BC's May 2011 Edition
May 1, 2011
Time has a way of leaving things behind. And there is no need to remind anyone that Time is remorselessly egalitarian: when it wants to leave something or someone behind, it does not look to title, ancestry, or even birth status he story of an exp Arab traveller roaming the desert looking for the true love. An exciting thriller full of emotions and full of suspens in a world empty.
D-Corner
The view from Arabia on political, social, economic, cultural and historic issues by Dr. Mohammad Talal Al-Rasheed
Is The End Nigh?
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01 Jan, 2012
Author: Dr. Mohammad T. Al-Rasheed
Happy New Year! So this is the year (according to the Mayan Calendar) that we should all perish. The world would come to an end, they tell us. As a Historian, I am a fan of the ancients and what they achieved. Given the non-technological world they lived in, they pretty well put us to shame with their Pyramids, Coliseum, mathematics, and indeed their 'philosophy,' which is still the base of our modern chatter. But when it comes to predictions, they are just as inept as anyone who followed.
I still cannot understand the unseemly fascination we 'moderns' have with Nostradamus. Every fan of his tells us, after the fact, that the sage predicted this given event. Well, to my empirical mind, that is like a newspaper telling me what happened yesterday. It is information, not prediction. I am still waiting for a Nossy fan to tell me that on this date, this hour, this minute, this second, Nossy predicted that this particular chicken will lay an egg. We all go watch and keep vigil and if the chicken does what Nossy predicted, then we might have a case. Otherwise, Nossy is just a phenomenon catering to our fears and fantasies and nothing more.
Then comes this fascination with the 'end-of-the-world' syndrome. We all know that everything in this universe is perishable. Just watch your tomato plant wither or go gaze up into the night sky and see how suns 'perish.' Worse, reflect for a moment when you put your mother in the grave. You are next, is the writing on the wall. So what! Logic says that every human being who dies, has met his eschatological catastrophe. Would it really mean much to the newly dead person whether the world continues after him or her? I doubt it. Would it make a difference to the deceased that he or she died alone and not with 7 billion others? You tell me.
Another common point amongst 'predictors' of future events is that they never tell you anything good. They never tell you that you will end up heading this corporation you are slaving for at the time being. They never tell you that you will win the lottery if you buy a ticket on a given 'auspicious' day --they might do it themselves if they really knew. And as if our present isn't bad enough, they overload us with the promise of more future misery. If they are telling the truth, I really am not interested to know just yet. Why? Because I would be suffering the occurrence twice: once when they tell me and I start to worry, second when it actually happens. Who needs that?
At the end of the day, these people prey on our fears and care little for our happiness. By nature we tend to listen to gloom and doom diction and disregard the happy talk. That is because we all fear death. Philosophers have said that freedom and happiness are only obtainable when human beings liberate themselves from the fear of death. A tall order by any standard, don't you think?
Here's my take on it: think of death as another room --not the one you are in now, but another whose presence is only visible by virtue of a locked door. That locked door will open the day you die. You know nothing about the interior of this room, so just think positive and hope it is not worse than this one. Once you are comfortable with this notion, then life and death will become like moving house, albeit alone this time.
My defunct philosophy might not be to the liking of many, but it should put you comfortably in your chair watching predictions of doom and gloom on television as you try to work out a way of getting through the post-holiday blues.
The real joys of life come from simple things. They come from drawing a clean healthy breath, contemplating the impeccable shape of an egg, listening to music that touches the depths of your soul after having wrenched the soul of its composer. And last but not least, watching your children grow from angels to monsters. With all of that on offer, who needs to be told of a Mayan Calendar that predicted our end millennia ago? I don't know about the music, but the whole deal boils down to this: we will not have an egg to contemplate and no chance to see the children turn into monsters. Is that so bad?
Source: www.arabianmagazines.com
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May 1, 2011
Have you ever heard the Latin phrase "acta est fabula"? The meaning is easy enough. Acta is, of course, act and fabula means finished. So the 'Act is finished' is the translation. It was more of a proverb until the highly gifted French author
Monthly
03 May, 2012
I should think valor, dignity, human audacity should make these people somewhat timorous of hanging in there when the cycle of time says: withdraw.
Source: Published by Bahrain Confidential Magazine
Number of comments: 0
Published Monthly
03 Apr, 2012
The most immediate power, however, that you meet every day, is your immediate superior, be they a teacher at school, a boss at work, or even a step-mother at home.
Source: Bahrain Confidential Magazine
Number of comments: 0
Monthly by Bahrain Confidential Magazine
07 Mar, 2012
If ever there was a hat in one's feather, or is it a feather in one's hat --one never knows dealing with French diplomacy-- this is it.
Source: Bahrain Confidentail Magazine
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February 2012 - Monthly
02 Feb, 2012
We know a lot about tyranny in this part of the world. We almost breathe it daily.
Source: Bahrain Confidentail Magazine
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