Help Tsunami Victims

Indian sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik completes a sculpture in memory of the victims of the tsunami disaster in Puri some 100 Kms south of the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, Bhubaneshwar. (AFP/Str)

5000 year Old Animation

Iranian Archeologists have found a sequence of paintings on a 5000 year old goblet that is considered the oldest animation in the world. It was discovered in south-eastern Iran in the Sistan-Baluchestan region. For complete news item click here. To see the animation click here.

Tsunami

Just about a year after the devastating earthquake in Bam which claimed the life of more than thirty thousand people, another disaster hits poor nations of Asia. The manmade disaster of poverty is compounded by the misery of devastating tsunamis.

Tsunamis have claimed 70000+ lives and are costing billions of dollars. The war in Iraq has claimed at least 10000+ (some estimates puts it at 100000+) lives and is costing more than 150 billion dollars. It seems that Mother Nature is competing with US government in creating disastrous results.

Bush has pledged 35 million dollars so far for aid which is less than what he will spend on his inauguration ceremony. So much money and resources are spent on a war that is not only illegal, but is defeating its purpose of eliminating terrorism. It is creating more terrorists and is making the world less secure. What it would have been like, if we had all this resources directed towards education, health care, reducing poverty, etc? We would have certainly been living in a much safer world and also the aftermath of natural disasters would have been more manageable.

p.s . US has increased its pledge to 350 million dollars which is much better than their initial response. The main problem seems to be distributing the aid at this point. The weak infrastructure of these poor countries is simply wiped out. It is good that the military forces are finally put into good use for once and are used to help with the distribution of food and medicine.

Barcelona

I spent past few days in Barcelona. I had a really good time. It is a very vibrant and beautiful city, buzzing with life. Its busy streets are a stark contrast to where I live. But with all the excitements and activities going on, the pace of life is considerably slow. It seems people there have time for everything and perhaps they enjoy life more this way. They take long coffee breaks and extended lunches, they stop and chat for long times, and they create week-long weekends by “bridging” their mid-week holiday to the weekend! And almost everyone takes the whole month of August off practically shutting down everything.

Their character and culture is very close to us Iranians in some aspects, they are hospitable and warm, they enjoy talking, and their relax and somewhat lazy attitude toward work is almost at the same level. They are different in some aspects too. They seem much calmer. You rarely see angry outbursts or harassments (not considering the pickpockets!) in the streets the way you might see in Tehran. They drive much more calmly and orderly too, and they love dogs! They share their little apartments with their four legged friends and walk them in their narrow sidewalks where it has becomes even narrower by parked cars and motorcycles.

If you ever get to visit Barcelona, besides seeing all the historical monuments and amazing buildings, and Gaudi’s famous architectural marvels, experience the busy streets of Barcelona and see street performers in Ramblas too.

Save Leila from Execution

There is more publicity about this case in the British newpaper "The Independent" . I urge you to sign this petition to try to save her life.

56 years ago

Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948 :

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Torture

It seems like the torturers of Guantanamo and Abu-Ghreib have found something in common with their colleagues in Iran. They both use same techniques to extract bogus confessions and worthless information.

Bush has more in common with his axis of evil than he cares to admit, from state sanctioned killing, to torture, to assault on civil liberties with indefinite detentions without charge or trial or access to lawyer, to strong ties with religious conservatives and believe in having god on his side. Oh, and I almost forgot, he already has Nuclear weapons.

A simple, hard problem

Jim Lewis an inventor in New Jersey has come up with a version of the classic sliding block puzzle which looks simple but is hard to solve. He has used a computer program to come up with the most difficult configuration to solve with the fewest pieces and smallest frame. The objective of this puzzle is to move the large square block from one corner to the opposite corner by sliding the blocks around.

Death Penalty

US and Iran both have one thing in common. They both execute their citizens in great numbers. The Iranian justice system is flawed and it is a classic example of why capital punishment should be abolished. Many so-called offences carry death sentence in Iran, from political activities to prostitution. Just recently a 16 year old girl was executed for prostitution, and just a few days ago there was another report of a 19 year old girl sentenced to death for the same crime. Most convictions are based on confessions extracted under coercion so they are invalid, and many trials are held without a defense attorney present. Many of the executions are held in public to deter future crimes, but the rate of the same crimes such as prostitution and drug trafficking keep rising .

If you put the flaws in American justice system under a magnifying glass you see the Iranian version. They both show the same flaws with different degrees of severity. In US also, many of the death penalty convictions are based on confessions or eyewitness testimonies that are later determined to be invalid. In trials in the US, the attorneys are present, but the death penalty conviction correlates with the skills and competency of the attorneys, or the race or wealth of the defendant. And in US, there is no public hanging anymore, but like in Iran the deterrence factor is not working either, since the murder rates in US are much higher than other western societies that have abolished death penalty.

The only other argument that is used in favor of death penalty is that it is justice for the victim, and the society should make the murderers pay for their crime; but there are many ways to administer justice and make the murderers pay. If someone steals something or breaks someone’s nose, his punishment is not to steal from him or break his nose. The punishment for a heinous crime can be spending a lifetime in a prison cell without the possibility of ever getting out.

Death penalty is not a deterrent, it is applied with error, it is plagued with discrimination, it is irreversible, and there are alternative punishments that can deliver justice. It should be abolished from every society.