A Bangladeshi-Chinese love affair

China’s importance is growing day by day in Bangladesh. It is emerging as Bangladesh’s largest trade and development partner. But it wasn't always that way.

It seems the people of Bangladesh no longer think of the negative role China played for the country in its War of Independence in 1971, when China supported Pakistan. Instead, they have accepted China as a great friend.
Imtiaz Ahmed is an analyst of international relations and a professor of Dhaka University. He says China's policy of not mixing politics with trade has helped the situation. He says today, people have forgotten about China's role in the 70s. "Now over the years, China has emerged as the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, it has surpassed even India for quite some years. And is heavily engaged in developing infrastructure, particularly bridges and highways. So I think there has been a radical transformation when it comes to Bangladesh and China's relationship in the last 30 to 35 years."
Tousia Islam is a student at Dhaka University and she is a great fan of China. She thinks China has a lot to offer Bangladeshi people. She says, "Chinese food is so popular here. The most popular thing of China I think is their electronics – they're very cheap and especially like mobile phones or mp3 players so popular in Bangladesh. I personally like one thing of China, that is  their social culture and their family bonding nature. Our country should have a more friendly relation with China because economically they are so developed, they are one of the biggest countries in the world and they are so friendly to all the neighboring countries."
China's image "very positive"
The Chinese have not only impressed the people of Bangladesh with their food and culture, but also with their advancements in science and technology. Young Bangladeshis want to learn from the Middle Kingdom and gain the same technical know-how. Journalist Arif Mahmud says these are the reasons China is welcome: "China has developed in science and technology in the world and especially in the Asia-Pacific region."
China and Bangladesh have come a long way since the 1970s. Now there is a Bangladesh-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Bangladesh China Friendship Society promotes cultural exchange.
Shahjahan Mirdha is the head of both organizations. He praises the two countries' historic ties and says China has always been important for Bangladesh, which is why "all the prime ministers and presidents of Bangladesh paid official visits to China – even Bangladesh's founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Now 70 percent of our imports come from China. Not only that, but Chinese martial arts and dragon dances are now popular in Bangladesh as well."
The Bangladesh government seems keen to avoid tensions with China. Last year, a photo exhibition on Tibet in Dhaka was closed by the authorities after complaints by the Chinese embassy.

Why Don't They Publish Us?

From The Guardian and The New York Times to The Washington Post and Reuters, I've submitted several op-ed pieces and articles to the world's mainstream media outlets and newspapers over the past years. All of my submissions were responded identically: "Rejected"!

Intrinsically, it's an ambition of every journalist to reach out to a greater audience, achieve more exposure, make progress and improve his portfolio. Putting aside the primary motive of being renowned as a reference of public attention, the journalist aims to elevate his own viewpoint and advertise the way he looks into different matters as a precise and rectified account. The journalist is primarily looking for ways to exalt his own interpretation of stories and inculcate the reader a supposedly reliable, accurate analysis of a certain incident which is presumably "what he believes".

Thinking of methods to expand his coverage, journalist's principal purpose is to get in touch with the global audiences, instruct them on the basis of his own mindset, advocate a certain philosophy and denounce the other scopes of thought. This is actually how the journalist accomplishes his mission regardless of his ideological and reflective belongingness.

The inherent mission of a journalist is to enlighten the public opinions, help them distinguish the right from wrong and encourage the value of critical thinking. Although the journalism of 21st century has become an instrumental mechanism of disseminating falsehood, launching black propaganda and psychological warfare, the foremost responsibility of a journalist is to tell the truth even at the cost of his own defeat.

Anyway, I haven't come this long way to advocate the principles and fundamentals of journalism and sermonize about the basis of ethnic journalism; neither have I come to enumerate the responsibilities of a decent journalist and itemize his duties in respect of the public opinions. What I would like to discuss is the reasons why "they" don't publish "us". So who are these "they" and who are those "us"?

"They" are the chained, corporate media outlets whose interests are intertwined with together. "They" are the news networks, websites, magazines and journals who are afraid of the other side of story, so "they" prefer to withhold it from the public or distort it the other way.

"They" are the media outlets who are wise enough to recognize the difference between "nuclear energy" and "nuclear bomb", and that's why they use them interchangeably while translating the speeches of Iranian President.

"They" are the media outlets who are courteous and considerate enough to refer to the American President as President Obama and call the Iranian President "the hardliner".

"They" are the media outlets who feel free to run the most insulting and offensive cartoons about the Prophet of Islam whom some 1.5 billion people around the world venerate and glorify, because the "freedom of speech" allows them to do so. Interestingly, the same "freedom of speech" disallows them to publish a cartoon questioning the veracity of holocaust or an interview with a German political prisoner who has been jailed for 7 years simply due to his "visa overstay"!

"They" are the media outlets who can ridicule a 70-million nation by calling them "terrorists" collectively. "They" are the media outlets who can equalize a divine religion with radical terrorism, simply because they're free to express whatever they think by the virtue of "freedom of expression". "They" are the media networks who can invite the government opponents in a Third World country to break out into the streets, vandalize the public properties and stage a color revolution, because they have the authority and influence to do so.

"They" are those who can disregard the massacre of 1300 Palestinians as "collateral damage" and conflate the vicious carnage of Gaza with Israel's right to self-defense. "They" are those who can't ever tolerate for Israel only five minutes of the disastrous incidents which the Palestinian people are undergoing.

"They" are those who are affluent enough to finance the Arab media outlets in the Middle East to drop the name "Persian" off the term "Persian Gulf" because they know that the magnificent civilization of Iran is interweaved with the honorable history of Persian Gulf and Iranians are sensitive about this.

So, who is this "us"? It is us, who can't turn a blind eye to the atrocities of a racist regime whose existence is hinged on killing, destroying and devastating. It's us, who can't keep silent, remain indifferent and unconcernedly tolerate the offensive massacre of Palestinian people in the most brutal way. It's us who can't digest the double standards of the hegemonic superpowers. Why should the United States who has dropped hundreds of nuclear bombs on the heads of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and seized the lives of millions of innocent people impose financial sanctions on Iran which is trying to develop nuclear energy for civilian purposes? What's the fault of millions of Iranian people who are in dire need of special types of medicine which should be imported from the European countries? It's us, who can't call these unilateral and crippling sanctions a respectful homage to the so-called virtue of human rights; if these medicines are not imported to the country, millions of "human beings" will be exposed to the risk of death; it's us who want to call the hegemonic powers to minimally respect the "human rights" which they've invented themselves.

It's "us", who don't classify people on the basis of their color, race, religion or nationality. We don't consider the black, impoverished Africans to be socially lower or less important than the sumptuous, well-off whites in the Northern Europe. We don't call the Muslims terrorist altogether simply because an irreligious, American-manufactured pawn named Osama Bin Laden carries out terrorist attacks all around the world. Who is unaware of the extensive relations between the families of George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden? Who can demonstrate that Bin Laden is a practicing Muslim? Who can demonstrate that he says prayers during the day and takes fast in the month of Ramadan? Who can rule out the possibility that Al-Qaeda is an American-funded group which is established to portray a brutal and inhuman image of the Muslims all around the world?

It's "us", who don't reiterate the obsolete threatening sentence of "all options are on the table". Unlike President Obama and his affiliated media outlets including, among others, Fox News and Voice of America we don't threaten any country of a nuclear strike and don't stage a propaganda project against any nation to demoralize them 24 hours a day.

There are countless differences between "they" and "us" and that's why they'll never publish something which is written by "us". The other side of story has to remain obscured and unrevealed routinely. It will not be a privilege for them to discuss something which is "out of context" or out of "popular interest", so it's not that much of a surprise to receive emails, telling us that "we receive many more submissions than we can publish; thank you this time, but we may regret that…"

In their eyes, our writings always contain a hoard of grammatical slips, factual errors, contextual deviations and whatever of the writing gaffes and inaccuracies you may visualize. That's why they don't publish us.

The World Has No Money, and the Emperor Has No Clothes

Most of us are aware of the very old fairly tale by Hans Christian Andersen in which two weavers promise an emperor the finest suit of clothes imaginable, but from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "just hopelessly stupid". Well, in the fairy tale it turns out that nobody wants to admit that they are "unfit" or "stupid", so when the emperor parades before his subjects in his imaginary new suit of clothes, it takes a child to cry out: "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" Well, many of us have been declaring that the world economy "has no clothes" for some time now, but when the anchor of NBC News declares it on national television it gets a bit more attention. During his recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, NBC's Brian Williams was asked about the world financial situation. His answer included this shocking statement: "The world has no money, and the Emperor has no clothes."

During the interview, it was readily apparent that Williams was honestly shaken up by what had happened last Thursday in the stock market. But who can blame him? After all, most of us who watch the markets were totally stunned when the stock market dropped almost 1000 points exactly in less than an hour.

Normally a network news anchor is much more guarded and is much more careful about what is revealed to the public. But on Letterman's show, Williams gave us a glimpse of what he really thinks about the world economic situation....

"If I wasn't a tad too close to this, I'd probably not leave the house. But that's how bad it is."



So why did the U.S. stock market plunge so rapidly last Thursday?

Well, many have blamed the episode on a "bad trade" or a "computer glitch". Others claim that the Greek debt crisis caused a brief panic. There are yet others who see something more insidious going on - such as Goldman Sachs seeking to remove their name from the financial headlines, or the Federal Reserve sending a message that S. 604 (the bill to audit the Federal Reserve) should not be passed.

The truth is that we will probably never know what actually caused the market to fall through the floor that afternoon.

But it did pave the way for more bailouts.

Over the weekend, European policy makers unveiled an unprecedented loan package worth almost $1 trillion and a program of bond purchases designed to stop the sovereign debt crisis that threatened to shatter confidence in the euro.

The Federal Reserve got into the act as well. Over the weekend the Fed promised to flood the international financial system with U.S. dollars. This was seen in the markets as a sign of "resolve" meant to keep doubt about the European economy from turning into a global crisis of confidence.

So on Monday, investors responded to these bailouts with exuberance. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 405 points that day, which was the average's biggest one day point gain since March 23rd, 2009.

But are more bailouts, more debt and a flood of paper money really something to celebrate?

No.

The truth is that debt and paper money that continually declines in value are some of the chief causes of the financial mess that the world is now in.

In fact, Congressman Ron Paul is warning that the European bailout that was just announced will just lead to even larger financial problems in the future....

And Ron Paul is right - all of these bailouts and all of this debt will eventually cause all of the major paper currencies (including the U.S. dollar) to collapse.

The funny thing about these bailouts is that they never seem to help the average people on the street. Just take a look at the U.S. economy. We are told that Wall Street has recovered and that things are getting back to normal, and yet more Americans than ever find themselves dependent on the U.S. government for their survival.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that 39.68 million people, or 1 out of every 8 Americans, were enrolled in the food stamp program during February, an increase of 260,000 from the previous month.

Nearly 40 million Americans on food stamps?

How in the world did that happen?

Once upon a time, the old timers would tell us that one day things would get so bad that we would all have to stand in bread lines.

Well, today food stamps are the new bread lines.

If you have to rely on the government for the very bread that you eat, what kind of a position does that put you in?

The truth is that the once great American middle class is allowing the system to slowly keep grinding them into oblivion.

Like never before in our lifetimes, wealth is being concentrated in the hands of the "lucky one percent", while the rest of us are rapidly being marginalized.

Do you ever stop to wonder why it seems like almost everyone is either broke or up to their eyeballs in debt?

That even goes for the major governments of the world. The U.S. government (the "wealthiest" nation on the globe) has piled up the biggest mountain of debt in world history.

You see, Brian Williams was actually chillingly accurate when he declared that "the world has no money".

So if the world doesn't have any money, then who does have it?

The international bankers.

But, shhhhh, don't tell anybody.

Just keep quietly clapping as the emperor walks down the street with no clothes on.

Russia To Become One of World’s Leading IT Trendsetters

Russia must become one of the world’s leading developers of IT technologies, President Dmitry Medvedev told the committee for modernization and technological development of the nation’s economy. The president also said that he was satisfied with the introduction of telecommunication systems of new generation in Russia.
“We do not have to invent a wooden bicycle in the field of communication standards. But if Russia could become a trendsetter in the field of IT technologies, it would be good. It is much more pleasant when the world lives on your standards than when you have to adjust to someone else’s standards,” he said.

Medvedev also said that the solution of such complicated problems as rescue operations, effective energy-saving and the work of the electronic government depends on the development of information technologies.

“The total income which 3G communication systems can give today may reach the number of $300 billion,” Medvedev said.

“Russia is currently modernizing its communication networks, provides high-sped access to information networks, introduces digital technologies and replaces outdated telephone stations with state-of-the-art communication systems,” the head of state said.

Most of the above-mentioned projects are conducted successfully, the president said. Medvedev also reminded that Russia successfully launched its first-ever Cyrillic .rf (.рф) national domain.

“I have just checked, the website президент.рф is up and running. The Cyrillic website of the government downloads too. The websites of other state departments will have Cyrillic domains ready this month. Commercial companies will be able to use Cyrillic domain names a bit later. Russia has become the first country in the world which obtained the national domain of the top level,” Medvedev said.

Ten Things All Women Hate about All Men

Have you ever thought something like “Men are terrible creatures.. They wage wars, start conflicts and then blame us for everything saying that all they do they do it for women. They demand impossible from women expecting them to do dishes, cook, work, and look like women on magazine covers. At the same time, men are incapable of doing anything they consider unpleasant. They behave as though it’s a man’s world, but do they have a right to it? What can a person demand if he is not capable of doing his own dishes? It turns out that even the most peaceful and loving wives feel this way once in a while. We conducted an opinion poll to find out what are the top pet peeves wives have about their husbands.


1. Selfishness

This one is the basis for all other faults since a selfish man is convinced it is his world, and you are entitled to follow him wherever he goes whether you want it or not.

The reality is not that bad. Of course, men can be selfish, but please understand them. They feel lonely because they cannot bear children. Men’s games for the right to be on top cause additional stress. It is not easy to keep trying to prove something to yourself and the world all life long, hence selfishness.

2. Indifference to the wife’s family

He is always ready to take care of his own family, but keeps telling you that your mother (sister, friend) does not know much about life. You can get offended or try proving that you relatives are, in fact, very bright people. But it is a waste of energy. Just tell him: “No matter what they are like, I still love them and they will always be a part of my life.” If he does not want to celebrate you grandma’s birthday, don’t be upset. You can party just fine without him.

3. Dirty dishes

Even clearing a plate can be a problem, let alone washing it. But in his family, his mother was the one who did dishes, and he expects the same from you. Even if you work 5 days a week and not 2 like his mother and hate doing dishes. Try leaving his dish unwashed after every meal. It will take him some time to notice, but he will.

4. Watching a soccer game at the maximum volume

Soccer is an “intellectual game” where 22 guys are catching one ball. The game seems more important to him than your peace and your kid’s sleep. At the very least this is the time when he is not to be bothered with any questions. But when you are watching a movie, he is entitled to ask silly questions every five minutes, and demand that the sound is off because he has a headache. To solve the issue, you should have two TVs and place the one intended for him in the kitchen or a den. This way, you will be able to enjoy your movie or sleep if the doors are shut.

5. Household helplessness

Men sometimes know better than their wives where things are stored. But for some reason it is the wives who have to look for their things because men are too busy. They cannot decide on their own which pair of socks to wear, they have to bug you. It would be easier to give him a special shelf or a closet where he can keep all his belongings. If he can’t find something, it’s not your problem. You know where your stuff is.

6. His belief that his work is more important

This one comes from fault number one. If a man suggests that something can be more important than his business, his world might collapse. Please be companionate as he is very dependent on the opinion of others. Do not pay attention to his comments (unless they are made in front of someone else). You know you are worthy.

7. His belief that women are bad drivers

Men have better concentration and faster reaction due to the level of testosterone in their bodies. Women have to spend more time practicing. But one day your spouse will understand that arrogance on the road is not good either.

8. His habit to embarrass you in front of others

It is always embarrassing when spouses criticize each other in front of other people. If your husband acts differently when you are alone, it has to do with his complexes and his desire to seem better than you. Discuss the issue with him. If he continues to criticize you, refuse to go out with him. Even the most stubborn man will sooner or later realize that it is not in his best interests.

9. When you leave on a business trip, he does all the chores with ease, but as soon as you come back, he pretends to be a helpless baby

When you come back from a trip, praise his talents and make him believe that a real man should be able to do everything, even dishes. Try to divide responsibilities equally. If you failed to do it in the beginning, continue praising him for every little thing he does.

10. Instead of doing something, he talks about it

This happens because he has to demonstrate his story-telling talent and avoid responsibility. Do not buy it. Listen to him respectfully and then say “See, you are so good at it, unlike me. Now you know that you are the only one who can handle the task.” If he still refuses to do the work, you are entitled to refuse to do your chores, too, for instance, cooking dinner. Why not?


linked from pravda.ru

Junk Food Develops Addiction to Drugs

For a long time scientists were puzzled with people’s addiction to junk food. Only recently, scientists from the Scripps Research institute in Florida discovered that foods high in calories can be as addictive as drugs. Doughnuts, hamburgers and chips contain a whole bouquet of addictive components.

Normally, obese people get very nervous when hungry. They remain nervous until they eat a pizza, hamburger or any other food high in calories and harmful for their health.

Feeling of being fool makes obese people relaxed and happy. When overweight people diet, they may feel continuous psychological discomfort despite of the lost weight.

Usually we judge these people saying they are weak-willed. Yet, junk food is a necessity for them, not a whim. Of course, no one adds drugs into food. Salt, sugar and fat contained in most junk food stimulate production of endorphins, hormones of happiness, in our body.

If junk food is consumed on a regular basis, our body starts demanding it in larger quantities, same as drug addicts require bigger dosages of cocaine or heroin. Obese people cannot help but stop at a fast food joint or eat two desserts instead of one.

In the course of the experiment, Paul Kenny, head of research, used three groups of lab rats. The first group was fed regular portions of healthful food, the second group was fed limited amounts of junk food, and the third group was given high-calorie foods including fatty meats, cookies, chocolate and donuts.

The rats in the first two groups displayed no changes, while the rats in the third group quickly gained weight.

The scientists used electrical stimulations to activate pleasure centers in the rats' brains. They discovered that the rats fed junk food needed more food, indicating that they needed more stimulation to feel good. The researchers suggested the same happens to people.

Paul Kenny said that copious amounts of junk food make people lose control, which is the main sign of addiction.

"This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neurobiological underpinnings," said study coauthor Paul Johnson.

It has been proven long time ago that there is addiction to sweets. Many confess that they cannot live without candy or other sweets. When these people remove sugar from their diet for a couple of days, they become depressed.

Recently, scientists from the Princeton Neuroscience Institute conducted an experiment where they daily fed lab rats with sugar, increasing the dosage. When sugar was removed from the rats’ diet, they showed signs of withdrawal. It turned out that, among other things, sugar had a calming effect.

Why are some people more addicted than others?

First of all, it is all individual. Some people gain weight after eating a sandwich, while others can eat all they want without gaining any weight.

Second, the reasons that make us consume junk food matter . People eat sweets when they are not happy with something. Children who have difficulties building relationships with other kids or feel under-loved often develop a sweet tooth.

Adults eat when they are stressed because sweets can alleviate stress. When we feel relived eating sweets it is a sure sign we will use the same stress reliever next time. Later, we will need a double portion to feel good.

Seek alternative ways of stress-relief, watch your kids and do not shy away from therapists – this will help to avoid junk food addiction.

The Biggest Ecological Disaster - and a Warning

The day April 20, 2010 will certainly mark the biggest environmental disaster of all time, when the oil extraction platform Deepwater Horizon, BP, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and injuring 17. The deepwater platform operated at 1500 meters below sea level, about three times less than the depth of our pre-salt, and just 60 km from the coast of the State of Louisiana.

The National Guard of the United States estimates the spill at 5,000 barrels (159 liters) of oil daily, although dissenting voices, based on the video of the site, circulated only on May 13, estimate that it could be 12 times higher.

The huge oil slick following the direction of the Mississippi River Delta, and small quantities of oil reached the coast of the States of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi on May 3.

Satellite images permit precisely assessing the extent of the calamity. The NASA ASTER satellite captured night images of the increasing spill on the 7th of May. The thermal photographs cover an area measuring 60 by 240 km, mostly over the Gulf of Mexico.

A new NASA satellite photo shows the extent of the growing oil slick in the Gulf, the ASTER image covers an area measuring 79.1 by 103.9 kilometers, about 32 km of the Mississippi Delta.

National Guard helicopters from the United States throw sand bags on the beach west of Grand Isle, Louisiana, in an attempt to protect delicate wetlands from the oil slick that is approaching.

There are 13 000 officials of BP, government and other companies involved in containment work and attempting to stop the leak. From the beginning response to the incident, 120 flights to dump dispersants were made so far, and 97 million barrels, according to BP, were recovered. Just two days after the accident, the company said there were more than 530 vessels in operation, including the C-130 Hercules aircraft pouring dispersants on the affected areas.

The total length of barrier buoys thrown overboard to try to prevent oil from reaching the coast is, so far, 1.2 million feet, more than 400,000 feet of buffer for immediate use.

The cost of operations, until May 13, reached $450 million, and given the estimated time for resolving the problem - up to 80 days - will go much beyond this figure, especially estimated environmental damage.

The pre-salt here is imagined in much greater depth, 300 km from the coast, and the cost of any eventual similar accident. Oh, it is fit to ask, time to put a hand in the pocket: the royalty serves to compensate the losses, but states would bear the incalculable costs? It would be very prudent for the government create a substantial contingency fund for a similar event.

In fact, such a great distance from the coast, it's not possible to speak in the States, but in Brazilian territorial waters, and point.