A Walk On The Beach

President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni stroll on the French Riviera.

The real Reason...that the niqab was outlawed in France

RODENT SANDWICH

Actually, this was from Buzz earlier today, but I can't find it now.

Rodent Sammich, Animated

Well, if you found yourself as the meat portion of a sandwich, wouldn't you try to get out, too?

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - walking down the winding roads

walking down the winding road

Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
Franklin P. Jones

Photograph:  courtesy of Angad Singh
All rights reserved by Angad Singh

Day Lilies and Frogs by Anne Norma

These beautiful photos are by Anne Norman who generously publishes under a Creative Commons license. 

Daylilies and Frogs by Anne Norman

These beautiful photos are by Anne Norman who generously publishes under a Creative Commons license. 

Of Parrots and Ego

I am annoyed.  My ego is bruised.  For what reason could I possibly be denied membership in a Yahoo group about...parrots.  That's right, a parrot group.  I understand that Indian Patriotic Groups might not want me as a member.  Certainly, Hinduvta groups wouldn't want and, in America, probably the Teabaggers, as well.  No doubt the John Birch Society would look askance at my membership application, as would the Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan.  As a raceless mongrel, the National Socialist White Workers' Party (Nazis) would reject me out of hand.  Certainly, Christian Identity wants nothing to do with such as I.  These all make perfect sense.

But a group about parrots?  I do share my life with a bad-tempered, biting, squawking, megalomaniac spectacled (or white-fronted) Amazon parrot, Amazona albifrons albifrons,   I think she is called. Has Thuki herself put in a bad word for me?  I know that she is quite resentful that I haven't gotten her a royal consort, but black-balling me from parrot groups seems a bit extreme, even for her.

So what exactly does this rejection notice say.  Is there some clue contained therein?

Dear Mai Harinder Kaur,

Unfortunately your registration at A fun place for parrot and other bird enthusiasts to learn, chat, and discuss bird care, feeding, behavior, health, ornithology, breeding, and more! did not meet our membership requirements. Therefore your registration was deleted.

Sorry,

Sorry, indeed.  I sent back a reply:

Oh, well, I suppose I shall dust off my bruised ego, dry my copious tears and move on.   Still, I wonder...

RUPEE!

It took me a while to figure out while this made me laugh so hard.  Finally I figured it out.

This new symbol of the Indian rupee is an "R" without a backbone with an equal sign superimposed on it.  I leave it to my reader to discern why that gave me a fit of the giggles.

Indian Rupee Gets a Distinct Symbol
New Delhi | Jul 15, 2010
The Indian rupee will soon have a unique symbol - a blend of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R' - joining elite currencies like the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen in having a distinct identity.

The new symbol, designed by Bombay IIT post-graduate D Udaya Kumar, was approved by the cabinet today -- reflecting that the Indian currency, backed by an over-trillion dollar economy, was finally making its presence felt on the international scene.

"It's a big statement on the Indian currency. The symbol would lend a distinctive character and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and global face of the Indian economy," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Though the symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, it would be included in the 'Unicode Standard' and major scripts of the world to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media.

Unicode is an international standard that allows text data to be interchanged globally without conflict. After incorporation in the global and Indian codes, the symbol would be used by all individuals and entities within and outside the country.

The symbol will be adopted in a span of six months in the country, and within 18 to 24 months globally, Soni said, adding that it will feature on computer keyboards and softwares for worldwide use.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that the rupee symbol approved by the Cabinet needs to be incorporated into typewriters and computer keyboards to enable its better day-to-day usage.

"It's quite a nice symbol. This thing (the rupee symbol) has to be brought into current usage. The most important thing is to make sure that in typewriters the symbol is somewhere there," he said here after a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Ahluwalia said changes should be made in both hardware and software systems of computers "so that when I want the symbol in, it should be there".

Among currencies with distinctive identities, only the pound sterling has its symbol printed on the notes.

Soni said that the symbol, which reflects the Indian ethos and culture, would help distinguish the currency from the rupee or rupiah of other countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Besides this, state governments would be asked to proactively promote the use of the new symbol, she added.

Kumar's entry was chosen from 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakh.

"It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters -- capital 'R' and Devanagri 'Ra' which represents rupaiah, to appeal to international and Indian audiences... My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between," a visibly-happy Kumar said.

The jury, which had sent the five short-listed entries for the cabinet's approval, was headed by a Reserve Bank Deputy Governor.