In most developed countries, a pregnant woman carrying a baby with Down ’s syndrome (the inoffensive term for rather rude and irresponsible word of Mongol!), is allowed to have an abortion. In England as an example, more than 95% of women, trapped in this condition, have used their legal right, terminated the life of their unborn children.
There are many people oppose to that decision, among which many families who have first hand experience dealing with Down’s children. They’re arguing, having a slow or crippled rate of growth, even though in the brain, doesn’t make those babies any lesser form of human being and certainly doesn’t give us the right to terminate their lives and some of these babies, having a chance to lead their lives, can live a long, happy one and can bring joy to their families as well. Depriving them from living, is killing someone just for being different.
Considering the fact that our world is being ruled by people with much more serious brain defects than Down’s syndrome, it seems not a bad argument. (Just kidding!)
On the other side of the spectrum, many believe that the life of the one with this syndrome is a wretched one, not only for the person alone, but for the family who will be doomed to bear an excruciating life-long responsibility. They also argue that, since some of these patients will outlive their parents, the devastating duty will eventually fall off on the shoulders of their brothers and sisters, who had no control over the decision in the first place. So it’s the right of every family, not to be forced, at least, to accept this huge task. Adding to this, most of these children, would suffer from serious physical defects throughout their lives and frequently should be subjected to some painful surgeries, which makes the life even more difficult for them and their families.
What do you think? Should parents be allowed to terminate the life of the fetus, knowing that the baby will be born with Down’s syndrome? And if you were in the same situation, would you do that?
Friday, June 02, 2006
Discussion of the week- Introduction
As an attempt to make this blog, a bit more active and reciprocal, I planed to add another segment called “Discussion of the week”. In this section, you are welcome to comment on a rather controversial topic, introduced by me, every Friday night.
For the sake of discussion, more controversial, politically incorrect, stimulating and even devil’s advocate-type of ideas will be immensely appreciated.
Also to make it possible for the readers to follow the discussions, I’d appreciate that even if you don’t want to put your real name there, make a fake ID and use it constantly but please do not leave comments under the title of Anonymous!
P.S. Since all the ideas and comments will be published uncensored, I will accept absolutely no responsibility over their contents whatsoever.
For the sake of discussion, more controversial, politically incorrect, stimulating and even devil’s advocate-type of ideas will be immensely appreciated.
Also to make it possible for the readers to follow the discussions, I’d appreciate that even if you don’t want to put your real name there, make a fake ID and use it constantly but please do not leave comments under the title of Anonymous!
P.S. Since all the ideas and comments will be published uncensored, I will accept absolutely no responsibility over their contents whatsoever.
Check out Iran’s national team super cool football gear in Pendar’s super cool website. A brilliant and talented friend of mine that I absolutely can not figure out, why the hell is studying engineering?!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Lonesome George
If someday, you find yourself in island of Pinta in the Galapagos and you come across a giant tortoise, you can confidently call him George!
How come? Well, sadly, he’s the last remaining of a species, once wandering around in the island in huge numbers. This 88 years old turtle is condemn living his long life in total loneliness and his death will put an end, not only to his life, but to a million-years- reach history of his race.
Where the ever-increasing catastrophic story of extinction is being retold every minute on this planet, the rather long life of this adorable creature, will keep us, humans, ashamed for years to come. A burning candle, symbolic of a planet in decay, a constant reminder of the earth, becoming more and more a Dorian Gray-ish! picture of our nice looking civilization!
We’re sorry Lonesome George, This planet was yours too and We will miss you.
How come? Well, sadly, he’s the last remaining of a species, once wandering around in the island in huge numbers. This 88 years old turtle is condemn living his long life in total loneliness and his death will put an end, not only to his life, but to a million-years- reach history of his race.
Where the ever-increasing catastrophic story of extinction is being retold every minute on this planet, the rather long life of this adorable creature, will keep us, humans, ashamed for years to come. A burning candle, symbolic of a planet in decay, a constant reminder of the earth, becoming more and more a Dorian Gray-ish! picture of our nice looking civilization!
We’re sorry Lonesome George, This planet was yours too and We will miss you.
Notice
From this week, every Saturday, you will find a small weekly article called “My favorite 101” in which, I’ll list my favorite music titles. Naturally since it will be purely based on my taste, I don’t expect that you’d like every title but you can try a couple of them to see if our tastes match. If they do, you can check it out regularly every week, for 101 weeks.
Also every Sunday, you can find a concise review about a recent movie, preferably still in theatres, called “movie of the week”, as I said before. Although occasionally, I will write about some new releases on DVD too and “Montreal report” will be published every Monday night, from this week on.
That was me, so what’s up with you?!
Also every Sunday, you can find a concise review about a recent movie, preferably still in theatres, called “movie of the week”, as I said before. Although occasionally, I will write about some new releases on DVD too and “Montreal report” will be published every Monday night, from this week on.
That was me, so what’s up with you?!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Revelations of the last remaining brain cell
It’ ironic. Those bastards who call themselves Pro-life, and trying their ass off to protect fetuses or brain-dead people in comma are the same people who’re pro dead-penalty and pro war and don’t give a shit about the environment!
It seems that to them, life is valuable only as long as the brain is not working anymore or it hasn’t been developed yet. Otherwise, they don’t give a fuck!
I don’t get religious people…I really don’t
It seems that to them, life is valuable only as long as the brain is not working anymore or it hasn’t been developed yet. Otherwise, they don’t give a fuck!
I don’t get religious people…I really don’t
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Please stop sending the message!
For god’s sake, no one is going to delete your Orkut account. It’s just a trick to measure the naivety of people! Believe me, your Orkut account is safe the same way that sending away stupid texts won’t help your wishes to come to true!
Please guys...enough!
Please guys...enough!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Welcome to the modern dark age
It’s not cynical nor exaggerated, but unfortunately the harsh reality of our society. We live in an era that the political correctness and the virtue of not offending anybody whatsoever, are pushing the limits to a level in which one can hardly suggest a topic, let alone speaking about it, without offending a social group and be labeled as male-chauvinist, racist, anti-Semite or even fascist. To a point that the only creature on this planet that can be safely criticized or making fun of, is a typical “white straight male”!
There’s no doubt about the fact that worthy achievements obtained by the feminism, anti-racism, anti-Semitism or all other humanistic movements, founded to bring justice to those discriminated against, should be guarded but do we have to go so far to suppress any controversial idea, that might opens up a whole new set of thinking but is somehow offensive to someone?! Isn’t it a new form of fascism to oblige people to a brutal self-censorship and label them if they think otherwise or moreover put them on trials just for expressing their rather anti-conformist views?!
What’s becoming of us? Freedom of speech, remember that?!
I can hardly name anybody who has more appreciation for women than I have, but I just want to throw up when I see Lawrence Summer, the president of Harvard university is being forced to resign, because he suggested that the difference in performance in math and science between male and female students might be due to their biological differences in their brain structure!
If an academician can not express an idea, however stupid, backward or controversial the idea might sound, in an academic environment, who can express it and where?
Now, don’t get me wrong. If someone in charge wants to use an unproven theory in order to discriminate against anyone of a particular race, gender or sexual orientation, I would be the first to scream against it, but shouldn’t people be allowed to suggest something, at least as a subject of discussion or scientific investigation? If an idea is not controversial, moving or shocking what is it good for?!
Considering the fact that, most of the values we cherished nowadays as undeniable rights of human beings, like the gender and race equality, someday not very long ago, were considered offensive or even blasphemous and those who dared to bring up those questions were forced to pay huge consequences which sometimes, like the case of Giordano Bruno , was as costly as being burned at the stake. So what makes us think that we have reached to the end of world, that everything we know is complete, unquestionable and undeniable and nobody has the right to even pose a new question anymore?
As much as I respect Jewish people and their culture, and as much as I genuinely believe that the Holocaust is a horrendous historical fact, I can not digest that in a modern European country, they actually put someone in jail, only because he has expressed his ideas or published his research, denying a historical fact! I really think that David Irving is wrong and there’re serious doubts about his references, but what happened to our old method of sitting down and talk about stuff? What happened to the tradition of presenting counter argument against a false or weak analogy? What about writing a critic about a book, a research paper or a movie instead of shouting and screaming and labeling? Since when we decided, discussion and reasoning are obsolete and we should return to the good old fashioned inquisition?
The circle of unspeakable is getting tighter by the days. They’re feminists in France, who’re fighting for introducing the word “La professeur” to the vocabulary (the word professor in French is only used as a masculine form, even for women.), or removing the word “Mademoiselle” from the vocabulary, cause they believe it‘s offensive and it degrades women. Give me a break! You know what degrades women?! A huge number of women around the world are illiterate or semi-literate! In twenty first century, they are still markets in which they sell women for prostitutions. In Africa, women are still in large numbers, being circumcised, sold to old men, being forced to sleep with men who’re HIV positive. Every 26 seconds, one woman is raped in South Africa and the rest of the continent doesn’t have a better record. Systematic rape is being used against women as a military tactic, the legal age of marriage in Muslim worlds is only nine years old and I can go forever! These are degrading, if you’re really serious!
Otherwise, I think calling a young beautiful women, Mademoiselle is charming, and a successful female professor at Princeton, wouldn’t mind if she’s being called Le professeur or La professeur!
Personally, I don’t see any difference between those activists who’re trying to suppress any idea they don’t appreciate and those who burned embassies because of a cartoon or are rioting in the streets, as we speak, because of a simple “NA MA NA!”. They are all backwards, extremist and fanatics and their only difference is their agenda. That’s all!
Dear folks, talking about differences between blacks and whites, men and women, straits and gays, Muslims and Jews, is not racism, sexism or chauvinism, acting in a way that deprives people from achieving their goals and their social rights, is. Believing that a group of people are naturally unable to get to certain points or surpass certain limits just because of their gender, race or sexual orientation, is.
The question is accepting or denying the necessity of the red lines. Once the red lines are successfully established, just by playing with them, those in power, or those with good lobbies, can easily suffocate thinkers, as well as brand new ideas, purely based on personal taste or benefits. That’s unfortunately what’s happening in our world.
By the way, if extreme-feminists are looking for a subject to fight for, I have a good one. Why the men’s and women’s chess competitions hold separately?!
There’s no doubt about the fact that worthy achievements obtained by the feminism, anti-racism, anti-Semitism or all other humanistic movements, founded to bring justice to those discriminated against, should be guarded but do we have to go so far to suppress any controversial idea, that might opens up a whole new set of thinking but is somehow offensive to someone?! Isn’t it a new form of fascism to oblige people to a brutal self-censorship and label them if they think otherwise or moreover put them on trials just for expressing their rather anti-conformist views?!
What’s becoming of us? Freedom of speech, remember that?!
I can hardly name anybody who has more appreciation for women than I have, but I just want to throw up when I see Lawrence Summer, the president of Harvard university is being forced to resign, because he suggested that the difference in performance in math and science between male and female students might be due to their biological differences in their brain structure!
If an academician can not express an idea, however stupid, backward or controversial the idea might sound, in an academic environment, who can express it and where?
Now, don’t get me wrong. If someone in charge wants to use an unproven theory in order to discriminate against anyone of a particular race, gender or sexual orientation, I would be the first to scream against it, but shouldn’t people be allowed to suggest something, at least as a subject of discussion or scientific investigation? If an idea is not controversial, moving or shocking what is it good for?!
Considering the fact that, most of the values we cherished nowadays as undeniable rights of human beings, like the gender and race equality, someday not very long ago, were considered offensive or even blasphemous and those who dared to bring up those questions were forced to pay huge consequences which sometimes, like the case of Giordano Bruno , was as costly as being burned at the stake. So what makes us think that we have reached to the end of world, that everything we know is complete, unquestionable and undeniable and nobody has the right to even pose a new question anymore?
As much as I respect Jewish people and their culture, and as much as I genuinely believe that the Holocaust is a horrendous historical fact, I can not digest that in a modern European country, they actually put someone in jail, only because he has expressed his ideas or published his research, denying a historical fact! I really think that David Irving is wrong and there’re serious doubts about his references, but what happened to our old method of sitting down and talk about stuff? What happened to the tradition of presenting counter argument against a false or weak analogy? What about writing a critic about a book, a research paper or a movie instead of shouting and screaming and labeling? Since when we decided, discussion and reasoning are obsolete and we should return to the good old fashioned inquisition?
The circle of unspeakable is getting tighter by the days. They’re feminists in France, who’re fighting for introducing the word “La professeur” to the vocabulary (the word professor in French is only used as a masculine form, even for women.), or removing the word “Mademoiselle” from the vocabulary, cause they believe it‘s offensive and it degrades women. Give me a break! You know what degrades women?! A huge number of women around the world are illiterate or semi-literate! In twenty first century, they are still markets in which they sell women for prostitutions. In Africa, women are still in large numbers, being circumcised, sold to old men, being forced to sleep with men who’re HIV positive. Every 26 seconds, one woman is raped in South Africa and the rest of the continent doesn’t have a better record. Systematic rape is being used against women as a military tactic, the legal age of marriage in Muslim worlds is only nine years old and I can go forever! These are degrading, if you’re really serious!
Otherwise, I think calling a young beautiful women, Mademoiselle is charming, and a successful female professor at Princeton, wouldn’t mind if she’s being called Le professeur or La professeur!
Personally, I don’t see any difference between those activists who’re trying to suppress any idea they don’t appreciate and those who burned embassies because of a cartoon or are rioting in the streets, as we speak, because of a simple “NA MA NA!”. They are all backwards, extremist and fanatics and their only difference is their agenda. That’s all!
Dear folks, talking about differences between blacks and whites, men and women, straits and gays, Muslims and Jews, is not racism, sexism or chauvinism, acting in a way that deprives people from achieving their goals and their social rights, is. Believing that a group of people are naturally unable to get to certain points or surpass certain limits just because of their gender, race or sexual orientation, is.
The question is accepting or denying the necessity of the red lines. Once the red lines are successfully established, just by playing with them, those in power, or those with good lobbies, can easily suffocate thinkers, as well as brand new ideas, purely based on personal taste or benefits. That’s unfortunately what’s happening in our world.
By the way, if extreme-feminists are looking for a subject to fight for, I have a good one. Why the men’s and women’s chess competitions hold separately?!
One cocktail a day, keeps doctors away!
According to a recent research, published in British medical journal, men who are drinking alcohol everyday are less likely to develop heart disease than those who don’t.
According to this research, steady consumption of alcohol, will reduce the risk of heart disease by 40%.
To see the face of those who try their ass off to justify every religious rules, from fasting and circumcision to not eating pork, with medical facts, is priceless! :)
Cheers!
According to this research, steady consumption of alcohol, will reduce the risk of heart disease by 40%.
To see the face of those who try their ass off to justify every religious rules, from fasting and circumcision to not eating pork, with medical facts, is priceless! :)
Cheers!
Shomaal!
Today was hot, humid and beautiful. As I was doing my after-lunch-daily-promenade in the flower market, I had these weird feeling that I’m in “Shomal”, somewhere near “Khaane Daryaa” perhaps. I think the effect of biological clock was also worthy of mentioning. After all, years ago at this time, the exams were finished and we were ready to go there!
Dear Shomal! I’ve missed you so much.
Dear Shomal! I’ve missed you so much.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
This colleague of mine, who gave me and Sanam ride to Toronto, is a strange man. He drives aggressively and swears almost everybody in the road, yet very thoughtfully criticizes himself for being too aggressive and it goes on for the whole five hours from Montréal to Toronto and vice versa.
Once, when he was swearing the driver in front, for being too slow (and she was driving with the speed of almost 120 km/h!), he laughed at himself and said:
“Have you noticed that when you are in the road, those who’re driving slower than you are coward and stupid and those who’re driving faster, Maniacs? It seems that you are the only person who’s driving with the appropriate speed!
Once, when he was swearing the driver in front, for being too slow (and she was driving with the speed of almost 120 km/h!), he laughed at himself and said:
“Have you noticed that when you are in the road, those who’re driving slower than you are coward and stupid and those who’re driving faster, Maniacs? It seems that you are the only person who’s driving with the appropriate speed!
Bill Maher’s New rule
George Bush has to stop laughing at himself.
When your incompetence literally costs lives, giggling at it isn’t cute or funny.
When your incompetence literally costs lives, giggling at it isn’t cute or funny.
Revelations of the last remaining brain cell
Ladies,
We, men, have two organs in our body that consume hell a lot of blood. Our brain and our …well, you know. Unfortunately, there's always enough blood to run one at the time.
So, as long as we’re talking about eating and having fun and sex and how beautiful you are and stuff like that, you can consider the relationship as OK, but the moment we become philosophers, it simply means, we have all the blood we need in our brains, AKA, THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO BLOOD THERE!
So next time you hear “I’m at the point in my life where…”, “ I think I need more time to get to know my self…”, “ I have to focus on my career…”, “I'm looking for a more profound perception of life”, or craps like that, you have only two options,
either to accept that it’s over and move on, or keep on fooling yourself.
Either way, good luck!
We, men, have two organs in our body that consume hell a lot of blood. Our brain and our …well, you know. Unfortunately, there's always enough blood to run one at the time.
So, as long as we’re talking about eating and having fun and sex and how beautiful you are and stuff like that, you can consider the relationship as OK, but the moment we become philosophers, it simply means, we have all the blood we need in our brains, AKA, THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO BLOOD THERE!
So next time you hear “I’m at the point in my life where…”, “ I think I need more time to get to know my self…”, “ I have to focus on my career…”, “I'm looking for a more profound perception of life”, or craps like that, you have only two options,
either to accept that it’s over and move on, or keep on fooling yourself.
Either way, good luck!
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