Maya Arulpragasam, AKA M.I.A.

It's the best kind of pop album imaginable. It can be enjoyed on a purely physical level, and it also carries the potential to adjust your worldview. - All Music Guide

A Tamil Srilankan girl raised in the UK whose dad served in the Tamil Militant group.I first saw her in MTV news but i did'nt bother to listen or find out more about her album.Last month's Blender carried an article about her and thats where i learned more about M.I.A.But i was still not as curious to listen to her songs and had no idea what i was missing.Its great music with heavy rythmic beats.Well, i love beats but this album is not pure hip-hop or pop but a beautiful unclassifiable addictive album.My personal fav track in the album is 10 dollar cause it has a small bit of tamil lyrics in it.The best thing to do is clear your mind of hype and expectations, and listen to this record -- this fun, addictive, thoroughly entertaining record -- again and again.

Here is a link to watch her Video - Bucky Done Gun and Galang 05 Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 12:19 AM

NEW DELHI: The government is furious about a hypothesis that the epidemic of mad cow disease which struck Europe had its roots in exports, decades ago, of animal feed and bones from South Asia which included human remains scavenged from the Ganga.

Published in the reputed medical journal Lancet, this hypothesis has been picked up by the world’s media.

."Misleading, highly mischievous, a figment of imagination, absurd," says India’s animal husbandry secretary P M A Hakeem, seeing in it a design to damage India’s trade.

Officials at the Indian Council for Medical Research are as scathing. A senior epidemiologist said: "In India, we haven’t had a single case when cattle or sheep have died of mad cow disease. In the absence of any evidence, how can one support this study? This is just a weird guess which will not hold water. The report can only be given a chance if the researchers can give evidence of feed exported from India being infected."

Saturday, September 10, 2005 at 2:42 PM

India could be source of Mad Cow: Scientist

Hindus believe remains should be disposed of in a river, preferably the Ganges.


Human remains washed ashore after being floated downriver (Ganges) in Indian funerals, claim British scientists.

"We do not claim that our theory is proved, but it unquestionably warrants further investigation," the scientists wrote.

"Scientists must proceed cautiously when hypothesizing about a disease that has such wide geographic, cultural and religious implications." - Dr Susaria Shankar

Hindus do not put half-burnt bodies into the river," they wrote, adding that if bodies found in the Ganges did have CJD, there should have been a major epidemic of the disease in north India.

Indian neuroscientists Susarla Shankar and P. Satishchandra of the National institute of mental health and neurosciences in Bangalore, India, said they agreed the theory needs to be followed up, but urged caution

Friday, September 02, 2005 at 11:01 PM