January 11, 2002
The Last Post
Aaaah.... after lack of Blogger.com, now, i could post again.But, i'm not really sure could post lot again. I will go home next-day. It could be, Sunday or Monday, absulutely i should be at home in Tuesday. It's very hard going travel in a place which 900 km far about here. It's about 10 hour with executive train or 16 hour with usual train. Ahhh, but i loved to go home.
And so, this i think become my last post. I will going to Hajj next-month. I will prepare myself, my heart, my all for this journey. This preparation time, should be take a long time, a long journey, a long wisdom adventure i think. This, i will say good bye for temporary time. It's only take 2 month a half.
Okay, i hope we will meet again in next-April 2002. It's nice to be online. Thanks for all attention.
PS: Since this site published in this early year (January 1, 2002), now it exceed to 38 visits (included me in half of them). Let's see in 2,5 month later.
-Arif R. Widianto. (From Indonesia with Love)
Posted at 02:58 AM | Me and Myself
January 10, 2002
Ah, Monster
Ah, Monster!Do you ever imagining about monster? I has. Even, it's a kind of my own 'monster type'. I can't explain how is it shaped. But, it's true for me.
I think, everyone have it. Every culture shape it with different: type, size, and kind of monsters. In Japan, their monster is without foot, thin, ash-like (looks like Casper) but with robe. In Indonesia, monster is very ugly, big, unshaped-teeth, head with jerk-hair, etc. Almostly, bad is Indonesian kind of monster I think. In most European, i think is a kind of Vampire, unseen-thing, un-believable person, etc. Etc, etc. How about monster in internet era? yeah, it named hacker, cracker, and knut-maker :-) Geezzz...
And, this is really about the real monster i think. It's sure for kids.
- Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help
Niche Politic Site
Do you a kind of Primary Colors fave? If so, you should be fans of this site. By the way, this site also Webby Award winner for Politics category sites. Take a nice look, because, i think it is nice!PS: I'll write next i have some idea about this!
- Opensecrets.org--Money in politics data
January 09, 2002
Test Your Harry Book's Character
Are you Harry Potter fans? If not, that's not problem. Beside its phenomenon, Harry Potter is also a kind of globalisation character, and i like that. I read all four book which Ms. Rowling wrote.For that, i had a nice website that will let you know which character does met with you compared with one of the Harry Potter's book? There's also Sorting Hat Selector. Try it!
- Which type of characters does you met?
- Try also which house does the sorting hat let you in?
This was my results from characters, as always i picked to be housed in Gryffindor: # 1 Remus Lupin # 2 Gilderoy Lockhart # 3 Albus Dumbledore # 4 Fred/George Weasley # 5 Bill Weasley # 6 Ginny Weasley # 7 Neville Longbottom # 8 Rubeus Hagrid # 9 Charlie Weasley # 10 Minerva McGonagall # 11 Draco Malfoy # 12 Sirius Black # 13 Hermione Granger # 14 Percy Weasley # 15 Severus Snape # 16 Harry Potter # 17 Ron Weasley # 18 Voldemort
The Mean of New Euro
Euro new currency mean everything more than only new coins or bank notes. It's create a new 'hope' for its member. It's new idealism of their old neghboorhood communities after they seem theirself arrived too late in global awakening (read: US & Japan). And then, all seem worked, at least now. It seem, new hype of "power".About the power, does it will make new giant? We watch it.
Posted at 12:57 PM | Perspective
Lost Worlds
The Chronicle: 12/21/2001: Lost Worlds of Science FictionJanuary 07, 2002
Black history
Remember black history of the world? There are too many to mention. I could tell such as: Nazis, Stalin, Tiananmen, Pearl Harbor, Atomic Bom's Day, Sept 11, and many too mention for local black days like: May 13 in Indonesia, Sept 30 of 65, etc. I think each country has their own black days. It's means, every age creates their own dark days, instead of glory and victory era they bought. It's acceptable that we creates it, maintains it, blames it, and then forget it. Unfortunately, it repeated endlessly, like Vonnegut said in Timequake or Kundera in The Book of Laughter and Fogetting. We then-and-always just very confused to think what is wrong nor the truth as well. Just simple like that.By fogetting such above, this is an idea from CSMonitor discussing that:
Attention, civilization-watchers out there. Score one for the New World in its competition with the Old: 5,000-year-old Caral, Peru, confirmed last year as the oldest city in the Americas (see story), has pushed estimates for the beginning of civilizations in the Americas back another thousand years.
But there is a poignancy to the story of this lost civilization, which Peruvians will surely feel as they grasp the significance of the findings of their compatriot, the archaeologist Ruth Shady Solís.
Civilizations, alas, rise and fall. They learn, and then they forget - or they fail to teach what they know to their younger generations.
The shifting positions of competing civilizations can lead to wrenching dislocations of humanity - as Americans are learning as they struggle to answer President Bush's question after Sept. 11, "Why do they hate us?" The Middle Eastern civilizations named the stars and taught the world to count with their Arabic numerals, much more sensible than Roman numerals, awkward as square wheels. These peoples do not like to be looked down on by the West.
- How civilizations learn, or forget
Posted at 07:53 PM | Perspective
January 06, 2002
Design Divas to Explore
It's nice to know a little about designing web pages. As nice as telling the world of what you think in day. So you need improve your design skills? I found a nice web site created by Design divas (it's mean they are women, nice woman) that share us articles, tips, and tutorial about digital design. Take a look guy!- Digital Divas
Remembering Pearl Harbor
Remember Pearl Harbor? I'm sure all known that. Then, go far through September 11, 2001. Remember yet you about WTC attack?Pearl Harbor's attack has become a deceit day for American history. Robert B. Stinnett, an American WW II veteran wrote it on his book titled Day of Deceit. This book create a succesful argue for memory of history, especially for American. It was told that, US need a scenario to join war for peace, but their peoples is peace loving person. So, the script concludes to provoke Japanese govt to attack first, then they could blame it and have reason to declare (or joining war). This plan, as we knowing recent days, still success. They (US govt, Roosevelt, jointly with Navy) know-all about the attack. With a 'small price' to pay for that 'global empire' over which we now so ineptly preside, said Vidal below.
If they could do that in older days. Why they couldn't do it with yesterday, in Sept 11? The only thing to know is just backup reason, for ecomic, politic, or foreign policy? Let's share!
DAY OF DECEIT: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor "Many of us who are veterans of World War II's Pacific Theater of Operations have always suspected that the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was deliberately provoked. A half century later, Robert Stinnett has come up with most of the smoking guns. Day of Deceit shows that the famous 'surprise' attack was no surprise to our war-minded rulers, and that the three thousand American military men killed and wounded one Sunday morning in Hawaii were, to our rulers and their present avatars, a small price to pay for that 'global empire' over which we now so ineptly preside." -- Gore Vidal
January 05, 2002
Why Israel?
The question does come to my mind is, why so the world been scared with Israel? even United States? What key in does Israel have to lock US then they could bailed other foreign policy except their own? Why? What is it? Tell me! Tell me! Let's share!
Posted at 04:34 AM | Perspective
Israel’s gravest danger
Now wonder.........Israel’s gravest danger today is not the Palestinian Authority, or even Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but the one it faces from within. During the past year, peace activists have been “invited” to meetings with the secret service, where they are “warned” about their activities. The secret service routinely intercepts the e-mails of peace groups, and often obstructs solidarity meetings or protests in the West Bank by declaring whole regions “closed military zones.” For months, the Gaza Strip has been totally closed off to Israelis from the peace camp—including members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset—and only Jewish settlers, journalists and soldiers can now enter the region. The security forces’ ongoing attempts to frighten activists have surely affected the left, but their attack on civil liberties is only one manifestation of much broader social processes taking place within Israel.
Israeli intellectuals who criticize the government are often attacked, not only by the establishment inside Israel, but by its international proxies. Middle East Quarterly recently published an article titled “Israel’s Academic Extremists.” Written by “a watchdog team of researchers keeping an eye on Israel’s universities”—the actual author is not mentioned—the article goes after 20 Israeli professors (including this one) using lies and half-truths to defame and blacklist them.....
Neve Gordon teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University in Israel
- The Enemy Within: Israel’s gravest danger is not the Palestinians
January 04, 2002
Freshing up your life
Freshing up your life by reading selections of news and reviews from global media publishing. It's bored to read US' only news, doesn't it?- Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate
Why West?
Read this, it's quetly refreshing:By any reckoning, Islam has produced more contemporary fundamentalist movements than any other great religious tradition. Of course, it is inaccurate and wrongheaded to conclude that Islam is therefore inherently intolerant. Muslims have produced a variety of social practices and political cultures; both the Muslims of South Asia and the Muslims of Turkey, for example, have political cultures that differ from those of Arab Muslims. Any totalizing or essentialist description of Islam (Islam is always opposed to free markets, Islam is essentially socialist in nature) is bound to be misleading.and this one:
- Lingua Franca - November 2001 | Field Notes: The Fundamentalist Factor
The issue that has occupied macrohistorians over the past generation can be stated quite succinctly: Why Europe? Why did a relatively small and backward periphery on the western fringes of the Eurasian continent burst onto the world scene in the sixteenth century and by the nineteenth century become a dominant force in almost all corners of the earth? Until recently, two responses have dominated. The first is that something unique in the European past lay behind its eventual economic development and power. This something unique is often seen as a universal good—such as reason, freedom, or individualism—that first developed in Europe but ultimately relates, or should relate, to all human beings. The best-known recent study in this school is The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor (Norton) by the now emeritus Harvard historian David S. Landes.
- Lingua Franca - November 2001 | Cover Story: Why the West?
Posted at 05:38 PM | Perspective
January 03, 2002
The Capitalist Hole
Here is nice mind blowing:The Capitalist Threat - 97.02 faire capitalism and the spread of market values into all areas of life is endangering our open and democratic society. The main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat.
- George Soros, Soros Foundation 1997
Posted at 02:21 PM | Perspective
Update, Writing
I'd just added Writing page, this section will listed my published witings from the recent to the older. See it, hopefully you have some comments- Ciao from Arif
Posted at 08:36 AM | Me and Myself
Secret of the Press
As taken from Secret of the Press (Allen Lane, 1999) which there is an essay about book, it said that normally we could read only 50 books in a year for average. How low is it? Or too high? Otherwise, media normally published at least 3-6 reviews a week. So imagine that, we must read (3 x 52 =) 156 book in each years. That is for only one media! How if you read as much as papers you have (bought)? How much book does it should?It is true that there are many junk book appear in publishing world (with any various cases). Now I just found a website that help me sorting book. It's named Book Idea. How is it goes?
- Bookideas.com! Book reviews in all categories.
January 02, 2002
Do the Age of Muslim Wars Really There?
Huntington, the clash of civilisation's master, wrote an essay in Newsweek 2002 Special Edition. Is it truly agreeable? But, please, read it free in mind, openly i hope:Contemporary global politics is the age of Muslim wars. Muslims fight each other and fight non-Muslims far more often than do peoples of other civilizations. Muslim wars have replaced the cold war as the principal form of international conflict. These wars include wars of terrorism, guerrilla wars, civil wars and interstate conflicts. These instances of Muslim violence could congeal into one major clash of civilizations between Islam and the West or between Islam and the Rest. That, however, is not inevitable, and it is more likely that violence involving Muslims will remain dispersed, varied and frequent.and, this is at the last line:
The age of Muslim wars will end when its causes change or are changed. With the succession of generations, the intensity of Islamic consciousness may decline, as it clearly has in Iran. The resentment and hostility of Muslims toward the West could be reduced by changes in U.S. policies toward Israel. In the longer run, however, improvements in the social, economic and political conditions in Muslim countries would be necessary. Governments that fail to meet the basic welfare and economic needs of their peoples and suppress their liberties generate violent opposition to themselves and to Western governments that support them. So also do non-Muslim governments, like those of Russia, India and Israel, that attempt to control Muslim populations who prefer to be misruled by their own kind. While the disunity within Islam seems unlikely to abate significantly in the coming years, the demographic prospects are more optimistic. Birthrates in many Muslim countries have been going down, in the Balkans quite dramatically, but in some Muslim societies, including Saudi Arabia, they remain high. By the 2020s, however, the Muslim youth bulge will be shrinking. Conceivably, then, the age of Muslim wars could fade into history and be succeeded by a new era dominated by other forms of violence among the world’s peoples.Read complete version at: The Age Of Muslim Wars
Tech in Trouble
After wrote his idea about business at the speed of thougt, now, Bill gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, predicts that companies will look even more closely at the benefits of digital technology during a recession.Is it will be, or is it actually happening now? Take a look at his latest essay!
- Tech in a time of trouble
Posted at 05:02 AM | Technology
Damn-Fun Guys
These guys really damn-fun i think. There is communism era propaganda, comrades, stalin, nazis, and so many other. You'll jump haha-then with all Politburo :-) Hahaha....- .Grammarporn - Viva la revolucion!
Posted at 04:26 AM | Entertainment
World Factbook
It's great job had done by CIA. Read the research free.- CIA -- The World Factbook
The Mathematic Evil
Many, many, and many children said mathematic is devil than evil. Is it right? Surely, it was not wrong. So, if you think any different kind of mathic that will let our little buddy will fun, it should be make us happy.- The Magic of Math
Fight With Bruce Lee
Do you want to fight with Bruce Lee?
This is the place to do that, skop. com [Bruce Lee]
January 01, 2002
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!This is nice moment for some, bad luck for a few guys, and i think null-moment for some descent peoples. Some moment also happened to signing this new day:
#The 12th Euro country get chose their own currency. It's nice-great-experiment to create a new unborderless economic-state. It's also like a new bargaining position with bighead-currency such as dollar, pound and yen. We hope it'll not become bad-head too. #Indonesian goverment ruled special otonomy for provision Aceh of Indonesia. This is special days for all of country's people. Happy days for Acehnese, we love you all. #Happy damn-bullshit-asshole new Year for US after killing over 100 civilians in air strike.And, happy for Guardian. I hope you love it so! It has creepy news than US's based new!
Posted at 04:57 PM | Me and Myself
