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Sam Harris responds

Sat, 24 May 2008 19:49:00 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.irshadmanji.com

It appears that my Buddhist Muslim (Bu-Mu) friend, Shahid, has hit a raw nerve.

In my previous post, I featured the Bu-Mu’s advice to “hard core atheists.”

Not so fast, says Sam Harris.

Today, Sam sent me this spirited response.

Irshad:

It is obvious that this person has not actually read my work. The entire last chapter of The End of Faith is devoted to deconstructing the “self” and to the benefits of meditation.

I have frequently spoken and written about these subjects (to the consternation of many atheists). For example, read this. I have even organized several vipassana retreats for scientists.

I would especially turn your friend’s attention to the remarks I made at the largest gathering of atheists in the country. The talk is available on YouTube, entitled “The Problem with Atheism.” The last ten minutes or so are devoted to meditation. Here’s the transcript.

Tags: atheism, islam, buddhism

Did Cyclone Nargis Kill 300,000 People?

Sat, 24 May 2008 19:17:03 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

Three weeks after Cyclone Nargis crashed through Burma’s populous Irrawaddy Delta, the country’s military regime has been more forthcoming about the number of buffaloes and chickens that perished than on human casualties.

For now, the official human toll in Burma, or Myanmar, stands at 77,738 deaths and 55,917 missing. This figure was revealed in a small story that appeared at the bottom of page six in the May 17 edition of the ‘New Light of Myanmar,’ a mouthpiece of the regime.

That figure was almost double of what the notoriously secretive junta had revealed nearly 10 days after the powerful cyclone struck in the early hours of May 3. Since the country’s worst natural disaster in living memory, the official figures of dead and missing people have been revised at least four times.

Some international humanitarian agencies have estimated the death toll to be over 130,000.

Tags: burma, cyclone

Lack of Food Is a "Persistent Myth"

Sat, 24 May 2008 19:15:38 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Well, I hope he's right

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

The current food crisis has revived the myth that the world doesn't produce enough food for its six billion people, according to Michel Pimbert, author of a new study that highlights local production as a potential solution.

It is a "manufactured crisis" that is the outcome of a market-driven, global food system, says Pimbert, director of the agriculture and biodiversity programme at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

That system needs to evolve towards localised food production that allows people to improve nutrition, income and economies, starting at the household level and through the regional level, he says.

Pimbert outlines his ideas in a web-based publication, "Towards Food Sovereignty", which includes linked video and audio files of testimonies from farmers, indigenous peoples and consumers. The first three chapters are available on IIED's website (www.iied.org).

Pimbert is not alone in calling for a major shift in agriculture

Tags: food, agriculture

College application is destroying lives

Sat, 24 May 2008 19:12:56 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

For Ambitious Teens, 11th Grade
Becomes a Marathon of Tests,
Stress and Sleepless Nights

Jennifer Glickman, a 17-year-old high school junior, gets so stressed some days from overwork and lack of sleep that she feels sick to her stomach and gets painful headaches.

A straight-A student, she recently announced at a college preparatory meeting with her mother and guidance counselor that she doesn't want to apply to Princeton and the other Ivy League schools that her counselor thinks she could get into.

Almost two-thirds of middle- and upper-middle-income high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area told researchers that they were "often or always" stressed by schoolwork, according to a series of surveys of 2,700 students conducted last year by Stanford University researchers.

Tags: stress, college, united states

A Superhighway to Bliss

Sat, 24 May 2008 19:09:43 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: By now, you got to know who Jill Bolte Taylor is.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

JILL BOLTE TAYLOR was a neuroscientist working at Harvard’s brain research center when she experienced nirvana.

But she did it by having a stroke.

To her it is not faith, but science. She brings a deep personal understanding to something she long studied: that the two lobes of the brain have very different personalities. Generally, the left brain gives us context, ego, time, logic. The right brain gives us creativity and empathy. For most English-speakers, the left brain, which processes language, is dominant. Dr. Taylor’s insight is that it doesn’t have to be so.

Her message, that people can choose to live a more peaceful, spiritual life by sidestepping their left brain, has resonated widely.

But many reaching out are spiritual seekers, particularly Buddhists and meditation practitioners, who say her experience confirms their belief that there is an attainable state of joy.

Tags: brain

Internet to run out of addresses 'within 3 years'

Sat, 24 May 2008 19:04:47 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Upgrade? Yeah right!

Clip Source: technology.newscientist.com

IF YOU thought it was hard finding the email address that some other john.smith hasn't already bagged, that's nothing compared with the difficulty you'll have getting an internet connection for your computer after 2011.

As of this month 85 per cent of the 4.3 billion available Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which identify devices connected to the net, are already in use. Within three years they will all be used up, according to a report by the OECD. "The situation is critical for the future of the internet economy," it says.

The report urges governments and businesses to upgrade from the current version, IPv4, to IPv6, which effectively has an unlimited number of IP addresses. IPv6 has been available for more than a decade but service providers have been slow to adopt it.

Tags: internet, ip

The croc: a really smart, ancient creature

Sat, 24 May 2008 17:45:47 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.news.com.au

THERE'S no need to be scared of sharks when you're in the Northern Territory - the crocs usually get to them first.

Paul van Bruggen snapped these amazing pictures of a 2.5m saltie dining out on a shark on the banks of the Daly River, The Northern Territory News reports.

"We went past one section of the river and we heard some splashing,'' he said.

"We looked across and saw a shark's tail coming up out of the water and then a crocodile's head came up and grabbed it.''

Mr van Bruggen said the crocodile knew exactly what it was doing, dragging the shark on to unfamiliar dry land before finishing off its prey.

"How smart is the crocodile? It if was you or me it would be dragging you in to drown you, but it takes the shark up on dry land,'' he said.

The fisherman, who was on the Daly River last Friday for the Barra Classic, said the crocodile definitely wanted shark for dinner.

"We were about 15 metres away and it didn't bat an eyelid,'' he said.

Tags: sea, fish

Top Pakistani band to rock for peace in Kashmir

Sat, 24 May 2008 17:40:47 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Strife-torn Indian Kashmir is set to rock to the beat of music, not bombs, this weekend as the renowned Pakistani band Junoon performs for the region's biggest musical event in nearly two decades in a bid for peace.

unoon, arguably one of South Asia's hottest rock bands, will play on Sunday on the banks of Lake Dal with towering snow-capped Himalayan peaks and ancient Sufi shrines as its backdrop.

"It is a concert for peace in the region," Prasad Rao, whose non-governmental South Asia Foundation (SAF) is organizing the event, told Reuters.

"We are expecting 5,000 to 10,000 people and this is going to be a mega-event," he said, adding that President Pratibha Patil, scheduled to start a three-day tour to Kashmir on Friday, is expected to attend.

Singer Salman Ahmed said performing in Srinagar has always been one of the band's goals.

Tags: pakistan, music, kashmir, india

'Wii Fit' is loads of fun, but don't give up gym membership

Sat, 24 May 2008 17:36:33 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

With Wii Fit for the Wii video game console, Nintendo hopes to get you off the couch and into games that are all about exercise and fitness. But, this isn't like some boring aerobics class where you can't wait to be done. You exercise by doing fun things like Hula-Hooping or ski-jumping.

Wii Fit is a combination of a special balance board controller and software. The core component is the balance board. This rectangular wireless device sits on the floor and looks like an outsized bathroom scale. When you stand on the Wii board, it can measure your weight, as well as determine slight shifts in balance as you lean forward, back and from side-to-side. Nintendo includes more than 40 minigames that use the board's measurement capabilities in the software.

Wii Fit delivers on its slogan "Fitness Made Fun," and it will get both kids and adults exercising. It will tone muscles, improve balance, burn calories, and yes, make you sweat.

Tags: wii, exercise, games

Saudi Arabia contributes $500M to U.N. food fund

Sat, 24 May 2008 17:32:02 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Good News

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Saudi Arabia has made an unprecedented contribution of $500 million to the U.N. World Food Program to respond to rising food and fuel prices that threatened emergency aid to millions of needy people, the United Nations announced Friday.

The contribution was by far the largest response to the U.N. food agency's emergency appeal for $755 million to cover its increased costs.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "warmly welcomes the offer of the landmark contribution" from Saudi Arabia, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. "The secretary-general notes that this contribution of an unprecedented size and generosity comes not a moment too soon, given the needs of millions of people dependent on food rations."

The Saudi contribution means the agency, which operates the world's largest humanitarian program, will now have the $755 million it needs to carry on its activities without cutting the amount of food given to the world's needy, Okabe said.

Tags: saudi arabia, united nations, food