Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

Such an undemocratic mean for a democratic medium. Why would any one nation retain control of Internet, which has become universal technology of our time, from rich to poor nation? Mr. Gross' inflexitlbe gesture that "certain things we can agree to and certain things we can't agree to" and his repeated assertion that "It's not a negotiating issue. This is a matter of national policy" sound like words from medieval kingpin. Though the U.S. defense department did play its historical role in the invention of modern Internet, so did the Chinese play similar role inventing paper press, and many other nations and races with their own invaluable contributions to the progress of our civilization, from mathematics to science to art. No nation and political ideologies should have absolute monopoly on any universally used medium such as Internet. This is NOT "a matter of national policy", this IS a matter of respecting our humanity. Regards, Sohel <

This may not be a conclusive study, but it provides a good direction for further investigation on this supposedly catastrophic disease. Regards, Sohel Two Teams Identify Chinese Bat as SARS Virus Hiding Place By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN The SARS virus, which has killed 774 people worldwide, has long been known to come from an animal. Now two scientific teams have independently identified the Chinese horseshoe bat as that animal and as a hiding place for the virus in nature. The bats apparently are healthy carriers of SARS, which caused severe economic losses, particularly in Asia, as it spread to Canada and other countries. In Asia, many people eat bats or use bat feces in traditional medicine for asthma, kidney ailments and general malaise. The Chinese horseshoe bat does not exist in the United States. The finding is important in preventing outbreaks of SARS and similar viruses carried by bats because it provides an opportunity for scientists to break the transmission chain. One team from C

Science and religion reside in different domain. Regards, Sohel Science vs. design: no debate By Leonard Rosen | September 23, 2005 PRESIDENT BUSH has suggested that we ''teach the debate" concerning intelligent design and evolutionary biology. Impossible. To a have a debate, you and I must speak to the same question and use evidence we both accept. Let's illustrate: We can all agree that the Bengal tiger is a wonder of nature. A biologist points to the tiger's stripes and says: ''What are these, and how did they come to be this way?" An intelligent designer, who argues that nature is too complex to be explained away by science, might ask: ''Why do these stripes form such an astonishing pattern? Who or what could have done this -- to what end?" The poet William Blake wondered much the same: Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? For that matter, what

Mr. David Ignatius hit this point at the right place. Struggle within Islam is beginning to surface. How long peaceful believers of a peaceful religion silently see the rise of murderous zealots who are trying to recruit the vulnerable Muslim youths for their murderous and self-defeating intentions? It may not be the similar reformation that Martin Luther King instigated in the sixteenth century for the then "gone-awry" church, but the needs are intense that the traditional Islam that my and your father, mother, their parents, grand-parents followed, must be reestablished at the forefront, sweeping away the dangerous salafist movement. American pathetic way of winning Muslim hearts and minds by bombarding innocent civilians is hideous, at best, it is the practicing Muslims who needs to take the charge in clearing their sacred home from these disguised thugs who hide their criminality behind the multi-dimensional illusory cloak. Regards, Sohel Taking Back Islam The U.S. Ha

"Fiction is dead". With all the due respect reserved for the Nobel Laureate VS Naipaul and all the accolades for his tremendous success of being a high caliber writer, I just can't disagree more of his seemingly credulous opinion. From time to time, writers in the time of traumatic ages, when wars, violences and natural disasters overwhelm our senses and sensibilities, "for a while", writers at the forefront of limelight packed world literary stages, who are considered our contemporary moral consciousness, bring about this trepid notion that fiction is dead. Ian McEwan and Tom Wolfe were not apart from this hypothizing crowd, though, in a few years or so from their uttered obituary pronouncement of fiction, they turned around and produced successful novels to capture the very essence of ages that they so eloquently talked about being dead for the fictional world. Inventing in the time of great confusions, trauma, and painful episodes surrounding a writer, is ind

Is it only the Bush administration responsible for all the disaster episodes unolding in America? John Berger's article is thought provoking, but blaming everything on the easy scapegoat perhaps is not too intelligent. What the heck the Democrats are doing? Why aren't they raising the hell? Are they equally complicit with most of their muted nod, and silent gestures? Yes, the disconnections are systematic, but it is not only with the Bush and his incorporations, it also goes beyond the party line into the fold of so called democracy lovers, into the realms of greed, even in the time of dispair. It bothers me a great bit seeing such theatrical similarities between the uniform and bandanna wearing warriors, killing innocent civilians by government sponsored tanks and planes, or insurgent supported slaughters. Their goals are so same, and their mutual friendship amid bmbed apart tranquility gets more elaborated as days are passing. Katrina's violent force not only killed, maim

Mountain Stones By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) September 7, 2005 These mountain stones shall stay After I am long gone, away And gone are you Our beloved friends, ocean crew And cantankerous children Walk away with favorite playpen These silvery water falls shall flow After gone are charismatic entertainers The magicians will disappear too But the cold water will fall As it has been for millions of years Unless an ice age befalls And wraps the world with shivery embrace Look at these trees, green, tall and proud In the valley, limestone extraction plant Fuming white smokes to slanted sun While gray white cloud Hovers only a few feet above On top of this mountain We built spiraling roads Steep sides glimpsing oblivion Down the way, way down Couldn’t see even a bear or cougar From this height, from this fright I can see glowing sky But not the moon, not the moonlight!

Is education not enough in reducing extremism? What is extremism, anyway? What is not extremism? Is believing the code of any religion extremism? How about believing in Capitalism, or any other myriads of "ism"? Who defines what is good for any particular society? Inciting terror or hatred, is perhaps not too difficult for many. Getting rid of terror or hatred from a feeble heart, on the other hand, is quite a formidable task. Regards, Sohel The educated terrorist By Saleem H. Ali | September 6, 2005 THE ASSASSINATION of Sri Lanka's foreign minister last month has once again raised the question of how the conflict on this ill-fated isle will end. What bedevils conflict analysts most about Sri Lanka is that it defies the most common causal factor raised by terrorism experts -- a lack of education. Among all South Asian countries, Sri Lanka has the highest literacy rate of an astounding 92 percent. Yet this is the country where the cult of suicide bombings finds i

Mohammed Siddique Khan, in red and white bandanna, holding a microphone or a pen, looking serene while giving a lecture to the world audience . His chilling message has captured the attention of world media. Along with Katrina's vicious aftermath, Mr. Khan's attempt to justify killing innocent civilians in the name of attaining fairness or liberation is ludicrous. Was he in some type of dope? His eyes were not droopy, perhaps it was something else altogether. What does this young man mean? Indeed, there is irrefutable injustices happened throughout the world, millions and millions of people including Muslims along with all the other religionists and unbelievers were and are subjected to inhumanity of magnum proportions from the time no one remembers now. But how dare he tries to justify killing and maiming innocent people in the name of rectifying past atrocities committed on "his people"? Doesn't it raise question in his convoluted belief system? What type of &

Oh my God! Thieves and goons are looting stores in New Orleans. Television footages showing gun carrying thugs marching with impunity in broad daylight, carrying all they can, prized TV, DVDs, computers, foods, etc. Pundits cannot say enough of these dismal moral collapse in the Big Easy. But why can't pundit say anything about the biggest looters who are comfortably away from all kinds of media spotlight? The unstoppable cameras' relentless pictures and videos of moms and pops taking away children clothes, water bottles, diaper bags, baby formulas, etc., in shopping carts, defiant of any authorities, make the uneasy stories of our days after Katrina's maddening dancing throughout Gulf Coast only a few days back. People from all walks of life are donating whatever they can to a noble cause, to save lives in this hurricane and flood devastated region. Reports of free food from fast food restaurants, or grocery stores are all heart warming. Even big oil companies are coming