An interesting excerpt from a chain letter I've got:

"Did you know that those who appear to be very strong in heart, are real weak and most susceptible?

Did you know that those who spend their time protecting others are the ones that really need someone to protect them?

Did you know that the three most difficult things to say are: I love you, Sorry, and Help me.

Did you know that those who dress in red are more confident in themselves?

Did you know that those who dress in yellow are those that enjoy their beauty?

Did you know that those who dress in black, are those who want to be unnoticed and need your help and understanding?

Did you know that when you help someone, the help is returned in two folds?

Did you know that it's easier to say what you feel in writing than saying it to someone in the face?
But did you know that it has more value when you say it to their face?"

Remberance for the Other 9/11

Though many people associate 9/11 to the atrocities of the airliners crashing into the WTC at New York which has been promptly followed by George Bush's rather misplaced War on Terror, in which seems to be an "eye for a eye" knee jerk reaction that was a huge blow to the already fragile relationship between the somewhat Christain leaning USA with the Muslim worldwide community and forcing the rest of the world to take sides on this issue. For most moderates, the events that transpire since then has been a huge worry, as you can notice, two adversaries that seem to be so different, they are actually very similar in their basic premises. Though both look completely different, if you look deeper, you can notice that both are preaching the same message of hate, division, and a distinct racist attitude - only different in the fact that they are directing them against each other, and each have different resources which also reflects choice of methodology of liquidating each other. And to make my point simple, I can just simple state that the Cycle of Violence is begining a new Cycle.

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To me, there is no reason to glorify any of these Hawkish leaders on this day. What I want to point out that if we go back 99 years from today, there was another very significant event on the day of September 11. On September 11, 1906, one of our world's most famous leader, Mahatma Gandhi, has just launched his the first mass campaign(Called Satyagraha) of nonviolent struggle, in Johannesburg, South Africa due to discriminatory laws leveled against Indians living in South Africa. The events that has transpired during September 11, 1906 is an our world's first example of civil disobedience and non-violence which is a tract that many civil right movements in the world has continued upon some fine examples include Martin Luther King, Jr. (United States) and Nelson Mandela(South Africa).

It is long known that the best way to solve violence is to end it with kindness not additional or overwhelming violence. Violence only breeds violence.

For today, though our world should not forget the atrocities caused on 9/11, I want to spend some time to remind our world that the other more historical important 9/11 goes by rather unheeded, unheralded, and forgotten by most of people these days.

Questions to Ponder - New Orleans vs Mumbai

I've received an email from one of my friends, who sent over a rather interesting list of figures - one of them was the devestation of Katrina on New Orleans, and the other was the devastation by record rain at Mumbai. I've did some preliminary checks on the figures, and most of the figures look in order, not those typical chainletters that are usually works of disinformation that aim to create confusion to masses.

New Orleans vs Mumbai.

inches of rain in new orleans due to hurricane katrina... 18
inches of rain in mumbai (July 27th).... 37.1

population of new orleans... 484,674
population of mumbai.... 12,622,500

deaths in new orleans within 48 hours of katrina...100
deaths in mumbai within 48hours of rain.. 37.

number of people to be evacuated in new orleans... entire city..
number of people evacuated in mumbai...10,000

Cases of shooting and violence in new orleans...Countless
Cases of shooting and violence in mumbai.. NONE

Time taken for US army to reach new orleans... 48hours
Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach mumbai...12hours

status 48hours later...new orleans is still waiting for relief, army and electricty
status 48hours later..mumbai is back on its feet and is business is as usual

After reading through these figures, it does give a lot of food for thought doesn't it?

"The pleasures of the table are for every man, of every land, and no matter of what place in history or society; they can be a part of all our other pleasures and they last the longest, to console us when we have outlived the rest"

Brillat-Savarin

555 - Playing with Numbers#2

555 in our native dialect(Thai) is pronouced as "Ha Ha Ha" which is also one of our most favorite messaging quote (on the similar equivalence with 1337 usage in the global community).

If you don't know what 1337 means, here is the definition form urban dictionary:

1337. Originally used by hackers to avoid simple net searches that would turn up, for example, "I am an elite hacker".

Pronounced "Leet", short for "Elite". The original phrase was 31337, or "Elite", referring to the best hackers. It is still used today by some of the good hackers, but the word has been picked up and overused by so many losers and posers that its meaning has been corrupted.

Instead hackers would say "1 4|\/| 4|\| 31337 |-|4x0|2".

"31337" was later shortened to "1337".

Now 1337 used mainly by the gaming community (also in chatrooms) to mean an especially skilled player.

1. 7|-|3 |=|31 15 93771|\|9 (|053 70 7|-|15 31337 0p3|24710|\|!

2. im s0 1337 taht i pwn ur @ss n00b!

Talking about playing with numbers, I've just noticed another neat number here, notice, 8888 hits! Though that is little compared to my other sites, somehow just knowing someone does stumble from time to time into this rambling siteis quite surprising :P

Global Citizen

After reading about Hurricane Katrina, it just brought back memories of the Tsumami Disater (Some of comments on that) during December 2004, and the vast devastation caused. One thing I remembered well is the mass mobilization of relief and aid from all parts of the world that was sent to numerous countries. One bright example would be Sri Lanka where the Rebels and Government forces after decades of fighting were willing to lay down their arms temporarily to help their fellow citizens regardless of past conflict which was another example how a natural disater can make human understand the triviality of their conflicts.

So without hesitation, I've tried to find ways that I could help. Without much effort from googling, there were a number of websites that I've found that would allow us to help us from the distance.

http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/help.center/

After browsing through the list, I've decided to help the redcross and I made a donation due to their long and outstanding contribution to the world society. This makes me feel better as part of this global citizen - though at times I'm starting to feel guilty if I'm just donating just because of conscience pangs? Hmm... hard to say, but while its on, let me admire what I've done :P

Dear Pisal,

Thank you for your generous gift to the American Red Cross 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund.  This fund makes it possible for the Red Cross to help nationwide Hurricane disaster victims of 2005 with critical needs such as shelter, food, clothing, counseling and other assistance. It's because of the 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund that our response can be immediate regardless of its location or the community’s ability to financially support our efforts. 

Your generous support means the most to the families who rely on Red Cross to help them through some of the most difficult times of their lives. 

Please continue to visit us at  to see how we’re using your 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund donation to make a difference, and for the most current disaster updates and stories about the people being helped.

Together, we can save a life.

American Red Cross

"I believe that who has less in life should have more in law"

Ramon Magsaysay