Friday, February 6

Master's degrees are as common now as bachelor's degrees were in the '60s

Kannu
This was a very interesting article, albeit from the perspective of USA.


http://www.vox.com/2014/5/20/5734816/masters-degrees-are-as-common-now-as-bachelors-degrees-were-in-the-60s

Two graphs tell the story. I couldn't copy the 2 graphs, but the graph which shows the popularity of the subjects in 2012 is good, shows that business degrees are great. Also another graph clearly indicates that the masters degree student will earn more than a bachelor's degree.

Screen_Shot_2014-05-20_at_2.42.36_PM[1] Screen_Shot_2014-05-20_at_2.02.07_PM[1]


Also fascinating is the rate of growth. I couldn't believe my eyes when i read that law enforcement and leisure/fitness studies are the fastest growing segments. Ok, so they might be growing from a very low base. I can understand law enforcement as it becomes more and more granular, scientific, technology based. But leisure/fitness studies? And that too a masters degree? Bloody hell. Very strange.


No wonder people in that area aren't getting proper jobs, i wonder what are the earnings of a masters in bloody fitness studies gets compared to an MBA>?


I have copied Diya in here, she is still a bit young, but she may like to know this as well..


Love
Baba

Thursday, February 5

'Why I Resist

I'm going to get this book son. Fascinating. Not the finest hour for the USA. And as I keep in saying, we don't learn. We have Islamist terrorism and every Muslim is under suspicion with civil liberties under threat. 

Love

Baba

'Why I Resist' - PageView - The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/blogs/pageview/why-i-resist/31595

In May 1942, in the wake of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Gordon K. Hirabayashi had no doubt that the United States government was acting unconstitutionally in imposing curfews, loyalty oaths, and mass removal and internment on Japanese-Americans living along the West Coast.

So Hirabayashi, then a University of Washington student, defied two orders—one imposing curfews, another requiring anyone officials deemed a possible enemy to fill out a “loyalty questionnaire.” For that he was arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned.

He appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1943, it ruled against him. In 1987, via a rarely used legal doctrine, the high court overturned his conviction.

Hirabayashi’s stance made him a household name in Japanese-American circles, and among civil-rights advocates, more generally. As a result, his struggle and case have been analyzed every which way—but one.

It has not been, until A Principled Stand: The Story of Hirabayashi v. United States, that readers have had access to Hirabayashi’s reflections at the time of his resistance.

The novelty of the book, says one of its compilers, Hirabayashi’s nephew, Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, is that it reveals what was going through the mind of an exceptionally principled university student subjected to enormous pressure to toe a line. It is composed of Hirabayashi’s youthful writings in letters and a large trove of notebooks. Those came to light when the project first began, fully 20 years ago. Now, the book, just out from the University of Washington Press, may be the last piece of an infamous passage in American civic and legal history.

Wednesday, February 4

Why the Passenger Pigeon Became Extinct

This is a curious if a bit saddening story kids. Man is truly the most destructive species on the planet. This is a cautionary tale of how we are driving the planetary Eco system to destruction. Slowly and surely the natural world is being compressed heavily. Polluted to kingdom come. Over fishes. Over mined. Over engineered. 

One day literally we will end up with a blighted world. Not a fun thing. That's why kids, make sure that you reduce, reuse and recycle. And try to make sure that your footprint is low. It helps :) 

But I still hate the bloody pigeons. 

Love

Baba

Jonathan Rosen: Why the Passenger Pigeon Became Extinct
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2014/01/06/140106crbo_books_rosen

Tuesday, February 3

Pakistan needs to delve deep to fight terrorism

IMG_8912

after the Peshawar attack, I remembered that I had some books on this area..and this one in particular jumped to my mind, its a wee bit old, about 8-10 years, but still broadly accurate, it lists the major jehadi organisations in the country. the details of the groups, the financing, the real estate footprint, the wide-spread foot soldiers and sympathisers, the ideologies and state support. it is bloody worrisome. Pakistan is showing good signs of tackling this but you have to know the enemy..

 IMG_8913 IMG_8914 IMG_8915 IMG_8916

check out the sheer diversity of terrorist groups there, and yes I know there are many more in India, but Indian terrorism has much wider, different and more historical backgrounds..and its diffused, but Pakistan has existential issues here…she has focussed groups committed to overthrow or amend the population. And it doesnt have the functioning democracy (its doing great by the way, but from a low starting point) that other countries had…

tough times.

Monday, February 2

A new crop of rose perfumes

Son

Now for something totally different. I know you like your aftershaves and deodorants. That's ok.
But you know I don't. Specially after I stopped smoking. The sense of smell is one of the least appreciated or used. Think about it. When did you last use this sense to make a proper decision? Besides food or drink if at that.

Very rarely son. So that's why I don't put any deodorant or aftershave. Going to new places or new buildings or meeting new people or new trains or new shops. New as in new to me. Not new as in fresh. And draw in a sharp breath. Let it roll around the back of your nose and throat. Close your eyes and think of what memories or images does it bring?

Somebody once spotted me doing this and I said that I was count snifferu. Try it out son. Sniff people. Discreetly of course.  Otherwise people will think you are perving. It enriches your experience of life son. Have you smelled trees? Forget flowers. But trees? Why not?

How about books? Old books smells are lovely. I used to love sleeping with you in the crook of my arm and would sniff and sniff the lovely cute beautiful baby smell you had.

Oh another thing. When you have your girlfriend, son, explore her with your nose. The usual body aromas interact with the lovely perfumes that women wear and that shows up in the most amazing and fascinating aromas. The hair the ear the neck the arms all have a slightly but significantly different smell. And do you know that their aromas change over the day and when their emotions change? Know your woman son. It's a never ending source of fascination and desire :) the scent of a woman :)


Love

Baba

I saw this article when using the Financial Times app and thought you might be interested:
Financial Times,
A new crop of rose perfumes
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By Jim Shi
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Today’s more sophisticated scents have little in common with the traditional rosewater that might come to mind