Raj's Random Ramblings- 4

Artist’s image of suspects.

Whenever the police release an artist’s impression of a murder suspect or a terrorist who got away, I make a mental note that I should compare it with the real photo of the person if and when he/she is really arrested. I always suspect that the artist’s images based on description by people who saw the suspect would be quite far off the mark.  Here’s a pair of pictures that strengthened my suspicion.  It’s a police sketch of Salvatore Perrone who was recently arrested in Staten Island as a suspect in a murder and his real photo when he was arrested. (link). The huge difference is possibly because no two people can provide the same description to the artist. There will be another gap when the artist transfers what he has understood on to his sketch. 

Some months back, the Daily Mail of UK carried an article on one of the great practitioners of the art, Ms Gibson, whose sketches have helped solve over a 1000 crimes. Some examples have been provided in that article of the artist’s sketch and the actual photo. Though the writer lavishes praise on the accuracy of the sketches, I am not very impressed (except for one pair). Are you?

The coming Apocalypse.

Are you preparing for the Apocalypse on December 21, 2012 as predicted by the Mayans? Well, a Russian company has been marketing survival kits. For a mere 890 rubles (Rs 1400), you get a med kit (complete with heart medication), soap, some candles and matches, a can of fish, a pack of buckwheat, a bottle of vodka, a notepad and pencil, and a rope. (source). Meanwhile, a Chinese man is not taking any chances. He’s building a Noah’s Ark for himself, using his entire life savings. 

This reminds me of a Jewish story which starts with God announcing that the entire world would be deluged under water in two weeks. Panic-stricken Christians rushed to the Church and begged the Lord for mercy. Muslims all over the world thronged the mosques and pleaded with Allah.  Hindus offered special prayers in thousands of temples. At a Jewish synagogue in Tel Aviv, a Rabbi got on to the podium and addressed his people, “Brothers and sisters, we have exactly two weeks to learn to live under water”. 

So, if the world is about to be destroyed on December 21^st, you have exactly 23 days ( counting from the time I am writing this) to learn how to survive in the destroyed planet. Good luck.

Crimeless day:

Apparently, November 26, 2012 was a very special day in New York. For the first time in memory, there was no reported incident of shooting, nabbing or slashing. The Police couldn’t believe it and couldn’t recall a single day when this had happened before. (source). The Police must be worried too. If the crime rate keeps dropping in this manner, they’ll soon become redundant and lose their jobs. 

The cliché goes that ‘ dog biting man is not news, man biting dog is’. Perhaps one day we’ll see news reported that our Parliament functioned the entire day without a single incident of disruption, hooliganism or a walk-out.That will be reported as sensational news.