Day	Derivation
Sunday	First day of the week. Derived from the Latin dies solis, "sun's day," a pagan Roman holiday.
Monday	Second day of the week. Derived from the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, which means "the moon's day." Latin: dies lunae, "day of the moon."
Tuesday	Third day of the week. Named for the Norse god of war, Tiu, or Tyr, the son of Odin.
Wednesday	Fourth day of the week. Named to honor Odin, or Woden, chief god in Norse mythology. Onsdag in Sweden and Denmark.
Thursday	Fifth day of the week. Named for Thor, Norse god of thunder. Torsdag in Sweden and Denmark.
Friday	Sixth day of the week. Named for the Norse goddess of love, Frigg, or Frija. Variation of the Old High German frìatag, "day of Frija."
Saturday	Seventh day of the week. Named in honor of the Roman god Saturn. Latin: Saturni. Sater-daeg by the Anglo-Saxons.

A new blogger friend, Roshmi Sinha and I are having a discussion (in the comments section of a movie review post) that I think deserves attention.

We were talking about the state of current affairs in South Asia and it's development today. But let me backtrack so I can give you a little bit of history about the current topic.

The term Mujaheddin essentially means freedom fighter in Arabic. The most popular usage of the term came to light with several tribal leaders and opposition groups forming a coalition against the pro-Soviet Afghani government that came to power after overthrowing King Mohammed Zahir Shah in 1973. Now, the Soviets have had interests in Afghanistan strategically since the days of the Romanov Russian Empire with billions of dollars of aide flowing in to Afghanistan to secure alliances. This interest obviously carried over in to the days of the Cold War.

"In June 1975, militants from the Jamiat Islami party attempted to overthrow the government. They started their rebellion in the Panjshir valley, some 100 kilometers north of Kabul, and in a number of other provinces of the country. However, government forces easily defeated the insurgency and a sizable portion of the insurgents sought refuge in Pakistan where they enjoyed the support of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's government, which had been alarmed by Daoud's revival of the Pashtunistan issue."

Now, the unpopular Afghan government started calling upon the Soviet Union to send reinforcements to fight the resurgent and hugely popular Mujaheddin rebels. The USSR, seeing this as a great opportunity sent regiments of Soviet regular troops into Afghanistan under the guise of protecting the elected government.


This prompted the Mujaheddin to reach out to the enemies of the Soviets, the Americans, for help. In 1979, Jimmy Carter authorized the funding of anti-Communist guerrillas in Afghanistan and Operation Cyclone, a covert CIA plan to arm the Mujaheddin was born.


Now, if you watch Charlie Wilson's War and other movies detailing that era, you have a good idea of how much money and training went in to upgrading the Mujaheddin from a ragtag group of revolutionaries to a battle-hardened fighting force capable of beating the mighty Soviets. It is also open knowledge that in order to be discreet about the funding and aid, the US used Pakistan's ISI to train the rebels instead.

After almost a decade of Cold War hostilities from both sides being fought on the Afghan battlefield, billions of dollars went to the Mujaheddin from their prime benefactors, the Americans and the Saudis. This decade also saw the Mujaheddin become one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world and the only one to defeat the Russian Army.

The Soviet Union, after a severe beating, withdrew from Afghanistan on Feb 15, 1989.


Post-Soviet Withdrawal

The war in Afghanistan took an incalculable toll on the people and the nation.


"Over 1 million Afghans were killed. 5 million Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran, 1/3 of the prewar population of the country. Another 2 million Afghans were displaced within the country. In the 1980s, one out of two refugees in the world was an Afghan.Along with fatalities were 1.2 million Afghans disabled (mujaheddin, government soldiers and noncombatants) and 3 million maimed or wounded (primarily noncombatants)."

Afghanistan, as a country, was completely and utterly destroyed as was any and all infrastructure the country once had. Also, three years after the withdrawal, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed to the mujaheddin resistance.


Then, the expected happened with the Mujaheddin turning in on itself and broke off in to several warring factions until finally, the Taliban rose to deal with the corruption that had infiltrated all ranks of the Mujaheddin. The Taliban initially enjoyed enormous good will from Afghans weary of the corruption, brutality, and the incessant fighting of Mujaheddin warlords. The Taliban was also overtly funded by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who felt that the Islamic radicals and fundamentalists who made the rank and file of the Taliban would be easier to control. They held power from 1996 till late 2001 when they were removed from power by the invading US and allied forces.

Bin Laden & Al-Qaeda

Now, from amongst this chaos rose one very prominent individual with the money to back his own brand of radical Islam.  

"Bin Laden believes that the restoration of Sharia law will set things right in the Muslim world, and that all other ideologies—"pan-Arabism, socialism, communism, democracy"—must be opposed. He believes Afghanistan under the rule of Mullah Omar's Taliban was "the only Islamic country" in the Muslim world. Bin Laden has consistently dwelt on the need for violent jihad to right what he believes are injustices against Muslims perpetrated by the United States and sometimes by other non-Muslim states, the need to eliminate the state of Israel, and the necessity of forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East. He has also called on Americans to "reject the immoral acts of fornication (and) homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling, and usury," in an October 2002 letter."

After leaving college in 1979 bin Laden joined Abdullah Azzam to fight the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and lived for a time in Peshawar. Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia in 1990 as a hero of jihad, who along with his Arab legion, "had brought down the mighty superpower" of the Soviet Union. However, during this time Iraq invaded Kuwait and Laden met with Sultan, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and told him not to depend on non-Muslim troops and offered to help defend Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden's offer was rebuffed and after the American offer to help was accepted he publicly denounced Saudi Arabia's dependence on the US military. Bin Laden's criticism of the Saudi monarchy led that government to attempt to silence him.

This caused the birth of Al-Qaeda which went on to become the threat that it is to the world today. 

Bush & The Middle-East Wars


George W. Bush, who I believe to be the biggest mistake ever to happen to world politics, probably worse than Neville Chamberlain and his appeasement of Nazi Germany from 1937-39, used the 9/11 attacks to start his global War on Terror with invasions of Afghanistan, the overthrow of the Taliban regime and of course, the invasion of Iraq based on some fabricated WMDs.


I am of the genuine opinion that Bush never wanted to capture Bin Laden, not because of any collusion between the two but because Bin Laden was Bush's excuse to walk into Asia and then use this as a platform to take out his father's old nemesis, Saddam.

The bruised Taliban, in the meanwhile, gathered their forces and made a massive resurgence not just in Afghanistan but in neighboring Pakistan where they had ties to the JUI party.


"For a period of seven years since their origin, Pakistan's government had been the Taliban's main sponsor. It provided military equipment, recruiting assistance, training and tactical advice that enabled the band of village mullahs and their adherents to take control of Afghanistan.


Officially Pakistan denied it was supporting the Taliban, but its support was substantial—one year's aid (1997/1998) was an estimated US$30 million in wheat, diesel, petroleum and kerosene fuel, and other supplies. The Taliban's influence in its neighbor Pakistan was deep. Its "unprecedented access" among Pakistan's lobbies and interest groups enabled it "to play off one lobby against another and extend their influence in Pakistan even further. At times they would defy" even the powerful ISI."


The formation of a Pakistan Taliban umbrella group called Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan was announced in December 2007.


As of now, the Pakistani government and army is in a full-blown war with the Taliban in many provinces with suicide bombings happening in Pakistani cities on almost a daily basis.



As of December 2008, at least 889 persons were killed and 2,072 others injured in 61 suicide attacks in Pakistan, as the total number of suicide bombings in the country since 2002 rose to 140.
The suicide bombings in 2008 surpassed the last year's figures of 56, including the one in which former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose first death anniversary would be observed on December 27, was killed in Rawalpindi.

My view on South Asia and the current crisis

The Taliban is a monster created by the US and Pakistan to counter what was then, the communist USSR. Now, they are a terror force the likes of which has never been seen. Al-Qaeda, using the protection of the Taliban, continues to plan and execute strikes all around the world in any country that seems unsympathetic to the Islamic cause.

I believe the Taliban and terror activities of the Asian Subcontinent can only be contained locally. The US is already in it's own sequel to Vietnam where they've dedicated hundreds of thousands of troops to both Iran and Afghanistan in a completely no-win situation that can only lead to more deaths and definitely no victory. They are invaders or "saviors" in a country that doesn't want to be saved, especially by them.

They should also stop funding Pakistan as it admittedly uses a good portion of aid sanctioned for the War on Terror against India. On September 25, 2009, Indian External Affairs Minister, S.M.Krishna told reporters, "Considering the statement that has been issued by the former president of Pakistan Musharraf himself where he has said that the aid provided to Pakistan by the United States have been used for directing its hostile operations against India."

It is only a matter of time before the discontent within America over the deaths of US soldiers on foreign soil will become vociferous enough that the US will have to withdraw, either voluntarily or because the cost of keeping forces abroad just does not outweigh the losses the forces are incurring in terms of both lives and money.


Roshmi believes (and I agree) that the powerful defense contractor lobby within the United States will not allow the War on Terror to end because of the billions of dollars in funding that these companies get for conducting the wars, both logistically and otherwise.


This doesn't seem an unpopular belief either. If you reference a recent spate of movies and shows, both 24 and State of Play both deal with Private Military Corporations responsible for providing private contractors (mercenaries) to handle certain aspects of the War on Terror. Their claim is that these PMCs are bolstering terrorists' capabilities on the battlefield through illegal arm supplies in order to increase their necessity on the battlefield.


According to a news report dated November 12th, 2009:


US defense contractors are funding insurgents in Afghanistan, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, according to a report in The Nation published Thursday.
 
The report, by veteran investigative correspondent Aram Roston, asserts that US military contractors charged with assisting US forces in Afghanistan are actually funding the groups killing American soldiers. Roston describes a protection racket similar to that of the mafia, in which contractors pay the Taliban "protection money" not to attack them.

"In this grotesque carnival, the US military's contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes," Roston writes. "It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting. And it is a deadly irony, because these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban. 

"It's a big part of their income," a top Afghan government security official purportedly told told The Nation.


This is exactly the kind of gross mistreatment of War that spawns fears of Defense Contractors' involvement.

This essentially means the US is giving the Taliban money that will eventually be used against it.

My question to you is, how can America not loose? Obama is paying for Bush's gross incompetence and is continuing to pour troops and money in to Afghanistan and Iraq. The money, in some instances, is going directly to the Taliban.

The only way out is for the US to pull out and support these countries through partner states like India, Brazil and China. Any direct influence will, again, be misconstrued as setting up "Puppet Governments" which Karzai's government is already accused of being.

I'm back and here goes. Where were we? Right.

12. The Book of El: In a post-apocalyptic world, a lone hero, Eli (Denzel Washington), guards the Book of Eli, which provides knowledge that could redeem society. The despot (Gary Oldman) of a small, makeshift town plans to take possession of the book.

Let's see, Denzel, who I like just made a movie called The Taking of Pelham 123 which I didn't like. Which is not something I ever thought I'd say about a Denzel Washington movie. But let's see if he makes up for it. Gary Oldman is a favorite any day.












13. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 

To this I can say, YAY!! As you'd know from my previous post on Narnia,  I'm a huge C.S.Lewis & Narnia fan. And I loved Prince Caspian. I don't quite know why the film had crappy box office returns but I'm really hoping they make all 7 Chronicles. This one is something I'm eagerly waiting for.









14. Shrek Forever After

Who doesn't love Shrek? I know it's movie four so people are probably starting to get a wee bit tired of it but I think they still have one good one left in 'em.  









 15. Sex and the City 2 

I know it's sacrilege for a guy to admit he likes Sex and the City but I'm going to say it. I like it! It's funny, the chemistry between the characters hasn't gotten old after 6 seasons. But after this movie, please stop. You can't keep milking it just cause it made sense once. And yes, botox is your friend.







16. Tron Legacy 

Okay, so I don't remember the original Tron movie cause I was 2 when it came out. But I do remember seeing those ridiculously cool tron bikes and stuff when I was a little older thinking, "Nice!" Well, it's 27 years later and time for a sequel. Look for it at the end of 2010. 










17. Twilight Saga: Eclipse

I think I'll let media overkill do the job for me here. I don't care to see Robert "Sunken-eyes" Pattinson or Kristin "My life is going to end if I don't kiss Edward" Stewart. I can't go 10 feet without Twilight this or Twilight that. But unfortunately, screaming teen girls being a huge demographic, they will make all 4 movies pretty much back to back.








18. Alice in Wonderland 

Now, this is a movie I'd give an arm to see. Tim Burton, the genius dark director is back to take what is, in actuality, not a childrens novel at all and subject it to his even more twisted vision. It is going to be AWESOME. Burton has with him, the usual suspects, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny Elfman and Depp. And just when you think Johnny Depp can't pull any more avatars out of his hat, he gives us... 








19. Inception 

If you loved The Dark Knight and I did, Christopher Nolan is back with the most underrated actor of his generation, Leo DiCaprio in a weird sci-fi thriller. I saw the trailer, didn't understand a goddamn thing but I can't wait to watch it.









20. The Expendables 

Okay, this is just testosterone overkill. Sly Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, alongside upstarts Jet Li and Jason Statham, for a story about a crack team of mercenaries sent on a mission to terminate a South American warlord. I am weeping tears of joy.
 










 



21. The A Team 

Does anyone remember The A Team. I thought they were cool with that cool van and Mr.T. I thought he was the biggest black man I'd ever seen in my life. Well, I was 8 when I first saw them. Here is your first official look at Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as Sgt. "B.A." Baracus, Sharlto Copley as Capt. "Howling Mad" Murdock, and Liam Neeson as John "Hannibal" Smith in the Joe Carnahan-directed The A-Team.




22.  Toy Story 3

I thought they were cute. Maybe they still are. Might download this one. 










23. Shutter Island

My favorite actor-director combo is back. Leo DiCap-Martin Scorsese. Come on!
The Gangs of New York, The Departed, The Aviator and now a horror! I CAN'T WAIT! Look at that poster. :D









24. Robin Hood 

Where has Russel Crowe gone? I haven't seen him since... oh wait. He's in England. In tights. Beating up bad guys. Generating Oscar buzz before it even begins. 












25. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I 

"We know it's the last part and we know it has to end. No? JKR won't write another? Damn it! How do we make this last just a little long... wait a minute! I'll just make the last part into last part- part 1 and last part - part 2. mehehehe."











26. Iron Man 2 

Tony Stark is back. :)

Mickey Rourke is the cybernetically enhanced villain Whiplash and Scarlett Johansson appears as Black Widow, a Russian assassin who may also be joining Gwyneth Paltrow as potential love interest. Don Cheadle replaces Terence Howard as Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, who later becomes Iron Man’s heavily armed back up, War Machine.

That's going to be my Super-hero pick of the year. 

So, I did it. I watched 2012. And you know what? It wasn't as bad as everyone said it was going to be. I mean, come on. It's a Ronald Emmerich movie. If stuff isn't blowing up for no good reason (or in this case, very flimsy reasons), then THERE'S NO MOVIE. But before you read any further, please do leave your common sense at the door. Such foolishness as "reason" and "science" shouldn't ruin what would otherwise be a great doomsday film.

So, yes, we were warned. 2012 was supposed to be the date the Mayan calendar ended. But do you know who discovers the first traces of Armageddon?? Is it the Americans in New York? Noo. It's a very sweaty Jimmy Mistry with an atrocious accent in Indian Astronomical Institute, which is, I have to say located in a run down, dilapidated shack, which is where ALL our Indian research institutions are located. In the outhouse. (DAMN YOU,  SLUMDOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!)

Anywho, so Mistry tells new black African-American (after all, we don't like to stereotype or be prejudiced do we? DO WE??) dude, Chiwetel Ejiofor (from other end-of-the-world classics such as Tsunami: The Aftermath and Children of Men). Chiwetel, let's call him Chi for short, tells the US President AND THEN AMERICA STEPS IN TO SAVE THE DAY. Jesus. And here I was, thinking that this movie was going to be like all the others. :P

So, they build Arks and John Cussack finds out about them and outruns, and I'm not making this up, (why would I, when everything I've said so far is so believable) the sinking of California, the volcanic eruption of the Central United States and how could I forget, an ash cloud traveling several hundred miles per hour. He then lands in the Himalayas, sneaks aboard an Ark just when the water hits. And then they live happily ever after... hahaha... just kidding. The Ark door is stuck open, water is rushing in, everyone's going to die unless he saves the day. Again. And THEN, they live happily ever after. (Not everyone, just the 10,000 people aboard the Arks)


So, the movie is an apocalyptic one. There are a lot of cool special effects that MUST be watched on the big screen. Trust me, it's not going to blow you out of your seat if you watch it on your TV or computer.

Having said that, please, Ronald Emmerich, please consult a scientist, or even a third-grader. There are no such things as "mutant neutrinos". There are regular neutrinos and then there are neutrinos with an X chromosome thus giving them special powers. I'm kidding. There are no MUTANT NEUTRINOS. The basic particles of the Universe aren't going to change on December 21st, 2009, microwave the Earth and then suddenly switch back on December 22nd, 2009. (When the flood ends and the magnetic South Pole is in Wisconsin).

Woody Harelson has a very funny cameo and his "online blog" was the funniest thing in the movie. A close second was Danny Glover getting smushed by the USS John F Kennedy. Oliver Platt is pretty okay as a conniving politician.

I say, watch it once, and if you have a big screen, then bring out the DVD again for a "End of the World" Movie Marathon.

Oh, yes. Jimmy, the guy who saved (a bit) of the world doesn't get picked up and isn't given a seat on the Ark. So, I end this by saying... DAMN YOU, SLUMDOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!

Yes, I don't have one. A computer. "Ah," you might say, "how then, are you blogging?" To which I would say, "BEEFCAKE! BEEFCAKE!"

So, I only have a computer at work and my laptop at home went to the Service Center in the sky and I have bid it adieu and given it a worthy send off. This means I kicked it, screamed at it, pleaded and finally broke down in tears.

Now, this is quite a problem because I've always had a computer. (By always, I mean 4 years). And now, I feel quite disconnected from things. Which is kind of cool cause I'm always complaining about wanting to be disconnected but it is quite unnerving to be actually computer-less. I'm learning to rely only on TV as a form of entertainment, reading (books!) as a way to get information and I have yet to revert to the ancient art form of communication known as letter-writing but I feel I'm on my way there.
But I do realize that I miss one of my closest friends online, Wikipedia. Man, it's impossible to imagine how much I depend on that one website. Anything and I do mean anything, I want to know, I just key it in and spend the next two hours reading either related links or something completely random that just popped in to my head whilst reading. It's time for my Did You Know section. (I created said section just now)

"It was launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger and is currently the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet."
"According to Alexa and comScore, Wikipedia is among the ten most visited websites worldwide. Of the top ten, Wikipedia is the only non-profit website." 

I love the fact that I can search for anything from : poop to rocket science to Chandamama (a very Indian childrens' magazine). And for a person who just loves to wiki, it's a pleasure. I keep jumping from one topic to the next, often forgetting what I originally came to the site for.

Another online indulgence lately is this. Blogging. I'm getting to read some great blogs in the time I spend blog-jumping. I've met some interesting people, thanks to IndiBlogger. There are a lot of good blogs, some interesting ones and some downright sad. But hey, to each their own and I'm sure there's loads of people out there who'd find practically some aspect of everyone's blog interesting. And the best part is, you can pick and choose who you follow and who is on your wavelength. Here's where I'm going to give a shout out to some new blogs I've liked on the way: Magali, Roshmi & Daniel.

And the thing is, I get the urge to blog at the oddest time and I've got to scratch that itch right away. I'm not the "remember it and do it later" kind of guy. I just type as I feel it. Not having a computer is cramping my style.

So, conclusion is that I need to get a PC and stat. I'm a huge gaming fan, evidenced by my uber-cool, albeit, small collection of awesome games:

• X-Men : Rise of Apocalypse

• Fantastic Four

•  Age of Empires III
  

• Age of Mythology

• Assassin's Creed

• Hitman : Blood Money

• Prince of Persia : The Two Thrones
• Prince of Persia : The Warrior Within

Now, the fact that I need to insert them in to a PC to play them also requires me to own one. I'm seriously thinking of checking out this baby. The Dell Alienware series of Laptops and PCs for game freaks. I present to you:


How beautiful are these machines? Really! And the Laptop specs are:



Imagine how awesome the Desktop would be. :D And then I found out that they're priced at... Rs.191,658.55