exam could not be eliminated.

However, the practice doesn’t sound as nice as that stated goal. It was reported that many students cheated in the exam. Not only students, some teachers were also reported helping their students to cheat. I think this humiliating practice occured because students were pushed to pass their education. Because the exam’s result influenced whether a student would pass his education or not, the students cheated in the exam in order to get good result. Besides, schools were also pushed to pass as many as possible their students because how many students they could pass and what the average result of the exam they could get determined their prestige and reputation among the public. For this reason, the schools demanded their teachers to help the students cheating in the exam.

Back to the question: do we really need national Exam? The goal determined by the government sounds nice. They want to improve the quality of education nationwide by means of a standardized test called National Exam. They want that all schools across the country have the same standard indicated by the minimum passing grade of National Exam.

However, those who don’t agree with the government argue that the recent condition doesn’t support the government’s decision. The government has not provided qualified teachers and required education facilities in a great number of schools – particularly outside Java Island – as they have already provided them in big cities. Students in Merauke, for example, do not have the same educational access as students in Jakarta or other big cities. So, according to those who don’t agree to National Exam, if all students nationwide are examined by the same standardized test, it must be not fair.

Furthermore, they argue that National Exam functioned to determine whether a student passes his education is narrowing the definition of education. Education doesn’t only covers cognitive faculty. It also covers attitude, personality, and skills. Hence, determining whether a student passes his education by means of National Exam only is not in line with the comprehensive definition of education. Besides, that will negate the uniqueness of students. As it is known, some students are excellent in their cognitive but they don’t have good personality. Some other students have impressing personality – and probably outstanding skill – but they are not good enough in their cognitive. There are also some cases that some students were smart but they failed in one subject examined in National Exam. As a result, they unluckily could not pass their education.

What if National Exam doesn’t determine whether a student passes his education?

The pros and contras appears because National Exam determines whether a student passes his education or not. Now, what’s your opinion if National Exam is not eliminated but it doesn’t determine whether a student passes his education.

I don’t know what your opinion, but I would like to tell you mine. According to me, National Exam needs not be eliminated as long as it doesn’t determine whether a student passes his education. In this case, National Exam will be only a tool to measure the quality of schools nationwide. Any school that doesn’t meet the minimum passing grade of the exam should evaluate its educational process. It probably needs to upgrade the quality of its teachers, improve its educational resources, or add its educational facilities.

Seeking the Best Solution

National Exam has been becoming pros and contras among the people. It is impossible that there won’t be any contra of a government’s policy. However, when the contras come from a great number of the people, it means there is something wrong with the policy. In the case of National Exam, many experts have given their opinions and suggestions, whereas the government is to decide.

I propose that the government – the ministry of education in this case – should meet some education experts to discuss the best solution. The discussion should be held seriously in an adequate period of time. And the most important is that the decision should not be implemented too quickly. There must be an adequate time interval to socialize the decision as well as to prepare everything needed.

The pharmacy technician tests focus primarily on defining the 200 drugs and the use of formulas and their transformation. You should see the different techniques on how to make this conversion if you do not much about the math. You should also understanding of brand names and common names used for these drugs and the prescribed values for which they are. You can use various methods to prepare for this exam, as the study of the guideline book, by the availableSoftware or by visiting the class. They do it even without exercise. You should also most of the mathematical techniques such as algebra, proportions and formulas, etc. It will be very difficult for you if you have not used before unknown. You do not need all these activities a lot when you are in this area of the pharmacy when you enter your career in this field. When you complete this test you can use it for your identity as awell.

The time to take you to the pharmacy Certified Professional, you will be blessed with more sophisticated and competitive work opportunities. PTCB has created a policy that is based on the following rules if you want to take the certification. You will not be granted when the certification stated that your certification has already been suspended on several grounds. If you are found to be guilty, or you do not find themselves working with the agencies involved in the investigation yourCertification will be discontinued soon. The PTCB Board has very strictly regulated and you can not walk away from them if you want the certification. It should, because either the debt to hurt or kill someone on the basis of your certification.

The investigation into the pharmaceutical field will know based on 90 relevant questions in a time of 2 hours, the medication and details about its negative impacts. There will be some abbreviations and the very simple instructionsused to identify the drugs and their use for the patient. Laws and to regulate this area will also be included in this test. You need through various acts and laws made by the government in order for ordinary people to protect the use of these drugs. Many calculations work and their conversions to the units are also in the test. Some situations involving patients will be given you, and you will use them to give an understanding of your conversions work.

TheExamination of the pharmacy technician is developed in a way that it is mainly due to the different types of drugs and their measurement and calculation of the foreground and that exists in all 90 questions. 90 questions will be administered over a period of 2 hours. During this test the following areas will be looked at very carefully. The first area of importance is the support of pharmacists, and how he should make the treatment of his patients, and that consists of 66% marks. Youwill all this work in your routine activities. They are also recommended on a daily basis, perform the same activities and they learn with their patients. The pharmacy technician should also pay attention to the interpersonal and communication skills as well. The second area of concentration is on the medication maintenance and inventory issues.

Because of the large supply of shares of the medication you will be responsible to work there, and you should alsoand understand the organizational skills and attention to the details. It is very unprofessional for a pharmacy technician, if the drugs are mislabeled, wrong, or you find it difficult, if it is required. As technologists, it is important to you find the medication immediately if it is required. The last phase of your examination for the pharmacy technician will be managing the use of pharmacy and it is on the total weight of the age of 12% of eligibleMark. The cost for this test, you have to wear is one hundred twenty-nine. You can find it because of the increasing importance of this area in recent years. You can apply either by phone, e-mail or on-line basis. You have three opportunities to pass the exam. It is very important to be well prepared for this examination, which leads him in the first attempt. You must renew certification every two years as part of the time.

3102897    การสอบวัดคุณสมบัติ    Qualitying Examination

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3105897    การสอบวัดคุณสมบัติ    Qualifying Examination

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(3105897 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)