I haven’t had time to think this through, but I wanted to add to highlight the conversation, especially in light of reading a number of things on trust lately.
But that is precisely the point: the valuable service performed by Mr Assange at WikiLeaks is a different issue from the serious accusations facing him in Sweden. Conflating the two may provide a rhetorical rush, as it did in Knightsbridge on Sunday; but over the longer term it badly damages the reputation of WikiLeaks and does Mr Assange's case no practical good.
I think if Assange truly did what he did to those women that is awful, and any man regardless of stature should be punished for such acts. However, I don’t have trouble believing that he has made very powerful enemies because of his work, which then leads me to wondering about the motivations behind allegations. It is not my place to judge, but I do wonder…
It is an easy way to discredit a man and to cause enough fuss that his work becomes tarnished with the same brush. Yes, the editorial says they are two different issues, but at the same time, WikiLeaks’sbrand is so tied into the ‘brand’ of Julian Assange that I don’t think it could escape the spill.
Which would be convenient for a number of people, to say the least.
Interesting times…
Whatever you think about Assange, I think what he did was cause a little chaos, and a little chaos is always refreshing. For me,it was about making governments aware that they should be accountable to the people who elected them. That is the aim, the why. The execution, well, that is another matter entirely, and totally up to interpretation.
We all know where leaving things to interpretation gets us…
1. White terrorists are called “gunmen.” What does that even mean? A person with a gun? Wouldn’t that be, like, everyone in the US? Other terrorists are called, like, “terrorists.”
2. White terrorists are “troubled loners.” Other terrorists are always suspected of being part of a global plot, even when they are obviously troubled loners.
3. Doing a study on the danger of white terrorists at the Department of Homeland Security will get you sidelined by angry white Congressmen.Doing studies on other kinds of terrorists is a guaranteed promotion.
4. The family of a white terrorist is interviewed, weeping as they wonder where he went wrong. The families of other terrorists are almost never interviewed.
5. White terrorists are part of a “fringe.” Other terrorists are apparently mainstream.
6. White terrorists are random events, like tornadoes. Other terrorists are long-running conspiracies.
7. White terrorists are never called “white.” But other terrorists are given ethnic affiliations.
8. Nobody thinks white terrorists are typical of white people. But other terrorists are considered paragons of their societies.
9. White terrorists are alcoholics, addicts or mentally ill. Other terrorists are apparently clean-living and perfectly sane.
10. There is nothing you can do about white terrorists. Gun control won’t stop them. No policy you could make, no government program, could possibly have an impact on them. But hundreds of billions of dollars must be spent on police and on the Department of Defense, and on TSA, which must virtually strip search 60 million people a year, to deal with other terrorists.
“The only dream worth having is to dream that you will live while you are alive, and die only when you are dead. To love, to be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and vulgar disparity of the life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.” ― Arundhati Roy
Can someone tell me how it is August already? Subhanallah…
Some tips on writing…”Rustle up some dysentery; it’s worth it for the fever dreams alone.”
Setting up the company was a lot cheaper than I expected. A&P charged $900 for a basic Belizean incorporation and another $85 for a corporate seal to emboss legal documents. For $650 more, A&P offered to open a bank account to stash my fledgling operation’s money in Singapore — a country, the Web site also noted, that “cannot gather information on foreigners’ bank accounts, bank-deposit interest and investment gains under domestic tax law.” And for another $690, it offered to assign a “nominee” who would be listed as the official manager and owner of my business but would report to me under a secret power-of-attorney contract. Then an A&P associate asked me to fill out the incorporation information online, just so she wouldn’t type in anything incorrectly. The whole thing took about 10 minutes.
Amazingly neither A&P nor I broke any law in Canada, Belize, Singapore or the United States.
I bought my university bag from this awesome online store Scaramanga… and was not disappointed. Check out their new range.
For all the people who are puzzled by my seeming happiness, I'll be glad to let them know my "secret." I'm not in denial, I'm not on antidepressants, and I don't live in a fantasy world. I have a wonderful husband and I am pursuing a career I've dreamed of since I was nine years old. I have a beautiful son, friends, and a working stove. I am not paraplegic. I have parents who, through luck and fate, had me here in the United States, and not in North Korea. I live in a time where my awful vision can be corrected with glasses. I am a college graduate. I am never hungry unless I choose to be.
Do I have enough? Resoundingly: yes. And I ask you to take a moment: I suspect you might, too.
We don’t lift weights in order to look hot, especially for the likes of men like that. What makes them think that we even WANT them to find us attractive? If you do, thanks very much, we’re flattered. But if you don’t, why do you really need to voice this opinion in the first place, and what makes you think we actually give a toss that you, personally, do not find us attractive? What do you want us to do? Shall we stop weightlifting, amend our diet in order to completely get rid of our ‘manly’ muscles, and become housewives in the sheer hope that one day you will look more favourably upon us and we might actually have a shot with you?! Cause you are clearly the kindest, most attractive type of man to grace the earth with your presence
I love a story of a migrant embracing their new land, working amazingly hard and doing inspiring things (many times without even meaning to). Check out this guy: first Asian American Gold Medalist, Sammy Lee…
As a twelve-year-old in 1932, Lee dreamed of becoming a diver, but at the time Latinos, Asians, and African-Americans were only allowed to use Fresno’s Brookside Pool on Wednesdays, on what was called “international day”: the day before the pool was scheduled to be drained and refilled with clean water. Because Lee needed a place to practice and could not regularly use the public pool, his coach dug a pit in his backyard and filled it with sand. Lee practiced by jumping into the pit.
The boxer in me loved this piece…about the thrill of the fight. (I promise though, I love peace!)
The “Prep School Negro”…the trailer for a documentary about African Americans who ‘escape’ the ghetto and go to a private prep school and the struggles they deal with trying to balance their lives.
Summing up this year’s Formula Student, project manager Fiona Pawley said: “This year’s competition has been truly impressive, with many of the cars displaying world class engineering that wouldn’t be out of place in a Formula One paddock. These young engineers will mature into the motorsport team bosses and industry leaders of the future.”
Learn a little bit about what affects Pirelli Tires and their performance (layman's terms)
TOONED! Episode 3. Loving the new McLaren cartoon…”And here we have, just a few of the spare Ks from Mika Hakkinen's name” LOL.
Ever wondered what is like from the F1 driver’s point of view? Wonder no longer…welcome to SPA!
A beautiful video for all motorsport lovers…
I want to be ...a F1 Driver
Interestingly in this video, Senna mentions his family’s unhappiness at his choosing motorsport as a career…The episode looks at the lives of a few drivers (current and up and coming), how they got there and the difficulties getting there.
Brush your teeth and then go drink some OJ, and you're in for a rude surprise -- the juice tastes downright awful. What causes that? Most toothpastes contain a compound called sodium laureth sulfate, which causes the foaming action when you brush. But it also blocks your tongue from being able to detect sweetness. So when you drink the juice, you're unable to taste the sweet aspects; instead, you only sense the bitter/sour parts. – interesting fact, via Now I Know, a cool way to learn something new every day…
To be honest, the article made me sick… not only at the words I was reading, but at the situation of the Palestinians, the inhumanity of war and the poison of power. Read it critically…but I guess it is also important for me (and Muslims in general, who might be highly offended that I posted this link) that we are also merciful in our thoughts and look to at least try to understand the other sides…
There is then no normative notion of disobedience at the checkpoint, no proper way for Palestinians to act. The only way for Palestinians to anticipate the soldier’s next order is to try, at every moment, to anticipate the soldier’s next thought. Is he irritated? Is he complaisant? Is he looking for action? Is he feeling lonely and hoping for a friendly conversation? Does he want to be amused? Is he in a hurry? Is he filled with grief and anger? The soldier’s mental state is the Palestinian’s most urgent concern: it is a matter of life and death. As one soldier testifies, “I can assure you there’s tremendous frustration building up, it’s really scary. I would take it all out on someone.”…
The circumstances instill in soldiers and Palestinians an intense interest in each other’s minds. This same interest subverts their capacity to recognize each other. There can be neither truth telling nor lying at the checkpoint. No obligations, no gestures, no smiles, and no insults. There can be neither respect nor disrespect, neither shame nor honor. Palestinians will say and do whatever they think is most likely to get them through the checkpoint. Soldiers will say and do whatever keeps the Palestinians scared enough to do nothing but obey:
Actually, you should also read this article from Racialicious: A Muslim Community, Tarred Again. I think a great article on the difficulties of American Muslims trying to make it. Doesn’t mean they can’t, but it is difficult…
In an interview for a research position on South Asian affairs at a US bureau, I was asked to state my views on Israel. And I have, sadly, taken it as a given that in interviews I will be asked what kind of Arab I am. When I say that I am the “Indian kind of Arab,” few understand—or appreciate—the joke.
South Sudan: Sometimes money really should come with strings attached…
Could be a little awkward…More Olympians than you might think lose their medals!
Ever wondered what the optimum way to travel on foot was while it was raining? Wonder no more!
A physicist has put forth new ideas in the long-running question of how best to keep dry when moving in the rain. If you run, you are out in the rain for less time, yet you run into more drops - so what is the optimal speed?
Let’s talk Batman – What it would take to become Batman physically, and how much it would cost to be him? About $2.8 million…not too shabby.
Still on Batman, but an infinitely more sombre note…Spree Killer Contradictions. A moving, and I think very apt, piece.
I refuse to write his name because he’s not the point, the is-he-or-isn’t-he faking psychosis mass murderer who destroyed dozens of families last weekend in his quest for selfishness. As much as we want to aim our fingers at him in judgment, this act of violence isn’t about him, just as it wouldn’t be about the lone terrorist who stuffed a bomb into his underwear, or the two disgruntled men who took out the Federal building in Oklahoma City all those Aprils ago. I don’t absolve any of these men of their acts, certainly not, but I can’t abide providing them the public attention they crave and that they receive from so many media outlets.
How was your week? I learnt a whole bunch of new things about motorsport journalism, fell flat on my rear at the first time ice skating for nearly a decade…and began Ramadaan. I also spent a lot of time online and here are some particularly interesting things I came across!
(after you check out the links, of course :P)
Striking truths. A new picture with an inspirational saying (like the above) every day…
Perhaps our most dangerous bias is that we naturally assume that everyone else is more susceptible to thinking errors, a tendency known as the “bias blind spot.” This “meta-bias” is rooted in our ability to spot systematic mistakes in the decisions of others—we excel at noticing the flaws of friends—and inability to spot those same mistakes in ourselves.
But what about individuals who are notorious for their struggles with sharing? Surely the emotional benefits of giving couldn’t possibly apply to very young children, who cling to their possessions as though their lives depended on it. To find out, we teamed up with the developmental psychologist Kiley Hamlin and gave toddlers the baby-equivalent of gold: goldfish crackers. Judging from their beaming faces, they were pretty happy about this windfall. But something made them even happier. They were happiest of allwhen giving some of their treats away to their new friend, a puppet named Monkey. Monkey puppets aside, the lesson is clear: maximizing our happiness is not about maximizing our goldfish. To be clear, having more goldfish (or more gold) doesn’t decrease our happiness — those first few crackers may provide a genuine burst of delight. But rather than focusing on how much we’ve got in our bowl, we should think more carefully about what we do with what we’ve got — which might mean indulging less, and may even mean giving others the opportunity to indulge instead.
Omar Offendum – A Syrian American rapper, using his gift to try bring voice to the uprisings in Syria, muses at The Rolling Stone.
In France – where recently 42 per cent polled for Le Monde believed that the presence of Muslims was a "threat" to their national identity – a record number voted for the anti-Muslim National Front in April's presidential elections. Denmark's third largest party is the People's Party, which rails against "Islamisation" and demands the end of all non-Western immigration. The anti-Muslim Vlaams Belang flourishes in Flemish Belgium. But those who take a stand against Islamophobia are often demanded to qualify it with a condemnation of extremism. When is this ever asked of other stands against prejudice?
As you all know, the Internet is full of amazing things… here are some interesting titbits to keep your minds sharp!
Ramadaan is here…So Ramadaan Kareem!
Everyone will see it and appreciate it in their own ways. I love how being part of the Muslim Ummah means we participate in the same events, enriched with different traditions and cultural teachings. What are your traditions during Ramadaan??
Football is the Best Sport: I definitely, whole heartedly agree! Here, the argument is made for why it is the most “morally interesting” sport…
Being the fairest and unfairest of all games helps to make football the most morally interesting…
Higgs Boson… a new particle. It is pretty ground breaking stuff, via YMFY
MotoGP news: Honda delivers two different bikes in order to try solve this intriguing tire chatter issue. I love a meaty engineering design problem. Check out the GP mag in general for recent motorsport news…
This is definitely something I want to write about or mull on more – a study shows that over the past decade or so, womens’ expectations have risen in terms of career and family… They increasingly value both.
An interesting piece on the limitations of dichotomies. I feel as I am getting older and experiencing more, I am less and less sure that people can be black and white on issues, or that people can have a stance without even deigning to take into account the various other aspects. There aren’t two sides to every story… there are five, or ten, or hundreds…
If bullies aren’t “born” but are created through perverse motivation and circumstances, why continue to give the dichotomy credibility? Why are we willing, in the face of empirical evidence that the dichotomy is impoverished and wrong, to go about using it when setting anti-bullying policy?
My word of the week:
Quixotism (/kwɪkˈsɒtɪzəm/ or /kiːˈhoʊtɪzəm/) is impracticality in pursuit of ideals, especially those ideals manifested by rash, lofty and romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action.[1] It also serves to describe an idealism without regard to practicality. An impulsive person or act might be regarded as quixotic.
Quixotism is usually related to "over-idealism", meaning an idealism that doesn't take consequence or absurdity into account. It is also related to naïve romanticism and toutopianism.
So this has been a little while coming... here are some interesting reads for your consumption! Lots of food for thought...and some music to soothe the soul.
Perhaps the most significant change of the next decade will be the dramatic increase in worldwide connectivity via the Internet. The online community is projected to grow from 2 billion people in 2010 to 5 billion by 2020. Three billion new minds are about to join the global brain trust. What will they dream? What will they discover? What will they invent? These are minds that the rest of society has never had access to before, and their collective economic and creative boost becomes our final force: the power of “the rising billion.” We are living in a time of unprecedented opportunity.
Physical education for girls is banned in the public school system and while there are more than 150 official sports clubs regulated by the sports ministry, general presidency of youth welfare, none of them even allow women on the grounds, never mind to actually play. Saudi women are not only not allowed to participate, they are barred as spectators in all major stadiums.
Morsi won the election by a slim margin, and is now President of Egypt. His first few days in office have already been eventful. He banned portraits of himself in public spaces, asked for minimum security when moving around Egypt, met the families of the martyrs and guaranteed them access to him directly, and has announced that his two vice-presidents will be a woman and a Coptic Christian**. These moves have already impressed many both inside and outside Egypt, and are a welcome change from Mubarak’s reign. An important point is that Morsi won the election because he was supported by a variety of social actors, including activists, revolutionaries, youth groups, and Egyptians who did not want a member of the old regime to win. This means that Morsi has a lot to prove. He knows that he would not be President without the support of Egyptians who do not necessarily identify with or support the Muslim Brotherhood or their ideals. The pressure on Morsi is immense, and the expectations endless.
The revolution must be peaceful: A really interesting look on whether revolts must be peaceful, or if that can actually succeed? A question I have been asking of myself lately…
While there is no doubt that a peaceful revolution is a good thing to aspire to, I wonder if it can simultaneously be effective? Can brute power be removed peacefully? Can an entrenched regime that doesn’t have second thoughts about using violence be brought down through peaceful demonstrations and organizing? On the other hand, could it be the case that we are taught that peaceful people power is pointless and ineffective? Are we somehow bringing ourselves down to their level of inhumanness by engaging in violence?
Doing a little Media Monitoring gig so will be collecting articles and analysis that comes out on the current #SudanRevolts. Please let me know if you would like to be featured or if I have missed anything significant. This can also be found on the #SudanRevolts blog.
Damn Good Advice -- An interesting title for a book that seems pretty interesting (advice for creatives, and generally people who are interested in doing things). This link summarises the main points...
I love psychology experiments and had heard about this elevator trick...Here are some US College kids re-enacting it...
Coming to you every Sunday: a roundup of a few interesting reads from the week...I am a little bit of a Google Reader Freak and often come across interesting reads that I want to respond to or at least discuss. Here are a few of the articles I have read this week that might be of interest...and might spawn a blog post or two in the near future:
When you live abroad, you realize that, no matter where you are, you will always be an ex-pat. There will always be a part of you that is far away from its home and is lying dormant until it can breathe and live in full color back in the country where it belongs. To live in a new place is a beautiful, thrilling thing, and it can show you that you can be whoever you want — on your own terms. It can give you the gift of freedom, of new beginnings, of curiosity and excitement. But to start over, to get on that plane, doesn’t come without a price. You cannot be in two places at once, and from now on, you will always lay awake on certain nights and think of all the things you’re missing out on back home.
This article spawned insane reactions throughout the "blogosphere" (always wanted to use that word...). An interesting "computer game" analogy that essentially describes the concept of "privilege" in today's world.
So that’s “Straight White Male” for you in The Real World (and also, in the real world): The lowest difficulty setting there is. All things being equal, and even when they are not, if the computer — or life — assigns you the “Straight White Male” difficulty setting, then brother, you’ve caught a break.
"We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments, but great moments often catch us unaware - beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one."
Something a little more technical: A great documentary about how Turbo F1 engines started...
Brought to you by the Queensland Design Council, the Friday Five Q&A project invites design and industry leaders to give insight into what inspires them, and to hear their ideas and goals for good design in Queensland and around the world.
