Category: Here & There

Hypocrisy: The Vice Of Vices

The hypocrite’s crime is that he bears false witness against himself. What makes it so plausible to assume that hypocrisy is the vice of vices is that integrity can indeed exist under the cover of all other vices except this one. Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core.

~ Hannah Arendt, On Revolution, 1963

Volvo’s New Crash-Proof Car

Swedish car-maker Volvo has come up with a crash-proof family car which should go on sale in the autumn of this year.

The car’s secret is a laser-guidance system to spot vehicles in front that are too close or stopping suddenly. When it does, the car will automatically stop to avoid a crash.

The CitySafety system, as it is called, kicks in at speeds of up to 20mph and is designed for urban driving. Volvo say that the system has the potential to prevent half of all rear-end collisions, that make up 29 per cent of all reported car accidents..

The laser sensor is built into the windscreen and reacts to traffic in front of the car that is either stationary or moving in the same direction.

It scans up to six yards ahead and, sensing the difference in speed between it and a vehicle in front, it makes 50 calculations a second to determine the braking force needed to avoid crashing.

If the driver fails to slow down, the system brakes automatically and disables the accelerator.

The system will be a standard option in the XC60 car, that has a price tag starting from

Does Marriage Tame Genius?

An interesting study from New Zealand says it does…

Creative genius and crime express themselves early in men but both are turned off almost like a tap if a man gets married and has children, a study says.

Satoshi Kanazawa, a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, compiled a database of the biographies of 280 great scientists, noting their age at the time when they made their greatest work.

[…]

Within five years of making their nuptial vows, nearly a quarter of married scientists had made their last significant contribution to history’s hall of fame.

“Scientists rather quickly desist (from their careers) after their marriage, while unmarried scientists continue to make great scientific contributions later in their lives,” says Dr Kanazawa.

[Source: ABC News]

Well, I’m not really sure about that, I don’t think it tames genius or turns off the tap as the study says. I just think that in many cases being a researcher or a pioneer in something doesn’t really pay well enough, and with the person’s new obligations, they prefer to take on something more financially rewarding instead of something more professionally/scientifically rewarding.

In the end, I think it boils down to the person’s nature and personality, whether they’re the kind that takes risks and puts everything on the line for their purpose or whether they’re the kind that takes the safe way to financial stability.

The World’s Richest Arabs

ArabianBusiness.com have just released a list of the world’s 50 richest Arabs.
Most of them are from the gulf region, mainly Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates; with the rest divided among Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq and one person from Jordan.
No one from the Arab Maghreb is anywhere to be seen on the list.

Here are the Top 10 sorted by net worth:

1. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud (Saudi Arabia): US$ 29.5 Billion
2. The Al Rajhi Family (Saudi Arabia): US$ 24 Billion
3. The Hariri Family (Lebanon): US$ 17.8 Billion
4. Nasser Al Kharafi (Kuwait): US$ 12 Billion
5. Maan Al Sanea (Saudi Arabia): US$ 10 Billion
6. Mohammad Al Amoudi (Saudi Arabia): US$ 9.2 Billion
7. The Bin Laden Family (Saudi Arabia): US$ 8.5 Billion
8. Abdulaziz Al Ghurair (United Arab Emirates): US$ 8 Billion
9. The Olayan Family (Saudi Arabia): US$ 7.2 Billion
10. The Sawiris Family (Egypt): US$ 6.2 Billion

Check the full list and more details here: Arabian Business Rich List 2007

Aquaduct Mobile Filtration Vehicle

The results of the Innovate or Die competition, which challenged inventors to evaluate environmental issues and develop ingenious solutions surrounding climate change using pedal based machines, have recently been announced.

Team Aquaduct was declared the winner out of 102 entries by utilizing the human ability to pedal to bring an easy and effective solution and lots of hope to people in the developing world who struggle daily to gather, transport, filter, and store clean drinking and cooking water.

A peristaltic pump attached to the pedal crank draws water from a large tank, through a carbon filter, to a smaller clean tank. The clean tank is removable and closed for contamination-free home storage and use. A clutch engages and disengages the drive belt from the pedal crank, enabling the rider to filter the water while traveling or while stationary.

Aquaduct is the creation of Adam Mack, Brian Mason, John Lai, Paul Silberschatz, and Eleanor Morgan. The quintet will share the $5,000 grand prize, and each will receive a Specialized Globe bicycle

Saudi Arabia To Lift Driving Ban On Women

Finally…

Saudi Arabia is to lift the ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the kingdom.

Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year.

The move is designed to forestall protests for greater freedom by women, which have recently included campaigners driving cars through the kingdom in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods.

“There has been a decision to move on this by the Royal Court because it is recognised that if girls have been in schools since the 1960s, they have a capability to function behind the wheel when they grow up,” a government official said. “We will make an announcement soon.”

[Source: Gulf News]

I never understood why women were banned from driving in the first place; I can’t imagine there being any sound logic behind it.

All my respect goes out to the Saudi women who brought on this change by defying the ban and pushing for their rights.

Muslim Athlete Disqualified Over Uniform

Another stupid act by some school over a Muslim girl’s choice of clothes…

… Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia’s Theodore Roosevelt High School, has the fastest mile and 2-mile times of any girl runner in the city this winter. She was disqualified from Saturday’s Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet.

Kelly was wearing the same uniform she has worn for three seasons while running for Theodore Roosevelt’s cross-country and track teams. The custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard covers her head, arms, torso and legs. Over the unitard, she wears the same orange and blue T-shirt and shorts as her teammates.

The outfit allows her to compete while adhering to her Muslim faith…

[…]

[M]eet director Tom Rogers said Kelly’s uniform violated rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations, which sanctioned the event. Uniforms are required to be “a single-solid color and unadorned, except for a single school name or insignia no more than 2 1/4 inches,” he said.

[Source: Yahoo! News]

Flexibility, Freedom, Respect, Understanding… These are all words that seem to be missing from these people’s dictionaries and vocabularies.

Such a big fuss over some non-issue. Just be and let be for God’s sake.