No!

The great thing about science in the modern era is the amount of technology researchers have at their disposal to support or reject claims. I still can’t believe NASA had to go out of its way to address this hype, but I hope their explanations dissolve all the misconceptions about the Mayan calendar’s “last day” (which isn’t even true in the first place).

As a side note, I’m kind of worried. December 31st is fast approaching. Maybe the Gregorian calendar has predicted this planet’s demise to be much sooner than the Mayans ever imagined.

What I can’t stand is when these YouTube users (who remain completely anonymous by not posting any information about themselves) make the highlight of their day putting down the videos of others. I don’t know whether to pity or laugh at them, but these people need to grow up. A first grader could generate a more thoughtful (not necessarily “nice”, but at least more constructive) comment than these ostracized impediments to society who seek refuge in hiding behind a computer.

Okay, I’m done ranting.

On the award itself, it says that Mr. HBU “epitomizes the ideal HBU student in character, leadership, scholarship, service, and spiritual life.” If you were to ask someone who really knows Jonathan about his commitment to any of the aforementioned characteristics, I’m sure they can describe actions where he showcased those traits. His exceptionally high academic standards have been continually met with equally high dedication to service. His outgoing and sociable nature promote camaraderie in any given environment while simultaneously promoting his credibility as a leader.

I could go on and on, but if you know Jonathan, I need not say more.

To vote for Jonathan, please follow these simple steps:

1. Log onto your HBU Blackboard Account
2. Look under “Campus Announcements” on the top right side for “VOTE FOR YOUR MR.HBU AND MS.HBU”
3. Vote for Jonathan Tran for Mr. HBU!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Furthermore, I’m left in a state of contemplation amidst the sacrifices of my peers. Which items in my life am I hopelessly addicted to? Well, for better or worse, I can only think of one – the Internet. As for giving up the Internet, I really don’t see a point. It’s my primary means of earning money, educating myself, gaming, entertainment and communication. It’s a crucial part of my daily routine as it provides me with essentials that other mainstream items (televisions, phones, etc.) cannot.

Every time I go out of town, I usually have to abandon the Internet for a few days, and let me tell you… I feel like I’m back in the Dark Ages. I’m totally out of touch with the world and oblivious to recent events. The first thing I do when I get home is run to my laptop, check my e-mail, check AIM, check Facebook, check Google News, check PubMed… ehhh… you get the point.

So what would you give up for Lent?

If two shy people with an underlying interest in each other have a “conversation”, their body languages may appear radically different than two individuals having an otherwise casual discussion. Perhaps the girl will attempt a world record for the fastest eye-fluttering and the guy will flex all ten of his muscles (maybe eleven for an added effect). Sure, this is good and all, but why do some people (both guys and girls) think that every non-verbal action by the opposite gender is a signal of affection?

I’m fortunate to have only come across a handful of people who think they’re God’s gift to mankind. The funny thing, at least for me, is how sadly mistaken these people are. When Girl A thinks that Guy A, Guy B, and Guy C are all into her based on the content of their communication (verbal and nonverbal), in reality, the three guys are secretly just trying to be nice to her because they feel bad for her. It’s a funny thing… lying to ourselves.

Us: “So what do you think of when you hear “college?”

Them: “GIRLS!!!!!! Do you guys have the Girls Gone Wild people at HBU? Have you seen American Pie? Have you? Have you? I’m going to start my own Beta House in college!”

Seriously, what ever happened to the quality of education in this country? I was honestly shocked. I know hormones are raging at that age, but when the teachers had no disciplinary actions for their students’ perverse interjections, well, flustered doesn’t even begin to describe what I felt. It’s interesting to analyze the behavior of people from childhood through their grade school years, but enough is enough. I felt like forgetting the topic at hand to slap some sense into each of them. Yeah, watch me go into pediatrics.

This brings to mind the debate on public versus private schooling. Would these kids be more careful with their tongues had they been through the latter? Heh, stay tuned for my next post regarding public/private schools. In the meantime, instill some common sense regarding maturity into your children.

Does your Pepsi lack pep? Is your Coke not the real thing? India’s Hindu nationalist movement apparently has the answer: a new soft drink made from cow urine.

The bovine brew is in the final stages of development by the Cow Protection Department of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), India’s biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group, according to the man who makes it.

Om Prakash, the head of the department, said the drink – called “gau jal”, or “cow water” – in Sanskrit was undergoing laboratory tests and would be launched “very soon, maybe by the end of this year”.

“Don’t worry, it won’t smell like urine and will be tasty too,” he toldThe Times from his headquarters in Hardwar, one of four holy cities on the River Ganges. “Its USP will be that it’s going to be very healthy. It won’t be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins.”

The drink is the latest attempt by the RSS – which was founded in 1925 and now claims eight million members – to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness.

Hindus revere cows and slaughtering them is illegal in most of India. Cow dung is traditionally used as a fuel and disinfectant in villages, while cow urine and dung are often consumed in rituals to “purify” those on the bottom rungs of the Hindu caste system.

In 2001, the RSS and its offshoots – which include the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party – began promoting cow urine as a cure for ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.

The movement has often been accused of using more violent methods, such as killing 67 Christians in the eastern state of Orissa last year, and assaulting women in a pub in Mangalore last month. It also has a history of targeting foreign business in India, as in 1994, when it organised a nationwide boycott of multinational consumer goods, including Pepsi and Coca Cola.

The cola brands are popular in India, now one of their biggest markets, but have struggled in recent years to shake off allegations, which they deny, that they contain dangerous levels of pesticide.

Mr Prakash said his drink, by contrast, was made mainly of cow urine, mixed with a few medicinal and ayurvedic herbs. He said it would be “cheap”, but declined to give further details about its price or ingredients until it was officially launched.

He insisted, however, that it would be able to compete with the American cola brands, even with their enormous advertising budgets. “We’re going to give them good competition as our drink is good for mankind,” he said. “We may also think of exporting it.”

Source: Times Online

So now I ask… is anyone thirsty?

I’m an insomniac. I just can’t seem to ever get a full night’s rest no matter what I do. Drinking milk before bedtime… nope. Exercising till my fingers hurt… doesn’t work. When I do happen to fall asleep, I can’t stay asleep. But I’ve found a “treatment” as of late.

Let’s say that I have to wake up at 7:00 AM. Most people would set their alarms around 6:00 AM depending on their morning routines (showering, eating, hitting the snooze button, etc. ). Instead, I set my alarm to something like 4:30 AM. When the alarm rings, I roll out of bed (groggy as ever) and rather than hitting the snooze button, I reset the alarm for 6:30 AM. For some reason, the two hours of sleep I get between 4:30 and 6:30 AM are far superior to the 4-6 hours of sleep I might have had earlier in the night.

There’s probably a biochemical reason for this delayed gratification, but I’m too sleepy to look it up.

Is there anyone else *weird* out there who does this?

So how about a simple breakdown of the average life:

1. We’re born.
2. We go to school.
3. We get a job.
4. We have a family.
5. We die.

Granted, one could argue that I have the “middle steps” out of order, but that’s not the point. Either way you cut it, our lives are pretty pointless. We frown upon materialism, but isn’t that exactly what a typical upbringing is trying to promote? We don’t go to school for “the heck of it.” Education gives us an inlet to attain a stable and worthwhile job. Why do we need this? Well, obviously, we need to make a living. What does that mean? We need a place to live, some means of transportation, nourishment, etc. Just think about it… as a society composed of “intelligent” individuals, we have very little to show for it.

Now don’t get me wrong. There have been noteworthy individuals out there who genuinely lived a meaningful life, but as a whole, humanity just sucks. We’re too caught up in our lives to care for the greater good of our race as a whole.

Am I the only one troubled by this? How do we go about doing something which isn’t a part of this repetitive cycle of life? Yes, I’m going to be a doctor and hopefully have the privilege of healing countless patients, but that will be my “profession”. It’s what I’ll be trained to do on a day-to-day basis. But how do I do something which isn’t tied to work or my self-betterment? Something which is outside of this world, but still universally important. Something which matters.

I think too much emphasis is placed on the end result of our ambitions rather than the process by which we get there. We learn a lot about life (and more importantly, ourselves) as we participate in activities and build relationships. Those who are given blind opportunities solely because they have ways to get around the “system” miss out on these chances and are often prematurely thrown into the real world without even knowing who they are. 

So are credentials overrated? No, because the steps we take to obtain them are vital in our upbringing as successful adults. To simply bypass these learning opportunities is to, yes, jump ahead of your peers; however, one cannot take pride in his or her accomplishments without knowing that they were a product of their own, individual efforts. Interventions from mommy/daddy, or the uncle who got you an internship, or the aunt who put the word in for you to shadow her cardiologist, etc. seem to invalidate the parameters of a person’s ability to be independent in our changing society. And for their sake, I really do feel bad. Though they may reap the benefits of a well-paid job and admiration from their peers for the time being, their ability to be independent is displaced by an ever-growing reliance on others.