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Tag Archives: Kashmir
Dr. Muhammad Reza Kazimi: U.S. – Pakistan Relations: The Downside
Schoolgirls and women are coming out to throw stones. The Kashmir situation has never been so bad …
Since Washington has started an inter-agency review of U.S. funding and support to Pakistan, as stated by the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson1, it is about time that a Pakistani re-appraisal takes place. Since Pakistan doesn't have a Foreign Minister, perforce our appraisal shall also have to be inter-agency. To begin that process, it is necessary to set the record straight. In the latest development, an Indo-U.S. Joint Statement has designated Kashmiri freedom-fighter Syed Salahuddin, a global terrorist.2 So once again there are three main issues between the United States and Pakistan: (1) Kashmir, (2) Terror and (3) Nuclear Proliferation. All three are underpinned by the presence of 2 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. First, let's come to terror. In the House Foreign Affairs Committee addressed by the Secretary of State, Congressman Dona Rohrabacher said: "Pakistan is acknowledged by most of the people I've dealt with, as the source of terrorism in that part of the world."3
We cannot determine the source of terrorism, without fixing the origin of terrorism, Hilary Clinton, while Secretary of State, had admitted to the role her country had played by stating: "The problems we face now, to some extent we have to take responsibility for having contributed to it….the people we are fighting today, we funded them twenty-five years ago."4 What Hilary Clinton was referring to was the U.S. resistance to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The U.S. needed Pakistan as a front- line state, in order to combat the U.S.S.R. troops using the Afghan refugees in the first instance to commit acts of terror in the invaded country. Pakistan was adjacent to Afghanistan India the apple of the U.S. Congress' eye was not. This was a strategic consideration. Continue reading →
Filed under Discussion, India, Pakistan, Trump, United States
Tagged as Development, Discussion, Kashmir, Kashmire, Pakistan-India Ties, Pakistan-U.S. Ties, PIIA, Politics, South Asia, Taliban, Terrorism
Pakistan-India Dialogue: Aziz Ahmad Khan Addresses PIIA Members
India urged to begin dialogue, adopt comprehensive approach
KARACHI, coverage by Peerzada Salman, Dawn 10 October: There's a need for India to resume the dialogue process with Pakistan adopting a comprehensive approach. Militancy in Indian held Kashmir cannot be resolved if the Kashmir issue is not resolved. It won't be surprising if organisations such as self-styled IS find their way into certain sections of Kashmir. These were some of the points made by Aziz Ahmad Khan, former high commissioner of Pakistan to India, while speaking at the acclaimed Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) on the current state of relations between India and Pakistan at the PIIA office on Saturday. Mr Khan conceded at the beginning of his talk that he was attempting it with a bit of trepidation because it was a subject that everybody knew quite extensively about. So, he said, he would begin by speaking on what India was today compared to a few years back. He said the current prime minister of the country, Narendra Modi, won a clear majority in the general elections, before which there was a hung parliament and people were fed up with it.
Moreover, he said Modi had the image of a go-getter and his economic development agenda caught the electorate's imagination. When he was the chief minister of Gujarat, there was economic growth in the province.The corporate sector was with him as was the media, which was controlled by the corporations. All these factors helped him win the elections beyond expectation, he said. Since governing a state was different from governing a country, now the sheen was coming off as his economic agenda had not delivered. Continue reading →
Filed under BJP, Disarmament, Discussion, Events, India, ISIS, Pakistan Horizon, PIIA
Tagged as Democracy, Discussion, Kashmir, Pakistan-India Ties, Politics, Terrorism


Meaning and origin of the Italian baby name Geremia. Meaning of Geremia. What does Geremia mean? Geremia origin. Information about Geremia.
Meaning of Geremia: Italian form of Jerome 'sacred'.
Meaning of Geremia, Information about First Name Geremia, Italian Origin Names, Choose babynames from thousunds of names data base from various regions and coutries.


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The culture of Iran () or culture of Persia is among the most influential in the world. Iran (Persia) is widely considered to be one of the cradles of civilization. Due to its dominant geopolitical position in the world, it has heavily influenced peoples and cultures situated as far away as Southern Europe and Eastern Europe to the west; Central Asia to the north; the Arabian Peninsula to the south; and South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia to the east. Iranian history has had a significant impact on the world through art, architecture, poetry, science and technology, medicine, philosophy, and engineering.

An eclectic cultural elasticity has been said to be one of the key defining characteristics of the Iranian identity and a clue to its historical longevity. Richard N. Frye, a prominent Iranologist, stresses the high-level historical impact of Iranian culture in his 2005 book Greater Iran: A 20th-century Odyssey:

 "Iran's glory has always been its culture."

Furthermore, Iran's culture has manifested itself in several facets throughout the history of the Iranian Plateau as well as of the South Caucasus, Central Asia, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia.

Art

Iran has one of the oldest, richest and most influential art heritages in the world which encompasses many disciplines including literature, music, dance, architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and stonemasonry.

Iranian art has gone through numerous phases, which is evident from the unique aesthetics of Iran. From the Elamite Chogha Zanbil to the Median and Achaemenid reliefs of Persepolis to the mosaics of Bishapur.

The Islamic Golden Age brought drastic changes to the styles and practice of the arts. However, each Iranian dynasty had its own particular foci, building upon the previous dynasty's, all of which during their times were heavily influential in shaping the cultures of the world then and today.

Language

Several languages are spoken throughout Iran. Languages from the Iranian, Turkic, and Semitic language families are spoken across Iran. According to the CIA Factbook, 78% of Iranians speaks an Iranian language as their native tongue, 18% speak a Turkic language as their native tongue and 2% speak a Semitic language as their native tongue while the remaining 2% speak languages from various other groups. Although the Azerbaijanis speak a Turkic language, due to their culture, history and genetics, they are often associated with the Iranian peoples.

The predominant language and national language of Iran is Persian, which is spoken fluently across the country. Azerbaijani is spoken primarily and widely in the northwest, Kurdish and Luri are spoken primarily in the west, Mazandarani and Gilaki spoken in the regions along the Caspian Sea, Arabic primarily in the Persian Gulf coastal regions, Balochi primarily in the southeast, and Turkmen primarily in northern border regions. Smaller languages spread in other regions notably include Talysh, Georgian, Armenian, Assyrian, and Circassian, amongst others.

Ethnologue estimates that there are 86 Iranian languages, the largest among them being Persian, Pashto, and the Kurdish dialect continuum with an estimated 150–200 million native speakers of the Iranian languages worldwide. Dialects of Persian are sporadically spoken throughout the region from China to Syria to Russia, though mainly in the Iranian Plateau.

Literature

The literature of Iran is one of the world's oldest and most celebrated literatures, spanning over 2500 years from the many Achaemenid inscriptions, such as the Behistun inscription, to the celebrated Iranian poets of the Islamic Golden Age and Modern Iran. Iranian literature has been described as one of the great literature's of humanity and one of the four main bodies of world literature. Distinguished Professor L.P. Elwell-Sutton described the literature of the Persian language as "one of the richest poetic literatures of the world".

Very few literary works of pre-Islamic Iran have survived, due partly to the destruction of the libraries of Persepolis by Alexander of Macedon during the era of the Achaemenids and subsequent invasion of Iran by the Arabs in 641, who sought to eradicate all non-Quranic texts. This resulted in all Iranian libraries being destroyed, books either being burnt or thrown into rivers. The only way that Iranians could protect these books was to bury them but many of the texts were forgotten over time. As soon as circumstances permitted, the Iranians wrote books and assembled libraries.

Iranian literature encompasses a variety of literature in the languages used in Iran. Modern Iranian literature includes Persian literature, Azerbaijani literature, Kurdish literature and the literature of the remaining minority languages. Persian is the predominant and official language of Iran and throughout Iran's history, it has been the nation's most influential literary language. The Persian language has been often dubbed as the most worthy language of the world to serve as a conduit for poetry. Azerbaijani literature has also had a profound effect on Iran's literature with it being developed highly after Iran's first reunification in 800 years under the Safavid Empire, whose rulers themselves wrote poetry. There remain a few literary works of the extinct Iranian language of Old Azeri that was used in Azerbaijan prior to the linguistic Turkification of the people of the region. Kurdish literature has also had a profound impact on the literature of Iran with it incorporating the various Kurdish dialects that are spoken throughout the Middle East. The earliest works of Kurdish literature are those of the 16th-century poet Malaye Jaziri.

Some notable greats of Iranian poetry which have had major global influence include the likes of Ferdowsi, Sa'di, Hafiz, Attar, Nezami, Rumi and Omar Khayyam. These poets have inspired the likes of Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and many others.

Contemporary Iranian literature has been influenced by classical Persian poetry, but also reflects the particularities of modern-day Iran, through writers such as Houshang Moradi-Kermani, the most translated modern Iranian author, and poet Ahmad Shamlou.

Music

Iranian music has directly influenced the cultures of West Asia, Central Asia, Europe and South Asia. It has mainly influenced and built up much of the musical terminology of the neighboring Turkic and Arabic cultures, and reached India through the 16th-century Persianate Mughal Empire, whose court promoted new musical forms by bringing Iranian musicians.

Iran is the place of origin of complex instruments, with the instruments dating back to the third millennium BC. A number of trumpets made of silver, gold, and copper were found in eastern Iran that are attributed to the Oxus civilization and date back between 2200 and 1750 BC. The use of both vertical and horizontal angular harps have been documented at the archaeological sites of Madaktu (650 BC) and Kul-e Fara (900–600 BC), with the largest collection of Elamite instruments documented at Kul-e Fara. Multiple depictions of horizontal harps were also sculpted in Assyrian palaces, dating back between 865 and 650 BC.

The reign of Sassanian ruler Khosrow II is regarded as a "golden age" for Iranian music. Sassanid music is where many the many music cultures of the world trace their distant origins to. The court of Khosrow II hosted a number of prominent musicians, including Azad, Bamshad, Barbad, Nagisa, Ramtin, and Sarkash. Among these attested names, Barbad is remembered in many documents and has been named as remarkably high skilled. He was a poet-musician who developed modal music, may have invented the lute and the musical tradition that was to transform into the forms of dastgah and maqam. He has been credited to have organized a musical system consisting of seven "royal modes" (xosrovāni), 30 derived modes (navā), and 360 melodies (dāstān).

The academic classical music of Iran, in addition to preserving melody types that are often attributed to Sassanian musicians, is based on the theories of sonic aesthetics as expounded by the likes of Iranian musical theorists in the early centuries of after the Muslim conquest of the Sasanian Empire, most notably Avicenna, Farabi, Qotb-ed-Din Shirazi, and Safi-ed-Din Urmawi.

Dance

Iran has a rich and ancient dance culture which extends to the sixth millennium BC. Dances from ancient artifacts, excavated at the archaeological pre-historic sites of Iran, portray a vibrant culture that mixes different forms of dances for all occasions. In conjunction with music, the artifacts depicted actors, dancers and ordinary people dancing in plays, dramas, celebrations, mourning and religious rituals with equipment such as costumes of animals or plants, masks and surrounding objects. As time progressed, this culture of dance began to develop and flourish.

Iran is a multi-ethnic nation. Although the cultures of its ethnic groups are very similar and in most areas near identical, each has their own distinct and specific dance style. Iran possesses four categories of dance with these being: group dances, solo improvisational dance, war or combat dances and spiritual dances.

Typically, the group dances are often unique and named after the region or the ethnic groups with which they are associated with. These dances can be chain dances involving a group or the more common group dances mainly performed at festive occasions like weddings and Noruz celebrations which focus less on communal line or circle dances and more on solo improvisational forms, with each dancer interpreting the music in her own special way but within a specific range of dance vocabulary sometimes blending other dance styles or elements.

Solo dances are usually reconstructions of the historical and court dances of the various Iranian dynasties throughout history, with the most common types being that of the Safavid and Qajar dynasties due to them being relatively newer. These often are improvisational dances and utilize delicate, graceful movements of the hands and arms, such as wrist circles.

War or Combat dances, imitate combat or help to train the warrior. It could be argued that men from the Zurkhaneh ("House of Strength") and their ritualized, wrestling-training movements are known as a type of dance called "Raghs-e-Pa" with the dances and actions done in the Zurkhaneh also resembling that of a martial art.

Spiritual dances in Iran are known as "sama". There are various types of these spiritual dances which are used for spiritual purposes such as ridding the body of ill omens and evil spirits. These dances involve trance, music and complex movements. An example of such dance is that of the Balochi's called "le'b gowati", which is performed to rid a supposedly possessed person of the possessing spirit. In the Balochi language, the term "gowati" refers to psychologically ill patients who have recovered through music and dance.

The earliest researched dances from Iran is a dance worshiping Mithra, the Zoroastrian angelic divinity of covenant, light, and oath, which was used commonly by the Roman Cult of Mithra. One of the cult's ceremonies involved the sacrifice of a bull followed by a dance that promoted vigor in life. The Cult of Mithra were active from the 1st century CE to the 4th century CE and worshiped a mystery religion inspired by the Iranian worship of Mithra. It was a rival of Christianity in the Roman Empire and was eventually suppressed in the 4th century CE by Roman authorities in favor of Christianity. This was done in order to counter the greater Iranian cultural influence that was expanding throughout the Roman empire. The cult was highly adhered and respected throughout the Roman Empire with it center in Rome, and was popular throughout the western half of the empire, as far south as Roman Africa and Numidia, as far north as Roman Britain, and to a lesser extent in Roman Syria in the east.

Architecture

The history of Iranian architecture dates back to at least 5,000 BC with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Turkey and Iraq to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the South Caucasus and Zanzibar. Currently, there are 19 UNESCO designated World Heritage Sites that were designed and constructed by Iranians, with 11 of them being located outside of Iran. Iranian architecture displays a great variety of both structure and aesthetics and despite the repeated trauma of destructive invasions and cultural shocks, the Iranian zeal and identity has always triumphed and flourished. In turn, it has greatly influenced the architecture of its invaders from the Greeks to the Arabs to the Turks.

The traditional theme of Iranian architecture is cosmic symbolism, which depicts the communication and participation of man with the powers of heaven. This theme has not only given continuity and longevity to the architecture of Iran, but has been a primary source of its emotional character of the nation as well. Iranian architecture ranges from simple structures to "some of the most majestic structures the world has ever seen".

Iranian architectural style is the combination of intensity and simplicity to form immediacy, while ornament and, often, subtle proportions reward sustained observation. Iranian architecture makes use of abundant symbolic geometry, using pure forms such as the circle and square, and plans are based on often symmetrical layouts featuring rectangular courtyards and halls. The paramount virtues of Iranian architecture are: "a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in vault and dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivaled in any other architecture".

The traditional architecture of Iran throughout the ages is categorized into two families and six following classes or styles. The two categories are Zoroastrian and Islamic, which references the eras of pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Iran, and the six styles, in order of their era, are: Parsian, Parthian Khorasani, Razi, Azari, Esfahani. The pre-Islamic styles draw on 3000 to 4000 years of architectural development from the various civilizations of the Iranian plateau. The post-Islamic architecture of Iran in turn, draws ideas from its pre-Islamic predecessor, and has geometrical and repetitive forms, as well as surfaces that are richly decorated with glazed tiles, carved stucco, patterned brickwork, floral motifs, and calligraphy.

In addition to historic gates, palaces, bridges, buildings and religious sites which highlight the highly developed supremacy of the Iranian art of architecture, Iranian gardens are also an example of Iran's cosmic symbolism and unique style of combining intensity and simplicity for form immediacy. There are currently 14 Iranian gardens that are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with 5 of them being located outside of Iran. The traditional style of Iranian gardens are to represent an earthly paradise or a heaven on Earth. From the time of the Achaemenid Empire, the idea of an earthly paradise spread through Iranian literature to other cultures, with the word for paradise in the Iranian languages of Avestan, Old Persian and Median, spreading to languages across the world. The style and design of the Iranian garden greatly influenced the garden styles of countries from Spain to Italy and Greece to India, with some notable examples of such gardens being the gardens of the Alhambra in Spain, Humayun's Tomb and the Taj Mahal in India, the Hellenistic gardens of the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemies in Alexandria.

Cuisine
Iranian cuisine refers to the culinary practices of Iran. Due to the historically common usage of the term "Persia" to refer to Iran in the Western world, it is alternatively known as Persian cuisine, despite Persians being only one of a multitude of Iranian ethnic groups who have contributed to Iran's culinary traditions.

The cuisine of Iran has made extensive contact throughout its history with the cuisines of its neighbouring regions, including Caucasian cuisine, Central Asian cuisine, Greek cuisine, Levantine cuisine, Mesopotamian cuisine, Russian cuisine and Turkish cuisine. Aspects of Iranian cuisine have also been significantly adopted by Indian cuisine and Pakistani cuisine through various historical Persianate sultanates that flourished during Muslim rule on the Indian subcontinent, with the most notable and impactful of these polities being the Mughal Empire.

Typical Iranian main dishes are combinations of rice with meat, vegetables and nuts. Herbs are frequently used, along with fruits such as plums, pomegranates, quince, prunes, apricots and raisins. Characteristic Iranian spices and flavourings such as saffron, cardamom, and dried lime and other sources of sour flavoring, cinnamon, turmeric and parsley are mixed and used in various dishes.

Outside of Iran, a strong presence of Iranian cuisine can be found in cities with significant Iranian diaspora populations, namely the San Francisco Bay Area, Toronto, Houston and especially Los Angeles and its environs.

Religion in Iran

Zoroastrianism was the national faith of Iran for more than a millennium before the Arab conquest. It has had an immense influence on Iranian philosophy, culture and art after the people of Iran converted to Islam. The Persian Samanid dynasty made great attempts to spread the Islamic faith in the 9th and 10th century while promoting a Persian cultural revival. Until the 16th century, Iran was majority Sunni ushering a golden age of the arts and sciences. In 1501 the Safavid dynasty took control of Iran and made Shia Islam the state religion, with this being one of the most important events in Islamic history.

Today of the 98% of Muslims living in Iran, around 89% are Shi'a and only around 9% are Sunni. This is quite the opposite trend of the percentage distribution of Shi'a to Sunni Islam followers in the rest of the Muslim population from state to state (primarily in the Middle East) and throughout the rest of the world.

Followers of the Bahá'í Faith form the largest non-Muslim minority in Iran. Bahá'ís are scattered throughout small communities in Iran, although there seems to be a large population of Bahá'ís in Tehran. The Iranian government actively pursues the persecution of Bahá'ís.

Followers of the Christian faith consist of around 250,000 Armenians, around 32,000 Assyrians, and a small number of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant Iranians that have been converted by missionaries in earlier centuries. Thus, Christians that live in Iran are primarily descendants of indigenous Christians that were converted during the 19th and 20th centuries. Judaism is an officially recognized faith in Iran, and in spite of the hostilities between Iran and Israel over the Palestinian issue, the millennia-old Jewish community in Iran enjoys the right to practice their religion freely as well as a dedicated seat in parliament to a representative member of their faith. In addition to Christianity and Judaism, Zoroastrianism is another officially recognized religion in Iran, although followers of this faith do not hold a large population in Iran. In addition, although there have been isolated incidences of prejudice against Zoroastrians, most followers of this faith have not been persecuted for being followers of this faith.

Holidays in Iran

The Persian year begins in the vernal equinox: if the astronomical vernal equinox comes before noon, then the present day is the first day of the Persian year. If the equinox falls after noon, then the next day is the official first day of the Persian year. The Persian Calendar, which is the official calendar of Iran, is a solar calendar with a starting point that is the same as the Islamic calendar. According to the Iran Labor Code, Friday is the weekly day of rest. Government official working hours are from Saturday to Wednesday (from 8 am to 4 pm).

Although the date of certain holidays in Iran are not exact (due to the calendar system they use, most of these holidays are around the same time), some of the major public holidays in Iran include Oil Nationalization Day (20 March). Yalda (which is the longest night of the year) (21 December), Nowrooz—which is the Iranian equivalent of New Years (20 March), the Prophet's Birthday and Imam Sadeq (4 June), and the Death of Imam Khomeini (5 June). Additional holidays include The Anniversary of the Uprising Against the Shah (30 January), Ashoura (11 February), Victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution (20 January), Sizdah-Bedar—Public Outing Day to end Nowrooz (1 April), and Islamic Republic Day (2 April).

Wedding ceremonies

There are two stages in a typical wedding ritual in Iran. Usually, both phases take place in one day. The first stage is known as "Aghd", which is basically the legal component of marriage in Iran. In this process, the bride and groom, as well as their respective guardians, sign a marriage contract. This phase usually takes place in the bride's home. After this legal process is over, the second phase, "Jashn-e Aroosi" takes place. In this step, which is basically the wedding reception, where actual feasts and celebrations are held, typically lasts from about 3–7 days. The ceremony takes place in a decorated room with flowers and a beautifully decorated spread on the floor. This spread is typically passed down from mother to daughter and is composed of very nice fabric such as "Termeh" (cashmere), "Atlas" (gold embroidered satin), or "Abrisham" (silk).

Items are placed on this spread: a Mirror (of fate), two Candelabras (representing the bride and groom and their bright future), a tray of seven multi-colored herbs and spices (including poppy seeds, wild rice, angelica, salt, nigella seeds, black tea, and frankincense). These herbs and spices play specific roles ranging from breaking spells and witchcraft, to blinding the evil eye, to burning evil spirits. In addition to these herbs/spices, a special baked and decorated flatbread, a basket of decorated eggs, decorated almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts (in their shell to represent fertility), a basket of pomegranates/apples (for a joyous future as these fruits are considered divine), a cup of rose water (from special Persian roses)—which helps perfume the air, a bowl made out of sugar (apparently to sweeten life for the newlywed couple), and a brazier holding burning coals and sprinkled with wild rue (as a way to keep the evil eye away and to purify the wedding ritual) are placed on the spread as well. Finally, there are additional items that must be placed on the spread, including a bowl of gold coins (to represent wealth and prosperity), a scarf/shawl made of silk/fine fabric (to be held over the bride and groom's head at certain points in the ceremony), two sugar cones—which are ground above the bride and groom's head, thus symbolizing sweetness/happiness, a cup of honey (to sweeten life), a needle and seven strands of colored thread (the shawl that is held above the bride and groom's head is sewn together with the string throughout the ceremony), and a copy of the couple's Holy Book (other religions require different texts); but all of these books symbolize God's blessing for the couple.
An early age in marriage—especially for brides—is a long documented feature of marriage in Iran. While the people of Iran have been trying to legally change this practice by implementing a higher minimum in marriage, there have been countless blocks to such an attempt. Although the average age of women being married has increased by about five years in the past couple decades, young girls being married is still common feature of marriage in Iran—even though there is an article in the Iranian Civil Code that forbid the marriage of women younger than 15 years of age and males younger than 18 years of age.

Persian rugs

In Iran, Persian rugs have always been a vital part of the Persian culture.

Iranians were some of the first people in history to weave carpets. First deriving from the notion of basic need, the Persian rug started out as a simple/pure weave of fabric that helped nomadic people living in ancient Iran stay warm from the cold, damp ground. As time progressed, the complexity and beauty of rugs increased to a point where rugs are now bought as decorative pieces.
Because of the long history of fine silk and wool rug weaving in Iran, Persian rugs are world-renowned as some of the most beautiful, intricately designed rugs available. Around various places in Iran, rugs seem to be some of the most prized possessions of the local people. Iran currently produces more rugs and carpets than all other countries in the world put together.

Modern culture

Cinema

With 300 international awards in the past 10 years, Iranian films continue to be celebrated worldwide. The best known Persian directors are Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidi, Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi.

Contemporary art

There is a resurgence of interest in Iranian contemporary artists and in artists from the larger Iranian diaspora. Key notables include Shirin Aliabadi, Mohammed Ehsai, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Golnaz Fathi, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Parastou Forouhar, Pouran Jinchi, Farhad Moshiri, Shirin Neshat, Parviz Tanavoli, Y. Z. Kami, and Charles Hossein Zenderoudi.

Music

Architecture

Cuisine

Cuisine in Iran is considered to be one of the most ancient forms of cuisine around the world. Bread is arguably the most important food in Iran, with a large variety of different bread, some of the most popular of which include: nan and hamir, which are baked in large clay ovens (also called "tenurs"). In Iranian cuisine, there are many dishes that are made from dairy products. One of the most popular of which includes yoghurt ("mast")—which has a specific fermentation process that is widely put to use amongst most Iranians. In addition, mast is used to make soup and is vital in the production of oil. In addition to these dairy products, Iranian cuisine involves a lot of dishes cooked from rice. Some popular rice dishes include boiled rice with a variety of ingredients such as meats, vegetables, and seasonings ("plov") including dishes like chelo-horesh, shish kebab with rice, chelo-kebab, rice with lamb, meatballs with rice, and kofte (plain boiled rice). In addition, Iranian cuisine is famous for its sweets. One of the most famous of which includes "baklava" with almonds, cardamom, and egg yolks. Iranian sweets typically involve the use of honey, cinnamon, lime juice, and sprouted wheat grain. One very popular dessert drink in Iran, "sherbet sharbat-portagal", is made from a mixture of orange peel and orange juice boiled in thin sugar syrup and diluted with rose water. Just like the people of many Middle Eastern countries the most preferred drink of the people of Iran is tea (without milk) or "kakhve-khana".

Sports

 The game of Polo originated with Iranian tribes in ancient times and was regularly seen throughout the country until the revolution of 1979 where it became associated with the monarchy. It continues to be played, but only in rural areas and discreetly. Recently, as of 2005, it has been acquiring an increasingly higher profile. In March 2006, there was a highly publicised tournament and all significant matches are now televised.
 The Iranian Zoor Khaneh

Women in Persian culture

Since the 1979 Revolution, Iranian women have lost almost all their rights that was gained in 1962 under the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Many restrictive and legal measures are imposed since 1979, including mandatory Hijab. By law, women's testimony in court are half of the men under the rule of the Islamic Regime, the age of marriage is 9, and marital rape is legal. Women cannot leave the country without the formal permission of their guardians (father or husband). They cannot run for presidency or become a judge. This is a striking change from the full and equal rights that women enjoyed during the Pahlavi era. The Iranian women who had gained confidence and higher education during the Pahlavi era participated in demonstrations against the Shah to topple the monarchy. The culture of education for women was very strongly established by the time of revolution so that even after the revolution, large numbers of women entered civil service and higher education. Even though Islamic Republic pushed back hard on women's rights, Iranian women have been at the forefront of progress, education and battle for freedom. In 1996 fourteen women were elected to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In 2003, Iran's first female judge during the Pahlavi era, Shirin Ebadi, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in promoting human rights.

According to a UNESCO world survey, at the primary level of enrolment Iran has the highest female to male ratio in the world among sovereign nations, with a female to male ratio of 1.22 : 1.00. By 1999, Iran had 140 female publishers, enough to hold an exhibition of books and magazines published by women. As of 2005, 65% of Iran's university students and 43% of its salaried workers were women. and as of early 2007 nearly 70% of Iran's science and engineering students are women. This has led to many female school and university graduates being under-utilized. This is beginning to have an effect on Iranian society and was a contributing factor to protests by Iranian youth in various times over the past few decades.

During recent decades, Iranian women have had significant presence in Iran's scientific movement, art movement, literary new wave and contemporary Iranian cinema. Women account for 60% of all students in the natural sciences, including one in five PhD students.

Traditional holidays/celebrations

Iranians celebrate the following days based on a solar calendar, in addition to important religious days of Islamic and Shia calendars, which are based on a lunar calendar.
 Nowruz (Iranian New Year) – Starts from 21 March
 Sizdah be dar (Nature Day)
 Jashn-e-Tirgan (Water Festival)
 Jashn-e-Sadeh (Fire Festival)
 Jashn-e-Mehregan (Autumn Festival)
 Shab-e-Yalda (Winter Feast)
 Charshanbeh Suri

Traditional cultural inheritors of the old Persia

Like the Persian carpet that exhibits numerous colors and forms in a dazzling display of warmth and creativity, Persian culture is the glue that bonds the peoples of western and central Asia. The South Caucasus and Central Asia "occupy an important place in the historical geography of Persian civilization." Much of the region was included in the pre-Islamic Persian empires, and many of its ancient peoples either belonged to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European peoples (e.g. Medes and Soghdians), or were in close cultural contact with them (e.g. the Armenians). In the words of Iranologist Richard Nelson Frye:
 Many times I have emphasized that the present peoples of central Asia, whether Iranian or Turkic speaking, have one culture, one religion, one set of social values and traditions with only language separating them.

The Culture of Persia has thus developed over several thousand years. But historically, the peoples of what are now Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Eastern Georgia, and Afghanistan are related to one another as part of the larger group of peoples of the Greater Iranian cultural and historical sphere. The Northern Caucasus is well within the sphere of influence of Persian culture as well, as can be seen from the many remaining relics, ruins, and works of literature from that region.(e.g. 1) (e.g. 2)

Contributions to humanity in ancient history

From the humble brick, to the windmill, Persians have mixed creativity with art and offered the world numerous contributions. What follows is a list of just a few examples of the cultural contributions of Greater Iran.
 (10,000 BC) – Earliest known domestication of the goat.
 (6000 BC) – The modern brick. Some of the oldest bricks found to date are Persian, from c. 6000 BC.
 (5000 BC) – Invention of wine. Discovery made by University of Pennsylvania excavations at Hajji Firuz Tepe in northwestern Iran.
 (5000 BC) – Invention of the Tar (lute), which led to the development of the guitar.
 (3000 BC) – The ziggurat. The Sialk ziggurat, according to the Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran, predates that of Ur or any other of Mesopotamia's 34 ziggurats.
 (3000 BC) – A game resembling backgammon appears in the east of Iran.
 (1400 BC – 600 BC) – Zoroastrianism: where the first prophet of a monotheistic faith arose according to some scholars, claiming Zoroastrianism as being "the oldest of the revealed credal religions, which has probably had more influence on mankind directly or indirectly, more than any other faith".
 (576 BC – 529 BC) – The Cyrus Cylinder: The world's first charter of human rights.
 (521 BC) – The game of polo.
 (500 BC) – First banking system, at the time of the Achaemenid, establishment of Governmental Banks to help farmers at the time of drought, floods, and other natural disasters in form of loans and forgiveness loans to restart their farms and husbandries. These Governmental Banks were effective in different forms until the end of Sassanian Empire before invasion of Arabs to Persia.
 (500 BC) – The word "check" has a Persian root in the old Persian language. The use of this document as a check was in use from Achaemenid time to the end of Sassanian Empire. The word of [Bonchaq, or Bonchagh] in modern Persian language is new version of old Avestan and Pahlavi language "check". In Persian, it means a document which resembles money value for gold, silver and property. By law, people were able to buy and sell these documents or exchange them.
 (500 BC) – World's oldest staple.
 (500 BC) – The first taxation system (under the Achaemenid Empire).
 (500 BC) – "Royal Road" – the first courier post.
 (500 BC) – Source for introduction of the domesticated chicken into Europe.
 (500 BC) – First cultivation of spinach.
 (400 BC) – Yakhchals, ancient refrigerators.
 (400 BC) – Ice cream.
 (250 BC) – Original excavation of the Ancient Suez Canal, begun under Darius, completed under the Ptolemies.
 (50 AD) – Peaches, a fruit of Chinese origin, were introduced to the west through Persia, as indicated by their Latin scientific name, Prunus persica, from which (by way of the French) we have the English word "peach".
 (271 AD) – Academy of Gundishapur – The first hospital.
 (700 AD) – The cookie.
 (700 AD) – The windmill.
 (864 AD – 930 AD) – First systematic use of alcohol in Medicine: Rhazes.
 (1000 AD) – Tulips were first cultivated in medieval Persia.
 (1000 AD) – Introduction of paper to the west.
 (935 AD – 1020 AD) – Ferdowsi writes the Shahnama (Book of Kings) that resulted in the revival of Iranian culture and the expansion of the Iranian cultural sphere.
 (980 AD – 1037 AD) – Avicenna, a physician, writes The Canon of Medicine, one of the foundational manuals in the history of modern medicine.
 (1048 AD – 1131 AD) – Khayyam, one of the greatest polymaths of all time, presents a theory of heliocentricity to his peers. His contributions to laying the foundations of algebra are also noteworthy.
 (1207 AD – 1273 AD) – Rumi writes poetry and in 1997, the translations were best-sellers in the United States.
 Algebra and trigonometry: Iranian scientists were directly responsible for the establishment of Algebra, the advancement of Medicine and Chemistry, and the discovery of Trigonometry.
 Qanat, subterranean aqueducts.
 Wind catchers, ancient air residential conditioning.

See also

 Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization (ICHO)
 International Rankings of Iran in Culture
 Encyclopædia Iranica (30-volume encyclopaedia of Iran's culture; edited and published by Columbia University & funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities)
 Higher education in Iran
 Cinema of Iran
 Iranian calendar
 Iranian continent
 Iranian Studies
Qahr and Ashti
 Media of Iran
 Museums in Iran
 Persian cuisine
 Persian theatre
 Persian names
 Persian women
 Persianate
 Persianization
 Persophilia, the admiration of Iranians and their culture
 Taarof (Persian form of civility emphasizing both deference and social rank)

Notes

References

Further reading
 Michael C. Hillman. Iranian Culture. 1990. University Press of America.
Iran: At War with History, by John Limbert, pub. 1987, a book of socio-cultural customs of The Islamic Republic of Iran
 George Ghevarghese Joseph.The Crest of the Peacock: The Non-European Roots of Mathematics. July 2000. Princeton U Press.

External links

 Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Of Iran Official Website
 Secretariat of The High Council of The Cultural Revolution
 Islamic Republic of Iran Physical Education Organization
 Islamic Republic of Iran Academy of The Arts
 Islamic Republic of Iran International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations
 Culture of Iran – parstimes.com
 Culture of Iran
 Cultural Research Bureau of Iran
 Iran Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies
 Iran a cultural profile
 The Culture of Iran
 Persian Language (Persian)
 Iran: Cultural and Historical Zones
Videos

Iran

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


THE YUKON PHOTON XT 6.5x50 WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR DIGITAL NIGHT VISION RIFLESCOPES EVER DUE TO ITS HIGH PERFORANCE FOR ITS LOW COST. THE BraND NEW PHOTON RT 6X50 BUILDS ON THIS MODEL GIVING IT VARIABLE MAGNIFICATION AND AN IMPROVED SENSOR. IN THIS ARTICLE FIND OUT IF THE UPGRADE IS WORTH IT.
The Photon XT first came on to the market in 2014. It was one of very few Night Vision riflescopes that were fairly low cost at around £400 and also gave high performance for that price. The Photon XT gives a detection range of around 150m depending on which IR you use with it. It comes with a base magnifiaction of 6.5x making it the perfect Night Vision Riflescope for low to mid range foxing. One of the few problems with the Photon XT 6.5 is that the scope will only work for short ranges and there were very few ways to address this issue and useally it would invalidate the warranty on the scope itself. Also due to the sensor in the scope it wouldnt always give the best image quality possible unless you were using a very high powered IR illuminator and so the scope became very dedpendent on the IR itself. Which would mean that there was an additional cost for the scope.
The brand new Photon RT 6x50 will be released at the end of August and will replace the Photon XT. This new Photon comes with an improved sensor and so image quality will be sharper it also comes with a variable magnification of 6-12x which will also increase its detection range. The detection range on the Photon RT 6x50 is 280m which is a substantial increase compared to the older Photon. The Photon RT also comes with built in recording and so their is no need for any additional recorders on the device. The brand new Photon RT also takes advantage of the Pulsar DNV battery kit which will give increased time for shooting foxes. This is a huge improvement as with the Photon XT there was no rechargable batteries available and only had about a 3 hour runtime with CR123 batteries and they also had to be continuously replaced. The retail price for the Photon RT is £599.95 and so the increase in price is not that large for the upgrade.
Overall I would say that the upgrade to the Yukon Photon RT 6x50 is worth it. As the it will still be one the lower priced night vision scopes out there and also with the improved sensor it can now be used out to mid-ranges and will have a sharper image at the lower ranges. When compared to the Yukon Photon XT the Yukon Photon RT is better in every way and their is only a price difference of £180 between the two models. So wether you are just getting into night vision or are just wanting an affordable scope then the Yukon Photon RT 6x50 is the night vision scope for you.


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Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein attended meeting with disgraced Malaysian financier Goldman is undergoing scrutiny for its role in the 1MDB scandal. The bank raised $6.5 billion to supposedly attract foreign investment for Malaysia. Instead, a financier known as Jho Low is accused of stealing billions of dollars from the fund.


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"At the Sign of the Lion" by Hilaire Belloc
Posted by P.G. Mantel | Jan 3, 2020 | Culture, Literature, Nationalism, Philosophy, Religion | 0 |
Editor's note: The following is extracted from At the Sign of the Lion and Other Essays, by Hilaire Belloc (published 1916).
It was late, and the day was already falling when I came, sitting my horse Monster, to a rise of land. We were at a walk, for we had gone very far since early morning, and were now off the turf upon the hard road; moreover, the hill, though gentle, had been prolonged. From its summit I saw before me, as I had seen it a hundred times, the whole of the weald.
But now that landscape was transfigured, because many influences had met to make it, for the moment, an enchanted land. The autumn, coming late, had crowded it with colours; a slight mist drew out the distances, and along the horizon stood out, quite even and grey like mountains, the solemn presence of the Downs. Over all this the sky was full of storm.
In some manner which language cannot express, and hardly music, the vision was unearthly. All the lesser heights of the plain ministered to one effect, a picture which was to other pictures what the marvellous is to the experience of common things. The distant mills, the edges of heath and the pine trees, were as though they had not before been caught by the eyes of travellers, and would not, after the brief space of their apparition, be seen again. Here was a countryside whose every outline was familiar; and yet it was pervaded by a general quality of the uplifted and the strange. And for that one hour under the sunset the county did not seem to me a thing well known, but rather adored.
The glow of evening, which had seemed to put this horizon into another place and time than ours, warned me of darkness; and I made off the road to the right for an inn I knew of, that stands close to the upper Arun and is very good. Here an old man and his wife live easily, and have so lived for at least thirty years, proving how accessible is content. Their children are in service beyond the boundaries of the county, and are thus provided with sufficiency; and they themselves, the old people, enjoy a small possession which at least does not diminish, for, thank God, their land is free. It is a square of pasture bordered by great elms upon three sides of it, but on the fourth, towards the water, a line of pollard willows; and off a little way before the house runs Arun, sliding as smooth as Mincius, and still so young that he can remember the lake in the forest where he rose.
On such ancestral land these two people await without anxiety what they believe will be a kindly death. Nor is their piety of that violent and tortured kind which is associated with fear and with distress of earlier life; but they remain peasants, drawing from the earth they have always known as much sustenance for the soul as even their religion can afford them, and mixing that religion so intimately with their experience of the soil that, were they not isolated in an evil time, they would have set up some shrine about the place to sanctify it.
The passion and the strain which must accompany (even in the happiest and most secluded) the working years of life, have so far disappeared from them, that now they can no longer recall any circumstances other than those which they enjoy; so that their presence in a room about one, as they set food before one or meet one at the door, is in itself an influence of peace.
In such a place, and with such hosts to serve him, the wears of the world retire for a little time, from an evening to a morning; and a man can enjoy a great refreshment. In such a place he will eat strongly and drink largely, and sleep well and deeply, and, when he saddles again for his journey, he will take the whole world new; nor are those intervals without their future value, for the memory of a complete repose is a sort of sacrament, and a viaticum for the weary lengths of the way.
The stable of this place is made of oak entirely, and, after more than a hundred years, the woodwork is still sound, save that the roof now falls in waves where the great beams have sagged a little under the pressure of the tiles. And these tiles are of that old hand made kind which, whenever you find them, you will do well to buy; for they have a slight downward curve to them, and so they fit closer and shed the rain better than if they were flat. Also they do not slip, and thus they put less strain upon the timber. This excellent stable has no flooring but a packed layer of chalk laid on the ground; and the wooden manger is all polished and shining, where it has been rubbed by the noses of ten thousand horses since the great war.
That polishing was helped, perhaps, by the nose of Percy's horse, and perhaps by the nose of some wheeler who in his time had dragged the guns back aboard, retreating through the night after Corunna. It is in every way a stable that a small peasant should ,put up for himself, without seeking money from other men. It is, therefore, a stable which your gaping scientists would condemn; and though as yet they have not got their ugly hands upon the dwellings of beasts as they have upon those of men, yet I often fear for this stable, and am always glad when I come back and find it there. For the men who make our laws are the same as those that sell us our bricks and our land and our metals; and they make the laws so that rebuilding shall go on: and vile rebuilding too.
Anyhow, this stable yet stands; and in none does the horse, Monster, take a greater delight, for he also is open to the influence of holiness. So I led him in, and tied him by the ancient headstall, and I rubbed him down, and I washed his feet and covered him with the rough rug that lay there. And when I had done all that, I got him oats from the neighbouring bin; for the place knew me well, and I could always tend to my own beast when I came there. And as he ate his oats, I said to him: "Monster, my horse, is there any place on earth where a man, even for a little time, can be as happy as the brutes? If there is, it is here at the Sign of The Lion." And Monster answered: "There is a tradition among us that, of all creatures that creep upon the earth, man is the fullest of sorrow."
I left him then, and went towards the house. It was quite dark, and the windows, with their square, large panes and true proportions, shone out and made it home. The room within received me like a friend. The open chimney at its end, round which the house is built, was filled with beech logs burning; and the candles, which were set in brass, mixed their yellow light with that of the fire. The long ceiling was low, as are the ceilings of Heaven. And oak was here everywhere also: in the beams and the shelves and the mighty table. For oak was, and will be again, the chief wood of the weald.
When they put food and ale before me, it was of the kind which has been English ever since England began, and which perhaps good fortune will preserve over the breakdown of our generation, until we have England back again. One could see the hops in the tankard, and one could taste the barley, until, more and more sunk into the plenitude of this good house, one could dare to contemplate, as though from a distant standpoint, the corruption and the imminent danger of the time through which we must lead our lives. And, as I so considered the ruin of the great cities and their slime, I felt as though I were in a fortress of virtue and of health, which could hold out through the pressure of the war. And I thought to myself: "Perhaps even before our children are men, these parts which survive from a better order will be accepted as models, and England will be built again."
This fantasy had not time, tenuous as it was, to disappear, before there came into that room a man whose gesture and bearing promised him to be an excellent companion, but in whose eyes I also perceived some light not ordinary. He was of middle age, fifty or more; his hair was crisp and grey, his face brown, as though he had been much upon the sea. He was tall in stature, and of some strength. He saluted me, and, when he had eaten, asked me if I also were familiar with this inn.
"Very familiar," I said; "and since I can enter it at any hour freely, it is now more familiar to me even than the houses that were once my homes. For nowadays we, who work in the State and are not idle, must be driven from one place to another; and only the very rich have certitude and continuity. But to them it is of no service; for they are too idle to take root in the soil."
"Yet I was of their blood," he said; "and there is in this county a home which should be mine. But nothing to-day is capable of endurance. I have not seen my home (though it is but ten miles from here) since I left it in my thirtieth year; and I too would rather come to this inn, which I know as you know it, than to any house in England; because I am certain of entry, and because I know what I shall find, and because what I find is what any man of this county should find, if the soul of it is not to disappear."
"You, then," I answered (we were now seated side by side before the fire with but one flickering candle behind us, and on the floor between us a port just younger than the host), "you, then, come here for much the same reason as do I?"
"And what is that? " said he.
"Why," said I, "to enjoy the illusion that Change can somewhere be arrested, and that, in some shape, a part at least of the things we love remains. For, since I was a boy and almost since I can remember, every thing in this house has been the same; and here I escape from the threats of the society we know."
When I had said this, he was grave and silent for a little while; and then he answered:
"It is impossible, I think, after many years to recover any such illusion. Just as a young man can no longer think himself (as children do) the actor in any drama of his own choosing, so a man growing old (as am I) can no longer expect of any society—and least of all of his own —the gladness that comes from an illusion of permanence."
"For my part," I answered in turn, " I know very well, though I can conjure up this feeling of security, that it is very flimsy stuff; and I take it rather as men take symbols. For though these good people will at last perish, and some brewer — a Colonel of Volunteers as like as not — will buy this little field, and though for the port we are drinking there will be imperial port, and for the beer we have just drunk something as noisome as that port, and though thistles will grow up in the good pasture ground, and though, in a word, this inn will become a hotel and will perish, nevertheless I cannot but believe that England remains, and I do not think it the taking of a drug or a deliberate cheating of oneself to come and steep one's soul in what has already endured so long because it was proper to our country."
"All that you say," he answered, "is but part of the attempt to escape Necessity. Your very frame is of that substance for which permanence means death; and every one of all the emotions that you know is of its nature momentary, and must be so if it is to be alive."
"Yet there is a divine thirst," I said, "for something that will not so perish. If there were no such thirst, why should you and I debate such things, or come here to The Lion either of us, to taste antiquity? And if that thirst is there, it is a proof that there is for us some End and some such satisfaction. For my part, as I know of nothing else, I cannot but seek it in this visible good world. I seek it in Sussex, in the nature of my home, and in the tradition of my blood."
But he answered: "No; it is not thus to be attained, the end of which you speak. And that thirst, which surely is divine, is to be quenched in no stream that we can find by journeying, not even in the little rivers that run here under the combes of home."
MYSELF: "Well, then, what is the End?"
HE: "I have sometimes seen it clearly, that when the disappointed quest was over, all this journeying would turn out to be but the beginning of a much greater adventure, and that I should set out towards another place where every sense should be fulfilled, and where the fear of mutation should be set at rest."
MYSELF: "No one denies that such a picture in the mind haunts men their whole lives through, though, after they have once experienced loss and incompletion, and especially when they have caught sight a long way off of the Barrier which ends all our experience, they recognise that picture for a cheat; and surely nothing can save it? That which reasons in us may be absolute and undying; for it is outside Time. It escapes the gropings of the learned, and it has nothing to do with material things. But as for all those functions which we but half fulfil in life, surely elsewhere they cannot be fulfilled at all? Colour is for the eyes and music is for the ears; and all that we love so much comes in by channels that do not remain."
HE: "Yet the Desire can only be for things that we have known; and the Desire, as you have said, is a proof of the thing desired, and, but for these things which we know, the words 'joy' and 'contentment' and 'fulfilment' would have no meaning."
MYSELF: "Why yes; but, though desires are the strongest evidence of truth, yet there is also desire for illusions, as there is a waking demand for things attainable, and a demand in dreams for things fantastic and unreal. Every analogy increasingly persuades us, and so does the whole scheme of things as we learn it, that, with our passing, there shall also pass speech and comfortable fires and fields and the voices of our children, and that, when they pass, we lose them for ever."
HE: "Yet these things would not be, but for the mind which receives them; and how can we make sure what channels are necessary for the mind? And may not the mind stretch on? And you, since you reject my guess at what may be reserved for us, tell me, what is the End which we shall attain?"
MYSELF: "Salva fide, I cannot tell."
Then he continued and said: "I have too long considered these matters for any opposition between one experience and another to affect my spirit, and I know that a long and careful inquiry into any matter must lead the same man to opposing conclusions; but, for my part, I shall confidently expect throughout that old age, which is not far from me, that, when it ceases, I shall find beyond it things similar to those which I have known. For all I here enjoy is of one nature; and if the life of a man be bereft of them at last, then it is falsehood or metaphor to use the word 'eternal.'"
"You think, then," said I, "that some immortal part in us is concerned not only with our knowledge, but with our every feeling, and that our final satisfaction will include a sensual pleasure: fragrance, and landscape, and a visible home that shall be clearer even than these dear hills?"
"Something of the sort," he said, and slightly shrugged his shoulders. They were broad, as he sat beside me staring at the fire. They conveyed in their attitude that effect of mingled strength and weariness which is common to all who have travelled far and with great purpose, perpetually seeking some worthy thing which they could never find.
The fire had fallen. Flames no longer leapt from the beech logs; but on their under side, where a glow still lingered, embers fell.
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P.G. Mantel
Raised in a home filled with books on Western civilization, P.G. Mantel became a lover of history at an early age. He is an amateur writer of verse, but makes himself useful as an editor for Men of the West.
Fathers, Raise Your Children
Saving Xmas
"My Life" by Martin Bakker (Part 16)
The Missing Man: Thomas
Who Counsels the Counselors?
Jan 20, 2020 | Children, Culture, Family
An Alternative Means To Slow Government Growth
Jan 20, 2020 | Culture, Politics
Sermon: Kings Shall Be Thy Nursing Fathers
Jan 19, 2020 | Culture, History, Nationalism, Religion
Hymn: The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended
Jan 19, 2020 | Religion
Men make the best women
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Document Foundation announced the release of 4.x yesterday and Arch Linux users can install it on their system. Since 4.x is not in the main repos yet, you will have to compile it but the process is almost automated, you will have to run less commands than you have to do when you add a PPA of Ubuntu.
The credit goes to the ever helpful Arch Community and members like Martin Fox and Josh Sabboth who pointed me to the solution. I could have waited for LibreOffice to be available in main repos but I wanted to test it so the anxiety.
Here are the steps to install LO on Arch. Keep in mind it's manual method and could take hours to compile, it will also require you to upgrade manually each time an upgrade is out.
In the downloaded folder you will see PKGBUILD 4.0, rename it to PKGBUILD.
So, now you have LibreOffice 4.0 installed on your Arch Linux. Keep in mind that these are not the final 4.x packages as you can see these are rc2 packages. You can always switch to stable once they are available in the main repo.
The KDE team has announced the release of much awaited 4.10, which caused some ruckus within the Arch community. This is an important release for the KDE user-base as it not only brings massive performance enhancements but also introduces many new features.
KDE keeps the desktop relevant and powerful as it doesn't force an interface designed for phones or tablets on desktop users. KDE offers different GUI environments for different form factores. There is Plasma Desktop for desktop computers,Plasma Netbook for netbooks, and "Plasma Active" for smartphones and tablets. So a desktop or tablet user doesn't have to make any compromise.
This release of KDE is full of innovative new features which puts the user's interest in center and not some company's who is desperate to make money from user data.
It was amazing to see how Arch, openSUSE and Kubuntu communities made 4.10 available for their users within few hours of release. In my own experience, Arch was the first one to push 4.10 in their testing repos followed by openSUSE and then Kubuntu. I was able to upgrade to 4.10 within 4-5 hours of release announcement. I upgraded my openSUSE 12.3 and Arch box to see how KDE 4.10 performs. There is quite a lot in this release that I was looking forward to and the communities brought it to me quickly.
I have been using KDE 4.10 since beta days so there was nothing to surprise me. But if you upgrade from 4.9, you will notice huge differences in speed, performance and massive improvements in almost every department. The brand new wallpaper of KDE is extremely refreshing. As usual, KDE delivers extensive and easy customization.
First thing that you might notice when you upgrade to KDE 4.10 is the way windows maximize and minimize. It's a cool animation which makes the desktop experience pleasant. But it's not about some eye candy effects. Martin Gräßlin has done a commendable job with Kwin. KWin is a window manager for the X Window System. In simple words, Kwin controls the 'look and feel' of your desktop. It offers quite a lot of funky effects, including the ever popular 3D desktop cube.
There are many effects available by default which you can easily enable and disable. You can get more effects from kde-look.org – including behavior modifying scripts. You can also get those good old windows switchers back.
These settings enables you to personalize your PC, fitting your style. This is something that Unity now lacks. There is zero to none 'personalization' for Ubuntu Unity. Every Unity system has the same look and feel like an ATM machine.
What good is a 'personal computer which can't be made personal?
Global menu is a great option, if done right. KDE has done is right, by not only making it optional but also giving more than one option so that a user can configure it the way it helps his work flow. This is a major improvement for KDE users and it gives KDE an edge over Gnome or Unity's App Menu integration where a user have close to no control over it.
In order to enable Global Menu, which is called App Menu in KDE, you need to install appmenu-qt on your system. Once you have installed it, you can configure it from Application Appearance > Fine Tuning.
There are four options: you can show menus in the application (the good old/default option where menus appear within the application window - which takes up some space, around 32 pixels). The second option is to integrate menus with the title bar button.
The third option is to show it on top of the screen. Setting it on top follows the window focus so it can be used in multiscreen environments. However, personally I find it a bit confusing when you are using couple of windows of the same app and its hard to say whose menus you are accessing.
In order to save space and make my applications look clutter free I have configured it to show on title bar button. This way I have menus right there on the app window so I can access it easily and I also keep my app clean and tidy.
That's personal choice and the most important thing is that KDE developers are giving users choices (unlike Ubuntu) where they can set it up the way they want and not developers of Canonical.
Some KDE users, including me, were unhappy with the recent changes where the size of the panel icons could not be changed. It was a bad from accessibility point of view. But, as usual, KDE developers listened and added the ability to change the size of icons. You can now change the size of icons in the panel by right-clicking on icons and choosing the size you want. You can also, if you don't already know, change the size of icons on menu bars.
The improvements are made not only in the design and functionality department but also in performance. As the release notes say, "Loading folders, both with and without previews, is significantly faster and requires less memory while using all available processor cores to be as fast as possible." You will notice significant improvements when moving or copying files.
There has been significant changes (after developers went to and fro) in the manner it handles renaming of files and folders. You can rename multiple files inline as well as using the dialog. You can configure whether you want inline renaming or using dialog from Dolphin's Preferences > General > Behavior.
One gripe that I had with Canonical was that they never invested any resources in making Ubuntu talk to Android devices. Android users were not able to connect their Android devices to Linux machines and transfer data. Instead of catering to what users needed Canonical was busy with Amazon integration.
While Ubuntu users struggled to talk to their Android devices, Philipp Schmidt developed KIO-Slave to access MTP devices from KDE's Dolphin. Another KDE developer Àlex Fiestas added support for MTP devices (like phones) to the Places Panel, making use of Philipp Schmidt's work with MTP. Thanks to the work done by these two developers, KDE users can now connect and access their Android devices from Dolphin.
If you want to connect your Android devices to Dolphin, just install the kio-mtp and Dolphin will mount and display your device. At the moment it only says 'Portable MTP Player' instead of picking up the name of the device such as Nexus 7 or Nexus 4 and the icon needs some work, but it works. Unfortunately, it won't work with Nexus 10 yet.
One of the core advantages KDE has over Unity is you can expand its functionality through a huge repository of extensions and plug in, whether it be Dolphin, Amarok, Kate or any other KDE application.
KDE 4.10 also brings a jazzy, brand new lock screen. You can enable the new lock screen by visiting the 'Display and Monitor > Screen Locker. Here you can enable simple locker which offers, as the name implies, a simple window to offer a lock screen. The option of Desktop Widgets will keep Widgets on the screen when it is locked so you will be able to use/see widgets like Calender or clock, and the 3rd option is quite obvious.
KDE 4.10 is for serious work. Graphic artists should be happy with the news that KDE offers better color management. The KolorServer KDED module now supports per-output color correction. The developers are working on per-window output color correction which will be released later; it already supports multi-monitor set-up. It also enhanced performance and makes maintenance easier for developers as the new color management takes this task from Compositor and hands it over to Kwin.
One of the most fascinating features of KDE 4.10 is the improved and faster desktop search. KDE 4.10 brings cross application tags and a brand new file indexer which makes indexing faster and robust. Blue Systems, which came to the rescue of Kubuntu when Canonical pulled the plugs, funded the development of the KDE cross-application semantic search and storage backend.
Despite being one of the most useful features of KDE, its one of the least talked about. When I do hear about it I hear people complaining that running desktop search slowed their system. There is good news for such users; that's gone now.
The new indexes works in two parts. First it runs the basic indexing, a quick pass that makes new file information, like name and mimetype, available immediately. The second part works when your system is idle (or in case of laptop running on AC) and starts extracting full data. So, now you won't feel any lag of slowness when desktop search is running. The search results can be seen in the main menu or through Krunner by hitting Alt+F2.
KDE doesn't stop here, they have implemented the Tags KIO Slave which allows users to find files by tags from any KDE application. You can enable the search from KDE System Settings > Desktop Search. These tags are not embedded in files, but you can create back-up of tags and restore them in case you formatted your PC.
Why do I think KDE's search tools are so important?
Let's give you a scenario. I shoot a lot and I want to find all the images of my son with my cat Yoda playing in his room. I can't find that from a normal desktop search unless I give long names to such images. I can do it easily in KDE by adding tags like Aadi (my son's name), Yoda, room and smiling to select images. Now, I don't need to know where these images are all I will do is run keywords like Yoda, Aadi, room in krunner and it will pull all those images.
That's innovation. This is an amazingly powerful feature which actually enhances they way I interact with my data instead of getting Amazon.com results when I search local data.
Why go to KDE instead of Unity?
I switched from Unity to KDE not just for personal preferences, but for privacy and security of my personal data. Ubuntu's Unity has raised some serious privacy concerns by bodies like EFF and FSF. With Unity, the focus seems to be shifting on gathering more user data which is sent to Ubuntu servers by default, instead of looking at what users want.
Canonical seemingly wants to know what you are doing on your PC, just the way Facebook wants to know what you are doing in your life. When there is a simple box in Firefox which allows you to search the wild west web what's the need to create hundreds of scopes and lenses? The reason is Canonical wants you to run all searches through their dash so they know what you are searching -- online as well as local. We don't know how and for how long they store this data. If a company has such data on you governments will find a way to get that data.
I don't much care about Amazon getting that data, I care about why Canonical is getting any info on the local searches. When I search for my kid's images on my hard-drive why is that data sent to Canonical servers? The worst thing is that users don't even know that every search that they run on Unity sends that query to Canonical servers, and they can be easily identified. Canonical made no attempt to educate users that their search requests are sent to Canonical servers.
There are many activists who use GNU/Linux to avoid the backdoors or security risks that non-free systems may have and Ubuntu's default (opt-out) dash search poses very serious security issues. As a journalist I may have some confidential contacts, emails or data and the last thing I want is any keyword related to that data ever leave my computer. I won't trust any company with that data, including the one that ignored EFF's request and did not even bother to educate users that what is being done to their search queries.
In this era when everyone is desperate to track its user and gather data about him, it has become increasingly important that the control over your PC should be in your hands and not in the hands of some company.
These privacy concerns demand an environment and set of software which can be safely used without compromising user's privacy as well as doesn't dumb down the system. There is Gnome but it is going through massive transformation and won't be ready for prime time before 4.x release. That's where KDE becomes important. KDE continues their long tradition of giving users the control over their computing.
Unless and until Canonical makes it opt-in, as EFF and FSF requested I don't think Ubuntu is safe to use or recommend to your friends. I think Canonical should take steps to make users like me and bodies like EFF and FSF comfortable about their product. Canonical is a great company and I just don't understand what's stopping them from addressing these privacy concerns?
KDE 4.10 is by far the best KDE ever. I have become a huge fan of KDE for the simple reason that it makes my computer personal again, something that technologies like Unity are taking away. KDE is one of the most advanced desktop environment as it has different editions for desktop, tablets and netbooks; it's future ready. You don't make compromises, you don't lose any functionality. KDE offers extreme simplicity and familiar interface along with extreme customization, if you care to look inside the hood.
According to a report in Wall Street Journal, the first Ubuntu smartphones maybe launched this October. The company has not given any details on who will manufacture the phone and which carriers will carry it.
Mr. Shuttleworth said the new phone operating system will be available in two large geographic markets in October, and while he didn't commit to North America being one of those, he said North America is "absolutely a key market for Ubuntu."
Shuttleworth also pointed out that the new and yet to release OS has drawn much interest from several carriers as well. Shuttleworth went on to claim that some carriers are "eager to break up the smartphone market hegemony of Apple and Google."
The Calligra team announced today the availability of Calligra 2.6 - the latest release of the office suite. While there have been feature enhancements and bug fixes like usual, this release introduces a new app called Calligra Author. It is designed keeping in mind a distraction free writing mode which is basically a word processing tool but designed specifically for activities like book writing.
Aside from making sure there is less UI chrome and similar things, Author will be able to export in variety of formats - from EPUB to MOBI and so on.
About the other applications - Words the text editor gets better spell check, statistics support and new formats to export to. Sheets - the spreadsheet application has a new Solver functionality and Stage - the presentation application has a new animation system which lets users create and edit slide animations. Flow and Plan which are used for diagramming and project management also received improvements and polish on their features and so did Kexi - the database application.
The artist application, Krita also has lots of new things which we have already covered in an article some time back. Other than this, the mobile version of Calligra - Calligra Active received numerous usability enhacements to make it even better for tablet users. Calligra Active ships with KDE's Plasma Active tablet system.
Overall this looks like a pretty balanced release between features and bug fixes, lets see what more awesome stuff is going to come to Calligra's way.


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