Stupid?
So far into the season, the New Orleans Saints are 5-1 and the Houston Texans are 1-4. Perhaps you remember that the Texans passed over Reggie Bush and Vince Young as their first draft pick and went for Mario Williams. The Saints picked Bush. (Young is the rookie Q.B. for the Tennessee Titans) Not that there is necessarily a connection between the Texans' choice and their record. But it makes one wonder. If I am still blogging when the football season comes to an end, I will probably be reporting another dismal losing record for the terrible Texans. Not that I care ... and not that it matters at all.
The Color Code:
A few days ago Anna wrote the following in her comment on the topic of race and religion: " people identify Salma Hayek, of Lebanese extraction, as a "woman of color" (a silly term)..." I too consider the term silly. Today at a South Asian blog I came across a novel expression describing whites as "persons of pallor." Clever or silly? Not overtly abusive and an apt counter point to "persons of color." But will it catch on? And if so, do you think it will matter in the ongoing race debate that seems to capture the imagination of much of the world?
Jostling for the 300 millionth spot:
At 7:46am yesterday, someone became the 300 millionth American. But no one knows for sure who it was and I don't think it matters.
"Emanuel Plata in Queens, Zoë Emille Hudson in Manhattan, Kiyah Lanaé Boyd in Atlanta and any number of other newborns who just may be the 300 millionth American.
The babies were born at or about 7:46 a.m. Eastern time, when, the Census Bureau estimates, the nation’s population reached that milestone.
Theoretically, the 300 millionth American may have arrived at an airport from overseas at that hour, or been smuggled before dawn across an unguarded section of the Southwestern border. Still, hospital publicists and proud new parents were left to stake their claims to the title."
What really matters is what the future has in store for these babies, the immigrants and the world.
Chemists discover element 118 for the SECOND time:
After claims of its discovery were retracted in 2002, a new team of researchers says it has produced a few scant atoms of the heaviest element yet, called simply element 118 after the number of protons in its nucleus. ..Confirmation of the finding, however, will come only when other groups have reproduced it.
If confirmed, this one matters.
The veil and the vaccination:
Perhaps emboldened by Jack Straw's recent stand against the veil, Tony Blair has weighed in on the same issue. But given his shameful record of kowtowing to George Bush in matters of war, peace and dealings with the Islamic world, Blair's "too little, too late" attempt at bravery does not much matter.
Tony Blair yesterday said he backed a council which suspended a Muslim classroom assistant for refusing to remove her veil, as part of what he described as a difficult but necessary debate about how Islam integrates into British society and the modern world. The prime minister said the niqab worn by some Muslim women was "a mark of separation and that is why it makes other people from outside of the community feel uncomfortable" - words likely to anger some religious leaders.
Conspiracy theories don't just vilify and endanger one's enemies. Malicious schemes motivated by religious and communal animosity can boomerang and hurt also those whom the miscreants claim to shield from harm. This sad and disturbing development in India and some other parts of the world really matters.
"Poliomyelitis is an entirely preventable viral disease, which can cripple or kill those worst affected. Worldwide eradication attempts have been ongoing for decades now and the WHO have met with a great deal of success. From an estimated 350,000 global cases in 1988, 2005 saw only 1,998 cases. However, the majority of these were in India and Nigeria. Campaigns like the Pulse Polio programme have been immensely effective in educating and protecting the public.
In a country the size of India, the scale of the immunisation is superbly admirable, with the Indian government vaccinating millions of children in a short space of time. Things were looking up.
Yet this week has seen the news that 23 children have already died from polio this year, with 297 cases already reported. Last year only 66 cases were recorded nationwide. 270 of the new cases are in the frequently backward Uttar Pradesh - and about 70% are Muslim.
Health workers report that the cause is a rumour circulating that the vaccine is in fact a Western form of birth control designed to curtail the proliferation of Muslims. Similar beliefs were cited in Nigeria recently, with members of the public claiming that vaccines were poison from the West."
I am also very surprised and delighted with the Saints current record. Here's hoping we go to the playoffs.
Posted by: Amit Kulkarni | October 19, 2006 at 08:41 PM