Desperation Attack of NATO Leads to 3 Oreshnics Hitting Targets

I am not a War Strategist.

My analysis of previous Wars makes me to believe 3 Oreshnics will reach their targets, in due course.

They are going to be NATO targets.

It is very easy to start a war.

It is very difficult to end a war.

I no not think it will be Nuclear.

We do not know how many Oreshnics Russia possesses.

The end will depend on how many spare Oreshnics Russia willing to keep in it's store.

My Guess

Finland

Poland

England

These three countries may have to live in high alert and start preparing deep bunkers for regular living.

Nuclear War means the end of this World.

We do not have to worry about Iran and Israel which were supposed to be the easy triggers for Military Industrial Complex of America.

I think UK made the wrong choice and move.

Facilitating and saying Yes to Mad Zelensky is their folly.

I have no clue why British hate Russians so much.

Nothing but paranoia.

Paranoia is an incurable disease.

Another Pandemic and Indian Vaccines Trials

I think Ceylon Government made a big mistake by sending vacation notice to Ravi Kumudesh.

He is now exonerated from exposing the bad status of the Department of Health.

1. Quality Control is done by Indians on Indian  products.

One cannot trust them.

Intentions to hide their fallacies are already underway.

2. Blind MOUs with Indians companies are already signed by our President.

He was hoodwinked by Modi.

3. Buffer stocks are not available.

4. Test kits are old.

PCR kits have to be for the new virus variant.

5. We used to follow British Standards, not anymore.

6. WHO depends on Indian companies.

7. We know what happened with the Coronavirus protocol that WHO had with China.

6. The New virus is spreading in China and India.

7. Influenza virus peaks in Winter months.

Coronavirus is a varient of Influenza.

It is difficult to distinguish Rhinovirus from Coronavirus.

Testing is the only way.

8. Other problems.

Dengue is raising it's head.

Chikengunya was a Virus that started in Tanzania in 1952 has come to the Asian continent.

Vaccine is still experimental.

Zika virus has similar symptoms.

All are mosquito born viruses.

9. Aedes egypticus and albopictis is prevelent in Ceylon.

10. Then there are Encephalitis Virus spread by other mosquitoes 

Culex quinquefasciatus is the renaming of Culex fatgans.

11. I had a big book on mosquitoes and was in the process of writing a simple book on mosquitoes. 

I left the big book in Ceylon and brought only a few hand written pages. 

Now, that book intended will never come to publication.

12. I have given up my book on viruses, too.

Analogy of Reality

 

Analogy of Reality

Pin in  a haystack is my closest analogy of reality.

It is very difficult to find reality.

If at all, we would only see the relative reality.

In my opinion, the absolute reality is illusive to mankind.

There is some inherent tendency to limit our capacity to comprehend everything.

I create a plausible concept called "UncertaintyPrinciple" to elucidate the underlying tendency.

Then, there is the  visible reality.

In a classical physical fight, one is destined to bite the dust.

In war death is inevitable.

It does not matter whether it is a war of attrition or a nuclear disaster.

The moment we discovered the gun powder and the gun everything changed in humanity.

Now we are in  ballistic stage.

Knowingly and willingly mankind always chosen the fight or go for war. There is no flight but fight on the first occasion.

One's gain is the others loss.

That is the reality of a Zero Civilization.

I do not believe, in spite of technological progress we can ever ascent to the Level I Civilization where harmony is the base and war is nonexistent.

That is the stark reality.

No religion, no political system and no military system can mitigate the eventual destruction of mankind at this present juncture.

It was true for Sumerians.

It was true for Arcadians.

It was true Asirians.

It was true for Greeks.

It was true for Byzantine.

It was true for Muslims.

The above mentioned are all in relation to Euphrates river and not global in analysis.

It is true for neocolonial system of the West today.

It has met its nemesis, Russia.

This is only about 8000 years of modern civilization.

This is where I tend to disagree with Steven Hawking's Singularity and One Universe (of our understanding).

I think he left it open for us to debate the inconsistency.

Multiverse is as plausible as the Universe.

We will soon join the Aztecs, Mayans and Sumerians.

Unfortunately we are not going to leave any significant artefacts behind to the next generations of civilization that may arise from the ashes. 

What about the use of invisible spectrum or quantum?

If the current civilization is smart enough we should be able to  leave behind enough of quantum information behind, so a future generation would be able to analyze our predicament in a correct perspective.

My presumption is that energy cannot be destroyed but transformed.

If our civilization could devise a methodology in quantum mechanics where a zipper like chain of quantum information is allowed to grow infinitely but could be traced back to it origin by unzipping the zip, then we can say we were a "Smart Civilization" that left behind a tell tel story in a "Quantum Channel".

Time is considered not a dimension in this piece.

Now, the flux of physics takes me to the Dark Matter, Dark Holes, Event Horizon and Uncertainty. 

Our current physics cannot be interfaced with the events in the event horizon.

New physical dimension above the three dimensions has to be devised.

Let us say it is the Fourth Dimension.

Even tough, we can postulate the fourth dimension we will never be able to fathom events at that level.

That is why I say we are one brain, one gravity and three dimensional beings.

That does not preclude the possibility of beings of the 4 dimension or above.

To them Worm Holes, Shape Shifting, Anti-gravity propulsion and galactic travel are mundane events.

In other words, I believe in aliens or beings above 3 dimension who have superior mental capacity to humans, including telepathy.

I think I should stop at this point of inter-phase albeit sanity and insanity merges into one without clear distinction of reality.

My point here, is unless one has substantial evidence to support breakthroughs one should not believe "Instant Gurus" in the YouTube.

They can be gullible suckers.

Of course there may be a few genuine guys.

That is why as a rule,I warn anybody over 35 engaging in meditation practice.

To begin with it is hard to find a reliable master.

One cannot teach meditation but one has to master myriad of techniques. One technique does not fit everybody.

Its general mood elevation is similar to the state one obtains by smoking or drinking a preparation of ayurhauska mushroom.

I believe some masters use a preparation containing these substances in their sessions to induce gullible guys and girls. Mind you, I have never attended any of these sessions but gathered information from visitors who were duped and were good enough to post their experiences in the internet and YouTube.

Digital Obsession

 Saturday, July 22, 2017
Digital Obsession

I had a brief visit to Singapore.
Trained clinician (even doctors are digital slaves now) I observe people.
Singaporean children were very nice and many a times they offered me their (unlike our kids) seats, which I accepted politely BUT I found young Singaporeans were glued to their cellphone screens.
They were nibbling with their nails until they break away.
No eye contact and friendly smiles.
Although, all sales girls and salesmen never displayed their cellphones.
Yesterday, I went to a computer shop in Kandy  to report the faulty computer transaction my friend had made for his daughter in the university.
The guy was on the phone (to avoid listening to fault reporting) and I told loudly that if this guy is like this we should return the faulty computer and asked for full refund.

Come home, I called my friend that he should not have bought a defunct organization's (HP) product and go for ASUS.

Life

Life
 
Life is a series
Of steps / stages,
Each step is different
From its predecessor

Every stumbling block
That comes across
Should be made into
A stepping stone
That lays the foundation
For more difficult
And enduring
Steps to follow

But,
The steps
That preceded are gone
For good
The step to be taken
Has not yet come

Hence,
What matter most,
Is the step
In motion
That focuses
The mind
To be still for
A moment
Of its vagary
And deception

23rd Monday,2009

Reality of Russophobia

 Reality of Russophobia

Let me dish out President Biden, first.

I am a medical man and I have managed elderly with disease, disability and dementia.

I have dissociated from active medical activities long time ago before my own abilities started to deteriorate. First of all, I give a chance for the young blood to enter into my domain.

Second, I continued to teach and educate.

Third, I consider myself not indispensable.

My  advice for anybody over 50 who is in active duty is to undergo a full medical check up at least, on two year intervals.

It should be a statutory requirement.

In that sense, President Biden has not been forthcoming. 

He should retire, if his medical score is below par.

If he does not, he should be warned of the consequences, including impeachment. His son is currently investigated for irregular financial deals with Ukraine company called Barisma. We do not know whether as the Vice President of United State Mr. Biden had any knowledge or not of such activities.

His campaign slogan was regime change in Russia. 

That by itself was an antidemocratic move.

Russia is a sovereign independent country.

It has its own autonomy as regard to political, social and military.

No nation can boast power play over other countries and nations. The so called American Hegemony is fast collapsing. 

Using Ukraine as a Proxy War to mitigate Russia has misfired miserably.

Russophobia was a faked political gamble.

One has to fear Russia, if the leader of Russia opposes the right of Russians to live their own lives, according to their own social and political system. President Putin understands his position as the Russian leader and so far his response has been measured, in spite of many provocations.

He is being called "Divine Intervention" by an ex-CIA analyst. 

Russia would draw a red line when there is an existential threat. 

I believe NATO and the West have crossed the red line by offering a seat in European commission. 

Making an absolutely corrupt country an EU membership is that red line. Ukraine has not achieved the target goal of the EU for any measure. 

Elections are arbitrarily postponed.

Ukraine so far has done nothing to qualify for membership. If at all, by its own actions it has downgraded itself.

The off ramp strategy of America is to drum up Russophobia. 

The average American is stupid enough to drum up that sentiment and has no understanding of ground reality and global politics.

His or her mind can be twisted by media.

CNN and Fox News are trying hard but seemingly failing.

1. Russian average family lives a happy life.

2. The vehicle ownership is probably higher than in America.

3. Russians unlike Americans do not eat from rubbish bins.

4. Majority of Russians are practicing Orthodox Christians.

5. Russian Communist Party has only 3% share of vote.

6. President Putin's popularity is over 80%.

7. President Biden’a popularity is less than 30% and falling and is considerably lower than President Donald Trump.

8. Street violence is absent in Russia.

9. There is no poverty in Russia and there is no social inequality.

10. Social inequality is prevalent in the West.

United Kingdom is a classic example.

Listen to Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour Leader.

11. One can possess a gun in Russia but they never carry guns in public.

12. A Russian's debt is proportional and is mainly related to the house mortgage.

13. Russians promote big family size.

14. Russians love traveling abroad.

Turkey is their popular destination.

15. Russia has its own space program.

16. Russian pilots are the best in the world.

With rapid advancement of UAVs, the Russian pilots are having a welcome holiday. There life is spared now.

17. Its military can outperform any on this planet.

18. Russian Ruble is strong in spite of the sanctions.

19. Russians love to coexist with other nations.

20. Above all Russians are proud of themselves.

Would you like to live in USA or Russia?

The answer is simple.

This Russophobia is man made!

It is related to paranoia and simple jealousy.

That is the simple behaviour trait of Americans.

Where ever they go, they are not treated with open arms but with suspicion. 

They themselves have created this image and they have nobody except themselves to blame for this tragic reality.

Reality and Abstract

Reality and Abstract
My gut feeling is to stop random blogging well before US and Ceylon Elections but I could not. Politicians are shoddy people and their followers are stupid to the core. I have decided not to educate simple folks and let them live in their own delusional state of their aspirations. Whereas, I do not want to give an inch to the politicians to hoodwink the masses with hope and bright economic outcome. Let the politicians sink on their own mess. Having said that, I deleted my long political piece to avoid misinterpretation of my own logic and reason by visitors. I now realised that was a mistake and I would have kept a copy in my computer, for future reference.
For example, a guy picked my "Uncertainty Principle"  a  reasoning tool of physics of mine.       This guy made a YouTube presentation extending Uncertainty Principle on a  metaphysical level. Metaphysics by definition is outside of the material world.
It was like tail wagging the dog.
The real philosophers work on abstract thinking and there is no limit to their abstract thinking. That is the beauty of philosophy. All religions are derived from abstract thinking and none of these religions can delve into reality.
Reality is simple but even rich guys like Elon Musk and Richard Bronson take reality as an extension of abstract imagination. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at an early age. His first business venture, at the age of 16, was a magazine called Student.   In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. He opened a chain of record stores,  Virgin Records later known as Virgin Megastores in 1972. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he started the Virgin Atlantic Airline and expanded the Virgin Records music label. In 1997, Branson founded the Virgin Rail Group to bid for passenger rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
In 2004, he founded spaceflight corporation Virgin Galactic, based at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, noted for the Space Ship’s Two suborbital space plane designed for space tourism.

Reality

1. We are one gravity people.
We cannot neither live on space nor on Mars.
By the way, Mars do not have plate tectonics and rock formation. I think it has a thick mantle.             
I am not sure if there is any water in its belly.

2. Without water man cannot survive.
70% of our brain is water.
60% of our body is water.
In infants it is 80%.
Water intoxication and electrolyte imbalance are critical in new born babies.
Baby 70%
Man 60%
Woman 50

3. We are 24/7 people and any alteration in our sleep/awake cycle alter our melatonin secretion and biorhythm. 

Sleep deprivation leads to confusion and impair critical thinking.

4. Van Allan Belt is not narrow.

5. Even Moons atmosphere is alien to humans.
Its geostationary (we never see the darker side) orbit is not conducive for our melatonin secretion.
The bottom line is let only rich people spend their money on rockets and we ordinary people think of global warming and biodiversity.

Indika Totawatta and Mahayana

 Indika Totawatta and Mahayana

Indika Totawatta is a smart guy.

He seem to be straying away from Theravada Tradition or Words of Elders, for no good reason..

The practice Mahayana and in other words delay liberation.

It is his choice and I have no right to interfere.

 

But my gut feeling is some monks are using him to settle  their own scores.

He is trapped in this tussle.

One should not do that as a layperson. He is entitled to that having become a monk.  I do not think he has any hindrance to become a monk and promote healthy "Dhamma Sakachcha" unless of course he wishes to marry someday.

 

"Kalena Dhamma Sakachcha" is a done thing for laypersons but only among lay.

 

Dividing Sangha is an Ananntariya Kamma. 

 

All my life I kept away from monks except monks who are/were related to me.

Looking after relatives including, those in Sasana is a done thing.

That is my objective.

 

Dhamma is not an academic exercise.

 

Dhamma is to practice with earnest intentions.

 

It is not for TV or YouTube drama.

Words of Buddha were recorded in three different time.

400 years after Parinibbhana

1100 years later in China.

1700 years later in Matale Aluvihara.

My estimation of Sermons of Buddha would be 400 for a year up to 42,000.

 

Atuwa estimate is 84,000.

 

Probability of duplication of text or combination from two original sources is plausible.

 

I dispense 550 Jataka Kata on the ground that each Buddha lived much more lives than that 550.  

Jataka Kata contributed heavily to Buddhist Literature. 

That is not bad at all

Mahayana Tradition delays deliverance and wants to live  a Bodhisattva life for eternity.

Buddha's Last Teaching was Appamado Amata Padam.

Strive hard.

Do not delay.

Of course Vajrayana push this to the limit of extreme asceticism which Buddha rejected  after 7 or 9 years of practice.

I follow Dhammda Verse.

Knowing 1000 verses by heart has no value.

But Knowing one verse in detail may lead to the path of liberation.

Buddhism vs Hinduism

Both believe in

Kamma

Rebirth 

Path for Liberation

Denied the authority of Vedha

Denied caste systems and hierarchy 

Denied rituals

Schism that lead to these made the King Asoka to send his son to Ceylon to establish Buddhism in Ceylon.

If not for this Buddhism would have vanished from this planet.

The same forces are at work with blessing from India and Modi.

That force is in power now.

It is called NPP/JVP.

It is time to educate the masses and get rid of this menace.

If not rain would not come in time for sawing seeds.

Rain would chande into floods and cyclones.

Dry season would not come in time for harvesting.

Draughts

Famines

These events happened in our history when unethical rulers were ruling.

Baminitiya Saya lasted 11 years.

Food prices are going up and Protein Calorie Malnutrition (PCM) are seen in adults and children.

Health Minister has become a political spokesperson and not a healer or a provider for the needy.

Texts Upanishads and Vedha

No self in Dhamma.

Self is an illusion 

No worshipping of eternal gods

Gods are not eternal as as every sentient being in this universe.

Huindiudim

Self is eternal 

Merge into eternal self at death.

Rituals and money rule the elite in India. 

Atman

Brahman

Multitude of Gods

Dirty American Tricks- Assassination Attempt on President Putin

Latest CIA twist of attempt at assassination is said to be staged by Russians themselves, published 20 days after in Russian Times.

This Russian Times is published in Amsterdam and not in Russia.

I think President Donald Trump will believe Russian Times without scrutiny.

I thought Ceylon President is the only one who thrives on manufactured lies.

Americans are better.

I think President Donald Trump is treated like a puppet by the American Deep State.

They tried 3 assassination attempts on him and DOD cannot still find the culprits.

 

It looks like he has no trust even on "The Air Force One".

It is evident that the Deep State helped the Zelensky Clan to bomb Kursk Reigion when President Putin was touring there.

This operation was done secretly but it looks like Zelensky knows more about American Deep State than President Trump knows about his own administration.

Massive bombing in Ukraine was the retaliation, according to Russian sources.

In other words Moles left by Biden administration are still following the assassination attempts on President Putin.

Keeping President Trump in the dark and blaming him if things go wrong is the current strategy.

 

He is just like a bull in a China shop.

 

Doing things that leads to escalation is his strategy.

There is not a single word talked about GAZA and Genocide.

 

Americans should be ashamed of themselves.

All Problems in Life cannot be solved

This is in fact, a Buddhist Theme.

Life or Rebirth continues with new and newer set of problems.

That is the nature of life itself.

Understanding that fact, all is that is required.

Pondering on it has no value except for guys and girls who were brought up in one life and one heaven or one internal hell. This logic is an insult to human intelligence.

Only Dhamma teaches us that to solve all problems in life, one has to extinguish the life flame itself.

No Rebirth is the goal in Dhamma.

It is easy to state it but very difficult to achieve.

 

Rebirth occurs in complete random and Kamma that controls it has no control over its own Kamma.

 

The mental force that accumulate both good, bad and neutral Kammic force is so vast one cannot fathom the beginning.

Therefore, one has to look at the end point not the limitless past points.

I was listening to a YouTube presentation done in all good intentions that promises that regression to old lives benefits one's present and future life. 

I cannot see the logic.

In his way of thinking;

I fear snakes of all kinds.

I do not hate them or kill them.

In his analysis either I was bitten by one or lived a life of a snake in the past and was mortally injured.

Those two examples do not help me, in my liberation or my salvation except that it does not make me to kill them with fear.

I pity both the snakes and their prey.

There in no end in life cycle for most of the animals.

It is a vicious cycle.

I even think, if one spends lot of time on animals might even end up as animal in their next life.

Perhaps only exception is dogs. 

We humans do not have the ability to provide comfort that dogs provide us.

Unlike humans dogs do not expect anything in return but love and company.

Coming back to recuperation of past lives has no benefit to one who believes in Rebirth. It may benefits some who doubt rebirth.

 

In Buddhism the belief in Rebirth is the first step. 

The current party in power in Ceylon do not believe in Rebirth.

 

The majority who voted them in believe in Rebirth.

That is the IRONY.

 

I cannot understand the logic of those name sake Buddhists who voted them in except regret on their Kammic forces. 

They will never be reborn as humans for very long time.

 

The second law is Kamma.

What one saws would end up as plants, flowers or seeds.

If any human being cannot understand that simple logic he cannot go further in Dhamma.

Putin is the Divine Intervention

 Putin is the Divine Intervention

This is not my phrase but comes from a retired CIA analyst.

Putin is a lawyer who weighs pros and cons over a conflict.

 

He is no longer a KGB guy but a strategist.

 

He is not a military man but has revitalized his military machine not in old ways but by new methods.

 

Think of Oreshnic with a nuclear load.

 

But take Trump for instance.

He is just like a bull in a China shop.

Sorry, the good Americans, that is how I see him but he is much better leader than guys in UK and Europe.

For example;

 

A Guy battered by his own spouse.

 

Guys who are sniffing ICE.

 

A Guy who is blackmailed by pimps.

 

Guys with a matted brain who wishes to sell Taurus missiles to a junk dealer.

 

These missiles should be manned by sane  individuals not morons.

 

These is only one adult in world politics.

 

That is President Putin.

 

Trying to assassinate him was a wrong move now fully exposed.

 

I think Russia has no options left but to move up to Odessa before any of the above mad guys press the nuclear button.

Offense is the best deterrent, as it is.

It is not easy but worth consideration.

 

Waiting for another winter is no good, since battle fatigue ensues.

 

Need to prevent Thirds World War and decimating Nazi or Bandera elements left in Ukraine and Germany is the need of today.

Loving Kindness

 
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Loving Kindness

One whose wish is to do
Meritorious act with skill
And strive to attain
The highest goal of all,
The state of the Supreme
Should thus possess
The supreme qualities
Of mankind

Thus, he should be
Upright, competent and candid
Gentle, humble and accommodating
Thoroughly, independent and content
Light in bag and baggage
Simple in ways, means and virtues

Discreet, prudent
With sensual desires
In full check of self control
Not greedy, haughty and not bound
By bounty or bondage
To the lineage of family and life

Would dare not err on the tinniest
Of what the wise
Would fear the most

May all beings,
Be happy, content
And safe in their habitat
Without any exception

Of all living beings
That exist
The beings weak or strong
The beings tall or stocky or otherwise  
Short or tiny or the chunky
Those to be seen
Or  not seen
Those dwelling near or far
Those who are born
 Or to be born,
 May all beings,
Without any exception,
 Be happy and content

 Let there be no deceit
 Nor despise of nobody
 No anger or ill will
Let there be no wish to harm any
 Just as the mother would protect
Her only child
 Even at the risk of her own life,
 May all beings are protected
Thus with that absolute devotion

Let one cultivate
The unfathomed mind
 Let there be boundless love
That pervade the universe
 Above, below, across
And in all directions

 Be there of no hindrance
To that universal love
Or no hatred or enmity
Whether one stands, walks or sits
Lies down
Or as long as
One is awake
 
One should cultivate the mindfulness
In earnest,
It is the highest
Conduct of all
 Devoid of wrong views
 Endowed with virtue and insight
 One discards all attachments
To any sensuous desires

Truly, he does not come again,
To be reborn again

With the said truth of unanimity, may I be well.
With the said truth of unanimity, may I be free from illness.
With the said truth of unanimity, may I attain the blissful victory
 

Karaniya Metta Sutta

Guys and Girls to Read and Digest in this Life

The Discourse On Loving Kindness
He who is skilled in doing good
And who wishes to attain that state of calm (Nibbana) should act thus
He should be able, upright, perfectly upright
Obedient, gentle and humble
Contented, easily supportable (not a burden to others)
With few duties, simple in livelihood
Controlled in senses, discreet, not impudent
Not greedily attached to families
He should not commit any slight wrong
So that other wise men might deplore

May all beings be happy and safe
May their hearts be happy
Whatsoever living beings that exist
Weak, or strong, without exception
Long, stout or medium
Short, small or large

Those seen (visible) or unseen (not visible)
And those dwelling far or near
Those who are born and those who are to be born
May all beings, without exception, be happy minded

Let no one deceive another
Nor despise anyone anywhere
In anger or ill will
Let them not wish each other harm
Just as a mother would guard her only child
At the risk of her own life
Even so towards all beings

Let him cultivate boundless mind
Let thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world
Above, below and across
Without any obstruction
Without any hatred, without any enmity
Whether he stands, walks, sits
Or lies down, as long as he is awake

He should develop this mindfulness
This they say is the Highest conduct here
Not falling into (wrong) views
Virtuous and endowed with vision (insight)
He discards attachment to sensuous desires
Truly, he does not come again; to be conceived in a womb
By the firm determination of this truth may I ever be well
By the firm determination of this truth may I be free from illness
By the firm determination of this truth may peaceful victory be mine!

Benefits of Meditation

 Friday, April 19, 2013
Benefits of Meditation

 This is part of the introduction to my Book on Meditation which will be out soon.

Benefits of Meditation
There are many claims of benefit of meditation often poorly substantiated. Some of these benefit can be obtained without resort to meditation but simple change in life style.
Suppose a meditator changes his food habits drastically say to a vegetarian diet and practice meditation as a routine and finds that his blood cholesterol is lowered significantly, and then if he or she attributes it to the practice of meditation, there is a big flow in that argument.
One is not sure whether the change in diet did effect the blood cholesterol level or the practice of meditation or both did have independent or summation effect on the level of blood cholesterol. Unless one take a random sample and assess the partial correlation then only one can attribute combination or independent effects on a particular quantity tested.
Qualitative changes cannot be tested since one cannot quantify the results. In actual fact the effect of meditation is often qualitative and very individualistic and one cannot feel the same effect a different mediator would have felt at the time of his or her meditative stance or instance/s. this is very true as far a Jhana States are concerned.
With that reservation in mind one can describe the many unmeasurable benefits attributed to meditation in Buddhist literature.
Metta Meditation
In Buddhist literature it is claimed that one who practices Metta Meditation falls to sleep easily and get up in the morning peacefully.
It is wished in the last three lines of the Sutta. By reciting Karaniya Metta Sutta one should feel physically and psychologically better, one is made free of illness and one attains the highest goal or victory.
That is of course the Nibbana.
They may be just wishful thinking or one may actually feels better physically and psychologically.
It is also claimed that  the natural immunity to cancer and infections are increased by practising Metta Meditation.
This is something Venerable Ajhan Brahma Wanso preaches in most of his teaching.
Present Moment Meditation
This is something that is worth discussing here.
It has direct relationship to day to day activities.
I believe it has significant contribution to the efficiency of one’s trained skill, simply due to the intense concentration one may apply in his or her work skill at hand (without any distraction).
It is simply the focused attention task at hand.
If one is focused on any work, the efficiency goes up by leaps and bounds.
This is very well shown in management tasks.
When focused attention is combined with attitude to work and other measurable increase in environmental components the work output and the efficiency level improve.
This is something shop or  floor manager can use in day to day basis.
It is called a quality drill.
It does not matter how one qualify the content or the output but the efficiency of the skill concerned improve by both repeated practice and focused attention to the moment of the activity.
Samatha Meditation
There is no specific measurable benefit of Samatha Bhavana or meditation except the attainment of the four goals or paths of entry to Nibbana,
Buddhist spiritual goal is stream entry through development of Jhana.
Smatha probably is better for those who have less intelligent level (IQ) that one is not able to master the finer scientific tenets.
Vipassana Meditation
This the highest goal of Buddhist meditative practice.
It is claimed that all states of Jhana can be attained only by Vipassana Bhavana or Meditation.
I may be wrong in this assertion but that is what is spread among the lay person without full knowledge of or understanding of mediation.
This is called the gaining of insight.
Only when aspirant has gained the 5th Jhana then one could develop the five kinds of supernatural powers (Abhiñña) the divine eye, divine ear, recall past births, thought-reading and various psychic powers i.e. walk on water.
The attainment of the supernatural powers is not the real goal of Buddhism.
The attainment of these powers may actually be a distraction or hindrance to a true aspirant or  a pathfinder (Buddhist path of glory).
The ability to absorb into Jhana states is the goal of Buddhist meditation and Jhana is has no hindrance but Jhana is the way forward for stream entry.
The practice of meditation may bring many benefits and they are difficult to quantify or qualify except perhaps the benefit of present moment of meditation or focus which should be practiced without a label of religion or Buddhism.
It is when one has labels and have targets or goals of attainment, the practice of meditation becomes commercial enterprise of undesirable consequences but not simple a way development of mental culture and  the simple way of life.
I am one who believe that mediation has value in all wakeful hours of the day. The only exception is  when one is asleep and when one dreams.
I am one who talks about dreams and write about dreams and their physiological value is unparalleled only by the practice of meditation in wakeful states.
The meditation practice is the awareness of the wondering mind and its taming.
That is the Buddhist way.
The goal is not achieving miracle powers, even though they may or may not come as a by-product.
Sleeping (and dreaming) is the practice of letting the mind go into a  unobtrusive and unhindered movement and of the the mind unaware of the physiological inputs that lapses into random aberrations of all sorts with dreaming as an interlude.
On the other hand meditation is to “let go the attachments” one has with all mental faculties both sensual and mind centred.
Goals of Buddhist Meditation
The goal is the attainment of Jhana states and stream entry by progressive cultivation of meditation in basically by four methods.
1. Metta Meditation.
2. Samatha Meditation with Kasina or varKamatahan
This is adequately dealt by Venerable Ajhan Brahma Wansointhe book Happiness through meditation.
It is also published as “Meditation., Bliss and Beyond”.
It the best book currently available on Meditation in general and my intention is to make it more global and take the religious tag in the moment of its use.
Memory and Meditation
I want to share a drill I practice on day to day basis.
This is especially because, I am beginning to lose my memory and there are short lapses infrequent though, but enough to raise alarm bells on my part lately.
Once I forgot all my password for bank cards briefly.
This was during our long industrial action when I was having laid back approach to life and was not having adequate sleep (involved in Linux downloads and testing) at night.
This coincided with forgetting passwords for half a dozen emails and Linux forum passwords.
This shook my inner senses and I now have now have a ready made retrieval method based on memory drill.
The combination of Metta Meditation and moment meditation has worked wonders for me since then.
I now even have a simple protocol to remember 16 number Visa Card.
The memory loss is partly due to gray matter losing its material and neural networks due to old age which is seriously encroaching my body if not the brain.
Metta meditation makes one sleeps well not in one go but in two short spells (Night is the shortest spell when I do most of my work to avoid mosquito menace. The mosquitoes make me aware of my lack of Metta Meditation,too).
The dog is the target animal of Metta.
Then in the morning I have a brief 5 minutes Moment Meditation practice at the end of it, I have a mental list of 10 things or map out the tasks to do.
If the list go up to 20, I do it in two spells like my sleep.
A morning list and an evening list.
That has worked well for the last one year and I still do not carry apiece of paper with all the tasks.
If I have to carry a piece of paper to to remind me day to day work, I think I should say Good Bye and take first steps in the next birth.
That is my wish list.
Since I have not yet achieved stream entry, in spite of my mediation efforts, that will eventually happen and only option left for me.
There is another simple addition to this list.
I do not use a cell phone by default.
No electronic aids or tinkle too.
I do not want to gadget to master me.
I rather master my brain instead.

Peanut Linux

 
01-03-2013
Peanut Linux and Old Computers

Peanut Linux
Since I have talked about peanut, jumbo variety which a seed cost more than one Rupee, this Peanut Linux renamed aLive / aLinux is FREE, if you have a good download facility.

aLive / aLinux the earliest version which I downloaded in 2009 is pretty good.
Enjoy Peanuts in Linux if not Jumbo Peanuts.
 

Thanks Guys and Girls of aLinux for your hard work, which is very much appreciated.

This is a reproduction from www.Distrowatch.com
 

I am currently downloading it.
My oldest computer with 4M Graphic Ram on board has no Linux distribution to run except Redhat 8 and Mandriva, 9 both of which are not supported.
 

Even Antix does not have a Kernel for it.
 

I will run this DVD on it with 256 RAM and let you know the result soon.
I do not think it will work.

If you have a Apple Mac not running there is Yellow Dog 6.2 available for download.
It is a DVD and I managed to download for an Emergency, after many failures over the last six months (6) and on the umpteenth attempt.
Our Telecom is super fast with many interruptions!
These sites will stop storing these images.
Yellow dog 5.2 is in 5 CDs and it works well (only distribution with enough utilities) works well on the Apple Mac I bought for testing Linux.
It has very little RAM and no DVD and I am not going to try this DVD.
I am keeping it for one day when an Apple Guy is Ceylon is in trouble not being able to run his computer.

I have disposed this Globe Unit.
I won´t spend money on an Apple from which I can buy 20 to 30 Tablets with Androids which will soon hit even the Sri-Lankan market.
Good Luck for Apple marketing strategy!
 

Reproduction on Peanut or aLinux
Jay Klepacs has announced the release of aLinux 15.0, an independently developed distribution (formerly known ad Peanut Linux) designed for ageing computers and featuring the KDE 3.5.10 desktop: 

"aLinux 15.0 released, updates the graphical installer, dialogues, etc., easier to install. Same old system but with just enough updates to be 'usable'. KDE 3.5.10, X.Org 7.7, glibc 2.17, GCC 4.7.2, Linux kernel 2.6.34.14, Perl 5.16.2, Skype 4.1.0.20 (MSN and Windows Live support). Main web browser is Firefox 17.0.1. Distribution is optimized for i686 now. Kopete has been removed and replaced with Pidgin messenger. It's still a distribution aimed at computers from the past (mine included), so if you're looking for the latest bleeding edge, you won't find it here, but if you're looking for something a bit more complete from a past 'yesterday' operating system that still manages to work in 2013, this may suit you."

Kiwi Linux

 Kiwi Linux

Web site: kiwilinux.org
Origin: Romania
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: GNOME
Architecture: x86
Based on: Ubuntu
Wikipedia:
Media: Live CD
The last version | Released: 12.08 | September 6, 2012

Kiwi Linux – slightly modified an Ubuntu Desktop/Install CD for the i386 architecture, with support for German, English, Romanian and Hungarian languages.

The live CD offers the support of multimedia codecs, encrypted DVD support, Flash and Java plugins for Firefox, PPPoE GUI for accessing local Internet services and write support for NTFS partitions.

It also features an old-school graphical desktop environment, powered by GNOME 3.4. It uses a two-panel layout, providing users with both a traditional and familiar interface.

The last version of Kiwi Linux 12.08 was released in September 2012.
Kiwi Linux was started by an Ubuntu core developer, Jani Monoses.

KiWi Linux

  KiWi Linux

So sorry KiWi Linux for my holiday lapses.

It is a beautiful outfit and thank a lot for your wonderful work and keeping it within 700 MiB and the latest software and Chromium.

All other CD distributions except Peppermint go back to 2009 and won’t let one updates and repositories are no longer supporting some software.

3. Then my Server, I have dismantled it with all its parts,
I could not find RAM, more than 256 memory for it.
Mind you, servers do not need much RAM or graphic capabilities.
I was looking for replacement RAM for over 9 months and I could not find one.

I sorted out all the DDR 1 RAMs I had, just a few days ago and tried one by one and found one with 400 speed and 512 Memory at last.

Now the time to summarize the problems, one encounters if one is using old computers.
1. Graphic capability (on board or cards capability).

2. RAM

3. CD instead of DVD

4. Size and the type of hard disks (IDE, SATA instead of Solid State without mechanical parts)

5. Transformer.

6. Battery Life.
One has to consider all the above apart from the weight of the laptop and the accessory gadgets.

7. Is there blue tooth?
That is vital if one is using the device for mobile work.

8. One should see whether it is bootable with a  USB device (DVD for example) or Pendrive.

For me Pendrive is the only device I need but now I have few laptop hard disks that fits in my front pocket with few images stored in for quick action, on the fly, on the spot and no more downloading.

If one is buying secondhand those are the problems but if you buy new one you are going into unknown territory.

I hate Japanese laptops including Toshiba and I will stop at that.
There are many reasons, including hardware compatibility with Linux.

9. I will be brief with new laptops.
Only look for the battery life even if it is on the heavy side.
Like ASUS transformer, if you have two for one device it is wonderful, if your backpack is large enough to accommodate.

10. All the other gimmicks that (salesman/woman) chaps tell you are blah-blahs unless you are serious graphic artist or a gamer.
Even a media person can be happy with a minimum of resources.

11. Solid state hard disk is what one needs if you are a chap like me who will jump to sea bed with backpack on my back.
So be wise in your choices but cheap does not mean one cannot get one’s work done on a daily basis.

12. One more advice,
One has to use the computer 24/7 schedule like me.
If not do not buy one but borrow one for the work and have your hands free on vacation or better still get another donkey to do the work and enjoy one’s life like, there is no tomorrow.

Warning
With the Tablets about to hit the market and take it by storm, the work floor guys are going to DUMP old hardware on your back and part with your hard earned money,too.
Beware business gimmicks.

Kiwi Linux

Web site: kiwilinux.org
Origin: Romania
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: GNOME
Architecture: x86
Based on: Ubuntu
Wikipedia:
Media: Live CD
The last version | Released: 12.08 | September 6, 2012

Kiwi Linux – slightly modified an Ubuntu Desktop/Install CD for the i386 architecture, with support for German, English, Romanian and Hungarian languages.

The live CD offers the support of multimedia codecs, encrypted DVD support, Flash and Java plugins for Firefox, PPPoE GUI for accessing local Internet services and write support for NTFS partitions.

It also features an old-school graphical desktop environment, powered by GNOME 3.4. It uses a two-panel layout, providing users with both a traditional and familiar interface.

The last version of Kiwi Linux 12.08 was released in September 2012.
Kiwi Linux was started by an Ubuntu core developer, Jani Monoses.

Linux Freedom with Proprietary Distribution, namely SuSe Linux

 Saturday, September 8, 2012
Linux Freedom with Proprietary Distribution, namely SuSe Linux

 

This was the time we went on strike during Mahinda Rajapaksa Regime.

My story with SuSe Linux is both Love and Hate but now mostly HATE.
 

I was looking for a Netbook for sometime to buy but did not like all the Japanese OEMs since their hardware compatibility is tricky with Linux.
Reason for me looking for a netbook is apart from light weight in money and size was that with tablet hitting the market it would be extremely difficult to buy a new one, let alone a second hand one.
 

I was lucky to find one in Kandy city and it had SuSe on board and it won´t boot up for any demonstration and was lying in a corner.
 

I had a look at it and was simply attracted by SuSe ¨my old flame¨.
 

Yes it won´t boot up.
I quickly figured it out that it was due to its clock and (SuSE and its YAST configuration) I let it run for nearly one hour for localization and terminated its looped script after going through many cycles from A to Z godforsaken of all the countries in the world.
Then I finally it booted up without any local time but USA time.
I bought it for a reasonable price without knowing whether I can boot it up with  a Flash drive.
I kept it without registering with Novel and finally wanted to install Abiword (instead of OpenOffice that was available with SuSe 10 - SuSe has come to 12 now and this distribution is pretty old) but I could not do that without registering with Novel.
I hated going to an automated process without any personal help.
In any case I do not need any help but problem was finding an alternative distribution that fits my need.
Web search was of no help  and for a week I went through all the Linux distributions downloaded from 2009 and none of them was comprehensive.
 

The I finally found Pingue Eee and booted it with a DVD and was pretty impressed by it, in about half and hour.
I resized the home partition of SuSe (100 GiB- too massive for my comfort) and installed Pingue Eee and to and my annoyance SuSe won´t boot up.
There was no way I could repair (No Install CD/DVD with the Netbook) it and took Gparted and rewrote the partition table to suit my needs and with it SuSe 10 was gone with the wind.

 
Good Bye my old flame!
 

The partition table made by SuSe or its technocrat was horrible to say the least and there was 2 GB of NTFS partition (for what purpose I do not know) and the SWAP partition for my liking and comfort was too small.

 
Within half an hour I upgraded the software repository and installed the latest version of Abiword.
I left a big partition for Knoppix 7.0.4 (22 GB was enough) once it is downloaded (may take a week or more) to Install.

 
I left a BIG 16 GB of NTFS partition, in case I decided to dispense it (most unlikely scenario) one day to a Windows Guy with Linux on board.

I am free again without enterprise edition of SuSe.
Pingue has Calbre, Cheesse, Clemantine, UnetBootin, Gparted, LibreOffice and many more.

 
Who the hell who would beg the Enterprise for these packages from an Enterprising Technocrat?

 
Not me.
I will write about other Netboot crafted Linux distributions when I come out of my  laziness that was due to our nearly three months on industrial action and no work.
I am actually enjoying it (the strike) and even Linux is of low priority for me now.

Elephants or Starving Monks- A Question?

 Monday, July 30, 2012
Elephants or Starving Monks- A Question?

 
In this Modern Buddhist Sri-Lanka and Democracy (Crazy) alternative opinion is suppressed.
If Elephants are given the choice none of them will be willing to be chained to a tree.
They prefer their herd (they are social animals) and roaming in the wild.
I have no objection to taming a single elephant (often with some disability) gone rampage.
Instead of looking after Elephants rich Buddhist monks (residing in big temples) should look after their fellow monks in some remote villages not having a single meal proper on some days (even the ordinary people, Tamils included do not have a square meal in these parts of the country).
Sinhala Buddhists and their political rulers going gradually mad with power.
Problem is many of them in power and high places do not understand that they are even anti-democratic to animals and their welfare.
Now with the rain failing even the birds do not have drinking water, let alone the big elephants in the dry zone.
 
We have thamashas in the big cities sometime with Indian celluloids appearing.
Reproduced is a text what appeared in a local paper last year.
I am not privy to the details and I take no responsibility of its contents and hope the Author does not mind me reproducing it here.
 
I read the Dhamma Padaya and Karaneeya Meithriys Sutta verses (which I read very often) when I am at a loss to how to interpret modern Buddhist practices.
Elsewhere I have classified Modern Buddhist from Eggo to Chicken to EGO (some monks belong to this category).
By Ravi Palihawadana
I completely fail to understand the proclivity of certain Buddhist monks to raise animals in captivity at temples.
Nearly three decades ago, as a 22 year old youth, a few friends and I got up at 4 o’clock in the morning and trekked 10 km along a footpath from the confluence of rivers Ganga and Varuna to Isipatanaramaya at Sarnath, India.
This is supposed to be the path trodden by the Buddha whenever he spent the rainy (Vassana) season at Isipatanaramaya. We walked through mango and bamboo groves. It was an exhilarating experience. We could almost feel the presence of the Buddha and his benevolence towards all living beings.
However, upon reaching Isipatanaramaya, we were dismayed to see caged peacocks.
The whole place was highly commercialized.
The obvious distress of the caged birds was certainly loathsome.
We all felt that the incumbent monk had entirely failed to appreciate the fact that it was the place where the Buddha set in motion a process that would over a period of more than 2500 years help liberate hundreds of thousands if not millions of individuals from all their worldly bonds and set them totally, unconditionally free.
Who in his right mind would want to imprison animals at such a hallowed precinct?
I see Buddhist temples as places that should enable people to free themselves from worldly bonds.
Does it make any sense to keep animals in captivity at such places?
 
Let us examine what the Buddha has said about conduct towards living beings.
In ‘Karaniya Metta Sutta’ (Discourse on Loving Kindness) he says:
"Just as a mother would guard her only child at risk to her own life
Even so towards, all beings
Let one cultivate loving kindness."
 
In Dhammapada, the Buddha declares:
"All are afraid of the rod all, fear death.
Taking oneself as an example, do not beat or kill."
 
And in Vasala Sutta (Discourse on Outcasts), he pronounces:
"Whosoever in this world kills living beings,
Once born or twice born (i.e., first born is an egg and then born for a second time as a hatchling),
In whom there is no sympathy for living beings
Know hint an outcast (untouchable). "
As such, it is with dismay that I learn that it has become a fashion among certain influential Buddhist monks to raise baby elephants at their temples.
 Story
Recently a baby elephant was being transported from one temple to another without obtaining required official approval.
The driver of the truck and the mahout were brought before a court of law and charged with cruelty to a captive elephant. The accused pleaded guilty and were fined. Although only the driver and mahout were hauled up before courts; the calf was being transported at the behest of two highly influential Buddhist monks.
What is most disturbing is that the poor animal was being raised in captivity at the temple of one of those eminent monks.
The observers say, the baby elephant cannot be more than three years old although in its adoption papers its mother’s name has been given as `Kale Alma’, which died about six years ago. The baby has been separated from its mother long before it reached the recommended age for weaning at the expense of its well being.
Besides, it is no secret among elephant lovers that the process euphemistically referred to as taming is cruel. Baby elephants are made to obey a mahout’s orders by keeping them in close confinement, withdrawal of food and water, and by constant merciless beating.
Bearing in mind the Buddha’s words on how to treat all sentient beings; even if we disregard the treatment meted out to this poor baby elephant at the temple and dwell only on this nightmarish episode of transporting it in the cover of night, the implications are appalling.
By cruelly inflicting untold misery on it and thereby placing the life of the cub in danger, the first precept of abstaining from killing has been violated.. Secondly, the cub was robbed of the inalienable right to roam freely in its natural habitat.
Thirdly, false information was furnished about the mother of the animal.
Fourthly, this cruel act had the blessings of individuals intoxicated with political power.
In this preposterous exercise, three or four out of the five basic precepts were violated.
That being so, the consequences of meting out cruel. treatment to the baby elephant at the temple on a day to day basis are unthinkable.
Perhaps it was on witnessing such conduct by certain monks that the late Dr. E.W. Adikaram is supposed to have remarked, "It is my ardent wish that these monks would one day embrace Buddhism!"
Animal lovers may shout from the rooftops.
But it is the Buddhist clergy who must finally decide whether the practice of keeping animals in captivity and separating them fro their mothers at a very tender age is consistent with the teachings of the Enlightened One.
 
Until then there the status quo will remain.
 
Let us fervently hope that this cruel practice will be abandoned before long.

 

REDHAT is DEAD, RHEL is Billion Dollars' Worth, YET, LINUX and its Desktop is not DEAD but soon be 21 years OLD

 Saturday, May 19, 2012
 

 Wednesday, May 16, 2012
REDHAT is DEAD, RHEL is Billion Dollars' Worth, YET, LINUX and its Desktop is not DEAD but soon be 21 years OLD

In my life with LINUX, two incidents made me to change my Outlook.

They were both challenges.
1. Number ONE.

Redhat deserting Me.
 

That was easy, I went to SuSe.

Another disappointment went into corporate world).

 Mandrake/ Mandriva was good but had legal disputes for the name  and Linux was not popular then the Globe Trotter was a failure.

I went to PCLINUX FullMonty.

 

2. Number TWO.
The local cronies of Microsoft Corporation, using school leavers to disrupt a tiny Workshop introduction to Linux for KANDY school boys.
 

Yes, they bribed the school leavers and threw in alcohol to douse them.
That was the turning point.
 

Had not for these two trivial incidents in my life full of bigger challenges to overcome, I would not have taken almost obsessive interest in Desktop Linux.
 

OUTCOME.
1. Five (5) books in Linux including cloud computing.
2. Almost daily downloading and testing Linux Derivatives.
3. Archive of over 400 Linux distributions from 1998 to 2012 (TODAY).
4. Promoting LINUX Magazine.
5. Contributing articles.
 

Good News
Two Debian Developers have translated the Linux Administrators Manual to English (from French).
Its print form is $50/= but digital form is FREE but make sure YOU Donate, few dollars in appreciation of their dedicated work.
 

REDHAT had the best MANUALS, until then.
 

It took another 10 years to fill the VOID.

Like what Richard Stallman had said about Apple Mac and Steve JOB,
I don't like his death, but I am happy he is gone.
 

I am Happy REDHAT is DEAD and RHEL has gone its own way to the corporate world.
 

That does not mean DESKTOP USER/s will sit back and Lick his/their wound/s for corporate ArXXXXSss.
They will innovate and move forward with new ideas.
If you have time and money please subscribe to Linux Magazine.
It has lot of wonderful tricks for newbies and experts.

 

A comparison of Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux Websites

This is a simple warning to NEW Redhat Users

A comparison of Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux Websites
The two best web sites on Linux are Ubuntu and Redhat.
1. One is commercial, the other is both commercial (Entry into Music world) and social.

2. Ubuntu has enormous resources but poorly organized because of its dependency on Debian.

3. Redhat the resources are limited if one is a desktop user.

4. Its server resources are streamlined and well organized but the streamlining is not done by the USER but by the corporation.

5. Its resources are based on Fedora Development which is very very SLOW but probably stable because of the slow input.

6. Ubuntu uses LibreOffice which is far superior to OpenOffice.

7. OpenOffice was destroyed by ORACLE and then given to Apache which is trying to revive its old roots and lags behind due to at least three years of stagnation.
It is BULKY and I do not use it now.

I prefer light weight AbiWord.

If one is hooked to OpenOffice Debian still faithfully bundle it with its distribution.

 
8. So go for Debian instead of REDHT which is a GOLDMINE of resources.
 

9. Biggest PLUS point of REDHT is its Literature which no Linux distribution except perhaps Ubuntu can boast.
Most of it is HiFi administrative stuff which only Administrators would worry about but not the ordinary users.
 

Debian has entered the foray now with a book in French and English.
 

I wish them GOOD LUCK and one need not worry about REDHATś publications, and the money saved. 

If you subscribe for digital form make it a point to contribute a little from the money saved from REDHAT.

10. Biggest Minus point of UBUNTU is its lack of Administrative (ROOT USER) power and configuration ability. 

That is why I do not use it on a regular basis.

 
11. Current situation is very FLUID.

Ubuntu because of Unity (I have made comment elsewhere) and Fedora because of its Butter File (Btrfs) system and turning round on its head and torso, seeing 100 things at the same time, all because of the RAPID SPIN.
It is too fast for any average desktop USER or even an administrator to keep phase/pace with.

 
12. MIND YOU Ubuntu has made rapid progress in Server (Another reason I dissociated with Ubuntu) Editions and on Cloud Computing with Ubuntu ONE, and it is fast closing the GAP Redhat has established.
It is going to be a sure winner with 20 million targeted this year not REDHAT.
 

13. If you do not like UBUNTU, there are 100 of other derivatives and I recommend Ubuntu Studio, Ultimate Linux, Tango Linux and many more.
 

I LOVE Pinguy Linux the most.
Recently there are Terrible Linux, Hybryte, Unidockynapse and more for the newbies to play with.
 

14. For REDHAT there is almost nothing except Fedora and Scientific Linux. 

Mined you scientific Linux has no scientific packages in it.
One is on a desert and I am happy I have looked for other resources rather than REDHAT and many other distributions.

If you visit my blog site you may read my reviews on many of them.
I have a book on Linux distributions on Amazonś (both digital and print).

One day, I might STOP blogging altogether and that is the reason for this compilation.
I am currently working on Small Distributions (my academic work keeps me off the desk and desktop).
If you do not like all this there are over 300 more Linux Distributions to choose from that include Puppy and Knoppix which are my favorites.
If you buy the April Copy from LINUX MAGAZINE one will get KNOPPIX FREE without any hassle for downloading.
If you subscribe for LINUX MAGAZINE print form you will get a FREE copy of the latest Linux Distribution.
If YOU are a newbie subscribe to the magazine but do not expect the writer to spoon feed you.

TRY LEARN IT in your WAY and SPEED.

Who knows at the end of one year YOU may be better than ME.
 

Mind you I am subscribing to the Magazine to SAVE my Electricity BILL (no downloading on a regular basis now) in Ceylon.
It has sky rocketed now and if I save on my electricity I can buy 10 different types of Magazines (DEAD TREE- one has to kill a tree to PRINT a BOOK or Magazine).

I have no choice now but to PLANT as many small trees as possible.

Will you do that for ME?