Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

Book club bullies The point that I found absorbing from this article is the last two lines: "... we need to have a greater appreciation of why bullies become bullies. Fundamentalism can only be defeated if we understand it." Can fundamentalism be defeated? What is the positive approach of understanding fundamentalism so that it can be defeated? The writer correctly points out that in most cases, fundamentalism resides in places with low literacy, "For all their emphasis on the sacred text, fundamentalists are generally unfamiliar with the culture of books." -- if only they could delve into the richness of world literature, perhaps there wouldn't be any fundamentalism. "Fundamentalism flourishes in places of instability and social vulnerability. It is the desire for solid foundations in a world in which the vulnerable are tossed about like flies to wanton boys. Often this is associated with poverty, but not always. Students I see arriving at Oxfor...

Cones, Curves, Shells, Towers: He Made Paper Jump to Life Mathematics and art, how far are they from each other? Dr. Huffman's following quotation is profound: "I don't claim to be an artist. I'm not even sure how to define art," he said. "But I find it natural that the elegant mathematical theorems associated with paper surfaces should lead to visual elegance as well." Here is a brief information on origamy: "Derived from the Japanese ori, to fold, and gami, paper, origami has come a long way from cute little birds and decorative boxes. Mathematicians and scientists like Dr. Huffman have begun mapping the laws that underlie folding, converting words and concepts into algebraic rules. Computational origami, also known as technical folding, or origami sekkei, draws on fields that include computational geometry, number theory, coding theory and linear algebra." Full article is shown below. Cones, Curves, Shells, Towers: He Ma...

Dissent Greets Isaac Bashevis Singer Centennial

Dare We Call It Genocide?

A 'Moderation' of Freedom A 'Moderation' of Freedom Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf Isn't Practicing What He Preaches By Samina Ahmed and John Norris Tuesday, June 15, 2004; Page A23 Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, recently made a broad and seemingly heartfelt call for Muslims to raise themselves up through what he terms "enlightened moderation" [op-ed, June 1]. Decrying the influence of militants, extremists and terrorists, Musharraf insisted that political injustice lay at the heart of the vast suffering of Muslims around the globe. His path forward is for Muslims to disavow extremism in favor of socioeconomic progress and for the United States to take on a much bolder role in resolving political disputes in the Muslim world, particularly in places such as Palestine and Kashmir. The words sound good, and such language from the leader of a nuclear nation on the front lines of the war against terrorism should be reassuring...

Rock blasts UN on Sudan crisis This may roll the wheel, effective initiatives may be undertaken now that Canadian UN ambassador said the following: "The Security Council has failed miserably in its responsibility to protect the people of the Sudanese region of Darfur, who are being displaced and slaughtered in a civil war." The Globe and Mail reports the following: In an open debate at the council, ambassador Allan Rock accused the 15-member body of ignoring long-standing pleas to intervene and push both sides to end attacks on civilians. Mr. Rock said the council failed for months to heed warnings from aid groups and from its own human-rights commission about the looming humanitarian disaster in Darfur, finally responding just three weeks ago. "Such inexcusable delays put at risk the lives of those that this council is charged with protecting," he said. "The Security Council's moral authority is underpinned by its willingness to respond ef...

World turns attention to Darfur

Microsoft races to plug IE hole

Inventor plans 'invisible walls'

Pioneer Who Kept the Web Free Honored With a Technology Prize

What is a kidney worth?

Trial by News Conference? No Justice in That

The Netherworld of Nonproliferation

From Buddha to Beckham Dear Readers, Celebrities and “stars” take the majority timeshare of small to large silver screen. We buy our favorite singers’ CDs. We hung their life size posters on the wall of our cozy rooms. We smile with their smile. We cry during the time of their distress and mourn when they die as if the closest friends or relatives have passed away. Is their anything wrong with this? Some may find this perfectly valuable in our journey through life’s various intricacies. And some may find it the troubling aspect of our evolving perception, which has modified from the time of antiquity, when the hunters risked their lives for the betterment of their community, to feed their weak and hungry. There are still Bono and Nelson Mandela in our own time. There is Shirin Ebadi and indeed Jimmy Carter. There are men and women, many of them bring the aura of unmistakable celebrity wherever they go, they bring their “star” power in devoting their resources in worthy causes...

`The farmer's success is our strength' - Interview with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Missing member of G-8 The Group of Eight should expand to include China, a country poised to emerge as a key player in the global economy, writes JEFFREY E GARTEN When the Group of Eight industrial nations began their meet in Sea Island, Georgia, on 8 June, they wrestled with the usual agenda of global trade, finance, and poverty. What is startling about the group’s deliberations, however, is which countries weren’t around the decision-making table. Exhibit A is China, without which the world’s big economic issues can no longer be effectively addressed. China has become far more important to the global economy than most other G-8 members such as Italy, Canada and even France. Over the past 20 years, it has been growing faster – 9-10 per cent per year – than any major economy. It is now the fourth largest trading nation, and in this decade alone it will surpass Germany to become the world’s third largest economy (behind the USA and Japan.) It produces 20 times more steel tha...

Common Collie or Uberpooch?

A gripping tale....... In search of a daughter in Africa In this gripping tale Daily Star Special Correspondent MORSHED ALI KHAN traces his journey back to a small village in Rwanda to find the little baby girl he had saved amidst the worst genocide imaginable; and made her his daughter. AFter returning home I first heard from my friend Maleri Elie in Kigali about eight years ago. Maleri and Kabanda Dieudonne, also a great friend, signed the simple letter that brought me the news I had so eagerly waited since 1994. "Do you remember the beautiful baby girl Aougny? She is doing fine with her now mother…..," the hand written letter said. I indeed remembered the tiny baby girl vividly. So vividly that over the years the little girl, who I always considered to be my own daughter, made me long to see her. For me she was a gift from the gods in a country that made history amid an unprecedented bloodbath. To visit her, I knew it would not be easy for an ordinary per...

Only outsiders can halt genocide in Sudan Only outsiders can halt genocide in Sudan The following editorial appeared in the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, June 9: In 1994, Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, head of the U.N. peacekeeping troops in Rwanda, warned his U.N. superiors that a genocide was about to occur and begged for more troops to stop it. He was ignored. And 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus in a matter of days. Never again, the civilized world has said since the Holocaust, but we don't mean it, not really. Speaking recently on National Public Radio about the near-genocidal situation now in Darfur, a western province of Sudan, Gen. Dallaire mused bleakly that if African gorillas were threatened with extinction, the world would be more concerned than it is about the potential deaths of a million human beings. What's causing this crisis? The Sudanese government and the death-squad militias it supports in Darfur. The government and the dea...

ScienCentral: Reagan Stem Cells