Book review. Ibn Khaldun Muqaddimah

I can't believe I haven't read this book before. And that too so late in my life. Reading this was quite interesting. It's a book written by a very opinionated Islamic scholar in 1400ad. This is few centuries after Islam was born and had two of the empires born and died already. It had expanded to close to its maximum. But before the ottomans expanded much more and a bit more before the Mughals would expand in South Asia and South east Asia will fall under the sway.
What I read was an abridged one volume version of a three volume translation of the original. So much water has flowed under the bridge and all these translations and abridgements have obviously caused much loss of clarity.
But that said it's an amazing book. You can see how he influenced people like Toynbee and Huntingdon and Carr and Robert Kennedy who were the stalwarts in the 20th century history and trying to draw broad sweeps in history.
IK doesn't talk about history as a dry enumeration of facts. Or a sequential series of dates and events like say a Thucydides or Herotodus.
Hey writes about themes. Like how dynasties rise and fall. Or about natural resources. Or economies. Or sciences. He is a great believer in cycles. That things happen in cycles. Things start in the desert like with the Arabs and bedu. And then they capture urban lands. And third generation becomes sedentary and too wide and big to control. And fourth generation is decay.
He is a believer. Don't make the mistake of thinking he's a dispassionate secular reporter. Nope. He believes in Allah Quran and Mohammad. But he's very clear headed and tells off crap like alchemy or magic. Or the shia. Or older historians.
It's not something you'll want to read if you wanted to read about the history of the Abbasids or the Spanish moorish kingdoms . More recent books will give a better picture. But you want to read this just because you want to read Josephus or Thucydides or Herodotus. How history developed. And you will be amazed at the sheer audacity intelligence and passion of this man. His thinking is missing even now. What an amazing man. Read up his biography as well.

The benefits of less space

Kannu
You must have heard about the quote, "work expands to fill the time available"? Its like that with living space. It was brought home to me over my previous trip to Asia and now I am flying over Pakistan again on another one month long trip. With 1 suitcase and 1 backpack. Literally, that's sufficient for me to live on. But of course I need bog rolls, I need a place to sleep, I need a bicycle. But pretty much everything is provided to me, so how much possessions do I need to live on? Not much.
I am a bit of a squirrel, specially with antiques and books. You have seen how i love purchasing those things. And keeping them with me. I feel a good feeling when I am on the couch reading a book and then raise my eyes and observe the rows of books, they are like my old friends. But that means that we have a big house. Well, its not such a big house, but given the availability of e-books, do I really need every book? In physical copy? I don't think so.
Second, more possessions you have, the more complicated your life becomes. More you need to worry about things. More you need to insure. And if you think about it, its more to do with showing off to people rather than actually needing things, son. Think about our car. Do we really need it? No we don't. We can get rid of it, but its been paid off, its in fine fettle, cost of running it is very low after 11 years of keeping it, its a workhorse. I don't need to show off to people that I am a rich man by having a beamer or merc. Its there, faithful old chap. But if I will travel around like this, we don't need the car. So keep that in mind. I make that mistake so many times, son, buying things we don't need. Think of the bloody watches I buy. Or the cufflinks. With almost 25 watches, I found that I tend to come back to 4-5 of them regularly. So I figured I was being an idiot and stopped buying them. Same with books. Stopped buying them. At least till I have done reading all the 3-400 books that I haven't yet read :), learn from my mistakes :) So do tell me off if I am buying stuff that I don't need, like what Diya does to me.
At end of the day, I calculated that if we had moved to a bigger house all those years back, we would have ended up spending about £5k more per year  minimum and more like £10k per year. So there you go, a saving of £25-50k, all of which will help you if/when you want your own house or want to start your own business.
Till then, see me live out of a suitcase :)
By the way, you look really handsome without the braces. You are looking like a man and a handsome man at that. I feel so happy and proud of you that I keep giving you hugs and kisses and running my hand over your head. Don't mind it, its just my love and blessings for you, son.
Love
Baba
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Early Retirement Extreme

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The benefits of less space
Posted: 15 May 2014 03:01 AM PDT
One of the, perhaps not so surprising, benefits of moving into a smaller place — two persons and a small dog in a 34′ RV — is that the question is no longer whether we can afford to buy something. Thanks to the difference between living in a house and living here, we have $1000+ more each month.

However, now the question is, do we have space for this. This question guides most buying decisions out of necessity. If storage reaches critical mass, it simply becomes too much of a hassle to deal with “things” as they start falling out of the cupboard or the become either hard to find or hard to store. Often this means that something simply does not get bought. In particular, buying something unless it needed or absolutely replaces something else becomes paramount. In turn, this also saves a lot of money. To wit, do I need an extra thingamajing? No, because I already have one, and there’s just not any room for it.

Geography Lesson

Kannu

I saw this poem on fb. It's a beautiful poem son. Talks about great teachers and their dreams. 

Follow your dreams son. Don't have regrets :) be there where you always wanted to :) 

Love

Baba

Geography Lesson
by Brian Patten

Our teacher told us one day he would leave
And sail across a warm blue sea
To places he had only known from maps,
And all his life had longed to be.

The house he lived in was narrow and grey
But in his mind’s eye he could see
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the walls,
And green leaves burning on an orange tree.

He spoke of the lands he longed to visit,
Where it was never drab or cold.
I couldn’t understand why he never left,
And shook off the school’s stranglehold.

Then halfway through his final term
He took ill and never returned.
He never got to that place on the map
Where the green leaves of the orange trees burned.

The maps were redrawn on the classroom wall;
His name forgotten, he faded away.
But a lesson he never knew he taught
Is with me to this day.

I travel to where the green leaves burn,
To where the ocean’s glass-clear and blue,
To places our teacher taught me to love –
And which he never knew.

The beauty of palm leaf manuscripts (3): storage and preservation

As I've mentioned to you earlier kids, we have three old old manuscripts. Not exactly a full library which will need retrieval eh?

But information retrieval is very important these days. If you do computer science, one of the first things they will teach you is to how to do information retrieval and searches. In a variety of areas, you need to know how to categorise information so that you can retrieve it easily. There's no point in having information and not being able to get to it.

Think about it. People Google for information but they have forgotten that Google also filters and arranges information. So for example if I'm looking for a film or museum opening hours, yes Google is fine. But if I'm looking for say information relating to film or collections, I'm not going to start there. That's where Google scholar comes in. Or science direct or other search engines where more detailed and particular information is served up to you.

SEO. search engine optimisation is an entirely newish field where your content is served up. More efficiently.

But here we hark back to an older age where we have Palm leaf manuscripts. How do you store them? One of my ladies, Hypathia, who I've spoken about before, worked in the library of Alexandria. Can you imagine trying to retrieve a scroll from those towering cupboards? Difficult eh?

Love

Baba

The beauty of palm leaf manuscripts (3): storage and preservation - Asian and African studies blog
http://.typepad.co.uk/asian-and-african/2015/02/the-beauty-of-palm-leaf-manuscripts-3-storage-and-preservation.html?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+asian-and-african+%28Asia+and+Africa%29&utm_medium=email&utm_source=feedburner
(via Instapaper)

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In my two previous posts on this topic, I looked at palm leaf manuscripts from central Thailand and the northern Thai regions. In this final post on the beauty of palm leaf manuscripts in Tai manuscript cultures, I will take a closer look at traditional retrieval aids, and storage and preservation methods. Some temple libraries held large numbers of manuscripts which were stored in specially made furniture. Due to the fact that many manuscripts were wrapped in a piece of cloth, and the title or contents were rarely mentioned on the front leaf or front cover of a manuscript, quick retrieval of a particular manuscript was only possible if certain finding aids and methods were in place. For example, the manuscripts could be arranged in a systematic order within one cabinet, and several cabinets could be placed in a systematic order in the library building. One important finding aid was the title indicator. A title indicator, which could constitute a beautiful little work of art itself, was attached to a rope, and the rope was wound around the manuscript.    

Wooden title indicator covered with black lacquer, and text incised in Tham script on gold background. Lanna, 19th century. British Library, Or.16555. Acquired from Dr Henry Ginsburg’s bequest, in memory of Dr Henry Ginsburg.

Title indicators made from wood or bamboo were important means of identifying manuscripts when these were stored together in large numbers in wooden cabinets. The length of a title indicator could range from 100 to 400 mm. Bamboo and wooden indicators were often simple strips with the title and list of contents of the manuscript incised or written on, but sometimes wooden and ivory indicators could be carved with beautiful floral ornaments. Often they were lacquered red or black and decorated with gold leaf before the text was incised.    

Two wooden title indicators covered with red lacquer, with text incised in Tham script on a gold background. Lanna, 19th century. British Library, Or.14528-9.

The Kim Kardashian Liberals

Kannu

This is a classic column written by a friend of mine. It's a very simple elucidation of rights and liberalism.  I talked yesterday about how people got upset with me for saying rent control is stupid. It relates to natural rights.

This is why I hate religion. Because it doesn't respect natural rights. Frankly you cannot be religious and avoid being a hypocrite. And inconsistent. Idiocy. And more importantly they know it. Which is why, when pressed, they almost always descend into violence as if that's the final solution.

Classically liberalism means that you need to respect your own rights and others.

See the election cacophony at the moment. Everybody is out trampling my rights. Everybody. Without exception. That's what we have as leaders. In the land where liberalism was born. Along with France. And USA. Thomas Paine comes to mind.

Also read up the rule of but. It's a really great rule. In your debates and discussions with these idiots and hypocrites who use 'but' to qualify assertions, use this. It just makes them completely befuddled. Brilliant thing.

As for Kim kardashians butt, that's a work of art.

Look forward to speaking with you son. We are going to go to the garden centre today and are going to get some flowers and stuff. Do up the garden.

Love

Baba

The Kim Kardashian Liberals - The India Uncut Blog - India Uncut
http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/the-kim-kardashian-liberals/
(via Instapaper)

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This is the 13th installment of Lighthouse, my monthly column for BLink, a supplement of the Hindu Business Line.

You can hold a currency note up against the light, if you have been trained well, and detect whether it is real or fake. Is there a similar test that can help catch and expose a counterfeit liberal? Yes,  there is. It is the ‘but’ test. A counterfeit liberal is one who will espouse a liberal principle but then, immediately, before putting a full stop on the sentence, add the word ‘but’. And there’s always a universe after that ‘but’.

For example, a faux-liberal will say, “I believe in free speech, but…” Or “I believe in free markets, but…” That ‘but’ invalidates all that comes before it. Anyone who says he believes in free speech “but…” is not a liberal but a hypocrite. (And he doesn’t believe in free speech, obviously.) I have a term for these kinds of people, who abound in the Indian intellectual space. I call them Kim Kardashian Liberals. Too much But.

The Gruesome and Excruciating Practice of Mummifying Your Own Body

This is an extraordinary practise. Forget the religious back-story behind this but what caught my attention son was the amazing dedication and perseverance these guys showed over years and years of diligent fasting and diet control. I find it so difficult to control my diet. Forget about mummification I just want to lose weight but it's difficult. And here people are dieting with an eye for immortality? Bloody hell.

Love

Baba

The Gruesome and Excruciating Practice of Mummifying Your Own Body
http://io9.com/the-gruesome-and-excruciating-practice-of-mummifying-yo-1515905564
(via Instapaper)

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way to preserve a person’s remains, whether to be worshipped or because they’re planning on using that body at a later date. But some people have gone to incredible lengths to prepare their own bodies for mummification while they were still alive.

Top image: Daijuku Bosatsu Shinnyokai-Shonin.

Why have people practiced self-mummification?

National Adjunct Walkout Day: Should We Feel Sorry for Adjuncts?

Having had taught in several universities in several countries, son, this is indeed an issue. Most professors don't like to teach. They prefer to research. The boring job of teaching is frequently pushed on to adjunct professors or doctoral or postdoctoral students. You yourself have been undergoing this phenomena.

Personally speaking I think academic staff need to do all three activities ideally, research teaching and administration. But what happens if that as usual specialisation happens. Some people do more in one area. And as economics will predict, their earnings will differ.

And yes people pile into doing a PhD without thinking through the implications. If you do a PhD from a good school and in a good area then you're good. But think about it. I'm embarking on a history PhD. If I'm lucky I'll get a job as a school teacher. Forget teaching in a university. Even on an adjunct basis. How many students want to study history eh? So sadly, this area is suffering. Finance. Mathematics. Economics computer science all top of the heap.

Anyway. We are but the choices we make son.

Love

Baba

National Adjunct Walkout Day: Should We Feel Sorry for Adjuncts?
http://bleedingheartlibertarians.com/2015/02/national-adjunct-walkout-day-should-we-feel-sorry-for-adjuncts/
(via Instapaper)

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Thesis: Adjuncts are victims of their own bad choices.

Caveat: Universities are run badly. Brown was run like the Russian government, and Georgetown is run like the Catholic Church. Universities suffer from a wide range of public choice-type problems. I mean it. I’ve even given public lectures (e.g., at a SUNY school last month) elaborating on the what and why of their persistent wrongdoing and mismanagement. Everything below is written with that in mind.

20 Greatest Cricket Sledges of All Time

Diya

Did I mention how much I love and adore your quipping, joking, punning and funning ability. It's just brilliant. Keeps me chuckling for hours on end. Here are some more teases and gentle insults for you to read.

As you grow older and start talking and communicating and discussing and debating and getting people to listen to you, jokes are very important. They get the audience comfortable. And more predisposed to you and your argument. And most importantly they like you. Laughter is a great emotion. Too bad it's not pushed much.

Oh and another thing. Having a quip or gentle tease ready at all times helps people give you respect as well. They can never take you for granted. People don't know how to handle people who can make them laugh. Strange behavioural trait that I've found out.

Anyway have fun reading these legendary sledges in cricketing history.

May your days be full of chuckles and laughs.

Love

Baba

20 Greatest Cricket Sledges of All Time: 20 Greatest Cricket Sledges
http://top20cricketsledges.blogspot.com/2009/08/20-greatest-cricket-sledges.html
(via Instapaper)

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It's been decided! After much research and drama, after a 2 week poll in which over 5000 cricket fans voted, we bring you the 20 GREATEST CRICKET SLEDGES OF ALL TIME!
Unsurprisingly there are alot of Australians in this list, and coincidentally Merv Hughes seems to keep popping up... Anyway, here are the 20 greatest cricket sledges of all time as decided by you:

20. Malcolm Marshall & David Boon.
Malcolm Marshall was bowling to David Boon, who was having a bit of trouble against the fast bowler and had played and missed a few times. Marshall : "Now David, are you going to get out or am I going to have to come round the wicket and kill you?".

19. Merv Hughes & Graham Gooch.
Merv Hughes was all over Gooch in one test and proceeded to say: "Would you like me to bowl a piano and see if you can play that".

Old Cairo: the Capital of Faith

I think I've mentioned this. From couple of years back, there are more people living in urban areas than in rural areas. So it's going to be interesting to see how they grow and develop. Middle Eastern cities have such a long history. Damascus is considered to be the oldest city going back 7k years. Read the book on Jerusalem by montefiori. Fascinating layers of history. Same with Cairo. It's a fairly young city comparatively. But it has several layers to it. It has the ancient Egyptian one. It has the Greco Roman layer. It has the fatimid Shia layer. It has the Sunni layer. It has the Jewish layer now sadly almost totally vanished. And then the Christian layer. Christianity spread out from Israel and took deep roots in Ethiopia and Egypt. They are some of the oldest churches in the world. And one that I haven't seen to my regret. But then again there's so much to see there. It's on my bucket list :)

Love

Baba

Old Cairo: the Capital of Faith
http://www.cairoscene.com/viewArticle.aspx?Aid=125076-Old-Cairo-the-Capital-of-Faith-ahmed-seddik
(via Instapaper )

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The genesis of Coptic Cairo is a story of life and light. The stars of the story appear in the Bible and in the Quran. Thanks to its exceptional location, you may explore the sophistication of every treasure at your leisure with pleasure beyond measure. There is an exuberant mix of mystic and domestic architecture in a hearty harmless harmonious fashion.

Once upon a tower, around the seat of power, in the fortress of Babylon, the Babylon of Egypt, a house worthy of worship was founded in the name of Virgin Mary. The Hanging Church of Virgin Mary, the most beautiful in Egypt, is still suspended in time and space on the remains of the southern gate of the Roman fortress. As people congregate at the gate that is ornate to promulgate the message, they read above the entrance: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. We ascend to the church through a flight of steps that led western pilgrims to call it the Church of the Steps. Before we climb, to the left we see a modern mesmerising mosaic relating the old story of the miracle of moving the Muqattam mountain.

Book Review: Into the unknown – The Logistics preparation of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

I'm interested in logistics. Very very important part of work and personal life. And this was sparked by a lifelong interest in military history where every good general has always talked about logistics and quartermasters as the key element of success. Here are some great quotes for you to ruminate over.

"Gentlemen, the officer who doesn't know his communications and supply as well as his tactics is totally useless."
- Gen. George S. Patton, USA
"Bitter experience in war has taught the maxim that the art of war is the art of the logistically feasible."
- ADM Hyman Rickover, USN
"Forget logistics, you lose."
- Lt. Gen. Fredrick Franks, USA, 7th Corps Commander, Desert Storm
"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics."
- Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC (Commandant of the Marine Corps) noted in 1980
"I am tempted to make a slightly exaggerated statement: that logistics is all of war-making, except shooting the guns, releasing the bombs, and firing the torpedoes."
- ADM Lynde D. McCormick, USN
"Because of my wartime experience, I am insistent on the point that logistics know-how must be maintained, that logistic is second to nothing in importance in warfare, that logistic training must be widespread and thorough..."
- VADM Robert B. Carney, USN
"Logistic considerations belong not only in the highest echelons of military planning during the process of preparation for war and for specific wartime operations, but may well become the controlling element with relation to timing and successful operation."
- VADM Oscar C. Badger, USN
"… in its relationship to strategy, logistics assumes the character of a dynamic force, without which the strategic conception is simply a paper plan."
- CDR C. Theo Vogelsang, USN
"Logistics is the stuff that if you don't have enough of, the war will not be won as soon as."
- General Nathaniel Green, Quartermaster, American Revolutionary Army
"Strategy and tactics provide the scheme for the conduct of military operations, logistics the means therefore."
- Lt. Col. George C. Thorpe, USMC
"Only a commander who understand logistics can push the military machine to the limits without risking total breakdown."
- Maj.Gen. Julian Thompson, Royal Marines
"There is nothing more common than to find considerations of supply affecting the strategic lines of a campaign and a war."
- Carl von Clausevitz
"In modern time it is a poorly qualified strategist or naval commander who is not equipped by training and experience to evaluate logistic factors or to superintend logistic operations."
- Duncan S. Ballantine, 1947
"The war has been variously termed a war of production and a war of machines. Whatever else it is, so far as the United States is concerned, it is a war of logistics."
- Fleet ADM Ernest J. King, in a 1946 report to the Secretary of the Navy
"A sound logistics plan is the foundation upon which a war operation should be based. If the necessary minimum of logistics support cannot be given to the combatant forces involved, the operation may fail, or at best be only partially successful."
- ADM Raymond A. Spruance
"The line between disorder and order lies in logistics…"
- Sun Tzu
"Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. In other words, you must win through superior logistics."
- Tom Peters - Rule #3: Leadership Is Confusing As Hell, Fast Company, March 2001
"Logistics sets the campaign's operational limits."
- Joint Pub 1: Joint Warfare of the Armed Forces of the United States
"Logistics comprises the means and arrangements which work out the plans of strategy and tactics. Strategy decides where to act; logistics brings the troops to this point."
- Jomini: Precis de l' Art de la Guerre. (1838)
"Behind every great leader there was an even greater logistician."
- M. Cox
"Logistics ... as vital to military success as daily food is to daily work."
- Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan, Armaments and Arbitration, 1912
"The essence of flexibility is in the mind of the commander; the substance of flexibility is in logistics."
- RADM Henry Eccles, U.S. Navy
"My logisticians are a humorless lot ... they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay."
- Alexander

I was reminded of this recently when I saw this youtube video.

the US Air Force is moving 9,000 gallons of Jet Fuel into a forward operating base. By the time one gallon has reached the ground in the forward operating base, each gallon is costing $25-35. Figures from here. Did you know, USA was paying Halliburton $45 for each six pack of coke made locally in the Middle East? And a quote: Moral of the story: war is very expensive, especially if you fight one foolishly without clear goals, overwhelming force, measurable results and an exit strategy.

But this book by Donald L Carr on how Lewis and Clark outfitted the expedition is fascinating from the perspective of people who want to win. Expeditions just like businesses depend upon getting the toilet paper and money and men into the right place at the right time in the right quantity. So it was fascinating to see how Jefferson, a hero of mine, drove and drove and drove this expedition to happen. How he managed to act like a sponsor and get the money (he lied through his teeth) and planned and planned and planned. Then the detailed logistics and further planning of it, the innovation, the use of local resources, the quick movements and adjustments. Brilliant idea, anybody who wants to be a good manager, a good change manager, they should read about logistics. Very important. Comes highly recommended. And best of all, this is a free book, you can download it here.