What the heck is President Obama doing?

Yes wth? Why is he not doing the following:

1. Starting war with Iran when its President blamed US for 9/11?
   
2. Boosting star wars budget instead of working to train more Maths and Science high school teachers?
3. Wasting time on health care bill so that every one in America has dignity in life. Which sane country spends billions to keep their poor healthy?
4. Not coming on TV everyday to boost our morale instead of boosting the economy?
5. Stopping religious equality and protecting their rights?
6. Worrying about Kim Jong Il's son instead of American's?

Be scandalous not scandal-less. Obama, you still have some time - Yes you can!

Returning empty collection or a null?

Should a null value for an expected collection be preferred or an empty Collection object? Lets see through a program:

import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Vector;

import static java.lang.System.out;

public class E {

  public void isNull (Collection col) {
       long t = System.nanoTime();
       if (col == null) {
       }
       out.println ("Time to check null: " + (System.nanoTime () - t));
  }

  public void isEmpty (Collection col) {
     long t = System.nanoTime ();
     if (col.isEmpty ()) {
     }
     out.println ("Time to check empty: " + (System.nanoTime () - t));
  }

  public static void main (String args []) {
     E e = new E ();
     e.isNull ((Collection) null);
     e.isEmpty (new Vector ());
  }

}

Running this on my laptop with Java 6 produced:

Time to check null:  45234
Time to check empty: 10750

Something to think about..

Lets see how sane Indian Muslims and Hindus are!

September 24th 2010 an Indian court will give its verdict in once seemed never ending case - Ayodhya. Both Hindus and Muslims are wary of violence and Government seems taking it very seriously or may just be creating hysteria. This may not be a final verdict and it can still be stretched to another lifetime but it has a potential of igniting another riot. What needed to be seen is how sane has young Hindus and Muslims of India have become since the last riots that claimed thousands of life in early 90's.

Here are some historic sequence:

• Year 1528 - First Sunni Muslim king of India, Babar or his lieutenant Mir Baki razed a Hindu Ram temple and built a Mosque over the land, probably to celebrate the arrival of Islam in India or to thump their authority. So did they do at Krishna Temple in Mathura and Shiv temple in Somnath - three most revered deities of Hindus.
• Next few centuries on and off attempts were made by Hindus to reclaim the land but all such attempts were crushed heavy handedly.
  
• By 1857, the year of India's first war of Independence or a mutiny against the British rulers, Hindus and Muslims prayed together in proximity - Muslims inside the Mosque and Hindus just in its periphery. 1857 was also the year Hindus and Muslims were closest and hand-in-hand fighting a "foreign" aggressor together.
  
• After the failed attempt of 1857 to claim Independence from the British, the differences between Hindus and Muslims grew wider and in 1947 India was split in two nations in the name of religion and Pakistan was born.
  
• In 1949 Hindus tried to reclaim the land and Idols of Lord Rama and Maa Sita were installed inside.
  
• Then came a series of law suits till mid-1960's with none ever resolved.
  
• 1992 turned out to be a black year in Indian history when the amity between the two communities was broken when some Hindu mob tore town the 350 year old tomb. By then the place was in central governments control and only Hindu priests were allowed to perform limited Puja. 100s and thousands of lives were lost after ensuing riots and retaliations with clear "foreign hands" being exposed in exploiting the situation.
  
• After realizing the futility of hatred and pending court case, Indians moved on. Political parties at front of enticing communal riots lost over next years.
• Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya never got involved in riots and continued to live together with their daily chores. Muslims continued to be involved in small scale industry that makes offerings for deities and Hindus never threatened them in this temple town.
  

What now?

• Pakistan and now increasingly Chinese intelligence agencies are continually looking for opportunities to exploit any communal situations and destabilize the country.
• Kashmir valley is boiling again this time rather more seriously.
• We know how much peace is important to India.
  
• Neither Hinduism nor Islam teaches violence and killing innocents.
  

Its time to prove that Indians are sane citizens and no one can ignite violence between us no matter what the verdict would be. Its time to leave past behind and build our shared future on mutual respect and dignity together.

वाह रे गाड़ियाँ

सिलेंडर चार से छह कर दिया फिर आठ से बारह,
घटा न तेल कन्जम्पशन, मैं इस गैलन से अब हारा।
बुरा क्या था जो हांके बैल थे मेरे पुरखे?
थोड़ा रफ़्तार के बदले, खाए तो थे बस चारा।

फिर से एक शेर

जो राहें छोड़ आगे चल दिए वो याद आते हैं,
वो यादों के परिंदे फिर से वापस लौट आते हैं।
वो धूप जो आक़र आँख को कस के जलाती थी,
थपेड़े ठण्ड के सह के अब हमें फिर से बुलाते हैं।
हवा भी रूह को मेरे बर रोज तार-तार करती है,
जो मरहम नींद के थे अब हमे रातों सताते हैं।