Accidental Blogger
A general interest blog
Category: Educational, Cultural & Social Matters
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My niece sent me the link to this interesting slide show featuring the now tiny and fast disappearing Armenian community of Kolkata (Calcutta), India. Minorities everywhere, when sufficiently removed from mainstream cultures but otherwise unmolested, especially when they are also dwindling fast in numbers, make colorful subjects for news reports and curious tourists. The Armenians…
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Urban Landscapes
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They live here.
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The gathering of people at Ground Zero, in New York City, the eleventh of September, 2011.
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Remembering those who died in the attack on the Twin Towers takes many forms.
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The Freedom Tower from different vantage points.
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Fire fighters love to have their pictures taken. Police are very shy in front of the lens of a citizen’s camera.
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I have no words to address the actions of Sergeant Bales who did the shooting of civilians in Afghanistan, nor the horrors, nor the bereavement of the families. I do have words for the officers who have direct authority and control over the enlisted men and the non-commissioned officers in their charge.
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Just what is the crime here? Dharun Ravi, 20, formerly of Rutgers University, NJ, was convicted on all 15 counts brought against him: invasion of privacy, bias intimidation,lying to investigators, trying to influence a witness and tampering with evidence. From the NYTimes article: "The case was a rare one in which almost none of the…
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Ellie Russo called me at 4 AM. Peter, her husband, just got a call from his brother, Rob. A nurse at his father’s hospice said his condition changed, suddenly, for the worse. Tony Russo’s death was near. She asked if I would drive Pete to be with his father.
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What I have found so bothersome, and troubling, is the number of people in positions of power (corporate, military, politics, varied institutions) who cannot imagine that there own knowledge of the world is deficient. The two most obvious examples that come to mind are George W. Bush, and Sarah Palin.
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The Taj Mahal and the gardens around it now: and below, before the 1900-1908 renovations by Lord Curzon: This comparison was prompted by Ruchira's email mentioning a recent book published on the gardens of the Raj: "The book claims…
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Bob Glaser was among many psychologists who cautioned the public and educators about the limitations of testing. “In a report that called test results “fallible and partial indicators of academic achievement,” the panel [headed by Glaser] warned educators to avoid letting them become “the major goals of schooling.””
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Valentine's Day, an alien and mostly unobserved event just a decade ago, is now big in India.
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Not even Islam or for that matter, any other major Indian religions which "officially" do not subscribe to social stratification by virtue of one's birth. Therefore it is not unusual to hear of "Brahmin" Christians, "Kshatriya "Sikhs and "Rajput" Muslims of high birth.The effects of the Hindu caste system go beyond the grotesque practices of…
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