What about cool(ing) headscarves?

Turkish scientists develop cooling textiles.

Great idea. Unfortunately a little late to cool the temper of certain politicians and thus improve the quality of the election campaign in Turkey..

Imagine: Erdoĝan, Baykal et al. addressing their audience by wearing cool(ing) headscarves . . .

The Infidel and the Hottentots

Following an episode briefly described here, in the TV news one could see a man shouting in despair (quoting literally): "I beg Abdul Rashid Ghazi to let our children go. We shall follow any jihad against the infidel, but here Muslims are fighting against Muslims."

This reminds me of a Maghrebinian woman last year complaining about being discriminated although having a French passport: "Why do they do so? We are human beings, too. We are no Hottentots."

The Peace of the Night!

Human beings! What's inanimal?

Recently sitting together with my closest friends - a writer who, as told twice before, would not write for reasons I shall probably never understand - murmered: "Can't understand why Rushdie should be honoured with knighthood."
He got up, grasped the "Satanic Verses" from one of his shelves where the book stood side by side with the Bible and the Koran.
Noticing my brows producing a questionmark, he smilingly said: "My personal little comment."
And seriously he went on: "Unlike the majority of those who are burning flags, I did read it. Not very impressive. Certainly it would not have reached such a circulation without this enormous helpful sales campaign started in Iran."
"Hm, and why do you think, Rushdie will be given the knighthood?" I asked.
"Either a most influental advisor is owner of a big factory producing flags to supply the demand in certain countries, or they want to provoke those a little who have nothing better to do than proving an old Chines saying."
"What Chinese saying?" I asked.
"Those feeling insulted by someone else, confess to their intellectual inferiority."

When reading this article in the Turkish newspaper Zaman, I started to understand my friend who that evening had also recited Heinrich Heine: Where they burn books, they will end in burning human beings.
"While we are at it, guess in what context Heine wrote this."
"No idea."
"1821, in Almansor. It plays at the time of Inquisition in Spain, and the sentence is referring to the burning of the Koran. - You see, peace loving Christians can be as idiotic as Muslims.
"And I do start to have an uneasy sense of why you refuse to write."

Back to this guest-article. There is not much left to comment after what my closest friend somehow seems to have anticipated.
So I shall restrict to just two remarks according a certain diction.
The writer uses the word inhuman. Would he ever call something or someone inanimal?

I thought the writer believes in his God. Thus, I was surprised to read: "I believe Muslim peer Lord Ahmed's declaration is the voice of all Muslims around the word."

I do hope the poor man will not be prosecuted for his belief.

For the rest, reading what the other day I wrote about Subverting Language will do.

And tomorrow I think (sic) I shall write a little about stupidity and megalomania .

The Peace of the Night!

Your turn, Lysistrata

Oh dear. Reading this makes really difficult to tame one's fingers not to produce indecent words. So I should like to give over these huMAN judges to the Devil's Kitchen. He would find the right rants. Although I am not sure the letters of alphabet will do. Perhaps it's time to create some more.

But one decent wish should be allowed.
Waking up tomorrow, I should like to hear this breaking news:
"On behalf of and authorised by 28 million Iranian women Lysistrata delivers the very ultimatum!

The Peace of the Night.

P.S. Ah, resorting oneself either to wishful thinking and/or swearing; talking Billingsgate, railing, cursing and execrating: All this is fine from time to time, and - yes - it demonstrates, it can demonstrate solidarity; a kind of solidarity.
Unfortunately, though, it does not change anything. It does, f.e. not help these women.
And that is why sometimes I do ask myself, if what I am writing here and others there is not just a sign of helplessness, of defeatism, of ... loquacious cowardice.

As Heinrich Heine said:
Der Knecht singt gerne Freiheitslieder
des Abends in der Schenke.

The peasant loves singing rebel songs [songs of freedom]
in the pub at night.

Subverting language

"Subverting democracy". Attracting headline. What democracy? Democracy à la Egypt? Hm. Probably not. Not in Al Ahram.
And indeed.
Still, very interesting. It is mostly interesting to read "foreign" newspapers. Widening the horizon. Especially when you are a frog living in a font.

Well ... but this is not about frog-minded people.
Neither it is about the issue, Joseph Massad is writing about.

It is about language and intelligent people. Mr. Massad seems to be intelligent. Otherwise he would not teach at Columbia University; otherwise the idea could suggest itself Mr Massad is being sponsored by the country which he is attacking such vehemently.

Why do so many people who should be able to know better when talking about whatever conflict so often tend to subvert (sic) and deceive their readers, their listeners by telling only one part of the story (not to say truth).
A contribution to solve whatever conflict is not made with such rhetoric.

Ah, to cut it short:
Seems one is getting pretty close to the essential inherent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel, when hazarding to guess that - at least quite a few; and unfortunately too many - intellectuals are intelligent bipeds without brains.

The peace of the night! :)

A mess too late to fix?

There is another article in today's Turkish Daily News (TDN), which is interesting to read.

All facts mentioned seem correct; even the final sentence.

Now there do exist quite a few contradictory, often amusing aphorisms either about optimism/optimists and pessimism/pessimists.
As almost always, one could take the one fitting best to one's own convictions, one's own spirit, one's own mood.

After all, such behaviour seems part of the essentiell inherent interior essence hidden in the root of the kernel of everything.

So let a humble agnostic who deeply respects any form of belief as long as the believers do tolerate his conviction admit that he fears Gwynne Dyer's final sentence could prove true, but that he would rather prefer building a temple for an ISM.

And let's call it/her/him OPTIM. :-)

How amazing: Global Unease with Major World Powers

There are some interesting thoughts to be read in Sylvia Tiryaki's TDN-article about survey datas recently published by Washington based Pew Research Center.

But what is the news?

Rather seems to prove - like so often - as correct what can be found in Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" .

[...] If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications? [...] A news which I seriously think a ready wit might write a twelve months or twelve years beforehand with sufficient accuracy."

Lichtenberg knew before

Tonight, June 29th, 2007 second channel of German television, ZDF, presented following story:
"Der wahre Kolumbus" (The true Columbus).

Congratulations!

The so-called news is not as new, though.

It could, f.e., have already been read as a news August 7th, 2006.

News? Really?

Already Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799) knew:

"The first American who discovered Columbus, made a terrible discovery."

After all, he got it

The designated Ex-president of the United States of America, after all, has reportedly found some tiny nuclei of the ingredients, which but are significant parts and parcels of the essential inherent interior essence, in which -as generally known - is hidden the root of the kernel of everything.

Security is security is . . .

Just in case you do think of security when the word is mentioned.

Security is almost omnipresent, f.e. in Iraq where the people day by day more and more are enjoying the sweet fruits of enduring freedom, what may easily be seen in this tiny nutshell.

The murder is out!

Those having been reading "The Third Policeman" will not only know the name of the author (no link needed, therefore); being asked to recite the very last question they would, of course, be able to do so blindfold; moreover, they even could while lying in Morpheus' and respectively or somebody else's arms.
Thus, why repeating what everybody knows?
Those few blissfully ignorant are requested to immediately enter the nearest bookshop and order the master’s piece. After reading they may return and breathe the magically charming cantrip of stand hangstill - the sublime sublimeness of being part of Omnium.

End of the beforegoing.

And now to cut a long post short:
About seventy years after being asked, one of the last most brainteasing and riddling conundrums of all mysteriously puzzling enigmas in literature has been solved:
The ominous bicycle has been found.

A Director for Devil's Kitchen

By reading this article by ELİF ŞAFAK published a while ago* in TDN (Turkish Daily News) you will find the Turkish author quoting a Director of Cultural (sic!) Affairs:
"Honor killings apply only to those who run away without informing their families, who deceive their husbands, and not to the innocent."

As this humble blogger's maxime is not to insult any animals, genitals et al. by voicing his disgust - which admittedly proves to be extremely ardous to comply with, at times -, I do ask my readers to carefully study what this huMAN might be called in Devil's Kitchen. [Link may follow, hopefully soon.]

Well, as said, no swearing here, I swear.
But there is one thing I wish:
May this Director of Cultural Affairs lose all his teeth!
Well, may one remain.
For toothache - 59 minutes per hour.

The Peace of the Night!

Wicked WARshippers

What happened to Zakia Zaki and Shokiba Sanga Amaaj, unfortunately, must be taken as another evidence for the deep respect Afghan women are being paid by godlike huMAN beings,

Trying to find the essential inherent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything, one might be inspired to ask:

• Do those huMAN beings not trust in the one's ability to judge they pretend to worship?
• Do those huMAN beings fear the one's judgement could not meet their desires?
  

In other words:

• Do those huMAN beings not believe that "their" god is a bloody killer, and thus are playing god by grace of their own?

At this point my closest friend - a writer who would never write the following for reasons I might probably never understand - murmured: "At least, too many bloody gods on this planet."