To celebrate the eightieth birthday of one of television's most iconic presenters, UKTV launched My Favourite Attenborough Moment, in tribute to Sir David Attenborough.
See the video of the amazing lyrebird... - chosen in the UK as the no. 1 David Attenborough’s moment. 24% selected the little known lyrebird whilst the mountain gorillas received 17% of the vote, closely followed (15%) by fantastic footage of the rarely seen blue whale.
July 4, 2007
Cutting edge of a damp cloth
Salman Rushdie gets knighted and the debate and controversy has reignited!
Expectedly the Muslim right-wing is inflamed and raised a stir yet again...a Pakistani minister said the knighthood could spark attacks.. Iran condemned the award and raised a diplomatic protest with Britain....the British government stood by the award, a British MP found it 'gratuitously offensive' ...the literary world applauded... people debated and opined on the subject, others wondered why he was knighted, while still others thought it was undeserved (for example, noted journalist Craig Murray opined: "Rushdie's prose has all the cutting edge of a damp cloth") and some stooped to name-calling (Sir Salman Humbug.)
I agree that his novels since the fatwa have been damp squibs...without any of the sizzle and amazingly fun word-play of the earlier novels. I also agree with what Craig Murray writes later in the article: " If Salman Rushdie has an interest in life other than Salman Rushdie, it is not readily discernible."
Rushdie has indeed seemingly become too much about himself, his beautiful wife (they are divorcing it is now confirmed - though that has nothing to do with any of this), and has moved from being an author to a self-appointed guru on the geo-politics of the post 9-11 world. Trite, boring, unconvincing, and hardly entertaining.
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So is the newly knighted Salman Rushdie a “dangerous opportunist,” guilty of “elitism” and “insensitivity”? That’s what a few prominent writers said back in 1989.....writes Rachel Donadio in the New York Times, writing about ...
Also, all the hue and cry has been about Rushdie and we never heard of this lady, which the name suggests is also of Indian roots.
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Related: Queen's honor list for 2007 and A Guide to the Honours, which has been called "an absurd and undemocratic anachronism" and Rushdie's acceptance of the knighthood his derided as stirring "more pity than antipathy." The above link also refers to outrage expressed by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah a few years ago:
* he rejects, she accepts
Expectedly the Muslim right-wing is inflamed and raised a stir yet again...a Pakistani minister said the knighthood could spark attacks.. Iran condemned the award and raised a diplomatic protest with Britain....the British government stood by the award, a British MP found it 'gratuitously offensive' ...the literary world applauded... people debated and opined on the subject, others wondered why he was knighted, while still others thought it was undeserved (for example, noted journalist Craig Murray opined: "Rushdie's prose has all the cutting edge of a damp cloth") and some stooped to name-calling (Sir Salman Humbug.)
I agree that his novels since the fatwa have been damp squibs...without any of the sizzle and amazingly fun word-play of the earlier novels. I also agree with what Craig Murray writes later in the article: " If Salman Rushdie has an interest in life other than Salman Rushdie, it is not readily discernible."
Rushdie has indeed seemingly become too much about himself, his beautiful wife (they are divorcing it is now confirmed - though that has nothing to do with any of this), and has moved from being an author to a self-appointed guru on the geo-politics of the post 9-11 world. Trite, boring, unconvincing, and hardly entertaining.
---
So is the newly knighted Salman Rushdie a “dangerous opportunist,” guilty of “elitism” and “insensitivity”? That’s what a few prominent writers said back in 1989.....writes Rachel Donadio in the New York Times, writing about ...
...the strain evident in the British response (in 1989): disdain for an immigrant arriviste who is unapologetic about his ambitions and who criticizes the British government rather than, say, expressing gratitude, as if that were the essential role of the artist.---
Also, all the hue and cry has been about Rushdie and we never heard of this lady, which the name suggests is also of Indian roots.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, has been awarded the CBE.
The 38-year-old says she regarded the award as an invitation to keep fighting for civil liberties. A barrister, she worked as a Home Office lawyer for five years, giving her a unique insight into targeting the government where it hurts. Ms Chakrabarti, is a constant critic of what she describes as the government's constant erosion of personal freedoms.
More power to her! (We need the Shami Chakrabarti's of the world to be the inspiring leaders of this world...not the Rushdies... we need the real issues of the day to be leading the news, not Paris Hilton!)---
Related: Queen's honor list for 2007 and A Guide to the Honours, which has been called "an absurd and undemocratic anachronism" and Rushdie's acceptance of the knighthood his derided as stirring "more pity than antipathy." The above link also refers to outrage expressed by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah a few years ago:
'OBE me? Up yours! I get angry when I hear that word ‘empire’; it reminds me of thousands of years of brutality. Stick it, Mr Blair and Mrs Queen, stop going on about empire.’Nicely put. Others have also rejected these "honors" over the years (including an interesting rejection this year*) but no one has perhaps asked the Queen to stick it :)
* he rejects, she accepts
Joseph Corre, co-founder of lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, rejected his MBE because he said he finds Prime Minister Tony Blair "morally corrupt". The firm's co-founder Serena Rees, who is his wife, has accepted her MBE.
Happy 4th of July
Factoid for the day:
The Fourth of July is the nation's biggest beer-drinking holiday, ahead of Memorial Day, Labor Day and Super Bowl Sunday. - via
Drink on! Happy July 4th!
-
On a more serious note, check out the video/transcript for Keith Olbermann rant against the Bush administration on the eve of Independence day and the aftermath of the Bush pardon of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. All that Olbermann rants about daily makes a whole lot of sense actually... but who is listening and what are the consequences? Does anything change? Apparently not...
One of the reasons being that people seem to be more interested in what Paris Hilton has to say than what happens to the innocent kids sent off to die in Iraq or the problems in the health or education system....so, what can we say. (Per Michael Moore was bumped from a first-time-ever 1 hour on Larry King Live, where he was going to talk about his movie, Sicko, which deals with the issues that ail our health care system, because CNN decided to book Paris Hilton instead after her release from prison. CNN is free to book and talk to anyone they please but this reflects the priorities of the country's leading news channel, which in turn reflects where the ratings are!
In the face of such nonsense passing off as news, it is great to see MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski take a stance (youtube video).. more power to her! (Reading the wiki link, I just realized that Mika is the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the National Security Advisor under Jimmy Carter and instrumental in influencing many of the decisions taken in the late 70s that have had far-reaching repercussions today - vis-à-vis Afghanistan, Iran, etc.)
The Fourth of July is the nation's biggest beer-drinking holiday, ahead of Memorial Day, Labor Day and Super Bowl Sunday. - via
Drink on! Happy July 4th!
-
On a more serious note, check out the video/transcript for Keith Olbermann rant against the Bush administration on the eve of Independence day and the aftermath of the Bush pardon of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. All that Olbermann rants about daily makes a whole lot of sense actually... but who is listening and what are the consequences? Does anything change? Apparently not...
One of the reasons being that people seem to be more interested in what Paris Hilton has to say than what happens to the innocent kids sent off to die in Iraq or the problems in the health or education system....so, what can we say. (Per Michael Moore was bumped from a first-time-ever 1 hour on Larry King Live, where he was going to talk about his movie, Sicko, which deals with the issues that ail our health care system, because CNN decided to book Paris Hilton instead after her release from prison. CNN is free to book and talk to anyone they please but this reflects the priorities of the country's leading news channel, which in turn reflects where the ratings are!
In the face of such nonsense passing off as news, it is great to see MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski take a stance (youtube video).. more power to her! (Reading the wiki link, I just realized that Mika is the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the National Security Advisor under Jimmy Carter and instrumental in influencing many of the decisions taken in the late 70s that have had far-reaching repercussions today - vis-à-vis Afghanistan, Iran, etc.)
July 2, 2007
Science Roundup - 1
1. Why Dutch women don't get depressed
2. Family dynamics, not biology, behind higher IQ
3. New Zealand scientists breed cows that produce low-fat milk
4. Scientists find drug to banish bad memories
5. Jets of matter clocked at near-light speed
6. Scientists have taken a first step toward making synthetic life by transferring genetic material from one bacterium into another, transforming the second microbe into a copy of the first
7. 13th century text hides words of Archimedes -The pages of a medieval prayer text also contain words of ancient Greek engineer Archimedes. It takes high-tech imaging to read between the lines.
8. Anthropology unites humankind rather than dividing it Only by understanding our cultural differences can we hope to get along on this planet, says Luke Freeman
9. Crater could solve 1908 Tunguska Meteor Mystery
10. Archaeologists let looters do some of the work
11. Researchers find what may be the first gunshot victim in the Western Hemisphere.
12. The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged two of the largest known asteroids, revealing craters and other features that will soon be the targets of close-up observations by NASA's Dawn spacecraft.
CIA's Family Jewels
What a great headline... how could one resist clicking on this link to read more!
CIA releases the 'family jewels'
CIA releases the 'family jewels'
Fly ash brick
A better tomorrow - one brick at a time.
Research indicates it is environmentally friendly too since it uses fly ash, a waste product from coal-fired electric plants which people do not have too many good uses for. Today, it is mainly used as a supplementary cementing material (SCM) i.e. a replacement for Portland cement in concrete. Portland cement manufacture is one of the highest generators of CO2. Little wonder then that after "voracious coal consumption to meet their energy needs and increased cement production" China overtook the U.S. in emissions of CO2 by 8 percent in 2006.
--
Related Link:
Fly Ash Information Center in India, where fly ash is being used in making roller compacted concrete in the Ghatghar Dam Project.
Research indicates it is environmentally friendly too since it uses fly ash, a waste product from coal-fired electric plants which people do not have too many good uses for. Today, it is mainly used as a supplementary cementing material (SCM) i.e. a replacement for Portland cement in concrete. Portland cement manufacture is one of the highest generators of CO2. Little wonder then that after "voracious coal consumption to meet their energy needs and increased cement production" China overtook the U.S. in emissions of CO2 by 8 percent in 2006.
--
Related Link:
Fly Ash Information Center in India, where fly ash is being used in making roller compacted concrete in the Ghatghar Dam Project.
July 1, 2007
Random Links - 12
Five links via Mefi this weekend
And Five Other Links
- Brought to you by Virgin Comics - The Devi & The Sadhu - the story of one man's choice between his spiritual oath and his human instincts.(first issue) - via
- Brent Kovar got investors and employees to believe his invention was the next big thing, but nobody's ever seen it. Mister Kovar had also been appointed in 2003 to the Business Advisory Council of the National Republican Congressional Committee by then-Congressional Majority Leader Tom Delay. Apparently, a DC-9 they co-owned (painted to resemble aircraft from the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security) was busted in Mexico with 5.5 tons of cocaine on board. - via
- Dirk Dieter, an industrial and exhibit designer, paid $101,000 in 1999 for a 250-square-foot house built on a triangular lot at the end of a dead-end street in Pacifica. Built in 1954, the little house was probably a warming shed for local fishermen, but Dieter's modest yet dramatic renovation has transformed the house into a marvel of space-saving design, inspired him to formulate strategies and design furniture for streamlined living, and brought a recent appraisal of $375,000. Previously on MetaFilter: Tiny Footprints. - via
- World Clock SWF application showing the time of day expressed in actual time, the number of species passed into extinction, barrels of oil produced, the temperature of the earth, prison population, world population, and deaths by various causes. Because, y'know, you weren't depressed enough already. Site also offers a number of free games, calculators and applications for your own site. - via
- The Etch-A-Sketchist draws pictures on a travel etch-a-sketch. Examples: Street Fighter II, Chewbacca and Han Solo, Iwo Jima, Optimus Prime, & MegaMan. - via
And Five Other Links
- Had seen another version of this before too... absolutely mind-boggling that this is the lifestyle of teenagers in this country!
- Burj in Dubai...tallest building in the world....is almost ready.
- Super-woman: This woman can live without her two hands. This woman can catch crabs, drink wines and do other regular things like everyone else. Actually, she is one of the strongest person I have ever seen. Chinese program, but no need of translation.
- The authors of a new book, Hungry Planet, set out to see how families in 24 regions feed themselves each week. See this slideshow of what’s on dinner tables from 15 different homes around the world. (Its not a new book - I see there was a NPR feature story about this in Nov 2005)
- Beautiful & stunning pictures - Water figures. Also more liquid sculptures by Martin Waugh were posted in this earlier thread.
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