THIS INTRIGUING CELEBRATION

A little off topic. I guess more so because over Deepavali wishes, I kinda read on as a certain Kelong Jimmy traded some arguments over at shanghaistephen.blogspot.com
The reason was, the blogger had stated his confusion over whether it is Deepavali, Diwali, Deepawali, Dewali or Divali at the end of his festive wishes... Kelong Jimmy posted a comment stating that in Malaysia we grew up wishing our Hindu compatriots Happy Deepavali and nothing else. Always has been, always will be. It is HAPPY DEEPAVALI in MALAYSIA. I guess the same as it is Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, as opposed to Eid Mubarak in most of the rest of the world. We Malaysians like to be different.
But look at THIS STORY on Express Buzz from India, which goes under the heading DEEPAVALI IS NOT DIWALI ... It seems there's more to it than just different spelling!
In India, Deepavali in Tamil Nadu is not accepted as the same celebration in other states, although it is part of the same religion. The Express Buzz article states in Tamil Nadu it is purely the celebration of triumph of good over evil, while in Northern India, it also means a new calendar date, where businesses open a new account book. In the North, it is celebrated on Tuesday, a day after Tamil Nadu.
Unlike over here in Malaysia, where all Hindus celebrate the same thing. Even us, the non-Hindus accept that and share in the festivities.
Kinda makes me think. Maybe we've been quite a united brand of people. Just recently more and more disunited by people with other thoughts.

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

TO ALL HINDUS AROUND THE WORLD,

HERE'S WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY DEEPAVALI... MAY WE ALL SHARE THE VICTORIOUS SPIRIT OF GOOD OVER EVIL.

Italians talking: Now we're getting somewhere

The Italian pro cyclists' umbrella body have sent a letter to UCI president Pat McQuaid, calling for life bans on drug cheats to be imposed.
For me personally, I find this interesting since I'd always thought the Italians took a more leanient approach to doping. Two years ago it was reported that Italian fans viewed the banned substances list too extensive and some even wished for the idea of doping to be legalised, to be explored.
McQuaid, earlier this month, had sought to extend the current maximum ban for doping from two to four years. This too could be interesting, since cyclists risk taking out a larger chunk of their careers should they be busted.
Reuters has the Italian brief HERE. A cyclingnews.com version is more detailed HERE, and it includes a piece on McQuaid's view of re-testing samples.
These are progressing into some interesting times for the war against dope in sport, not just cycling. Remember, more athletes from other sports like athletics and weightlifting tested positive compared to just one woman cyclist at the Beijing Olympics.

A job in F1 is that serious

A Renault F1 technician based at their Enstone, England factory, shot himself in the head under stress and fear for the loss of his job.
The OXFORD MAIL, which shares a similar logo to the Malay Mail, has the story HERE.

AH KEONG WRITES

I don't usually read the diaries section of cyclingnews.com, so I'd missed Loh Sea Keong's piece on the Tour of Thailand in his first diary.
You can have a look HERE .. Must say Ah Keong did a good job.

On that note too, I feel sorry that I have to lambast this person by the name of James, who hides behind the pseudonym nstman, and goes on blabbering all over the place (in other blogs, since I chose not to publish any of his comments) about my writing on cycling. I guess he can go suck on a duck's toe for all I care.
You see, we all have interests, hobbies, ways of life and so on. We have things to do in life. that's normal. James is abnormal.
Most of us do and enjoy things life has to offer, blog about it, talk about it, write and keep on writing, because we love it all. We love life.