But Is It a Book?

You are right, kids. We do have too many books. We also have a ton of e-books. But this was the best overview that I've read about the basic difference between an ebook and a physical book. There are differences kids. We have so many rare and antiquarian books. The difference I'm seeing in reading a book published in the 18th century versus the same book downloaded fromarchive.com is so different. You have a sense of reverence and history when you're reading a book. A feeling of togetherness with the ancients. 

Still form and functionality are being diverged. Bit sad but we have to move with the times. 

Love

Baba

But Is It a Book? - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/but-is-it-a-book/38001

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Editor’s Note: Jennifer Howard spent a week in early July at the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School, taking a course on “Born-Digital Materials: Theory & Practice.” This is the first in a series of posts on the experience.

Charlottesville, Va. — What makes a book a book? For Michael F. Suarez, director of the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, a collection of texts on an e-reader doesn’t qualify in the fullest sense.

Over macaroni and cheese in early July at the Virginian, an eatery across from the university’s Grounds, Mr. Suarez talked with The Chronicle about how much more there is to a book than the words that go into it.

“When you take the text of Moby-Dick and pour it into a Kindle, you strip out the bibliographic codes and you strip out the social codes,” he says. “You lose that hermeneutic surplus of meaning that the book is.”

Jaywick provides fertile ground for Ukip’s anti-politics

Kannu

A fascinating move is happening in the UK but the same behaviour is being seen in most of the developed countries. That's the rise of the underclass. The poor. The left behind. The white majority. The tea party in USA. The northern league in Italy. The national front in France. The alternatives party in Germany. The true Finns in Finland. The anti immigration Swedish democrats in Sweden. And then the UKIP here in the UK.
You see son, the political system we received in the 20th century has left behind a large number of people who aren't up there. There's some very rich people. Then there are the professionals upper class and middle class who are the lawyers bankers teachers nurses etc etc. And then the rest of the socio economic class. It's this very large lower socio economic class which is seriously fucked off. And are supporting these parties. Why? Because they don't have jobs. Technology has ensured that basic processing and manufacturing or farming jobs are no longer available to soak up these people. So the governments thought that they will provide welfare to keep them quiet. But then they started to run out of money so the welfare state is starting to be shrunk. And when this happens, the proletariat starts to complain.

So what do you do? In my view son, you need leaders who are brave and can tell some seriously clear messages. Secondly the only way to fix the problem of the underclass is to fix two things. 1. Fix the educational system so that they get the right education. And 2.  Make it easy to setup business. Make it easy to get funding. Land. Shops. Equipment. Training.

Basics son. People forget the basics. You're so lucky that you're in the UK but you and your children need to address the problem of the underclass. At our Homestart charity that's what I'm trying to do. Improve their financials. Make the family stay together. Get them jobs or get them to setup their own business.

And then there's immigration. I'm an immigrant. So I'm biased. Also the nation state isn't going anywhere. So you have to have utmost loyalty to the UK son. No questions asked. This country has been good to me and you and you need to give something back to it. But immigration is an emotive subject and yea the populace's views need to be taken into account. If not they will react badly. Europe doesn't do immigration well son. Down history, Europe has mistreated and massacred immigrants left right and centre. So one has to be very careful about letting the immigration genie out of the bottle son.

I don't blame the UKIP like others do. Understand them. They have a legitimate reason to complain. And you as a future leader and citizen need to understand their complaints.

Anyway. It was good to hear you finally managed to get a good nights sleep son. Freshers week can be a rush. But you're having fun and that's more important. And all I could think about was how you're going to wash your clothes and bring back the laundry as you don't have a laundry basket. Such is the thinking of your father. From the sublime and structural political discussion to banal washing baskets. :)

Love you son. And missing you :)

Baba

I saw this article when using the Financial Times app and thought you might be interested:
Financial Times,

Jaywick provides fertile ground for Ukip’s anti-politics
--
Jim Pickard, Chief Political Correspondent
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The Clacton suburb of Jaywick is the most deprived place in the UK
Read the full article at: http://on.ft.com/1sbHIe0

Big Law Firms in Trouble: When the Money Dries Up

A rather interesting view of big law firms son. I've told you before what my view is when needing to deal with lawyers. Try in the first instance not to need one but that's not always possible. Second is to be totally transparent with the lawyer. And third is to speak to the opposite party if possible. Give them a chance to rectify the situation. Not fun to get dragged through legal aspects son. 

But remember as I keep on telling you, always have a technical skill or two son. Coding, writing, photograph, sculpture something that you can fall back upon. 

Love 

Baba

Big Law Firms in Trouble: When the Money Dries Up | New Republic
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113941/big-law-firms-trouble-when-money-dries

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Of all the occupational golden ages to come and go in the twentieth century—for doctors, journalists, ad-men, autoworkers—none lasted longer, felt cushier, and was all in all more golden than the reign of the law partner.

There was the generous salary, the esteem of one’s neighbors, work that was more intellectual than purely commercial. Since clients of white-shoe firms typically knocked on their doors and stayed put for decades—one lawyer told me his ex-firm had a committee to decide which clients to accept—the partner rarely had to hustle for business. He could focus his energy on the legal pursuits that excited his analytical mind.

Above all, there was stability. The firms practiced a benevolent paternalism. They paid for partners to join lunch and dinner clubs and loaned them money to buy houses. When a lawyer had a drinking problem, the firm sent him off for treatment at its own expense. Layoffs were unheard of.

The Way of All Flesh

A rather interesting life of a slaughterhouse inspector. We don't see this. We see the beef steaks nicely packaged in the supermarket but how does it get there? These inspectors check the process.
Very interesting life.

there is an art to removing the meat from the bones from an animal. I don't have that art, I tend to hack about but guess what? your Didu knows how to do this :) she is an amazing lady, you have to spend time with her son, she has so many skills and qualities that you will be gobsmacked. hunting, swimming, acting, playing, teaching, researching, directing, radio, TV, stage, translations, songs, drama, interior decoration, exterior decoration, languages, geography, history, ecology, environmentalism, Sanskrit, etc. etc. etc.

anyway, happy meat eating son :)

http://longform.org/stories/the-way-of-all-flesh

Discoveries At Teotihuacan's Pyramid Of The Moon Help Unlock Mysteries Of Western Hemisphere's First Major Metropolis

Kids

I visited these pyramids last nov. and have posted a photo essay so check it out if you can. 

Funny comparisons with the Giza and Saqqara pyramids in Egypt. . Both are old but I was more familiar with the Egyptian ones as we know more about them. I could stand there and imagine the ordinary Egyptians walking living eating loving there. 

But in Mexico it was a different feeling. First nothing. I couldn't hear anything. Not a peep. Yes you could feel the antiquity and feeling of old age but no sense of the people who lived and died there. I usually employ a trick at these old mouldy buildings. Sit and close your eyes, try to tune out the current noises and feel the stones talk to you son. Think of it as your attempt to be so silent that a butterfly lands on you. Then the ancients talk to you. 

It moved me. That kind of an experience changes lives :) I hope you will also experience what I did in saqqara. 

But fascinating. Giant structures and no idea if the people who made these. 

Love

Baba. 

Discoveries At  Pyramid Of The Moon Help Unlock Mysteries Of Western Hemisphere's First Major Metropolis
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/09/990921071513.htm

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Sep. 21, 1999 — An unexpected set of new discoveries in the ongoing excavation beneath the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan may provide critical clues in reconstructing a 2,000-year old history still mysteriously missing from the ruins of the ancient master-planned metropolis, located 25 miles from current Mexico City.

Announced today, the latest discovery at the site is a tomb apparently made to dedicate the fifth phase of construction of the pyramid, containing four human skeletons, animal bones, large conch shells, jewelry, obsidian blades and a wide variety of other offerings. Excavation is expected to continue for another two weeks.

Found by a team of archaeologists led by Saburo Sugiyama, associate professor at Aichi Prefectural University in Japan and adjunct faculty at Arizona State University, and Ruben Cabrera of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, the burial contains important evidence that may help archaeologists define and examine a particularly active period in Teotihuacan’s history and perhaps one of the culture’s “defining moments.”

Prince Hal’s Head-Wound: Cause and Effect

An interesting historical record of how an arrow wound was healed son. I was reminded of how taita did a similar thing in wilbur smith's novel. 

Btw son, do learn how to do first aid. It's very useful and the time you need the knowledge, it's going to be vital. One of the things like swimming, cycling etc. good things to know. 

Plus it allows you to know yourself son. Medically. I don't mean that you need to do a Michelangelo and go about doing dissection on dead bodies but a working knowledge of medicine, anatomy and being accustomed to blood and organs helps. 

Love

Baba

Prince Hal’s Head-Wound: Cause and Effect
http://www.medievalists.net/2013/05/20/prince-hals-head-wound-cause-and-effect/

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Prince Hal’s Head-Wound: Cause and Effect

Paper by Michael Livingston

Given at the session Aspects of Medieval Military History I, at the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies (2013)

Michael Livingston, Associate Professor at The Citadel, explains what happened in one of the most remarkable cases of battlefield surgery from the Middle Ages – the arrow wound suffered by the future Henry V at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.

Prince Henry was only 16 years old when he marched with his father’s forces to Shrewsbury in western England to fight against the rebel army led by Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy. With English longbowmen on both sides of the battle, arrows caused many of the dead and wounded, including Henry Percy, who was killed when he lifted up his visor and was struck down by a shot.

According to one chronicler’s report, Prince Henry was also “hurt in the face by an arrow.” A much more detailed account survives in the Philomena, a medical tract written by John Bradmore. The account was originally in Latin, and a Middle English translation of it survives as well.

God and the Ivory Tower-

Some interesting stats on religion kannu. Made me surprised, but as a citizen, we need to control religion, it's too dangerous to let loose. Just like any other ideology which is totalitarian as well. 

God and the Ivory Tower- By Scott Atran | Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/06/god_and_the_ivory_tower

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The era of world struggle between the great secular ideological -isms that began with the French Revolution and lasted through the Cold War (republicanism, anarchism, socialism, fascism, communism, liberalism) is passing on to a religious stage. Across the Middle East and North Africa, religious movements are gaining social and political ground, with election victories by avowedly Islamic parties in Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. As Israel’s National Security Council chief, Gen. Yaakov Amidror (a religious man himself), told me on the eve of Tunisia’s elections last October, “We expect Islamist parties to soon dominate all governments in the region, from Afghanistan to Morocco, except for Israel.”

On a global scale, Protestant evangelical churches (together with Pentacostalists) continue to proliferate, especially in Latin America, but also keep pace with the expansion of fundamentalist Islam in southern Africa and eastern and southern Asia. In Russia, a clear majority of the population remains religious despite decades of forcibly imposed atheism.Even in China, where the government’s commission on atheism has the Sisyphean job of making that country religion-free, religious agitation is on the rise. And in the United States, a majority says it wants less religion in politics, but an equal majority still will not vote for an atheist as president.

The Revolution That Wasn’t

Kannu

Here's an excellent overview of the train crash disaster that is Egypt. Let me lay my opinion up front. The brotherhood presidency was bad but overthrowing it has really made a bad situation worse. A liberal democracy does not happen overnight. Look at India. It took years. It made many mistakes. But it's a good country. Same with the uk and USA. Some common themes. Enlightened leaders. Rule of law. Freedom of speech. Army under control. Free media. Religion firmly kicked in the balls and controlled. Good institutions. Free judiciary. But egypt keeps on making mistakes and keeps on being stupid. What? 5 revolutions in the past century? 

The army is the biggest problem. Second problem is the religion and the religious leaders. Third is the judiciary. And and and. Thousands have now died and now it's back to what it was few years back. Disgruntled Islamists. Army in command. Economy fucked up. Population in distress. 

The solution is clear but the Egyptians don't have patience. Heck the Egyptians laughed at Pakistan and there's an Egyptian quote which said that they don't want to become Pakistan. But with the democratic transition in Pakistan, Egypt will do worse. They would be lucky to be like Pakistan. I do not have a good prognosis about Egypt. Another decade of decay beckons. 

Love

Baba

LRB · Hugh Roberts · The Revolution That Wasn’t
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n17/hugh-roberts/the-revolution-that-wasnt

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Hugh Roberts

• The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life by Roger Owen
  Harvard, 248 pp, £18.95, May 2012, ISBN 978 0 674 06583 3
• Adaptable Autocrats: Regime Power in Egypt and Syria by Joshua Stacher
  Stanford, 221 pp, £22.50, April 2012, ISBN 978 0 8047 8063 6
• Raging against the Machine: Political Opposition under Authoritarianism in Egypt by Holger Albrecht
  Syracuse, 248 pp, £25.00, October 2012, ISBN 978 0 8156 3320 4
• BuySoldiers, Spies and Statesmen: Egypt’s Road to Revolt byHazem Kandil
  Verso, 303 pp, £16.99, November 2012, ISBN 978 1 84467 961 4

Western opinion has had difficulty working out what to think, or at any rate what to say, about Egypt. It now seems that the pedlars of hallucinations have been cowed and it is no longer fashionable to describe the events of 3 July in Cairo as a ‘second revolution’. But to describe them as a counter-revolution, while indisputably more accurate, presupposes that there was a revolution in the first place. The bulk of Western media commentary seems still to be wedded to this notion. That what the media called ‘the Arab spring’ was a succession of revolutions became orthodoxy very quickly. Egypt was indispensable to the idea of an ‘Arab spring’ and so it had to have had a revolution too.

Why wonder is the most human of all emotions

Kids

Einstein said that the common element between genius and childhood is curiosity. Never lose the ability to be curious. Asking why. Poking and prodding. Forever searching and being in a wondrous frame. Like I take pics. I like small things and big things and commonplace things. Wonder. Don't be cynical and stop looking at things. Step outside your comfort zone. Not just on holiday. People rush about the world when wonders are below their noses. 

Love

Baba

Why wonder is the most human of all emotions – Jesse Prinz – Aeon
http://www.aeonmagazine.com/oceanic-feeling/why-wonder-is-the-most-human-of-all-emotions/

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When I was growing up in New York City, a high point of my calendar was the annual arrival of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus — ‘the greatest show on earth’. My parents endured the green-haired clowns, sequinned acrobats and festooned elephants as a kind of garish pageantry. For me, though, it was a spectacular interruption of humdrum reality – a world of wonder, in that trite but telling phrase.

Wonder is sometimes said to be a childish emotion, one that we grow out of. But that is surely wrong. As adults, we might experience it when gaping at grand vistas. I was dumbstruck when I first saw a sunset over the Serengeti. We also experience wonder when we discover extraordinary facts. I was enthralled to learn that, when arranged in a line, the neurons in a human brain would stretch the 700 miles from London to Berlin. But why? What purpose could this wide-eyed, slack-jawed feeling serve? It’s difficult to determine the biological function of any affect, but whatever it evolved for (and I’ll come to that), wonder might be humanity’s most important emotion.

Islamophobia and Its Discontents | The Nation

Couple of things here son. First islamophobia exists. People are genuinely and irrationally afraid of Islam and Muslims. Not a new thing, fear of the other has a long history son. People have hated Jews, dark skinned, anybody who is different. So one has to protest against this islamophobia strongly. 

That said, this lady protests a bit too much if you look at her examples. Those jokes are ethnic jokes and rather than islamophobia this exhibits thin skin and lack of sense of humour. So not convinced  with her argument. 

Just like many countries like Pakistan or Saudi Arabia are trying to stop any debate or discussion about Islam claiming that Islam cannot be criticised or debated. Sorry, that's not islamophobia. Islam is just yet another way of thinking. It's not sacred that I cannot debate and disagree with it. But that doesn't mean I hate it's adherents. Wrong thing. 

There is much to know and love in Islam as there is to detest and despair. Just like in Christianity and Hinduism. 

Love

Baba

Islamophobia and Its Discontents | The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/article/168379/islamophobia-and-its-discontents

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Thirty years ago, no one outside the halls of academe had heard of Islamophobia. Yet today it is virtually impossible to open a newspaper without encountering either the term or an argument against its use. The word began to appear in print in the late 1980s, when Muslims in Western countries—people of starkly different racial and ethnic backgrounds—began to notice similarities among their experiences with hate, intimidation or discrimination. But almost from the start, there was a parallel effort to discredit this neologism: it was assailed as a fiction, at best the product of a culture of victimhood and at worst a very dangerous myth. Thus we have Islamophobia and “Islamophobia,” one with currency on the left side of the political spectrum and the other a common target of the right.