Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Orhan Pamuk on Trial

Yes, Turkey's greates novel writer, of Snow and My name is Red fame, Orhan Pamuk is on trial for slandering the modern republic. he had the balls to suggest that upto a million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds have been killed by Turkey since the fall of the Ottaman empire, and nobody talks about it. More here

Reminds me of how in Pakistan there is still no acknowledgement of the brutality with which our Army suppressed the local population in East Pakistan, i.e. Bangladesh.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Karachi Back on the map

I have just visited Lahore made a remark to many friends about the unbelievable air quality in Karachi. Most don't believe me, but knowing that y'all are hopelessly colonized, here is an Englishman's perspective, Andrew Miller dairy after Pakistan thrashed England by 165 run in Karachi.

"One of the first things you notice about Karachi, so long as you're not being hot-boxed in a rickshaw as the morning traffic crawls to a halt, is the improbable clarity of the air. Despite being home to 14 million intensely active inhabitants, there's none of the oppressive smog that lingers over Lahore like a caggy blanket. As the sea breezes work their magic and dissipate the city's exhaust fumes, it's possible too to see through some of the thick layers of misconception that abound about the place." More here

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Misquoting Jesus

I heard this on NPR's 'Fresh Air'. Mr Ehrman a leading theologian, although now he confesses to be an agnostic, explores how scribes -- through both omission and intention -- changed the Bible.

The most interesting segment is the revelations between the Book of Mark and the Book of Luke. Apparently in the former, as Jesus was being crucified he asked God, 'Why have you forsaken me?’ In Luke however, this was replaced by 'Father forgive them for they know not what they have done'. The Jesus that come sout from the Book of Mark is disposed to getting angry very quickly and is definitely a rebel, living out in the wild and hanging out with provocateurs (a 19th century word for terrorists). Last but not least the concept of the Holy Trinity (the father, the son and the holy ghost) did not exist in the Greek versions of the Bibles (which are the oldest), but was introduced by the Roman catholic church and was subsequently included in the English translation known as the King James Bible.

More here Misquoting Jesus

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Meditation alters brain structure

Scientists and the Dalai Lama have confered. Meditation enhances brain structure and slows brain detoriation. The study subjects have been Budhist monks.

I wonder if namaz, calligraphy, painiting and knitting have the same benfits.
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