Would YOU slap HER?

Another one recently said...

...oh I am beginning to like this form of starting my posts and presenting issues. Yesterday's discussion was amazing.

So... someone recently said, "A little corporal punishment actually can go a long way to alleviating the necessity for bullying tactics. Threats mean nothing to a child."

Um, actually NO.

I'd say it depends where you draw the line between "a little" and "a bit much". There are as many criteria as many parents in the world.

In my opinion nothing can justify violence. And I put "a little" corporal punishment in this category too. Because it IS violence. And nothing justifies it. Nothing. It shows ineptitude on the parent's part, not any fault on the child's. And it could only develop a violent person in the future, if it becomes the norm.

Of course I may be saying all this because my daughter is less than 2 years old and the "period" of "No" has not come yet. =)
But I have never ever been subject to "a little" corporal punishment, and I dare say I have not become a spoiled brat yet. I intend to keep it that way with my own kids, too.

Even if you perceive it just as a test to my own patience and self-control.

This has nothing to do with "Oh, but our time is different from the old times, the old times were better". It is a question of principle. And principles do matter.

Negative approach always has a negative result. Period.

And yes, indeed... Threats are equally stupid as beating.

Thoughts?

Someone recently said "Buddhism is like Hinduism, but with the sexiness removed. And Sikhism is like Hinduism, but with the fun removed".

Well, thank you for the sexiness and fun!!!

I suppose the blood-thirst of this deity, Gadhimai, cannot be clenched with just fruits and flowers... Maybe she wants to beat the record of Tezcatlipoca?

Or maybe the problem is not with the goddess at all???

( A couple of articles )
( A poster )

I like stories with a moral. The allegorical ones - even more...

An allegorical story with a moral (which is not even that old) should be re-told. And re-told often enough to stick into our minds that appear to have such a short memory span.

Here is one such story, which, I am sure you many economist experts out there will go to tremendous lengths to prove wrong, and will probably want to show me how it does not in any way reflect the way the economy works, and how it does not tell us anything about how/when we will overcome the 'crisis'.


So a tourist arrives in a small town.

He leaves a deposit of 100$ at the hotel reception, and he goes upstairs to check the hotel rooms and choose one.

The hotel owner doesn't waste a minute. He runs to the butcher, and pays off his debt. The butcher immediately runs to the farmer who had earlier delivered some meat to him. In his turn, the farmer repays his debt to the car repairman. The car repairman goes to the local grocery and repays his debt for the products he bought in the morning. The grocer runs to the local call-girl and pays her for last night... The girl dashes to the hotel owner to pay what she owed him for using his rooms.

At that point, the tourist returns downstairs and says that he had not liked the rooms and he is taking his 100$ deposit back. The receptionist duly returns him the cash and the tourist leaves town.

No-one ever got any essential goods or services in the process, but the whole town now lives happily without any debts and looks with optimism into the future...

And don't you despair whenever someone predicts a 'W economy'. What we need is just one tourist to visit our small town. =)

(Cross-posed).

Kumi Naidoo

He might just possibly have become the most influential South African in the world - Kumi Naidoo. Who? Until last month he was the head of Civicus, an international civil society advocacy outfit, but he has just become the head honcho of Greenpeace, the worldwide environmental campaign to protect endangered species and ward off global warming.

More about him.

Video: Greenpeace video introducing Kumi Naidoo as its new International Executive Director:


"The science is clear. We have to change the politics. If we can't change the politics, then we have to put our energies into changing the politicians."

With its graphic footage of violence against animals, Earthlings is a very difficult DVD to watch, but the real difficulty lies in being forced to think about one's role in the horrors being depicted. And I do not know how anyone can watch it without feeling compelled to do something to stop the cruelty.

Written and directed by Shaun Monson, Earthlings takes a direct look at the myriad ways in which animals are used and abused as companion animals, as food, as clothing, as entertainment, and as scientific subjects... 2/3 of the footage is undercover videos, taking the viewer to places where video cameras would probably never be allowed, including a circus elephant training facility, where an elephant trainer explains to a new employee how to dig the hook into an elephant's flesh and twist it in order to teach the elephant to obey.

Most of the footage speaks for itself. Scenes showing factory farms, slaughterhouses, hunting, bullfights, puppy mills, and primates being used in head injury experiments will shock and educate those who might believe the more idyllic portrayals of how our society treats animals.

For those of us who are or have been part of the animal rights movement, watching Earthlings will reinforce your convictions and will show you things you have only read about. If you are not already an animal activist, this film might make you one...

Here is the entire footage on Google Videos.

Political science offers various explanations about the complex relationships and the conflicts around the world. According to some analysis the tensions between countries, or regions, or entire continents are mostly caused by economic inequality. According to others, the main reason are the religious and cultural differences. In this context, the analysis by Dominique Moisi in a book called "The Geopolitics of Emotion" is a challenging, interesting and unusual work. He sees the current conflicts and trends through the prism of three emotions - fear, humiliation, and hope. The founder of the French Institute of International Relations believes that the political dynamics of the modern world can be properly explained only if we understand human emotions. And they, just like cholesterol, can be both good or bad...what really matters is the balance between them.

His thesis is quite provocative. Most faculties of politology usually take it for granted that the serious analysis is always quantitative, based on statistics and devoid of cultural explanations or other irrational factors. But Moisi thinks that if we rely only on the quantitative political science, we will miss some key tendencies in the development of the world. Probably in the beginning, the reader will be both fascinated and disturbed by these arguments. How do we define the emotions of entire nations and even regions? And what particular emotions we should analyze so as to not indulge into cultural determinism?

( The 3 global emotions )

Cross-posted to talk_politics.

The moment a crocodile was killed after taking a foolish shortcut across a herd of hippos...



See more about how this unfortunate guy got pwned =/

Yes, as you can see, I am back from Moremi! The last month is something that I will never forget...I did a very large amount of work with the exploration team. We changed four camps in north Botswana, we made more than a dozen trips in the floodplains and the swamps and we browsed through an extensive area in pursuit of the elusive populace of the lappet-faced vulture. I encountered a big variety of wildlife and many interesting people and I saw sights and places that will forever remain in my memory. The mission of course is very far from over because this was only the first stage...mapping and charting the current territorial distribution of this bird and its populations across the floodplains of Okavango delta. This pinnacle of its particular branch of the food pyramid will hopefully open our eyes about the intricate structure of a considerably larger segment of the more complex ecosystem that is Okavango.

Now the river has subsided to its minimum in November but the first torrential rains started to arrive toward the end of my stay...and with them the mosquittos are coming back and later, hopefully, the floodwaters from the north. The life of the delta is really like a pulsating heart...and it is in many ways unique... Because while it is winter everywhere else around and the desert is making its inroads, full of dust and dry hot air, the floods from Angola are still fueling the delta...but in summer when it is very hot, the rain comes in thundering showers, and soaks the earth with invigorating splendour. It is really a very complicated ecosystem, and the most fascinating part is to watch the various populations of animals, both predatory and herbivorous, come and leave in groups or prides or in singles depending on their social structure... The place is entering the most nervous part of its annual cycle now, when there is very little water and most of the lakes are turning into dying puddles, where piles of stinking catfish are slowly suffering an agonysing death, while excited birds are flocking in to enjoy this bountiful feast...and springboks, wildebeest and buffalos are struggling to find pasture, and are eventually forced to leave the region in vast migrations of epic, even biblical proportions...meanwhile being chased by prides of big cats with big claws and teeth, and perfectly organised groups of spotted hyenas and wild dogs. The hippos are lying dormant, buried into the puddles of mud, praying for the first drops of rain to come as soon as possible, while the crocodiles are hiding in the reed, not moving and not eating for months, but always vigilant for a chance passing by. It is a time of anguish and death, extreme battles for survival and a temporary breakdown of the social structures of many species, and hiding the potential threat of a collapse of entire branches of the food pyramid. A real test to everyone, a moment when the fittest are to be seen and the weaker are to vanish into oblivion. But the rain is sure to come soon, and then the river will float again back into the vast plain, to bring back life to everything. And this has been for countless millennia.

This is the moment where I left the place, hoping to return some day soon, and find how it is going...hopefully to find it unchanged, but ever so fascinating and vibrant like it has always been. Seeing it with my own eyes and staying there long enough to sort of understand how it all works is what has really taught me what a fragile world we live in. And though it fills me with anxiety and worries for its future because of the coming rapid changes, the hope remains that we will find the inner strength in ourselves to make an effort and preserve it for its own sake. Because it deserves it.

Oh my! I am going to Botswana! For one month! With the whole family! Hooray!!! =)))

1. Fox News ignores the gay rights march in D.C., but finds an empty New Jersey sidewalk worthy of live coverage.

2. John Oliver realizes the radical gay agenda is more terrifying than anybody could have imagined.