New Post (59) : My GOD
GOD has scripted nothing…
GOD has only created the actors.
Man is the script writer.
Man has only himself to laud or to blame.
While man performs, GOD is in the audience !
Charlie Brown
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Honour killings in Afghanistan
New Post (58) : Honour killings in Afghanistan
A film you might want to “watch”…
“ACT of DISHONOUR”.
-the film, tells the story of a young Afghan bride-to-be who comes up against her people's conservative customs when she helps a foreign film crew that arrives in her remote northern village.
-confronts this issue of honour killings in a remote village in northern Afghanistan starting to rebuild after decades of conflict.
-is partly inspired by stories about Afghan women who were beaten or killed by family members because of participating in a film.
The story…
In the film, Majgan, is an Afghanistan-born translator who is part of a small foreign film crew making a dramatic film in the village.
Majgan is going through an identity crisis about her Afghan roots and meets a young village girl, Mena with whom she develops a tentative connection.
Majgan is under pressure from the film’s director and convinces Mena, WHO NEVER LEAVES THE FAMILY HOME, into playing a small role. She entices the girl by promising to give her one of the burkas being used in the film;
Mena is betrothed to Rahmat, a gentle young man who drives the local bus, and has told Majgan she longs for a burka to wear at her wedding.
But the plan does not work out.
The anguish of Mena’s father at having to kill his daughter for her act of dishonour is devastating to watch, …although the final outcome, which involves Rahmat, suggests village culture may be slowly changing.
…A film you might want to “reflect” on.
Traditions, (good, bad & ugly) are not meant to be taken "unquestioningly" as etched into stone. Even the rock eventually crumbles to dust.
Charlie Brown
A film you might want to “watch”…
“ACT of DISHONOUR”.
-the film, tells the story of a young Afghan bride-to-be who comes up against her people's conservative customs when she helps a foreign film crew that arrives in her remote northern village.
-confronts this issue of honour killings in a remote village in northern Afghanistan starting to rebuild after decades of conflict.
-is partly inspired by stories about Afghan women who were beaten or killed by family members because of participating in a film.
The story…
In the film, Majgan, is an Afghanistan-born translator who is part of a small foreign film crew making a dramatic film in the village.
Majgan is going through an identity crisis about her Afghan roots and meets a young village girl, Mena with whom she develops a tentative connection.
Majgan is under pressure from the film’s director and convinces Mena, WHO NEVER LEAVES THE FAMILY HOME, into playing a small role. She entices the girl by promising to give her one of the burkas being used in the film;
Mena is betrothed to Rahmat, a gentle young man who drives the local bus, and has told Majgan she longs for a burka to wear at her wedding.
But the plan does not work out.
The anguish of Mena’s father at having to kill his daughter for her act of dishonour is devastating to watch, …although the final outcome, which involves Rahmat, suggests village culture may be slowly changing.
…A film you might want to “reflect” on.
Traditions, (good, bad & ugly) are not meant to be taken "unquestioningly" as etched into stone. Even the rock eventually crumbles to dust.
Charlie Brown
Saturday, November 27, 2010
What’s holding India back ?
New Post (57: What’s holding India back ?
Indian society suffers from multiple fractures.
1. Caste is neither a strength nor a weakness.
BUT voting for a candidate based on their caste affiliation is a weakness.
2. Religion is neither a strength nor a weakness.
BUT deciding who to hate and who to like based on their religious affiliation is a weakness.
3. Language (& community) is neither a strength nor a weakness.
BUT making decisions based on who is welcome and who is not based on their language (& community) affiliation is a weakness.
So, what’s holding India back ? (from it’s great promise)
NOT India’s diversity. It’s how Indian’s themselves interpret this diversity …and what they choose to do with this diversity...
Tragically, what is India's greatest strength has been "actively" morphed into it's worst weakness !
The youth of India can stem this rot. “Only” they can. One generation can make all the difference. Will they ? I remain an incurable optimist.
Charlie Brown
Indian society suffers from multiple fractures.
1. Caste is neither a strength nor a weakness.
BUT voting for a candidate based on their caste affiliation is a weakness.
2. Religion is neither a strength nor a weakness.
BUT deciding who to hate and who to like based on their religious affiliation is a weakness.
3. Language (& community) is neither a strength nor a weakness.
BUT making decisions based on who is welcome and who is not based on their language (& community) affiliation is a weakness.
So, what’s holding India back ? (from it’s great promise)
NOT India’s diversity. It’s how Indian’s themselves interpret this diversity …and what they choose to do with this diversity...
Tragically, what is India's greatest strength has been "actively" morphed into it's worst weakness !
The youth of India can stem this rot. “Only” they can. One generation can make all the difference. Will they ? I remain an incurable optimist.
Charlie Brown
Bye-bye Silicon. Hello Graphene.
New Post (56) : Bye-bye Silicon. Hello Graphene.
Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again.
Graphene is---The new face of Carbon
Imagine a sheet of material that's just one atom thick, yet super-strong, highly conductive, practically transparent and able to reveal new secrets of fundamental physics. That's graphene, isolated by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, 2010 Nobel Laureates in Physics.
Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it.
Geim and Novoselov extracted the graphene from a piece of graphite such as is found in ordinary pencils. Using regular adhesive tape they managed to obtain a flake of carbon with a thickness of just one atom. This at a time when many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable.
With graphene, physicists can now study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. Graphene makes experiments possible that give new twists to the phenomena in quantum physics.
Also a vast variety of practical applications now appear possible including the creation of new materials and the manufacture of innovative electronics. Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today’s silicon transistors and result in more efficient computers.
Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels, and maybe even solar cells.
When mixed into plastics, graphene can turn them into conductors of electricity while making them more heat resistant and mechanically robust. This resilience can be utilised in new super strong materials, which are also thin, elastic and lightweight. In the future, satellites, airplanes, and cars could be manufactured out of the new composite materials.
PS: Basic fundamental research paves the way yet again for a brave new world.
Just thinking aloud........Picture this. A mobile phone that is as thin as an adhesive tape and can be slapped onto the wrist like one does a watch or much like an athletes wrist band. Amazing ??? I’d always believed that the next step forward in technology innovation could make the technology “wearable”………..What next ??? Technology that makes possible computers that are “implantable” into the nervous system ??? …….A brave new world in the making. Indeed.
Charlie Brown
Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again.
Graphene is---The new face of Carbon
Imagine a sheet of material that's just one atom thick, yet super-strong, highly conductive, practically transparent and able to reveal new secrets of fundamental physics. That's graphene, isolated by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, 2010 Nobel Laureates in Physics.
Graphene is a form of carbon. As a material it is completely new – not only the thinnest ever but also the strongest. As a conductor of electricity it performs as well as copper. As a conductor of heat it outperforms all other known materials. It is almost completely transparent, yet so dense that not even helium, the smallest gas atom, can pass through it.
Geim and Novoselov extracted the graphene from a piece of graphite such as is found in ordinary pencils. Using regular adhesive tape they managed to obtain a flake of carbon with a thickness of just one atom. This at a time when many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable.
With graphene, physicists can now study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. Graphene makes experiments possible that give new twists to the phenomena in quantum physics.
Also a vast variety of practical applications now appear possible including the creation of new materials and the manufacture of innovative electronics. Graphene transistors are predicted to be substantially faster than today’s silicon transistors and result in more efficient computers.
Since it is practically transparent and a good conductor, graphene is suitable for producing transparent touch screens, light panels, and maybe even solar cells.
When mixed into plastics, graphene can turn them into conductors of electricity while making them more heat resistant and mechanically robust. This resilience can be utilised in new super strong materials, which are also thin, elastic and lightweight. In the future, satellites, airplanes, and cars could be manufactured out of the new composite materials.
PS: Basic fundamental research paves the way yet again for a brave new world.
Just thinking aloud........Picture this. A mobile phone that is as thin as an adhesive tape and can be slapped onto the wrist like one does a watch or much like an athletes wrist band. Amazing ??? I’d always believed that the next step forward in technology innovation could make the technology “wearable”………..What next ??? Technology that makes possible computers that are “implantable” into the nervous system ??? …….A brave new world in the making. Indeed.
Charlie Brown
Friday, November 26, 2010
A matter of security
New Post (55) : A matter of security
Most governments have 2 different ministries looking into maters of “security”
The Defense ministry at external threats
The Home or interior ministry at law and order.
Proxy wars by hostile neighbors have changed the way the security threat has been reinvented.
After each “incident” a lack of co-ordination is blamed by the “agencies”.
Worth thinking about---A unified command that brings the 2 ministries under one chain of command reporting into a Minister for Security………..who is answerable “only” to the President.
The time has come to free security from the shackles of center, state and concurrent "lists".
Charlie Brown
Most governments have 2 different ministries looking into maters of “security”
The Defense ministry at external threats
The Home or interior ministry at law and order.
Proxy wars by hostile neighbors have changed the way the security threat has been reinvented.
After each “incident” a lack of co-ordination is blamed by the “agencies”.
Worth thinking about---A unified command that brings the 2 ministries under one chain of command reporting into a Minister for Security………..who is answerable “only” to the President.
The time has come to free security from the shackles of center, state and concurrent "lists".
Charlie Brown
Perfection-Mercedes style !
New Post (54) : Perfection-Mercedes style !
Anecdote. (unverified but entirely plausible)
Scene opens. The setting...
India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani in his 27 storied home.
Mukeshbhai gets up from his bed room on 15th floor, takes a swim in the swimming pool on 17th floor, has breakfast on the 19th floor, dresses up for office on 14th floor, collects his files and office bag from his personal office on 21st floor, wishes bye to Nitabhabhi on 16th floor, says see you to his children on 13th floor, and goes down on 3rd floor to self drive his 2.5 crore Mercedes to office, but then he finds out that he has forgotten the car keys upstairs. But on which floor? 15th, 17th, 19th, 14th, 21st, 16th or 13th ?
He phones all his servants, cooks, maids, secretaries, pool attendants’ gym trainers, etc. on all the floors. There is a hectic search and lot of running around on all the floors, but the key is not traceable.
Fed up, after half an hour, Mukeshbhai leaves in a chauffer driven ordinary Icon car.
At 3.30 P.M. late in the afternoon it is discovered that 4 days back, a temporary replacement maid had washed Mukeshbhai's pant and hung it to dry on a string in the balcony of 16th floor, with car keys in the pant pocket. The key had blown away somewhere in the high winds at 16th floor level and was never found. This was found out because of Nitabhabhi's habit of personally checking clothes given for ironing.
After 3 days Nitabhabhi complained to Mukeshbhai asking him where he was roaming till 3 A.M. last night. Mukeshbahi said the he was at home all night.
"Then why did the helicopter land in the terrace at 3 A.M. I was so much worried. I could not sleep whole night," said Nitabhabhi.
"Oh that helicopter? That helicopter came from Germany, sent by the Mercedes people to deliver the duplicate car key".......said Mukesh.
_______________________________________________________
Mr. Mukesh Ambani is the CMD of the blue chip company, RIL, Reliance Industries Ltd.
Also, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the IIM-B, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
________________________________________________________
Charlie Brown
Anecdote. (unverified but entirely plausible)
Scene opens. The setting...
India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani in his 27 storied home.
Mukeshbhai gets up from his bed room on 15th floor, takes a swim in the swimming pool on 17th floor, has breakfast on the 19th floor, dresses up for office on 14th floor, collects his files and office bag from his personal office on 21st floor, wishes bye to Nitabhabhi on 16th floor, says see you to his children on 13th floor, and goes down on 3rd floor to self drive his 2.5 crore Mercedes to office, but then he finds out that he has forgotten the car keys upstairs. But on which floor? 15th, 17th, 19th, 14th, 21st, 16th or 13th ?
He phones all his servants, cooks, maids, secretaries, pool attendants’ gym trainers, etc. on all the floors. There is a hectic search and lot of running around on all the floors, but the key is not traceable.
Fed up, after half an hour, Mukeshbhai leaves in a chauffer driven ordinary Icon car.
At 3.30 P.M. late in the afternoon it is discovered that 4 days back, a temporary replacement maid had washed Mukeshbhai's pant and hung it to dry on a string in the balcony of 16th floor, with car keys in the pant pocket. The key had blown away somewhere in the high winds at 16th floor level and was never found. This was found out because of Nitabhabhi's habit of personally checking clothes given for ironing.
After 3 days Nitabhabhi complained to Mukeshbhai asking him where he was roaming till 3 A.M. last night. Mukeshbahi said the he was at home all night.
"Then why did the helicopter land in the terrace at 3 A.M. I was so much worried. I could not sleep whole night," said Nitabhabhi.
"Oh that helicopter? That helicopter came from Germany, sent by the Mercedes people to deliver the duplicate car key".......said Mukesh.
_______________________________________________________
Mr. Mukesh Ambani is the CMD of the blue chip company, RIL, Reliance Industries Ltd.
Also, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the IIM-B, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
________________________________________________________
Charlie Brown
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Save the tiger ???
New Post (53) : Save the tiger ???
I was just wondering if the polar bears have an opinion on this :
“Even as the frigid icy waters of the Arctic melt, its fabled riches in the form of oil, gas, and minerals are enticing countries that are located along its fringes – Canada, Denmark (on behalf of Greenland), Norway, Russia, and the United States. An estimated 25 % of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas lies beneath the Arctic waters in addition to mineral and other biological reserves. The five Arctic countries are rushing to secure their rights to the largest share in the pie”.
Who gives a hoot and a toot about polar bears and their survival. (anyway)
To distract attention---The current flavor in vogue now is---“SAVE THE TIGER”
Charlie Brown
I was just wondering if the polar bears have an opinion on this :
“Even as the frigid icy waters of the Arctic melt, its fabled riches in the form of oil, gas, and minerals are enticing countries that are located along its fringes – Canada, Denmark (on behalf of Greenland), Norway, Russia, and the United States. An estimated 25 % of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas lies beneath the Arctic waters in addition to mineral and other biological reserves. The five Arctic countries are rushing to secure their rights to the largest share in the pie”.
Who gives a hoot and a toot about polar bears and their survival. (anyway)
To distract attention---The current flavor in vogue now is---“SAVE THE TIGER”
Charlie Brown
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