Showing posts with label international. Show all posts
Showing posts with label international. Show all posts
Tuesday 2 September 2014
भारतका प्रधानमन्त्री नरेन्द्र मोदी टेलिभिजन लाई अन्तवार्ता दिदादिँदै स्टुडियोबाटै यसरी भागे - भिडियो सहित
भारतका प्रधानमन्त्री नरेन्द्र मोदी टेलिभिजन लाई अन्तवार्ता दिदादिँदै स्टुडियोबाटै यसरी भागे - भिडियो सहित
Sunday 31 August 2014
अमेरिकाले स्लामिक स्टेटका जिहादीका विरुद्धमा शनिबार अबेरदेखि हवाई हमला सुरु
वासिङ्टन: अमेरिकाले इस्लामिक स्टेटका जिहादीका विरुद्धमा शनिबार अबेरदेखि पुनः हवाई हमला सुरु गरेको छ । सो अतिवादी समूहविरुद्ध अमेरिकी युद्धक विमानहरुले आक्रमण थालेका बताइएको छ । अमेरिकी प्रतिरक्षा मन्त्रालयले त्यहाँ अप्ठेरोमा परेका नागरिकलाई सहायता उपलब्ध गराउन तथा अतिवादीहरुलाई निस्तेज पार्न सो कारबाही गरिएको बताएको छ ।अमेरिकी विदेशमन्त्री जोन केरीले शनिबारमात्र सिरिया तथा इरा
कको उत्तरी भागमा जातिहत्याको विरुद्ध लड्न मुलुकहरूको एक गठबन्धन बनाउन आह्वान गर्नुभएको थियो । सो आक्रमणका साथै सर्वसाधारणलाई आपतकालीन सहायता पनि उपलब्ध गराइएको अमेरिकाले जनाएको छ ।इराकको अमिरली सहरमा अमेरिकी विमानहरुले सहायता पनि उपलब्ध गराइरहेका छन् । सो सहरमा विगत करिब दुई महिनादेखि खाद्यान्नको अभाव रहेको छ । उक्त सहरमा जाने खाद्यान्नको आपूर्तिलाई उनीहरुले कटौती गरेका छन् । त्यस क्षेत्रबाट उनीहरुलाई निस्तेज पार्न सो आक्रमण आवश्यक रहेको अधिकारीहरुले जनाएका छन् ।
पेन्टागनका प्रेस सचिव जोन कर्बीले हालैका दिनमा आइएसले ती सहरहरुमा आक्रमणलाई जारी राखेका तथा उनीहरुले खाद्यान्नको आपूर्तीका साथै अन्य अत्यावश्यक वस्तुमा पनि रोक लगाएका छन् । अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति बाराक ओबामाले आफूले आईएसलाई पराजित गर्न एकीकृत योजना तयार गरिरहेको जानकारी हालैको एक सार्वजनिक मन्तव्यमा दिनुभएको थियो ।
आइएसले इराक तथा सिरियाको ठूलो भागमा आफ्नो नियन्त्रण कायम गरी त्यसलाई खलिफातको घोषणा गरेको छ र यस क्षेत्रमा अनेकौँ आक्रामक र अतिवादी क्रियाकलापलाई जारी राखेको छ । राष्ट्रपति ओबामाले सेप्टेम्बर महिनामा अमेरिकी सुरक्षा परिषद्को शिखर बैठकको समयमा आईएसलाई नियन्त्रण गर्न एक योजना प्रस्तुत गर्न लाग्नुभएको जानकारी विदेश मन्त्री जोन केरीले दिएका छन् ।
विदेशी आतङ्कवादी लडाकूहरूले हालैका दिनमा इराकमा उत्पन्न गरेको खतराको उल्लेख गर्दै यस विषयमा व्यापक गठबन्धन तयार गनुपर्ने आवश्यकता रहेको बारेमा अमेरिकाले कार्ययोजना बनाएको अधिकारीहरुको भनाई छ ।
जातिहत्याको योजनाविरुद्ध सङ्घर्ष गर्न विश्वव्यापी साझेदारी आवश्यक पर्ने र त्यसमा मानवीय, आर्थिक, कानुन कार्यान्वयन तथा सैनिकलाई गुप्तचरको सहयोग आवश्यक परेको भन्दै यी सबै कार्यलाई एकीकृत रुपमा अघि सारिने तयारी अमेरिकाले गरिरहेको अधिकारीहरुको भनाई छ । - रासस
९५ लाखको ताजसहित म्यानमारकी सुन्दरी फरार घटनाले सबैलाई चकित
आफूले जितेको ताज लिएर एक सुन्दरी गायब भएको खबर सुन्दा अचम्म नलाग्ने त कुरै छैन । १८ वर्षीया मे मायट नोईले गत मे महिनामा सोलमा आयोजित मिस एसिया प्यासिफिक – २०१४ को उपाधि जितेकी थिइन् ।घटना वास्तवमा यस्तो छ । म्यान्मारकी यी पहिलो अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सुन्दरी मायटमाथि आयोजकहरुलाई धोका दिएको र खराब व्यवहार गरेको आरोप लागेको थियो जसका कारण उनीबाट मिस एसिया प्यासिफिकको उपाधि खोसिएको छ । उपाधि त खोसियो तर उनी एक लाख अमे
रिकी डलर (करिब ९५ लाख नेपाली रुपैयाँ) पर्ने ताज लिएर फरार भएकी छिन् ।आयोजकका मिडिया निर्देशक डेभिड किम भन्छन्, ‘नोईको व्यक्तित्व देखेर हामीले उनलाई अझ राम्री बनाउन चाहेका थियौँ । हामीले उनको ‘बे्रस्ट सर्जरी’ पनि गराएका थियौँ र यात्राको अतिरित्त खर्च व्यवहोरेका थियौँ ।’
किमका अनुसार सुन्दरी आफ्नो देशमा भागिन् र उनले आफ्नो मोबाइल फोन पनि स्विच अफ गरेकी छिन् । समस्या त्यति बेलादेखि उत्पन्न भयो जब नोई आफ्नी आमासँग सोल गएकी थिइन् । हुन त यात्रा केवल १० दिनको थियो तर दुबैले त्यहाँ तीन महिनाको समय बिताए जसका कारण यात्राको खर्च उठाइरहेको आयोजकमाथि निकै आर्थिक दबाब परेको थियो । त्यतिबेला नै नोईमाथि उपाधि खोसिने चेतावनी दिइएको थियो ।
ब्यूटी क्विनको क्राउन लिएर भागेपछि प्रतियोगिताको वेभसाइटबाट अब उनको नाम हटाइएको छ । सुन्दरीले ९५ लाखको ताज लिएर भागेको यो घटनाले सबैलाई चकित तुल्याएको छ । (एजेन्सी)
Saturday 30 August 2014
Obama orders airstrike against the ISIS
The US president Barack Obama has ordered airstrike against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a fundamentalist terrorist group, in an effort to protect dozens of Americans and tens of thousands of frightened religious minorities from the threat of imminent slaughter.थाइल्याण्डकी राजकुमारी श्रीरास्मीको नग्न भिडियो सार्वजनिक
जेठ ११, बैङ्कक – थाइल्याण्डमा सैनिकले ‘कू’ मार्फत् सत्ता आफ्नो हातमा लिइरहेको बेला त्यहाँ रहेका राजकुमार र राजकुमारीको विवादास्पद भिडियो सार्वजनिक भएको छ । राजधानी बैङ्ककमा रहेको शाही दरबारमा भएको एक पार्टीको दौरान खिचिएको उक्त भिडियोमा राजकुमारी श्रीरास्मीलाई अधंनग्न देखाइएको छ । उनले कम्मर मूनि मात्र भित्री वस्त्र लगाएका छन् । भिडियोमा राजकुमार मह पनि सँगै रहेका छन् । भिडियोको सुरुवातमा राजकुमारी र राजकुमार कुर्सीमा बसेर खाइरहेको देखाइएको छ । त्यसपछि राजकुमारी, जो पूर्व वेटरेस् पनि हुन्, उनी उठेर आफ्नो कुकुरलाई खाना खुवाउँछिन् ।
एउटा दृश्यमा राजकुमारीले कुकुरको खाना खाने भाँडोबाट खाना खाने प्रयास समेत गर्छिन् । त्यसपछि सबैले उक्त कुकुरलाई जन्म दिनको शुभकामना दिएको देखाइएको छ । यस भिडियो सार्वजनिक भएपछि राजकुमार मह राजा भूमिबोल अदुल्यादेजको उत्तराधिकारी बन्न कति सक्षम भन्ने कुरामा बहस शुरु भएको छ । ८६ वर्षिइ राजा केही समयदेखि बिरामी रहेका छन् र सैनिक शासन लागु भएपछि उनलाई सार्वजनिक रुपमा देखिएको छैन ।
Friday 29 August 2014
Pregnant Pakistani woman stoned to death
In an apparent 'honour killing', a 25-year-old pregnant woman was brutally beaten and stoned to death on Tuesday outside the high court here by her father and brothers for marrying the man of her choice.Police said Farzana Parveen, resident of Faisalabad, had married Mohammad Iqbal of Jaranwala a few months ago against the wishes of her family.
The incident happened as the couple reached the court premises to record Farzana’s statement to defend her husband against allegations by her family that he kidnapped her and forced her to marry him.
Initially, the family members fired shots in the air and tried to snatch her from Iqbal.
After failing in their attempt, nearly 20 members of her family, including her father and brothers, attacked the couple with sticks and bricks before a crowd of onlookers in front of the high court of Lahore, said police official Naseem Butt.
Farzana, who was three-months pregnant, died while her husband managed to escape.
Police arrested Farzana’s father but her brothers fled from the scene, News International reported.
Police on information reaching the spot sent the body for autopsy and registered a case on complaint of the victim’s husband.
Around 900 women were killed in Pakistan last by their families in honour killings, according to human rights commission of Pakistan, a private organization.
Thursday 28 August 2014
लडाकुले सिरियामा 'ठूलो संख्यामा सरकारी सेनाको हत्या' गरेको खुलासा
सिरियामा इस्लामिक स्टेट (आइएस)का लडाकुहरुले ठूलो संख्यामा सिरियाली सेनाको हत्या गरेको एक मानव अधिकारवादी संगठनले जनाएको छ । ‘सिरियन अब्जरभेटरी फर ह्युमन राइटस्’ले आइएसले हामा प्रान्तको ताब्का एअर बेसमा धावा बोल्दा भाग्न खोज्ने सिरियाली सेनालाई पक्राउ गरी हत्या गरेको जनाएको हो ।यसरी हत्या गरिएकाहरुको संख्या २ सय भन्दामाथि रहेको उक्त संस्थाको दाबी छ । हिजो मात्र आइएसले पोस्ट गरेको अनलाइन फोटो र भिडियोमा निर्वस्त्र सयभन्दा बढी मानिसलाई मार्नुअघि मरुभूमिमा लामबद्ध गरेर हिडाइएको देखाइएको थियो ।
सिरियन अब्जरभेटरीका अनुसार १४ सय सेना रहेको उक्त एअर वेसबाट ७ सय सेना भने भाग्न सफल भएका थिए । संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघका अनुसन्धानकर्ताहरुले आइएस लडाकुले अझै अत्याचार गर्न कठोर बनेको र बालबालिकालाई लडाकुका रुपमा भर्ना गरेको जनाएका छन् ।
सिरियाली सेनाले पनि लडाकु विरुद्धको संघर्षको नाममा सर्वसाधरणमाथि अत्याचार गरेको बताइएको छ । सिरियामा पछिल्लो पाँच दिनयता भएको संघर्षमा १ सय ७० सरकारी सेना र ३ सय ४६ आइएस लडाकु मारिएका छन् । (एजेन्सी)
Friday 24 January 2014
राहुल गान्धी ‘नेपाली ज्वाइँ’ बन्दै
काठमाडौ, ६ माघ। भारतीय कांग्रेस पार्टीका महासचिव राहुल गान्धी ४२ वर्षका भए तर उनी अविवाहित नै छन् । भारतमा गान्धी परिवारका राजकुमार भनेर समेत पुकारिने राहुलले विवाह गर्ने बारे स्थानीय भारतीय मिडियाले चर्चा गरेका छन् । उनीहरुका अनुसार गान्धीको बिवाह कुनै भारतीय घराना, पूर्वराजपरिवार या व्यापारी उद्योगपतीसँग नभएर सञ्चारकर्मीसँग हुन लागेको हो।
बताइएअनुसार राहुल गान्धीले लगन गाँठो बाध्ने चर्चा चलिरहेकी ति सञ्चारकर्मी दिल्लीस्थित सिएनएनमा कार्यक्रम निर्माताको रुपमा कार्यरत छिन्। त्योभन्दा पनि महत्वपूर्ण कुराचाहि गान्धीले बिबाह गर्न लागेकी ति यूवती नेपाली मुलकी रहेकी छन्। नेपालको नेवार परिवारकी ति यूवतीसँग राहुलको यसैबर्ष बिबाह हुनसक्ने दावी गरिएको छ। यद्यपी बिबाहबारे गान्धी परिवारका तर्फबाट कुनै जानकारी सार्वजनिक गरिएको छैन। समाचारमा जनाइएअनुसार राहुलका हुनेवाला ससुरा संयुक्त राष्ट्र सँघका पूर्वजागिरे हुन।
सन् १९७० मा जन्मिएका ४२ बर्षिय राहुलका पिता राजीव गान्धीले इटालिकी नागरिक सोनिया गान्धीसँग बिबाह गरेका थिए। उनकी बहिनी प्रियङका गान्धीको रोवर्ट वाड्रासँग बिबाह भइसकेको छ।
उपध्यक्षमा नियुक्त
भारतमा कांग्रेसले युवा नेता राहुल गान्धीलाई उपाध्यक्ष समेत बनाएको छ । उनी लोकसभा चुनावका लागि गठित समन्वय समितिका प्रमुख छन् । उनलाई भारतको नयाँ प्रधानमन्त्रीका रुपमा समेत हेरिन्छ । जयपुरमा २ दिनदेखि जारी कांग्रेसको चिन्तन शिविरले राहुललाई उपाध्यक्षको जिम्मेबारी दिने निर्णय गरेको भारतीय समाचार एजेन्सीहरुले जनाएका छन् । आगामी लोकसभमा निर्वाचन, संगठनको एकता, अन्तराष्ट्रिय सम्वन्ध लगायतबारे कांग्रेसले आइतबार जयपुर घोषणा पत्र जारी गर्ने बताइएको छ ।
Thursday 21 November 2013
NC President Koirala wishes UCPN (Maoist) would correct its decision
President of Nepali Congress, Sushil Koirala, has said a character that could not accept the people’s voting right could not be a democratic force.
Speaking at a press conference organized at his own residence here today, NC President Koirala said, “Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Prachandaji’s statement against the people’s voting rights and to boycott the vote count was utterly undemocratic and stressed on the need of accepting the victory or defeat with patience.”
Koirala said participants of the election should not have arrogance that they should win at any cost, adding that the politics against the ideals, norms, and values do no good to the people and the country.
NC leader Koirala said,” Prachandaji needs to have patience. Such attitude of a political leader like Prachanda would make himself weaker and make his party unpopular.”
Koirala said his party is ready to accept the people’s mandate whether or not it would win, and added, “I hope that the UCPN (Maoist) would correct the decision and would not undermine the people’s mandate.”
Koirala said the constitution would be made by forging consensus and collaboration among the political parties whether they are big or small. NC wishes to draft the constitution by forging consensus among the parties, he added.
Speaking at a press conference organized at his own residence here today, NC President Koirala said, “Unified CPN (Maoist) chairman Prachandaji’s statement against the people’s voting rights and to boycott the vote count was utterly undemocratic and stressed on the need of accepting the victory or defeat with patience.”
Koirala said participants of the election should not have arrogance that they should win at any cost, adding that the politics against the ideals, norms, and values do no good to the people and the country.
NC leader Koirala said,” Prachandaji needs to have patience. Such attitude of a political leader like Prachanda would make himself weaker and make his party unpopular.”
Koirala said his party is ready to accept the people’s mandate whether or not it would win, and added, “I hope that the UCPN (Maoist) would correct the decision and would not undermine the people’s mandate.”
Koirala said the constitution would be made by forging consensus and collaboration among the political parties whether they are big or small. NC wishes to draft the constitution by forging consensus among the parties, he added.
Wednesday 13 November 2013
Typhoon Haiyan: eight die in food stampede amid desperate wait for aid
Eight people have been killed in the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines after thousands of Haiyan survivors stormed a government-owned rice warehouse seeking food supplies.
The Philippines National Food Authority said police and soldiers stood by helpless as people streamed into the warehouse in Alangalang, Leyte province – an area where hunger and desperation are running high after Haiyan made landfall early on Friday morning, ravaging vast swaths of Leyte and Samar islands. The security forces could only watch as more than 100,000 sacks of rice were carried away.
The eight were crushed to death when a wall in the warehouse collapsed, spokesman Rex Estoperez told the Associated Press. Other rice warehouses were dotted around the region, he said, refusing to give their locations for security reasons.
The Philippines government has come under fire for failing to deliver aid adequately or quickly enough, with growing frustration in the hardest hit areas, such as Tacloban, the capital of Leyte province where dead bodies have piled up on the streets and residents have resorted to looting to find food.
A military official told the Guardian on Wednesday that the government was aiming to double its relief efforts within the next two days. Attempts to provide help were buoyed by the expected arrival of two extra US military C-130 planes and one additional Australian air force plane.
Three relief distribution points were being set up in the Leyte island towns of Tacloban, Guiuan and Ormoc, the official said, with the main aid effort operating out of neighbouring Cebu instead of Manila, the capital, which is 360 miles to the north.
More than 10,000 people are feared to have been killed in the Philippines due to Haiyan, most of them in Leyte province, with aid workers suggesting that number may rise significantly. As many as 29 municipalities have still not been reached due to impassable roads and downed telecommunications.
President Benigno Aquino III said on Tuesday that he believed the number killed to be far lower – around 2,500 – and told CNN that the 10,000 figure may have come from an "emotional" official, with government figures alleging that the death toll stands at 2,275. The UN has said more than 670,000 people have been displaced and a total of 11.3 million people directly affected by the super storm.
International relief efforts intensified with the launch of a UN appeal and the dispatch of American, British and Japanese troops to the affected regions. But minimal amounts of aid have reached the worst‑hit areas.
More than 3,000 people surged on to the tarmac of Tacloban airport on Tuesday morning in the hope of flying out on the two Philippine air force planes that had just arrived.
Babies and sick or elderly people were given priority but only a few hundred were able to leave. Others were held back by soldiers and police. Many had walked for hours and camped at the base overnight.
"I was pleading with the soldiers. I was kneeling and begging because I have diabetes," said Helen Cordial as she lay on a stretcher, shaking. "Do they want me to die in this airport? They are stone-hearted," she told the Associated Press.
Dean Smith, an Australian who has been living with his family near Palo, Leyte province, for the last five years, told the Guardian that he waited eight hours to be able to get one of the first commercial flights out of Tacloban to Cebu. On the way to the airport he said he saw "horrifying things that I know I have seen but my brain hasn't processed yet".
He described scenes of chaos in the city centre, where police were stealing money from the local cashpoints, people in cars were refusing to drive the injured to get help, and the bloated body of a man floating in dirty water was being gnawed at by a dog.
"What people have gone through, what they have seen – there is going to be a lot of post-traumatic stress after this event I assure you," he said shakily. "No one has ever seen anything like this."
Having arrived on Tuesday in Cebu, Smith was planning to stock up on food, medicine and water and take it back to his Palo home, where his wife, six children, a 92-year-old grandmother and a pregnant nanny were all desperately awaiting supplies. He departed for Tacloban early on Wednesday morning.
Domestic and international relief efforts were being hampered by wet weather, poor communications and damaged infrastructure, with aircraft only able to land in Tacloban during daylight hours because the air control tower had been destroyed by Haiyan. Unsubstantiated reports of aid convoys being attacked by hungry victims circulated, with the Telegraph reporting that communist rebels had been killed whilst trying to intercept a Red Cross convoy destined for the island of Samar.
Still, Corizon Soliman, secretary of the Philippine department of social welfare and development, said aid had so far reached a third of the city's 45,000 families.
However armed forces spokesman Ramon Zagala told the BBC that relief workers were struggling to deliver aid for a number of reasons.
"The area is very vast and the number of helicopters – although we have a lot of helicopters at the moment – it's really a challenge for us to bring [aid] to all the places and [bring] the number of goods that are needed."
The BBC quoted a Leyte official as saying that although relief goods like medicine and equipment were arriving into the province "it's just not reaching the people affected".
The UN released $25m (£15.7m) in emergency funds for shelter materials and household items, and for assistance with emergency health services, safe water supplies and sanitation.
The UN aid chief, Valerie Amos, launched an appeal for $300m as she arrived in Manila. "We have deployed specialist teams, vital logistics support and dispatched critical supplies but we have to do more and faster," she said.
The US, Britain, Japan, Australia and other nations have pledged tens of millions of dollars in immediate aid, and some businesses have also offered help: banking group HSBC announced a $1m (£630,000) cash donation.
In Tacloban shops were stripped of food and water by hungry residents. While some tents had arrived, the widespread damage left many people sleeping in the ruins of their homes or under shredded trees.
Military doctors at a makeshift clinic at the airport said they had treated about 1,000 people for cuts, bruises and deep wounds but did not have enough medical supplies.
"It's overwhelming," said Antonio Tamayo, an air force captain. "We need more medicine. We can't give anti-tetanus vaccine shots because we have none."
The typhoon flattened Basey, a seaside town in Samar province about six miles across a bay from Tacloban. About 2,000 people were missing there, its governor said. Rescue and relief workers were yet to reach many of the more remote areas.
"There are hundreds of other towns and villages stretched over thousands of kilometres that were in the path of the typhoon and with which all communication has been cut," said Natasha Reyes, emergency co-ordinator in the Philippines at Médecins Sans Frontières. "No one knows what the situation is like in these more rural and remote places, and it's going to be some time before we have a full picture."
Damage to communications left the armed forces struggling to reach local authorities and many officials were dead, missing or trying to protect their own families.
"Basically the only branch of government that is working here is the military," Ruben Guinolbay, a Philippine army captain, told Reuters in Tacloban. "That is not good. We are not supposed to take over government."
The interior secretary, Manuel Roxas, said on Tuesday that only 20 of Tacloban's 293 police had arrived for work. But he added: "Today we have stabilised the situation. There are no longer reports of looting. The food supply is coming in. Up to 50,000 food packs are coming in every day, with each pack able to feed up to a family of five for three days."
A team of British medical experts and the first consignment of aid from the UK was leaving for the Philippines, David Cameron said on Tuesday.
The USS George Washington aircraft carrier, transporting about 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft, plus four other US navy ships, should arrive in two to three days, the Pentagon said.
Britain's HMS Daring, a warship with equipment to make drinking water from seawater, and a military transport aircraft should arrive around the same time.
Japan is sending a team of 40 from its self-defence force.
Aquino has declared a state of national calamity, allowing the central government to release emergency funds more quickly and impose price controls.
Initial estimates of the cost of the damage vary widely, with a report from German-based CEDIM Forensic Disaster Analysis putting the total at anywhere from $8bn to $19bn.
Monday 11 November 2013
Ghost in the Machine
Let's call her "Kaylee." Her Mom says that's OK. The young Texan chose the pseudonym herself, taking it from a character who talks to machines on Fox's "Firefly" science fiction series. But this Kaylee is not a fiction. And as this teen synesthete is underage and still living in a world that doesn't quite understand her trait, we've decided to protect her identity. It is also important to note that she didn't seek publicity. I sought her out after learning about her in the synesthesia community.
Kaylee just gave me an astonishing interview in which she described synesthesia related to machinery. Of the 60 or more types of synesthesias now identified, it seems to most correspond to mirror-touch in which someone literally feels the pain or emotion of another—but until now, that "other" was usually human. I recall talking with the gifted Russian psychologist, synesthesia researcher and coordinator of the website of the Russian synesthesia community, Dr. Anton Sidoroff-Dorso, about how synesthesia seems to be evolving with technology. Of all our many cross-associations, it seems that we can blend senses with nearly any stimulus, including brand new ones. But frankly, Kaylee's case goes beyond anything I'd previously imagined.
Teen girl silhouette by Mike Baird
Kaylee has empathy for the inanimate. Image: Mike Baird.
"If this case can be verified, I will rank it most revealing about human nature! This is because of the degree that we can 'appropriate' the observable world, even to the extent of empathising with non-living things. Animation of non-living objects, the elements or natural phenomena, personification in rituals, emotional attachment to, repulsion from or even identification with robots and machinery can be found far and wide in fiction and anthropology. In psychology (and in Russian psychology in particular) the issue of tool use is interpreted as a phenomenological and functional incorporation of a certain instrument as part of one's body that leads to indiscriminate manipulation of the tool as (if) one's own limb and body scheme. The process occurs in stages, and the rubber hand illusion draws much on that (so, it is more than sensory integration). Recent neuroscientific studies have demonstrated that the human brain reacts very much similarly to maltreatment of a robot toy as it experiences abuse of a human - the same limbic areas light up.
"So, the case you are talking about can be contemplated as ultimate phenomenological and functional integration - that is, empathic or emotional integration. Generally, in humans it seems to happen for reasons of (re)adaptation when one embarks on charting a new and yet unbeknownst existential territory. As we know that synaesthetic reactions idiosyncratically supervenes on multifarious types of cognitive categorisation, it comes as little surprise that some synaesthetic individuals will evince their unusual perceptions in relation to gadgetry as well, because in the age of ubiquitous computing human beings are more and more beginning to see 'artificial' as 'natural' since one is knee-high, and, for this reason, this synaesthetic type of meaning making will start embracing animated electronic appliances and anthropomorphised robots from very early on. To stretch it a bit far, analysing the ways of enlivening the world synaesthetically, we can describe this case of empathy-based synaesthesia as bot-bond synaesthesia."
Kaylee's case raises so many interesting questions. While the current discussion is about when computers will achieve parity with humans, perhaps humans are evolving toward machines?
I thank this brave and fascinating young woman, and her caring mother, for shedding light on her experiences in the following Q&A:
Which machines do you feel an affinity for? Can you describe the touch and movement sensations?
I feel a connection to pretty much everything with some kind of mechanically-powered moving part. This includes cars, robots, escalators, locks, levers, etc.
Since I was a kid, I’ve learned to “tune out” or ignore most machines and other synesthetic reactions to the best of my ability, both to appear normal and to reduce interrupting sensations.
The best analogy I can use to explain it is a radio. My senses are my radio, picking up stimulus and playing it back in my brain, and various machines are radio stations I can tune in on. For example, if I’m in a mall, surrounded by escalators, elevators, motor vehicles, clocks, and other junk, they’re too many stations for my “radio” to process. Unlike most forms of synesthesia, this doesn’t result in a sensory overload - in fact, it’s exactly the opposite. I feel no machine-touch reaction, like my senses are too overwhelmed to process anything. The only way I can “tune in” to a machine in this situation is by focusing on one thing in particular, and ignoring my surroundings. If there’s only one machine in my field of vision, then it’s automatically my focus.
The way I feel the movement of a machine depends mostly on where the machine is positioned in relation to my body. If it’s somewhere near me but not touching me, or if I’m touching it but not influenced by it, then it’s as if the machine is an extra limb, or an extension of me. I feel and am aware of my own body and the fact that I am not the machine; no part of the machine is analogous to a part of my body. It’s as if the machine and I are connected, and I can feel what it feels through that lens without actually “becoming” it. The more extreme the movement is, the stronger I feel it. For example, when watching cars crash in a movie, I feel them as they’re ripped and crush, and I usually have to turn away and cut myself off from the stimulus.
This is different, however, when I am in or on the machine, and directly influenced by its motion, like when I’m riding in a car or on a boat. Then, I am the machine, in a traditional mirror-touch experience. I feel accelerating as a shift of balance (the more rapid the acceleration, the more severe the shift) in my lower body/feet, as if I am standing and leaning forward, about to fall. When the car begins to brake, I feel as if my arms are extended in front of me, and my hands and wrist and flexing up.
What other forms of synesthesia do you have? Do any other members of your family experience it as well?
I have grapheme-color (associative), personality-color (associative), color-number (associative), sound-touch, sound-kinetic, and sometimes mirror-touch reactions to people, but not often. I don’t talk about synesthesia with my extended family much, so I’m not sure whether or not any of them have it. I know my stepmother used to have graphmeme-color syn, but it faded in her early twenties.
When did you realize you were a synesthete? What were your earliest synesthetic experiences?
My senses have always been pretty screwed up, but I didn’t know I actually had synesthesia until I read an article about it from a science blog I follow on Tumblr. The earliest true synesthetic reaction I can remember having was in first grade, when my class was learning about the senses. The teacher was giving examples of sensations and asking us to identify what senses we perceived them with, and I tried to argue that people “feel” their dogs barking and scratching at the door.
How has it been for you describing synesthesia to other people? How do friends, family, teachers, react?
I haven’t had too much of a problem explaining synesthesia to people. With my family, I can usually cite times I had problems with my senses as a child, and explain that it’s actually a semi-common phenomenon. My friends think it’s a little weird, but they generally go with the flow and tend to enjoy quizzing me on the colors of various people, words, and numbers. I haven’t tried explaining synesthesia to my teachers, but I do remember a teacher in 8th grade telling a story about a synesthete she once taught.
What do you think synesthesia means? Is it useful to you?
My synesthesia is helpful when trying to remember long streams of numbers or words, and it also gives me a better understanding of physics and mechanical designs.
What would you like to do professionally one day? What are your hobbies?
Professionally, I’d prefer to do some kind of science or engineering. At the moment I favor mechanical engineering, but I’m a sophomore in high school so that’ll most likely change by the time I graduate. I enjoy reading, playing tennis, and graphic design. I’m also on a team that competes in FIRST robotics, an engineering competition for high school students.
I wonder what you think synesthesia means to human evolution? Why do you think we are like this?
Frankly, I don't think I've done enough research about synesthesia to provide a defensible scientific answer. I do believe that synesthesia gives people a unique perspective, which can be beneficial in any discussion, especially in today's society.
Please describe how you feel for a lock, a lever and other devices you mentioned besides cars.
Locks are very, very cool. They're very elegant in their design, and they serve their purpose well. When using a lock on a door, I feel aware of the pins rising and falling against the key as if I'm running my finger under them instead of a key. When watching or manipulating a lever in action, I feel and am aware of the forces acting on it. When on an escalator, I feel the movement of the steps on the conveyor as if they're the notches up my spine, and the arm rest as the skin at the top of my upper arm and shoulder. Clocks are so delicate and minute in their design and visible movement I barely feel them tickle the hair on my arms. Robots that have the typical rectangular drive train feel like cars, just smaller. Ironically, robots that have been designed to look like/mimic human bodies are stranger to connect to, because their similarity to my already-existing limbs is confusing.
Kaylee just gave me an astonishing interview in which she described synesthesia related to machinery. Of the 60 or more types of synesthesias now identified, it seems to most correspond to mirror-touch in which someone literally feels the pain or emotion of another—but until now, that "other" was usually human. I recall talking with the gifted Russian psychologist, synesthesia researcher and coordinator of the website of the Russian synesthesia community, Dr. Anton Sidoroff-Dorso, about how synesthesia seems to be evolving with technology. Of all our many cross-associations, it seems that we can blend senses with nearly any stimulus, including brand new ones. But frankly, Kaylee's case goes beyond anything I'd previously imagined.
Teen girl silhouette by Mike Baird
Kaylee has empathy for the inanimate. Image: Mike Baird.
"If this case can be verified, I will rank it most revealing about human nature! This is because of the degree that we can 'appropriate' the observable world, even to the extent of empathising with non-living things. Animation of non-living objects, the elements or natural phenomena, personification in rituals, emotional attachment to, repulsion from or even identification with robots and machinery can be found far and wide in fiction and anthropology. In psychology (and in Russian psychology in particular) the issue of tool use is interpreted as a phenomenological and functional incorporation of a certain instrument as part of one's body that leads to indiscriminate manipulation of the tool as (if) one's own limb and body scheme. The process occurs in stages, and the rubber hand illusion draws much on that (so, it is more than sensory integration). Recent neuroscientific studies have demonstrated that the human brain reacts very much similarly to maltreatment of a robot toy as it experiences abuse of a human - the same limbic areas light up.
"So, the case you are talking about can be contemplated as ultimate phenomenological and functional integration - that is, empathic or emotional integration. Generally, in humans it seems to happen for reasons of (re)adaptation when one embarks on charting a new and yet unbeknownst existential territory. As we know that synaesthetic reactions idiosyncratically supervenes on multifarious types of cognitive categorisation, it comes as little surprise that some synaesthetic individuals will evince their unusual perceptions in relation to gadgetry as well, because in the age of ubiquitous computing human beings are more and more beginning to see 'artificial' as 'natural' since one is knee-high, and, for this reason, this synaesthetic type of meaning making will start embracing animated electronic appliances and anthropomorphised robots from very early on. To stretch it a bit far, analysing the ways of enlivening the world synaesthetically, we can describe this case of empathy-based synaesthesia as bot-bond synaesthesia."
Kaylee's case raises so many interesting questions. While the current discussion is about when computers will achieve parity with humans, perhaps humans are evolving toward machines?
I thank this brave and fascinating young woman, and her caring mother, for shedding light on her experiences in the following Q&A:
Which machines do you feel an affinity for? Can you describe the touch and movement sensations?
I feel a connection to pretty much everything with some kind of mechanically-powered moving part. This includes cars, robots, escalators, locks, levers, etc.
Since I was a kid, I’ve learned to “tune out” or ignore most machines and other synesthetic reactions to the best of my ability, both to appear normal and to reduce interrupting sensations.
The best analogy I can use to explain it is a radio. My senses are my radio, picking up stimulus and playing it back in my brain, and various machines are radio stations I can tune in on. For example, if I’m in a mall, surrounded by escalators, elevators, motor vehicles, clocks, and other junk, they’re too many stations for my “radio” to process. Unlike most forms of synesthesia, this doesn’t result in a sensory overload - in fact, it’s exactly the opposite. I feel no machine-touch reaction, like my senses are too overwhelmed to process anything. The only way I can “tune in” to a machine in this situation is by focusing on one thing in particular, and ignoring my surroundings. If there’s only one machine in my field of vision, then it’s automatically my focus.
The way I feel the movement of a machine depends mostly on where the machine is positioned in relation to my body. If it’s somewhere near me but not touching me, or if I’m touching it but not influenced by it, then it’s as if the machine is an extra limb, or an extension of me. I feel and am aware of my own body and the fact that I am not the machine; no part of the machine is analogous to a part of my body. It’s as if the machine and I are connected, and I can feel what it feels through that lens without actually “becoming” it. The more extreme the movement is, the stronger I feel it. For example, when watching cars crash in a movie, I feel them as they’re ripped and crush, and I usually have to turn away and cut myself off from the stimulus.
This is different, however, when I am in or on the machine, and directly influenced by its motion, like when I’m riding in a car or on a boat. Then, I am the machine, in a traditional mirror-touch experience. I feel accelerating as a shift of balance (the more rapid the acceleration, the more severe the shift) in my lower body/feet, as if I am standing and leaning forward, about to fall. When the car begins to brake, I feel as if my arms are extended in front of me, and my hands and wrist and flexing up.
What other forms of synesthesia do you have? Do any other members of your family experience it as well?
I have grapheme-color (associative), personality-color (associative), color-number (associative), sound-touch, sound-kinetic, and sometimes mirror-touch reactions to people, but not often. I don’t talk about synesthesia with my extended family much, so I’m not sure whether or not any of them have it. I know my stepmother used to have graphmeme-color syn, but it faded in her early twenties.
When did you realize you were a synesthete? What were your earliest synesthetic experiences?
My senses have always been pretty screwed up, but I didn’t know I actually had synesthesia until I read an article about it from a science blog I follow on Tumblr. The earliest true synesthetic reaction I can remember having was in first grade, when my class was learning about the senses. The teacher was giving examples of sensations and asking us to identify what senses we perceived them with, and I tried to argue that people “feel” their dogs barking and scratching at the door.
How has it been for you describing synesthesia to other people? How do friends, family, teachers, react?
I haven’t had too much of a problem explaining synesthesia to people. With my family, I can usually cite times I had problems with my senses as a child, and explain that it’s actually a semi-common phenomenon. My friends think it’s a little weird, but they generally go with the flow and tend to enjoy quizzing me on the colors of various people, words, and numbers. I haven’t tried explaining synesthesia to my teachers, but I do remember a teacher in 8th grade telling a story about a synesthete she once taught.
What do you think synesthesia means? Is it useful to you?
My synesthesia is helpful when trying to remember long streams of numbers or words, and it also gives me a better understanding of physics and mechanical designs.
What would you like to do professionally one day? What are your hobbies?
Professionally, I’d prefer to do some kind of science or engineering. At the moment I favor mechanical engineering, but I’m a sophomore in high school so that’ll most likely change by the time I graduate. I enjoy reading, playing tennis, and graphic design. I’m also on a team that competes in FIRST robotics, an engineering competition for high school students.
I wonder what you think synesthesia means to human evolution? Why do you think we are like this?
Frankly, I don't think I've done enough research about synesthesia to provide a defensible scientific answer. I do believe that synesthesia gives people a unique perspective, which can be beneficial in any discussion, especially in today's society.
Please describe how you feel for a lock, a lever and other devices you mentioned besides cars.
Locks are very, very cool. They're very elegant in their design, and they serve their purpose well. When using a lock on a door, I feel aware of the pins rising and falling against the key as if I'm running my finger under them instead of a key. When watching or manipulating a lever in action, I feel and am aware of the forces acting on it. When on an escalator, I feel the movement of the steps on the conveyor as if they're the notches up my spine, and the arm rest as the skin at the top of my upper arm and shoulder. Clocks are so delicate and minute in their design and visible movement I barely feel them tickle the hair on my arms. Robots that have the typical rectangular drive train feel like cars, just smaller. Ironically, robots that have been designed to look like/mimic human bodies are stranger to connect to, because their similarity to my already-existing limbs is confusing.
Sunday 10 November 2013
फिलिपिन्स मा १०००० हजार भन्दा बडी मानिस मर्ने गरि आएको तुफानको भिडिओ हेर्नुहोस !!
The powerful typhoon that swept across the Philippines on Friday, one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall, cut a path of destruction through several central islands, leaving the seaside city of Tacloban in ruins and leading to early, unconfirmed estimates of as many as 10,000 dead. Wire reports quoted the city administrator of Tacloban suggesting that the death toll could reach 10,000 in his city alone. A police official gave an identical estimate, citing the governor of the area, who had spoken with officials in villages that had been hit, according to wire reports.
The government disaster agency said it could confirm only about 150 deaths so far from Typhoon Haiyan, although the president said he expected the number to rise significantly. The Red Cross in Manila said earlier on Saturday that its people on the ground were reporting an estimated 1,000 deaths on Leyte Island, where Tacloban is, and about 200 on the neighboring island of Samar.
“The local Red Cross chapter has seen many bodies,” Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a text message. “An actual body count has to be done to determine the exact number.”
The destruction, which has taken down phone service in many areas, made confirming any of the accounts difficult.
Some meteorologists said the storm, called Yolanda in the Philippines, hit land with sustained winds above 190 miles per hour, while others reported winds of 150 miles per hour. On Friday, some in the country thought the Philippines might have been spared high casualties because the storm had moved so quickly, but they did not know that it had caused a serious storm surge, at least in Tacloban.
Photos and television footage showed fierce winds ripping tin roofs off homes and sending waves crashing into wooden buildings that splintered under the force. Large ships were tossed on shore, and vehicles were shown piled up on top of one another. Video footage from Tacloban showed ocean water rushing through the streets of the city, which has an estimated population of 220,000.
Speaking to Reuters, the manager of the city’s airport, which is on a strip of land that juts into the sea, estimated that water there rose up to 13 feet. Reuters also quoted a spokesman for the national disaster agency saying many houses in Tacloban were destroyed.
A bicycle taxi driver who lives near the airport told The Associated Press that he and his family had taken refuge in a parked jeep, which was swept away in the roiling waters. The man, Sandy Torotoro, said that as the vehicle floated by, many people screamed for help as they were swept away, waving their hands above the water.
“But what can we do?” he said. “We also needed to be helped.”
The Social Welfare and Development Department said that the storm affected 4.28 million people in about 270 towns and cities spread across 36 provinces in the central Philippines.
President Benigno S. Aquino III said at a news briefing on Saturday evening in Manila that he expected there to be “substantially more” deaths than the government had confirmed. He arrived Sunday in Tacloban, according to a member of Parliament.
The government has been flying in military cargo planes carrying food, clothing and shelters, but blocked roads have made distribution difficult.
A United Nations disaster assessment team visited the area on Saturday.
“The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami,” Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, the head of the team, said in a statement, referring to the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia and other countries. “This is destruction on a massive scale. There are cars thrown like tumbleweed.”
Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said in an interview that most of the information about damage and casualties was coming out of Tacloban, where the news media and government officials were concentrated, and that he feared there would be “a lot of dead bodies” inland as well. He said there were also areas out of contact in northern Cebu and on the island of Panay, as well as parts of Palawan and Mindoro.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the United States military’s Pacific Command to provide airborne and maritime search and rescue teams and other help, a Department of Defense statement on Saturday said.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the deadliest storm in Philippine history was Tropical Storm Thelma, which killed more than 5,000 people.
The government disaster agency said it could confirm only about 150 deaths so far from Typhoon Haiyan, although the president said he expected the number to rise significantly. The Red Cross in Manila said earlier on Saturday that its people on the ground were reporting an estimated 1,000 deaths on Leyte Island, where Tacloban is, and about 200 on the neighboring island of Samar.
“The local Red Cross chapter has seen many bodies,” Gwendolyn Pang, the secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said in a text message. “An actual body count has to be done to determine the exact number.”
The destruction, which has taken down phone service in many areas, made confirming any of the accounts difficult.
Some meteorologists said the storm, called Yolanda in the Philippines, hit land with sustained winds above 190 miles per hour, while others reported winds of 150 miles per hour. On Friday, some in the country thought the Philippines might have been spared high casualties because the storm had moved so quickly, but they did not know that it had caused a serious storm surge, at least in Tacloban.
Photos and television footage showed fierce winds ripping tin roofs off homes and sending waves crashing into wooden buildings that splintered under the force. Large ships were tossed on shore, and vehicles were shown piled up on top of one another. Video footage from Tacloban showed ocean water rushing through the streets of the city, which has an estimated population of 220,000.
Speaking to Reuters, the manager of the city’s airport, which is on a strip of land that juts into the sea, estimated that water there rose up to 13 feet. Reuters also quoted a spokesman for the national disaster agency saying many houses in Tacloban were destroyed.
A bicycle taxi driver who lives near the airport told The Associated Press that he and his family had taken refuge in a parked jeep, which was swept away in the roiling waters. The man, Sandy Torotoro, said that as the vehicle floated by, many people screamed for help as they were swept away, waving their hands above the water.
“But what can we do?” he said. “We also needed to be helped.”
The Social Welfare and Development Department said that the storm affected 4.28 million people in about 270 towns and cities spread across 36 provinces in the central Philippines.
President Benigno S. Aquino III said at a news briefing on Saturday evening in Manila that he expected there to be “substantially more” deaths than the government had confirmed. He arrived Sunday in Tacloban, according to a member of Parliament.
The government has been flying in military cargo planes carrying food, clothing and shelters, but blocked roads have made distribution difficult.
A United Nations disaster assessment team visited the area on Saturday.
“The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami,” Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, the head of the team, said in a statement, referring to the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Indonesia and other countries. “This is destruction on a massive scale. There are cars thrown like tumbleweed.”
Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said in an interview that most of the information about damage and casualties was coming out of Tacloban, where the news media and government officials were concentrated, and that he feared there would be “a lot of dead bodies” inland as well. He said there were also areas out of contact in northern Cebu and on the island of Panay, as well as parts of Palawan and Mindoro.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the United States military’s Pacific Command to provide airborne and maritime search and rescue teams and other help, a Department of Defense statement on Saturday said.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the deadliest storm in Philippine history was Tropical Storm Thelma, which killed more than 5,000 people.
फिलिपिन्स मा तुफान को हंगामा १०,००० भन्दा बडी मानिसको मिर्तु, हजारौ घरबार बिहिन ! हेर्नुहोस भिडिओ !
Philippines — Three days after one of the most powerful storms ever to buffet the Philippines, the scale of the devastation and the desperation of the survivors were slowly coming into view. The living told stories of the dead or dying — the people swept away in a torrent of seawater, the corpses strewn among the wreckage. Photos from the hard-hit city of Tacloban showed vast stretches of land swept clean of homes, and reports emerged of people who were desperate for food and water raiding aid convoys and stripping the stores that were left standing.
As Monday dawned, it became increasingly clear that Typhoon Haiyan had ravaged cities, towns and fishing villages when it played a deadly form of hopscotch across the islands of the central Philippines on Friday. By some estimates, at least 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban alone, and with phone service out across stretches of the far-flung archipelago, it was difficult to know if the storm was as deadly in more remote areas.
As Monday dawned, it became increasingly clear that Typhoon Haiyan had ravaged cities, towns and fishing villages when it played a deadly form of hopscotch across the islands of the central Philippines on Friday. By some estimates, at least 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban alone, and with phone service out across stretches of the far-flung archipelago, it was difficult to know if the storm was as deadly in more remote areas.
Richard Gordon, the chairman of the Philippines Red Cross, said that a Red Cross aid convoy to Tacloban had to turn back on Sunday after it stopped at a collapsed bridge and was nearly hijacked by a crowd of hungry people. “There is very little food going in, and what food there was, was captured” by the crowd, Mr. Gordon said in a telephone interview on Monday morning.
As aid crews struggled to reach ravaged areas, the storm appeared to lay bare some of the perennial woes of the Philippines. The country’s roads and airports, long starved of money by corrupt and incompetent governments, are some of the worst in Southeast Asia and often make traveling long distances a trial. On Monday, clogged with debris from splintered buildings and shattered trees, the roads in the storm’s path were worse, slowing rescue teams.
The storm posed new challenges for President Benigno S. Aquino III, who just two months ago struggled to wrest back a major city in the south from insurgents. Mr. Aquino has won plaudits at home and abroad for his fight against corruption during his three and a half years in office, leading to increased foreign investment and an impressive growth rate. But he must still contend with Muslim separatists in the south and with provinces that have long been the domains of regional strongmen, resistant to government control.
Now add to that list a storm that looks to be one of the country’s worst disasters, at a time when emergency funds have been depleted by a series of other calamities, most notably an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 that struck the middle of the country four weeks ago. On Monday, after the reports of widespread raiding of stores and robberies and rising fears of a breakdown of law and order, the government said it was flying more police officers to the region.
Although deadly storms are not unusual in the Philippines, Typhoon Haiyan appears to stand apart, both in the ferocity of its winds, which some described as sounding like a freight train, and in its type of destruction. Most deaths from typhoons in the Philippines are caused by mudslides and rivers flooding from heavy rains.
So when Haiyan sped across the islands on Friday, some officials and weather experts in the Philippines thought they had witnessed something of a miracle. The storm that lit up social media for days with dire warnings was thought to have mostly spared the islands because it did not linger long enough to dump a deluge of rain.
Longoria heading to politics
“Eva wants to start small, maybe on a city council in her native Texas, or as mayor of San Antonio or Corpus Christi. Her two-year plan is to run for senate,” contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying. The 38-year-old is said to have been asking for help from her good friend and fellow actor, George Clooney.
“George has been coaching Eva on how to operate in Washington versus Hollywood, she wants to be taken seriously on the political scene,” the source added.
Longoria has previously been very involved in the Democratic National Convention.
Saturday 9 November 2013
Mysterious India-born investor Suhail Rizvi gains big from Twitter IPO
Suhail Rizvi, an enigmatic India- born investor, has emerged as one of the biggest gainers from Twitter's high-profile public debut with his 15.6 per cent stake in the micro-blogging site worth a whopping USD 3.8 billion.
Rizvi is the "non-boldface name of the moment", a report in the New York Times said, describing him as a "strategic power broker who prefers to operate behind the scenes".
The 47-year-old has remained a mystery in the Silicon Valley despite his significant tech investments in recent years.
He runs a private investment company Rizvi Traverse Management, the largest outside investor in the micro-blogging site with a 15.6 per cent stake worth USD 3.8 billion at the end of trading on Twitter NYSE debut yesterday.
"Twitter's public offering represents a coming-out party for Rizvi, who remains largely a mystery in Silicon Valley despite his growing number of tech investments.
"In Silicon Valley, and even at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, prominent investors and executives said they had not heard his name until it popped up in public disclosures by the company last month," the report said yesterday.
"Rizvi's rise illustrates how a new tech investor class with deep Wall Street connections is carving new paths into the unfamiliar and insular terrain of Silicon Valley," it said.
Despite a stellar rise, Rizvi has managed to stay almost entirely out of the spotlight.
Born in India and raised in Iowa, Rizvi is known as a quiet man who has built a "powerful and diverse" group of friends, including Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and chief executive of YouTube Salar Kamangar.
"Rizvi has been seen partying atop Eric Schmidt's yacht, the Oasis, at Cannes.
"Some Twitter investors said at one point when they saw the mysterious Rizvi's stake in the company was growing, they jokingly considered whether a criminal-background check was warranted," the report said.
Rizvi's Twitter profile is private, and the photo associated with it is that of a peacock.
Rizvi is the "non-boldface name of the moment", a report in the New York Times said, describing him as a "strategic power broker who prefers to operate behind the scenes".
The 47-year-old has remained a mystery in the Silicon Valley despite his significant tech investments in recent years.
He runs a private investment company Rizvi Traverse Management, the largest outside investor in the micro-blogging site with a 15.6 per cent stake worth USD 3.8 billion at the end of trading on Twitter NYSE debut yesterday.
"Twitter's public offering represents a coming-out party for Rizvi, who remains largely a mystery in Silicon Valley despite his growing number of tech investments.
"In Silicon Valley, and even at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, prominent investors and executives said they had not heard his name until it popped up in public disclosures by the company last month," the report said yesterday.
"Rizvi's rise illustrates how a new tech investor class with deep Wall Street connections is carving new paths into the unfamiliar and insular terrain of Silicon Valley," it said.
Despite a stellar rise, Rizvi has managed to stay almost entirely out of the spotlight.
Born in India and raised in Iowa, Rizvi is known as a quiet man who has built a "powerful and diverse" group of friends, including Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and chief executive of YouTube Salar Kamangar.
"Rizvi has been seen partying atop Eric Schmidt's yacht, the Oasis, at Cannes.
"Some Twitter investors said at one point when they saw the mysterious Rizvi's stake in the company was growing, they jokingly considered whether a criminal-background check was warranted," the report said.
Rizvi's Twitter profile is private, and the photo associated with it is that of a peacock.
Sunday 3 November 2013
Turkey gets first online Islamic sex shop
An online Islamic sex shop selling condoms, massage oils and perfumes has been launched in Turkey, becoming the first of its kind in the predominantly Muslim country.
The "Halal Sex Shop" website presents its products as being "entirely safe," and in compliance with Islamic norms.
Internet users who enter the site find two different links directing them to separate sections for male and female products.
Other sections of the website are designed to discuss sex in the context of Islam under various headings: "Oral sex according to Islam", " Sex manners in Islam" and "Sexual life in Islam."
The anonymous founders of the website said they believed the online shop would help correct prejudices against Islam which they claimed is perceived as "against sex."
"The religion of Islam has praised sex under certain circumstances," they wrote on the site.
"The use of every product on sale is in compliance with Islam." Turkey does have so-called "erotic shops" in its streets, however Islamic conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested last year they rename themselves "love shops."
The "Halal Sex Shop" website presents its products as being "entirely safe," and in compliance with Islamic norms.
Internet users who enter the site find two different links directing them to separate sections for male and female products.
Other sections of the website are designed to discuss sex in the context of Islam under various headings: "Oral sex according to Islam", " Sex manners in Islam" and "Sexual life in Islam."
The anonymous founders of the website said they believed the online shop would help correct prejudices against Islam which they claimed is perceived as "against sex."
"The religion of Islam has praised sex under certain circumstances," they wrote on the site.
"The use of every product on sale is in compliance with Islam." Turkey does have so-called "erotic shops" in its streets, however Islamic conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested last year they rename themselves "love shops."
Obama wants to know about your sex life: get ready to spread the news
No, it's not a joke. Get ready to spread your sex life news when you visit the doctor, and it doesn't matter what kind of doctor it is, any doctor from dentist to dermatologists to podiatrist. Under his new health law, all doctors will be required to ask these questions or face penalties. Did you think under your Constitutional amendments you had the right to privacy? Wrong, and now it's going to be milked. Why this urge in interest?
On your next dentist appointment when your laying down in his chair having your teeth checked, tell him all about your past sex partners and if your currently doing the boogie woogie with anyone and if it's more than one partner and if it's with same-sex or opposite-sex partners.
And that's not all, your whole history and any information given will be in an electronic database for access, talk about more of spreading it.
Doctors are being turned into government agents, where they're pressured financially to ask questions they consider inappropriate and unnecessary and violate their Hippocratic Oath to keep patients' records confidential.
This is the road to totalitarian domination. Privacy will soon be an obsolete concept.
Turkey gets first online Islamic sex shop
An online Islamic sex shop selling condoms, massage oils and perfumes has been launched in Turkey, becoming the first of its kind in the predominantly Muslim country.
The "Halal Sex Shop" website presents its products as being "entirely safe," and in compliance with Islamic norms.
Internet users who enter the site find two different links directing them to separate sections for male and female products.
Other sections of the website are designed to discuss sex in the context of Islam under various headings: "Oral sex according to Islam", " Sex manners in Islam" and "Sexual life in Islam."
The anonymous founders of the website said they believed the online shop would help correct prejudices against Islam which they claimed is perceived as "against sex."
"The religion of Islam has praised sex under certain circumstances," they wrote on the site.
"The use of every product on sale is in compliance with Islam." Turkey does have so-called "erotic shops" in its streets, however Islamic conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested last year they rename themselves "love shops."
The "Halal Sex Shop" website presents its products as being "entirely safe," and in compliance with Islamic norms.
Internet users who enter the site find two different links directing them to separate sections for male and female products.
Other sections of the website are designed to discuss sex in the context of Islam under various headings: "Oral sex according to Islam", " Sex manners in Islam" and "Sexual life in Islam."
The anonymous founders of the website said they believed the online shop would help correct prejudices against Islam which they claimed is perceived as "against sex."
"The religion of Islam has praised sex under certain circumstances," they wrote on the site.
"The use of every product on sale is in compliance with Islam." Turkey does have so-called "erotic shops" in its streets, however Islamic conservative Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested last year they rename themselves "love shops."
Obama wants to know about your sex life: get ready to spread the news
No, it's not a joke. Get ready to spread your sex life news when you visit the doctor, and it doesn't matter what kind of doctor it is, any doctor from dentist to dermatologists to podiatrist. Under his new health law, all doctors will be required to ask these questions or face penalties. Did you think under your Constitutional amendments you had the right to privacy? Wrong, and now it's going to be milked. Why this urge in interest?
On your next dentist appointment when your laying down in his chair having your teeth checked, tell him all about your past sex partners and if your currently doing the boogie woogie with anyone and if it's more than one partner and if it's with same-sex or opposite-sex partners.
And that's not all, your whole history and any information given will be in an electronic database for access, talk about more of spreading it.
Doctors are being turned into government agents, where they're pressured financially to ask questions they consider inappropriate and unnecessary and violate their Hippocratic Oath to keep patients' records confidential.
This is the road to totalitarian domination. Privacy will soon be an obsolete concept.
Monday 28 October 2013
ड्राइभिङ गर्ने महिलाविरुद्ध साउदी सरकार कठोर, ६० महिलालाई जरिवाना
उनीहरुलाई फेरि ड्राइभिङ नगर्न चेतावनी दिइएको छ भने गाडीको साँचो घरका पुरुषलाई दिइएको छ । साउदीमा १९९० बाट महिलालाई ड्राइभिङमा रोक लगाइएको छ । शनिबार महिलाहरुले त्यसको विरोध गर्दै गाडी चलाएको भिडियो इन्टरनेटमा अपलोड गरेका थिए ।
राजधानी रियादका मानिसहरुले समेत महिलाले गाडी चलाएकोमा विरोध गरेका थिए । साउदी अरबमा महिलाहरुलाई ड्राइभिङ गर्न दिनु पर्ने माग लामो समयदेखि उठ्दै आएको छ । तर, साउदी अरब प्रशासन र समाज यसका लागि तयार देखिएको छैन ।
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