In many countries today, such as India, governments are considering banning the Blackberry Messenger service primarily because it is a very easy way for terrorists to communicate. The service is a national security matter as the company is not able to trace messages sent across the network. Talk of the ban of BBM has been on for a while now, however the company seems intent on pressuring the government to give it more time to find a solution before the ban.

India, which had been under attack recently in Mumbia in the “Taj” Hotel, thinks BBM is a great way for terrorists to plan another such attack. India lost important Businessmen and Politicians under that attack. It is therefore taking extra care of its security and banning BBM is a step. The government has however decided that the ban should be put on hold till January 2011, after which the ban will be in progress unless the company comes up with a solution.

I haven’t showered in a week, because I now realize how important the water is.

In order to understand the water resource in California, our AP Environmental Science class took a camping trip to Owens Lake and Mono Lake. People in Los Angeles mostly get their water from these two lakes. In order to use the water, the government created diversions in Owens River and other rivers that flow into the lakes. The diversions control how much water will flow into the lakes and how much water will flow to LA region. As the population in LA grow rapidly, the need of the water increase. As the result of this situation, less and less water will flow into the lakes.

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Strolling through internet for oil spill clean up ideas, I found something old, but still very crazy scary. Darryl Carpenter who works at Florida-based CW Roberts Contracting, and Otis Goodson have invented a brilliant, but so simple way to clean up oil spills.

He told Goodson, “Can you fill a large pan with water and oil, then grab a handful of hay and stir it in? Strain out the hay, then call me back and tell me what’s left in the pan.” Strangely enough, this strategy worked. I mean the results were stunningly successful.

So why not hay for about 300 oil spills occurring a year? Doesn’t sound that bad AT ALL.

Here is the video.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/05/11/video-hay-heres-a-great-idea-how-to-clean-up-the-bp-oil-spill/#continued

The most powerful family in Mumbai, India, has finally been opposed by none other than their private college‘s dean, Dr Frazer Mascarenhas S J.  The young and active leader of the Shiv Sena, Aditya Thackeray was popularly criticized by the dean of St. Xavier College for his immaturity at handling a book written against politics by an alumni, Rohinton Mistry.

The book ‘such a Long Journey‘, was shortlisted for the prestigious, Booker Prize, and Mistry is one of the proudest alumni’s of the University. However, members of the Shiv Sena, the political party under the Thackerays, are burning copies of the book to show their disagreement with it. One of students also asked another college in Mumbai to take the book off their syllabus.

The Dean‘s opinion was, “It is inconceivable that in the 21st century, a political party will not show the maturity to accept criticism and answer it by the evidence of its own actions. Is it not unreasonable, that literature is banned, merely because it dares to critique us? St. Xavier’s College regrets that this book, written by an alumnus, and widely acclaimed in the literary world, has been treated in this manner.”