Wednesday, May 21, 2008

People of Indian origin

I was reading news of Bobby Jindal as a possible republican vice presidential candidate.

In recent times there has been extensive coverage of the Louisiana Governor in the Indian news media. He has been proudly shown as a person of Indian origin who has risen stupendously at such as an early age to the top of American politics. He has been elected as the Indian Abroad person of the year in 2005.

BTW, here are some of the things he believes in:

- Opposes human embryonic stem cell research and abortion in any form.
- Denounces gun control legislation
- Favors teaching of 'intelligent design' in schools as an alternative to evolution.
- Committed to the Christian religious right
- In 2006, Jindal sponsored the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act, a bill to eliminate the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling. His rating on environmental issues is amongst the lowest in the congress.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Flight paths

I used to wonder why do planes take a route along the land mass when flying long distance. There were theories floating around such as the availability of land in case of an emergency, the strength of radars, etc. The correct reason is because it is along the path of the great circle i.e the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. Planes take the great circle route unless there is a jet stream in the direction of travel.



The shortest path between Tokyo and San Francisco would be along the great circle route. However when flying from Tokyo to San Francisco, planes fly along the jet stream route and flight times are much shorter.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Weight gain!

I have restarted cycling and went to the base of Sinhagad last weekend. Around 80 Kms to and fro. We started late around 6:30 AM and had to bear the brunt of the heat and traffic on our way back. Next time, we plan to start early around 4:00 AM.

I did some shoulder and triceps weight training yesterday. The disappointing thing is that I am not putting any bulk in spite of increasing good power lifts. The cycling and running has reduced my weight big time. The only healthy way to counter this is by having a good diet.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Weight loss solutions

Saw this board at Kothrud the day before yesterday and instantly clicked.

Wonder how do they plan to do it?

Liposuction: Take out all the fat you want, but why limit to 5kg/month?
Formula 1 racing: Heard you lose around 5 kg after a race. But then the board should read 5 kg/race.
Run away with your money: Most likely and yes you would definitely lose weight.