Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

This is one of the best songs I've heard recently. See the lyrics below:

HEY HEY HEY (No Matter How Life Is Today)
By Michael Franti

It’s been a long time coming that I had to say
When I wake up in the morning all I do is pray
For some guidance and protection on the streets today
And an answer to the questions I ask everyday
So tell me why do the birds that used to fly here
Tell me why do they come to die here
And all the kids that used to run here
Tell me why do they load their guns here
I remember, in the days when,
We were one heart no need to defend
I just wrap my arms around
Don’t give up this song is for you

Hey, hey, hey, no matter how life is today
There’s just one thing that I got to say
I won’t let another moment slip away
I say hey, hey, hey no matter how life is today
There’s just one thing that I got to say
I won’t let another moment slip away

I hold on, I’m trying to hold on,
I hold on, hold on, hold on, I hold on

From the tops of the buildings to the streets belo…

Found this satiric Bangla poem in Nawed's mobile upload. The sad events surrounding Dr. Yunus where a Nobel laureate from Bangladesh seems to be steamrolled by political butcheries.

part 6by videosplayer

Freedom and speech in Gaddafi's Lybia:

"A Libyan woman burst into a hotel housing foreign press and fought off security forces to tell how she had been raped and beaten by Qaddafi militia members."


New York Times has a longer version of this video: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/26/world/africa/100000000745659/libyan-woman-struggles-to-tell-her-story.html

"Everything we're learning now — from genetics, from linguistic data, from geological data, from archaeological data — suggests that the peopling process is infinitely more complicated than we might have imagined 50 years ago, or even 20 years ago".
Link to full article: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134832701/texas-find-turns-back-clock-on-settlers-in-america?sc=tw

Eat a Big BreakfastMacronutrient TimingEat Protein at Every MealFiber at Every MealStop Drinking Your CaloriesStop Eating BreadDrink More Water & TeaSupplement with Omega 3 Fish Oils Every NightGet Smart about Peri-Workout NutritionAlways Carry Healthy SnacksLink to full article: http://www.healthhabits.ca/2009/12/14/10-really-good-diet-hacks/

Special effects were great. Story seemed a bit stretched, almost hyperbolic, but still is an enjoyable movie.Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZJ0TP4nTaE&sns=fb

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lti0vfCPZns&sns=fb

Watched it on DVD. 2010 movie. Good plot and direction.

Some of these future technologies that Michio Kaku predict are mind boggling, like today's smartphone and advancement in various gadgetry might have startled homo sapiens from 19th or 18th century, the same way the talks of increasing human lifespan manifolds than we can fathom at present, and the shape shifting materials, "Matrix" like virtual reality, the real Jurassic Park and Internet in contact lenses and even "teraforming" mars and other planets, teleportation, these all may become reality soon, sooner than we can predict. "And while some of it seems far-fetched, he said to consider how our smartphones, laptops and space missions would have been viewed 100 years ago. "If they were to see you with all of your wizardry, they would consider you a sorcerer to be able to summon up images from all over the world," he said. "But if someone could come today from the 21st century, what will our grandchildren think of us? In the 21…

This is long overdue. Apologize and move on. Unlike other of his compatriots, Imran Khan seems to be a classy man, as he was in cricket field and now as an ethical politician."Ex-Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan has demanded an official apology from the Government of Pakistan to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities allegedly committed by the Pakistan Army in 1971.Imran Khan immediately agreed with Hamid Mir and said that previously he was also of the opinion that Army operation was a good thing because there was no independent media in Pakistan in 1971. Imran Khan said that when he went to England in 1971, his Bengali friends told him the reality of the Army operation. Imran Khan said that he experienced the love and affection of Bangladeshis during an exhibition match in Mirpur in 1989.

He said that the Army operations always created hatred in Pakistan and we must apologise to Bangladeshis." Link to full article: http://thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.a…

"Four rules: Reduce the time spent in bed. Get up at the same time every day. Don't go to bed until you feel sleepy. Don't stay in bed if you're not sleeping"Link to full article: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/simple-rules-for-better-sleep/

"Right now, this "behavioral tracking" is mainly for marketing purposes, to target the advertising you see online. But the potential for abuse is enormous, since this information can also be used by insurance companies, financial institutions, landlords and prospective employers."Link to the full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42239031/ns/business-consumer_news/

"rapidly evolving 'hare' bacteria were eventually wiped out by their more sluggish rivals."
Read the full article: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110317/full/news.2011.166.html

"computers that can perform a billion billion computations per second, 1,000 times as fast as today's speediest systems."Link to full article: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/how-it-works-light-driven-computer

"The attack on Libya is justified but by turning a blind eye to Yemen and Bahrain, the U.S. and others are sowing the seeds of future conflicts."Most likely it is double standard, but also from lack of universal international stance against all forms of repression. Money plays a major role, unfortunately, each cruise missile cost millions, and the operations of international coalition of this magnitude surely cost hefty. That still does not absolve the collective humanity from deadening indifference.Read the full article: http://www.thestar.com/article/959663

"The price of the gas at the pump fluctuates mainly with the price of crude oil, plus a time lag. The price of crude itself bounces around due to all sorts of influences, exaggerated if not caused by the huge amount of speculation in the oil market."Read the full article: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/03/the-effects-of-production-turmoil-what-we-pay-for-at-the-pump.html

"I would want to know if a banana in Bangladesh works the same way as a banana in Brazil," he said. "Chemistry is tricky. I would want to be damn confident of a method of analysis before jumping on an action plan."Read the full article: http://news.discovery.com/earth/banana-peels-water-purification-110323.html

Given the dire cicunstances and lack of seemingly peaceful alternatives to save the lives of civilians, unlike the mis-adventurous wars of the past, this intervention is a necessary and urgent one. Like before, democracynow provides critical analysis of this pressing issue that perhaps cannot be found in mainstream media.

Read the full debate: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/23/debating_intervention_is_us_led_military

We're two-thirds water, after all. Our cells carry, "a concentration of that indescribably and liquid brew which is compounded in varying proportions of salt and sun and time."
And so, like water, we flow. Or, let's try to imagine ourselves flowing. We may not realize it when we're in the flow,....

Read the full article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/03/22/134732644/water-rushing-through-cities-the-gentle-version?sc=tw

Omega 3 rocks! Go fish! Lean protein, perhaps many folds beneficial than red meat. Watch out for mercury level though. Few safe fish with low mercury are: salmon, tilapia and mahi mahi. Do google search on low mercury fish. Like red meat and poultry, fish provides the protein essential for maintaining healthy muscles and other tissues. Most of us get more than enough protein. What really makes fish worth eating are its omega-3 fatty acids. New research shows that these healthful fats may help prevent age-related macular degeneration, a disease that impairs vision. But their benefits extend far beyond that. Heart health.Omega-3 fatty acids, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), help prevent cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death.Penny Kris-Etherton, professor of nutrition at Penn State, says these healthful fats can reduce heart arrhythmia, the leading cause of sudden cardiac death. The effect can take hold mere weeks after a p…

"I have a healthy cholesterol level but I'm worried about always eating scrambled eggs on the weekend. How many eggs can a healthy person consume per week?"

"The answer
The concern with eggs has to do with their high cholesterol content – 190 milligrams per one egg.

Nutrition guidelines to keep LDL (bad) blood cholesterol in the desirable range have emphasized limiting dietary cholesterol – abundant in egg yolks, shrimp, liver and duck – to less than 300 milligrams per day. (Elevated LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream is a major risk factor for heart disease.)

Research has shown that eating one egg a day does not boost the risk of heart disease or stroke in healthy adults. That said, research does suggest that people with diabetes are more efficient at absorbing cholesterol from foods than people who don’t have diabetes. 

If you’re healthy, one whole egg a day seems perfectly safe. If you’re a male with diabetes, it’s prudent to limit egg yolks to four per…

"Jeff Dunn believes he can double the $1 billion baby-carrot business -- and promote healthy eating -- by marketing the vegetable like Doritos. His secret weapon? He knows every snack-marketing trick in the book."
Read the full article: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/154/the-new-junk-food.html

"So why the concern over natural flavors anyway. Because they're not natural. The more natural a food claims to be, the less it usually is. A truly natural food, rarely calls itself "natural," it just calls itself "lemon" or "cinnamon." Moreover, the chemical called "flavor" is virtually identical whether natural or artificial. Banana flavor for example is created by distilling the flavor molecules from a banana using a chemical solvent, while artificial banana flavor is created by mixing chemicals, that result is the identical chemical output."
Link to full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-sweet-beet/natural-herbal-tea_b_836251.html

WILDPEACE
By Yehuda Amichai

Not the peace of a cease-fire,
not even the vision of the wolf and the lamb,
but rather
as in the heart when the excitement is over
and you can talk only about a great weariness.
I know that I know how to kill,
that makes me an adult.
And my son plays with a toy gun that knows
how to open and close its eyes and say Mama.
A peace
without the big noise of beating swords into ploughshares,
without words, without
the thud of the heavy rubber stamp: let it be
light, floating, like lazy white foam.
A little rest for the wounds—
who speaks of healing?
(And the howl of the orphans is passed from one generation
to the next, as in a relay race:
the baton never falls.)


Let it come
like wildflowers,
suddenly, because the field
must have it: wildpeace. 
Read more here: http://bit.ly/dO8xTq

Comparing to the alternative fuels' overall cost, natural gas may be the next best thing before "greener" technology becomes abundant and cost effective for the masses."In North America, four factors promise to make natural gas a viable alternative to oil-based fuels.First, revolutionary technology is unlocking enormous new supplies of shale gas.Second, unrest in North Africa and the Middle East has underlined U.S. oil-supply vulnerability.Third, there are clear environmental advantages to clean-burning natural gas (which emits 25 per cent less carbon dioxide than diesel).Fourth, there have been major advances in natural gas fuel technology."
Read the full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/gwyn-morgan/natural-gas-the-next-green-hope/article1948906/

"A set of stairs can be an excellent workout tool. Some athletes get in shape by running stairs in stadiums, but a household staircase can be just as effective."
Read the full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/ask-a-health-expert/ask-a-trainer/how-can-i-use-my-staircase-at-home-for-working-out/article1947908/

THE ARGUMENT
By Jane Kenyon

On the way to the village store
I drive through a down-draft
from the neighbor’s chimney.
Woodsmoke tumbles from the eaves
backlit by sun, reminding me
of the fire and sulfur of Grandmother’s
vengeful God, the one who disapproves
of jeans and shorts for girls,
dancing, strong waters, and adultery.


A moment later the smoke enters
the car, although the windows are tight,
insinuating that I might, like Judas,
and the foolish virgins, and the rich
young man, have been made for unquenchable
fire. God will need something to burn
if the fire is to be unquenchable.


"All things work together for the good
for those who love God," she said
to comfort me at Uncle Hazen’s funeral,
where Father held me up to see
the maroon gladiolus that trembled
as we approached the bier, the elaborate
shirred satin, brass fittings, anything,


oh, anything but Uncle’s squelched
and made-up face.
"No! NO…

NATURE
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

As a fond mother, when the day is o'er,
Leads by the hand her little child to bed,
Half willing, half reluctant to be led,
And leave his broken playthings on the floor,
Still gazing at them through the open door,
Nor wholly reassured and comforted
By promises of others in their stead,
Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;
So Nature deals with us, and takes away
Our playthings one by one, and by the hand
Leads us to rest so gently, that we go
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,
Being too full of sleep to understand
How far the unknown transcends the what we know.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/aYyMLw

"There are some simple steps you can take to become less obsessed with disaster, and yet still be compassionately involved with your fellow man. Doing these things will engage your mind, heart and being in positive and life-affirming ways, making you part of the solution instead of part of the problem." Link to full article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hale-dwoskin/japan-earthquake_b_838485.html

"Paralysis patients could play music with their minds, using a new brain-control interface that senses brain impulses and translates them into musical notes.
Users must teach themselves how to associate brain signals with specific tasks, causing neuronal activity that the brain scanners can pick up. Then they can make music.
It’s a pretty unique use of brain-computer interfaces, which are already being used to do things like drive cars, control robots and play video games." Link to full article: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/medicine-mind-using-eeg-patients-can-play-music-merely-thinking

"Why Europe's debt crisis may hurt global stability more than Japan's tragedies."Link to full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/20/AR2011032003969.html

Another global warming consequence, 40 to 50 years earlier than predicted."Marine biologists have discovered an invasion of deep-water crabs off the coast of Antarctica, where it’s previously been too cold for the creatures to survive."Link to full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/king-crabs-invade-antarctica/2011/03/01/ABCyN52.html

" "Think of what you can do," Kaku says. "When you meet somebody, your contact lens will identify who that person is, print out their biography next to that person's image, and then translate, from Chinese into English or whatever." He compares it to the technology Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator character used to identify his opponents.
Stealth bombers will get a makeover in the future, Kaku says, when true invisibility technology becomes widespread. "I teach optics," he says, "and for years I used to teach the kids that invisibility was not possible. Well, I was wrong." Scientists have discovered a new substance called "metamaterials," that allows light to bend around an object and re-form on the other side, like a stream around a boulder. "This is the real McCoy," Kaku says. "This is the Harry Potter invisibility cloak." Read full article from: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/26/134600339/…

"Severe earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and now Japan have experts around the world asking whether the world's tectonic plates are becoming more active — and what could be causing it.
Some scientists theorize that the sudden melting of glaciers due to man-made climate change is lightening the load on the Earth's surface, allowing its mantle to rebound upwards and causing plates to become unstuck.

These scientists point to the historical increase in volcanic and earthquake activity that occurred about 12,000 years ago when the glaciers that covered most of Canada in an ice sheet several kilometres thick suddenly melted.

The result was that most of Canada's crust lifted — and is still rising.

Scientists have discovered that the accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet over the last 10 years already is lifting the southeastern part of that island several millimetres every year.

The surface of the Earth is elastic. A heavy load such as a glacier will cause …

"observers have been speculating how many robots authorities have deployed to keep people out of harm's way.
The answer, apparently, is zero.

It's surprising that Japan, long considered a technological powerhouse, has had to resort to such rudimentary methods of cooling the plant's reactors as water-bombing them with lead-lined helicopters."


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20044970-1.html#ixzz1Hk4QfBgt

PASSAGE
By Rae Armantrout

1


I held the framework
of my life in mind
with some precision.
I knew when I was
where—or where I was
when—but not many
incidents of my past had
actually been preserved.
Instead the frame served
as a cargo cult runway,
forever inviting
the future to appear.
I existed finally
as the idea
of temporal extension.


2


The creeper
lineates
the wall.


Flowers as punctuation?


Can you elaborate
on the passage?


Double meaning,


superposition:


hair standing on end


makes a creature appear
larger, more ferocious.
Read more here: http://bit.ly/bIH5ZY

"Many computer owners have Windows 7 systems, which seem to be more secure than previous versions of Windows. Yet, because Windows is such a massive targetone that promises big rewards with a good hackmany think securing Windows is an impossible task. Not so. I’ll introduce you to security settings..."

Link: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1684318

Kazumi Saeki's article surmises the horror of earthquake, tsunami and unfolding nuclear disaster in Japan. It feels like a slow moving runaway train, moving with all of its ominous momentum for the catastrophic possibility. The writer opines that "Now an invisible pollution is beginning to spread. People have acquired a desire for technology that surpasses human comprehension. Yet the bill that has come due for that desire is all too dear."

Yes, indeed. Human beings still remain vulnerable in front of the rapacious wrath of nature,but that still does not absolve the stupendous guilt of choices building nuclear plants on earthquake fault zones. Japan is not alone in this. "Peaceful" nuclear proliferation, from west to east and south to north, on nations where continental plates dive down into another adjacent ones release the sheer energy in the form of massive jolts we call earthquake, and its eventual global consequences in the form of tsunami like the one k…