Beauty Contest for nuns

Image: Sophia Loren in White Sister (1972) displays an inner beauty to aspire to

Times online reports:

"An Italian priest is holding a beauty contest with a difference — it will be open only to nuns.

Father Antonio Rungi, of Mondrag-one, near Naples, said he expected at least 1,000 nuns to enter the Sister Italia contest. It would run online at first, but he hoped that it would become a “real pageant” along the lines of the annual Miss Italy contest."

Where is orthodoxy going? Recently the Russian church commented on the incident.

A Maoist Prime Minister in Nepal

Pushpa kamal Dahar has been elected the PM of the newly formed Nepal Government. He was voted by 464 candidates while his opponent Sher Bahadur Dueba from Nepali Congress got 113 votes. Nepal blog reports:

"In what will go on the pages of the history books as one of the most important days of Nepal, Maoist revolutionary (and leader of an outfit that was branded terrorist until two years ago) Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda) has been elected the Prime Minister of Nepal by a majority of votes in the Constituent Assembly..."

Bangladesh wins Silver in Beijing for National Anthem

From 205 countries and their national anthems ours is chosen to be musically 'of quality' after that of Uruguay. Thanks to Rabindranath Tagore. The ranking is done by Alex Marshall, freelance journalist and specialist on music.

He says "National anthems are the same the world over - a short, classical piece meant to stir up pride", and on "Amar Sonar Bangla", "...A wonderful anthem that sounds like it was written for a stroll along the Seine..."

The Rank:
1. Uruguay
2. Bangladesh
3. Tajikistan
4. Mauritania
5. Dominica
6. US Virgin Isles
7. Senegal
8. Nigeria
9. Nepal
10. Japan

War against Iran ?

Centre of research on Globalization reports today that US imperialism and its jointly allied force is planning for a Naval Blockade and war against Iran. It says:

....This was the joint US/UK/French naval war games in the Atlantic Ocean preparing for a naval blockade of Iran and the likely resulting war in the Persian Gulf area. The massive war games included a US Navy supercarrier battle group, an US Navy expeditionary carrier battle group, a Royal Navy carrier battle group, a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine plus a large number of US Navy cruisers, destroyers and frigates playing the "enemy force"......They are joining two existing USN battle groups in the Gulf area: the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN72) with its Carrier Strike Group Nine (CCSG-9); and the USS Peleliu (LHA-5) with its expeditionary strike group........

Picture of the day : from Olympic

In 1992, I had first seen Olympics in TV, before that i had only read them in the "General Knowledge" kind of books, and wondered how USSR and USA were fighting each other in the Olympics. That time, I liked the US Flag and i was not happy that CIS was topping the list of medals. It was always politics in Olympics. Also going on now in 2008. AFP on Bush's current odyssey in Beijing"Bush trip to Asia a mix of sports and politics".


Thanks to the two athletes of Georgia and Russia, that they did act in a way that a stupid human being is also supposed to do. link

World in War again

This week though olympic, the greatest sport event of our time had its way on in Beijing, the attention was drawn by the Georgian attack in South Ossetia followed by the clash between Russian and Georgia. Russia blames NATO and US for making Georgia to start the aggression, while the Georgians are saying, "the russian aggression must not go unanswered". Thousands of people are already killed, though Georgia are claiming less than that.

Chomsky says:

"What's happening seems to me obscure. In Russia, the Putin-Khodorkovsky affair
looks like a battle between two mafias, one state-centered, the other
oligarchy-centered. But information is too low credibility to be confident, at
least what I've seen. I don't see much of an issue of democracy. And when we
are told how Bush looks into Putin's soul and finds a comrade -- need anything
more be said? Undoubtedly the NSC is worried about "the investment and
business climate." And the "rule of law" insofar as it maintains that
properly. How about the "rule of law" in Chechnya? That's someone else's
department.

Have nothing useful to say about what's happening in Georgia."- link

One question that i can't answer: "Why USA are fearing Russia? the nationalism??" - it seems obscure to me. just joking.