Social Media Face Book and Blogs

After Social Media Face Book and WhatsApp arrivals and, became popular with people, blogs has been unpopular. However, Blogs had special place since we will not distracted by other posts.

OUTLIERS - MALCOLM GLADWELL

http://gladwell.com/outliers/

Outliers

There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we want to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them-at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth date. And in revealing that hidden logic, Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.

In The Tipping Point Gladwell changed the way we understand the world. In Blink he changed the way we think about thinking. In OUTLIERS he transforms the way we understand success.

Rice Paddies and Math Tests

“No one who can rise before dawn three hundred and sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.”

An excerpt from Chapter Eight.

Take a look at the following list of numbers: 4,8,5,3,9,7,6. Read them out loud to yourself. Now look away, and spend twenty seconds memorizing that sequence before saying them out loud again.

If you speak English, you have about a 50 percent chance of remembering that sequence perfectly If you’re Chinese, though, you’re almost certain to get it right every time. Why is that? Because as human beings we store digits in a memory loop that runs for about two seconds. We most easily memorize whatever we can say or read within that two second span. And Chinese speakers get that list of numbers—4,8,5,3,9,7,6—right every time because—unlike English speakers—their language allows them to fit all those seven numbers into two seconds.

That example comes from Stanislas Dehaene’s book “The Number Sense,” and as Dehaene explains:

Chinese number words are remarkably brief. Most of them can be uttered in less than one-quarter of a second (for instance, 4 is ‘si’ and 7 ‘qi’) Their English equivalents—”four,” “seven”—are longer: pronouncing them takes about one-third of a second. The memory gap between English and Chinese apparently is entirely due to this difference in length. In languages as diverse as Welsh, Arabic, Chinese, English and Hebrew, there is a reproducible correlation between the time required to pronounce numbers in a given language and the memory span of its speakers. In this domain, the prize for efficacy goes to the Cantonese dialect of Chinese, whose brevity grants residents of Hong Kong a rocketing memory span of about 10 digits.

It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, so one would think that we would also say one-teen, two-teen, and three-teen. But we don’t. We make up a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fifteen. Similarly, we have forty, and sixty, which sound like what they are. But we also say fifty and thirty and twenty, which sort of sound what they are but not really. And, for that matter, for numbers above twenty, we put the “decade” first and the unit number second: twenty-one, twenty-two. For the teens, though, we do it the other way around. We put the decade second and the unit number first: fourteen, seventeen, eighteen. The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten one. Twelve is ten two. Twenty-four is two ten four, and so on.

That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster. Four year old Chinese children can count, on average, up to forty. American children, at that age, can only count to fifteen, and don’t reach forty until they’re five: by the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian counterparts in the most fundamental of math skills.

The regularity of their number systems also means that Asian children can perform basic functions—like addition—far more easily. Ask an English seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty two, in her head, and she has to convert the words to numbers (37 + 22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is nine and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two tens-two, and then the necessary equation is right there, embedded in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: It’s five-tens nine.

“The Asian system is transparent,” says Karen Fuson, a Northwestern University psychologist, who has done much of the research on Asian-Western differences. “I think that it makes the whole attitude toward math different. Instead of being a rote learning thing, there’s a pattern I can figure out. There is an expectation that I can do this. There is an expectation that it’s sensible. For fractions, we say three fifths. The Chinese is literally, ‘out of five parts, take three.’ That’s telling you conceptually what a fraction is. It’s differentiating the denominator and the numerator.”

The much-storied disenchantment with mathematics among western children starts in the third and fourth grade, and Fuson argues that perhaps a part of that disenchantment is due to the fact that math doesn’t seem to make sense; its linguistic structure is clumsy; its basic rules seem arbitrary and complicated.

Asian children, by contrast, don’t face nearly that same sense of bafflement. They can hold more numbers in their head, and do calculations faster, and the way fractions are expressed in their language corresponds exactly to the way a fraction actually is—and maybe that makes them a little more likely to enjoy math, and maybe because they enjoy math a little more they try a little harder and take more math classes and are more willing to do their homework, and on and on, in a kind of virtuous circle.

When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have built-in advantage. . .

Malayaali.

പണത്തിനു വേണ്ടി  മലയാളി എന്തും ചെയ്യും എന്ന അവസ്ഥ യായിരികുന്നു, മയക്കു മരുന്നു കടത്തും, ഗുണ്ടായിസവും, കൊലപാതകവും സാധാരണ യായിരിക്കുന്നു, എല്ലാം ജീവിതാർബാടത്തിനുള്ള തത്രപാടിൽ. 

Men

Men are slaves of what he knows and enemy of what he don't. 

Improve your Communication Skills

 

Improve your Communication Skills - Alan Barker

While I was reading a book 'Improve your Communication Skills' by Alan Barker, I came across the following point which is very easy to understand how people think of a sentence:

What does it all mean?

The transmission model ignores the way humans understand. Human beings don't process information; they process meanings.
For Example, the words 'I ám fine' could mean:

• 'I am feeling well';
• 'I am happy';
• 'I was feeling unwell but am now feeling better';
• 'I was feeling unhappy but now feel less unhappy';
• 'I am not injured; there's no need to help me';
• 'Actually, I feel lousy but I don't want you to know it';
• 'Help!'

- or any one of a dozen other ideas. The receiver has to understand the meaning of the words if they are to respond appropriately; but the words may not contain the speaker's whole meaning.
 
There is a paradox in communicating. I cannot expect that you will understand everything I tell you; and I cannot expect that you will understand only what I tell you. - Patrick Bouvard

If we want to develop our communication skills, we need to move beyond the transmission model. We need to think about communication in a new way. And that means thinking about how we understand.

THE ARAB AWAKENING: ISLAM AND THE NEW MIDDLE EAST

Across the Arab world millions of women and men have taken to the streets, showing that dictators can be overthrown without weapons. But what happens now?

Tariq Ramadan is one of the most acclaimed figures in the analysis of Islam and its political dimensions today. In The Arab Awakening he explores the opportunities and challenges across North Africa and the Middle East, as they look to create new, more open societies. He asks: can Muslim countries bring together Islam, pluralism and democracy without betraying their identity? Will the Arab world be able to reclaim its memory to reinvent education, women’s rights, social justice, economic growth and the fight against corruption? Can this emancipation be envisioned with Islam, experienced not as a straitjacket, but as an ethical and cultural wealth?

Arguing that the debate cannot be reduced to a confrontation between two approaches - the modern and secular versus the traditional and Islamic - Ramadan demonstrates that not only are both of these routes in crisis, but that the Arab world has an historic opportunity: to stop blaming the West, to jettison its victim status and to create a truly new dynamic.

Tariq Ramadan offers up a challenge to the Middle East: what enduring legacy will you produce, from the historic moment of the Arab Spring?

http://www.tariqramadan.com/The-Arab-Awakening-Islam-and-the,11911.html?lang=en

ISLAMOPHOBIA: The Ideological Campaign Against Muslims by Stephen Sheehi

SYNOPSIS
Islamophobia: The Ideological Campaign Against Muslims examines the rise of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments in the West following the end of the Cold War through GW Bush’s War on Terror to the Age of Obama. Using “Operation Desert Storm” as a watershed moment, Stephen Sheehi examines the increased mainstreaming of Muslim-bating rhetoric and explicitly racist legislation, police surveillance, witch-trials and discriminatory policies towards Muslims in North America and abroad.
The book focuses on the various genres and modalities of Islamophobia from the works of rogue academics to the commentary by mainstream journalists, to campaigns by political hacks and special interest groups. Some featured Islamophobes are Bernard Lewis. Fareed Zakaria, Thomas Friedman, David Horowitz, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Irshad Manji, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Their theories and opinions operate on an assumption that Muslims, particularly Arab Muslims, suffer from particular cultural lacuna that prevent their cultures from progress, democracy and human rights. While the assertion originated in the colonial era, Sheehi demonstrates that it was refurbished as a viable explanation for Muslim resistance to economic and cultural globalization during the Clinton era. Moreover, the theory was honed into the empirical basis for an interventionist foreign policy and propaganda campaign during the Bush regime and continues to underlie Barack Obama’s new internationalism.
If the assertions of media pundits and rogue academics became the basis for White House foreign policy, Sheehi also demonstrates how they were translated into a sustained domestic policy of racial profiling and Muslim-baiting by agencies from Homeland Security to the Department of Justice. Furthermore, Sheehi examines the collusion between non-governmental agencies, activist groups and lobbies and local, state and federal agencies in suppressing political speech on US campuses critical of racial profiling, US foreign policy in the Middle East and Israel. While much of the direct violence against Muslims on American streets, shops and campuses has subsided, Islamophobia runs throughout the Obama administration. Sheehi, therefore, concludes that Muslim and Arab-hating emanate from all corners of the American political and cultural spectrum, serving poignant ideological functions in the age of economic, cultural and political globalization.
Author
Stephen Sheehi is Associate Professor of Arabic and Arab Culture and Director of the Arabic 
Program at the University of South Carolina. He teaches intellectual, literary, cultural, and artistic heritage of Arabo-Islamic world. His work interrogates various modalities of self, society, art and political economy with Arab modernity.
He is the author of Foundations of Modern Arab Identity, which examines the foundational writing of intellectuals of the 19th century Arab Renaissance or al-nahdah al-`arabiyah. The book discusses how Arab intellectuals offered a powerful cultural self-criticism along side their critiques and discussions of modernity, capitalism and European imperialism.
He has also published in journals such as International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, The 
British Journal of Middle East Studies, Discourse, Critique, The Journal of Arabic Literature, and 
The Journal of Comparative South Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Studies.
He has also written on the contemporary politics in Lebanon and academic repression in the United States.
In addition to his scholarship, Prof. Sheehi has also been active in social justice movements in the Middle East and North America.
Product Details
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Clarity Press (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932863671
• ISBN-13: 978-0932863676
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches

How can we make every day a World Book Day?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2012/jan/30/world-book-day-book-doctor

'Schools need more time for reading aloud, choosing and sharing the pleasure of reading books and not just extracts'

World Book Day always generates huge enthusiasm for reading in my children's school. The children love dressing up as a book character and the £1 voucher means they end up owning a new book and so reading more. All the teachers suddenly seem very excited about reading too. Do you have any suggestions as to how schools can keep that excitement about reading going all through the school year?

Schools need more time for reading aloud, choosing and 

sharing the pleasure of reading books and not just extracts

I quite agree about the stimulation and success of World Book Day, which falls on March 1 this year. Every year it seems to get bigger and better and it means that schools have the chance to concentrate on the pleasure of reading in its widest sense. Knowing different authors, finding out who you like – and who you don't - plays a key role in becoming a confident and enthusiastic reader.

Whether you spend the £1 voucher on a special World Book Day title or on any other book means every child can add a title to their book store. All research shows that owning books plays a key role in encouraging reading and we need to do all we can to make that happen.

But it is not just because children end up owning books that World Book Day inspires. It is also because it concentrates on stories and, as you say with the dressing up, the characters in them. Ensuring children have a whole view of books in terms of the stories and the parts played in them is the surest way to raise enthusiasm for reading.

Schools need more time for reading aloud, book choosing and sharing the pleasure of reading whole books and not just extracts. Just some of those could make reading exciting all through the year.

What are you reading today?

It's an endlessly interesting conversation-starter, and we'd like to record your answers on a Flickr gallery

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/jan/27/what-are-you-reading-today

What are you reading? is often the start of a great conversation. We swap book recommendations and write about the books we've just readon the site, but now we'd like to invite you to answer the question in pictures – don't tell us, show us.
To do this we have started a Flickr group called What are you reading today? where we invite you to upload your photos and share with us what you are reading. You can post up to seven photos a week in the group, so if you like, you can share what you are reading every day and use it a bit like a visual book diary. This is an experiment so it's up to you which way it goes and what it turns into, but it might be a great way of getting a moving picture of what books are proving the most popular with readers.

The photo can be a picture of you reading your book or just a snap of the cover. As long as we can see the title, we don't mind. And, as library goers across the UK mark Libraries Day on 4 February, this seems the be the perfect moment to show your support for your library by posting a picture of the book you've just borrowed.

If you have any questions, or any problems uploading your photos to the group, please let me know in the thread below. If you're on Twitter you are also welcome to tweet us your photos @guardianbooks.

Readers on the London tube. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian 

An Emirati children's book author talks about the importance of supporting literacy

http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/an-emirati-childrens-book-author-talks-about-the-importance-of-supporting-literacy

Jan 30, 2012 

The Sharjah-born writer Nadia Saleem Al Kalbani had decided from the beginning of her career that her children's book characters would display human emotions. Existing children's books place too much emphasis on "direct advice and educational direction", she said.

"I love honesty in writing and I love humane writing," she said.

Her book A Sweet Word features a young man who expresses his joys and fears by writing them down on small pieces of paper that he hides inside his pocket. According to Al Kalbani, these words become the man's "road map, which leads him to live his life in harmony with his neighbours - the inhabitants of the Earth".

Illustrations in her book are kept very simple for her young readership.

"I wanted to give children something different, something noble but entertaining and effective - and at the same time something that is humane," she said. "My characters are not ideal and they are not angels; they make mistakes and get frustrated at times."

Nadia Saleem Al Kalbani

Al Kalbani was one of two Emirati writers longlisted for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for children's literature, although she was not on the shortlist when it was announced last week. She said the nomination alone made her feel successful and that she's grateful for the opportunity to showcase her work to a wider audience.

"Writers should not write aiming to win a prize - the prize will come to honour and encourage [writers]. The prize or nomination is a confirmation to tell you, 'Yes, I read your book. Thank you, I enjoyed it'."

Al Kalbani's book - her first - was published in March 2011 and all copies were distributed by hand to young people, at no cost.

"I don't consider writing a job - I don't get paid for my writing and I don't work for anyone," the author said, adding that she draws full-time as well. She also organises workshops related to children's literacy, some of which are supported by government entities.

As a young writer, Al Kalbani used to find inspiration in the phrases others had written on the walls of the old quarters of the UAE. While no one in her family directly encouraged her to write children's stories, her longlisted work was, according to her, "originally presented to the soul of my father and the heart of my mother.

"When I wrote, they stood by me and read my writing and were happy for me. I believe that our journey through life in the company of our families plays a big role in forming the person we turn out to be," she said.

Promoting literacy among children is something she feels passionately about. In her opinion, books are too expensive, so a non-profit company that will print, publish, translate and distribute children's books at nominal prices should be established.

"This company would aim to encourage a love of reading - reading in actual fact is not a luxury, it is a necessity," she said.

"This project is for human development and it needs authors, painters and translators who don't aim to make money from children's books - it's the right of each young and small palm to have a book," she said.

Although A Sweet Word is aimed at readers age 12 and above, the work's strapline is "Thoughts for children … young and old".

The work, Al Kalbani said, is dedicated to "childhood, wherever it is.

"Childhood could be in the heart of an old man, a passing scene in life or a sweet poem. I would like to imagine that my small book might wake up the child in us."

artslife@thenational.ae

My father was a freedom fighter

Recently i read the book, 'My father was a freedom fighter' by Ramzy Baroud. This is the first time that i have read a book on Palestine in English. Its a nice book that gives a nice description of the events in the author's life along with the Palestine history. The book also reflects the sense of humour, the Palestinians possess. The humour in times of danger is something unbelievable. The events from the times of Ramzy's grand father till the death of his father are mentioned in brief. The Suez conflict, Yom Kippur war, Camp David Accord, Oslo accord, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the victory of Hamas find a mention in this novel. The atrocities of the Israelis and the struggle of the Palestinians are given in a clear manner. Ramzy's grandfather was forced to leave his native, Beit Daras and he felt and hoped that he would return soon to his house. But neither the author's grandfather nor his father were able to return back. The language is bit difficult in some places, but a slow and careful reading can manage this. A nice book for those who to wish to have a picture of Palestine.

Mirror launches year-long reading campaign

The Daily Mirror is to run a We Love Reading campaign, backed by poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, throughout 2012. 

In today's edition (16th January), the newspaper said it aims to "open up the world of possibilities that it [reading] can bring to everyone", and was "particularly committed to helping young people learn to love reading and enjoy its endless benefits." In its leader column, the tabloid urged parents to encourage their children to read. "Let them discover the pleasure of curling up with a good book - or a Kindle!", it said. 

Also in today's paper, Duffy paid tribute to the role of her small local library in Stafford in fostering her reading habit in childhood, as well as supportive parents and an inspirational teacher at secondary school. "Reading meant to me, then as now, liberation, celebration, affirmation," she wrote. "To read is to be entertained, challenged, reminded, enthralled or changed. It requires the mind and the imagination to engage actively with the page and so it makes the thinking part of ourselves fitter."

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/mirror-launches-year-long-reading-campaign.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Emirati women create orphanage for unwanted books

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/emirati-women-create-orphanage-for-unwanted-books

Amna Al Haddad

Dec 31, 2011 

DUBAI // Two Emirati women have created a virtual orphanage for unwanted books, with the hopes of finding them new homes and encouraging a culture of reading.

Mariam Al Khayat and Shaikha Al Shamsi, both 28, started The Book Shelter initiative last month. Anyone in the UAE can either donate books or log on to their website and browse titles they would like to adopt, free of charge. The shelter will even handle the delivery.

"I think people see reading as a chore," Ms Al Khayat said. "Everything is fast-paced now and when you read, you need to sit quietly. Maybe that's why they don't read as much."

Only 50 per cent of Emiratis own more than 50 books, according to research being carried out by the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in Ras Al Khaimah.

Fatma Al Bannai, the founder of a writing group,
has already donated four books to The Book Shelter.

Samar Farah, co-author of the study, which is to be published early next year, said: "Literacy rates are really high among Emiratis, but literacy is not the actual problem - it's the lack of a reading culture that is more problematic."

According to a Unesco study conducted between 2000 and 2008, 90 per cent of Emiratis over the age of 15 can read.

"We were shocked to learn that so many people don't like to read, and we want to make it easier for people to pick a book," said Ms Al Shamsi. "We think reading is very important. Personally, we are hard-core bookworms."

The women currently have 100 books on their website, but they will be adding another 150 in the coming weeks. Their collection includes children's literature, fiction and non-fiction in Arabic, English and French.

Ms Al Shamsi said they plan to set up a permanent collection point in each emirate as the project grows. First, though, they will set up in Maraya Art Centre in Al Qasba, Sharjah.

"In the long term, we want it to be sustained by the community itself," said Ms Al Shamsi. "We want to see people doing it on their own: recycling, donating, and adopting books, which in turn will promote a reading culture."

Sakina Eb Iha, a 19-year-old student from India, has donated two books and adopted three from The Book Shelter. "I really like sending books to people and spreading the love for reading," she said.

Fatma Al Bannai, the 23-year-old founder of an Emirati women's writing group, has already donated four books to The Book Shelter.

"I had these books for a while and they were just collecting dust on my bookshelf," she said. "When I heard about this initiative I was glad to donate them so that other people can enjoy these books as well."

aalhaddad@thenational.ae

Visit blog.thebookshelter.ae to donate or adopt books

The Qur'an: A Biography (Books That Changed the World)

by Bruce Lawrence



ISBN13: 9780871139511
ISBN10: 0871139510

Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:

 A distinguished historian of religion shows precisely how the Qur'an is Islam. He describes the origins of the faith and assesses its tremendous influence on today's societies and politics.
Review:

 "As part of this press's series on Books That Changed the World, Lawrence, a professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University, offers an unusual 'biography' of the Qur'an, the Islamic holy book. He describes in each chapter how the Qur'an has been experienced throughout its 1,400-year history, as it has fascinated, intrigued and guided millions of Muslims and non-Muslims. Lawrence gracefully describes the Qur'an's interpretation and use — by individuals, leaders, poets and even on building walls. Throughout, Lawrence emphasizes the wide diversity of Qur'anic interpretations around the world and through the ages. The same verses that appear on the walls of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, for example, are written inside drinking glasses in Indonesia, sipped by women seeking the healing powers of the Qur'an. Some Sufis have even claimed that the Qur'an can heal AIDS when people chant its verses. In his boldest analysis, Lawrence examines Osama bin Laden's manipulative citation of the Qur'an. In contrast, Lawrence profiles W.D. Mohammed, the spiritual leader of approximately two million African-American Muslims, who sees the Qur'an as unifying peoples beyond race and culture. This book, like the book it studies, is meditative and unique, a lovely read for any spiritual person, Muslim or not." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)


Book News Annotation:

 Examining the core Islamic scripture, Lawrence (Islamic studies, Duke U.) begins with core features such as the Prophet Muhammad as merchant and messenger and organizer and strategist. Then he considers early commentaries, later interpreters, echoes in other Asian religious, the the use of the Qur'an by various factions in the modern world. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


Synopsis:

 Few books in history have been as poorly understood as the Quran. Sent down in a series of revelations to the Prophet Muhammad, the Quran is the unmediated word of Allah, a ritual, political, and legal authority, an ethical and spiritual guide, and a literary masterpiece. In this book, one of the launch titles in Atlantic Monthly Press “Books That Changed the World” series, the distinguished historian of religion Bruce Lawrence shows precisely how the Quran is Islam. He describes the origins of the faith and assesses its tremendous influence on todays societies and politics. Above all, Lawrence emphasizes that the Quran is a sacred book of signs that has no single message. It is a book that demands interpretation and one that can be properly understood only through its history. Bruce Lawrences work is a beautifully written and, in these increasingly troubled times, invaluable introduction to and exploration of the core sacred text of Islam.

King's Counsel: A Memoir of War, Espionage, and Diplomacy in the Middle East

by Jack O' Connell

Back cover says: "I arrived at Cairo International Airport at 11p.m. on a weeknight and went directly to my hotel. There was no one in the lobby and one reception clerk on duty. I showed him my passport and he found reservation. Then out of the blue he looked up and asked.'Did you come from CIA?' My mind went blank. I looked down at the front of my jacket to see if I'd put my agency badge on by mistake. Nothing. I thought of grabbing my only bag and running out of the hotel, but was literally too paralyzed to move or answer him. He just stood there looking at me e quizzically. How did he know? Was he tipped off by the Egyptian Security Service? If so, where were they? As my mind raced in senseless circles, I heard him repeat the question: 'Did you come from CIA?'

I paid no attention. My career was probably ruined before it had even begun. Should I finish the mission or get in touch with my emergency contact? Not if I was already a marked man. Obviously irritated that I did not respond to his question, the clerk repeated in a louder voice: 'Mister, did you come from CIA - from Cairo International Airport?' I almost fainted from the shock - and a relief - as I blurted out, 'Ofcourse! How else could I have gotten here?' " - From Introduction

A CIA station chief, later Jordan's lawyer in Washington, reveals the secret history of a lost peace.

Jack O'Connell possessed an uncanny ability to be at the center of things. On his arrival in Jordan in 1958, he unraveled a coup aimed at the young King Hussein, who would become America's most reliable Middle East ally. Over time, their bond of trust and friendship deepened.

His narrative contains secrets that will revise our understanding of the Middle East. In 1967, O'Connell tipped off Hussein that Israel would invade Egypt the next morning. Later, as Hussein's Washington counselor, O'Connell learned of Henry Kissinger's surprising role in the Yom Kippur War.

Kansas libraries lead way in e-book access

http://www.kansan.com/news/2011/nov/01/kansas-libraries-lead-way-e-book-access/?news

By Ian Cummings

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

More e-books are available in libraries this year than ever before, and Kansas libraries are leading an effort to keep them there.

Nationwide, 82 percent of public libraries across the country offered e-books in 2011, up 10 percent from last year, according to a survey published by Library Journal. Academic libraries saw a more modest increase of one percent, with 95 percent in the nation offering e-books.

But with that increase, some libraries have seen the terms of their contracts with publishers change radically, raising the question of whether the libraries are purchasing ownership of the books, or merely renting them for the period of the contract. The State Library of Kansas recently decided to change vendors when prices spiked and the terms of ownership changed in a proposed contract renewal with OverDrive, a national e-book distributor. Jo Budler, the state librarian, balked at those changes and decided to let that contract expire in December. From then on, the state library will contract with 3M for its e-books and with Recorded Books for audio books.

“We’ve had a contract with OverDrive since 2005, and pricing was pretty steady up until a year ago,” Budler said. “There were two things in the renewal that were pretty problematic.”

The first problem, according to Budler, was a price increase of 700 percent. The state library currently pays OverDrive $10,800, but that cost would have increased each year under the new contract, reaching $75,000 in the third and final year.

The second problem was that the new contract left ownership of the content with OverDrive. The current contract gives the state library permanent access to all of the content it purchases. Under the new contract, the library would have lost all of the content if and when it left OverDrive.

“We said ‘no,’” Budler said. “We’re challenging that we lease rather than own.”

She said Kansas was, in some ways, a leader among libraries negotiating terms with publishers in the emerging e-book market.

Kansas was one of the first states to organize its libraries into a state-wide consortium to negotiate with publishers. Budler said that, at a conference last week, she spoke with librarians from other states who said they didn’t think their libraries had ownership of the digital content they were purchasing. Budler advised them to look closely at their contracts.

“You have to negotiate that,” she said.

The Kansas state library currently offers at least 2,447 e-books and 7,732 downloadable audiobooks, among other digital content.

The current contract with OverDrive ends December 5. Butler said the new contract with 3M provides for the libraries ownership of content, and other state libraries may not have reached such favorable terms. The state library will start testing 3M’s system in December. Budler said 3M was a little behind in its development of the state library’s platform, but that she didn’t think there would be any gap in downloadable availability between the end of the current contract and the beginning of the new one. More than half of the library’s e-books, and 40% of the audio books are currently moving over to the new 3M platform.

The e-books that patrons download from the library work on most electronic readers. Budler said the Amazon Kindle does not support some of those, but that Amazon was working with publishers to make the content and the readers compatible.

The Lawrence Public Library participates in the state library program, and patrons can download those e-books using their local library card, according to Sherri Turner, assistant director of the library. The state library provides its own card, which can also be used to download e-books and audio books from the state’s website. Turner said the local platform would accept those as well, in the future. She said the Lawrence library will adapt as the state library changes digital platforms.

“We’re still waiting for training and information to know exactly how that’s going to work for us,” Turner said. She said the state and local library websites also steered patrons toward sources of free downloadable content, such as Project Gutenberg, which provides classic literature and other works that are out of copyright.

KU Libraries has participated in the state-wide e-book program in the past, but now purchases digital content from various vendors and publishers, according to Lea Currie, head of collection development at KU Libraries.

“Most of the e-books provided by the state consortium are not appropriate for a research library,” Currie wrote in an e-mail. “Therefore, KU selects e-books that support the teaching and research of students and faculty at the research university level.”

Currie said the University will not be affected by changes at the state library, and will continue to purchase e-books at the same level or higher, depending on demand. Students can access the University’s collection through KU Libraries’ website.

— Edited by Jonathan Shorman

Resurrecting Empire

by Rashid Khalidi



After searching and reading about 'Neocolonialism' I came to a conclusion that what is going on right now all over the world especially Muslim World is not coming under 'Neocolonialism' but we need to create new terminology 'Re-colonialism'. Neocolonialism - USA and Western Countries control other worlds indirectly influencing in their economical and social activities. Re-colonialism - It is like colonial power. Conquer other nations and occupy them (Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq etc) - Ismail

Passage from this book:

Page 26

Palestine was almost as hard for Great Britain to conquer in World War I as Iraq, obliging it to wage a hard campaign that took even longer than that in Iraq. After a series of disturbances and riots, the country erupted into a lengthy and bloody nationwide popular revolt against the British from 1936 until 1939. This revolt eventually succeeded in the rebels' taking over several urban centers, and could only be mastered by means of the largest single pre-World War II colonial deployment of British Forces. The Syrians resisted the French in similarly stubborn fashion, obliging them to bombard and subjugate Damascus three times in the course of major military efforts, in 1920, during the nationwide Syrian revolt of 1925-26, and again in 1945.

The numbers of people killed by colonial forces as they suppressed this resistance were so high. In the most lethal of the French bombardment of Damascus in 1925 in revenge for having been driven out of much if the city, French forces killed over 1,400 people, almost all of them civilians. Earlier in 1925, after a similar humiliation in Hama, the French had killed 344 people, again mainly civilians, during a punitive aerial bombardment of the town. french forces later to kill a mans as 1,000 in a similar attack in May 1926 after they once again lost control of the Damascus neighborhood of the Maydan. The number of those killed in the Syrian country side, especially in the Jabal Druze regioen where the revolt began, are much harder to determine, but were also undoubtedly very high.

Iraq, Morroco, Libya, and Syria were the laboratory where the military high-technology of the post-World War II era was first tried out, and where the textbook on the aerial bombardment of civilians were written. One Royal Air Force officer wrote of the 1920 Iraq campaign that after "the most prominent tribe which it is desired to punish" had been chosen, "the attack with bombs and machine guns must be unrelenting and unremitting and carried our continuously by day and night, on houses, inhabitants, corps, and cattle. The RAF's "Notes on he Method of Employment of the Air Arm in Iraq" stated of this air campaign that "within 45 minutes a full sized village...can be practically wiped out and a third of its inhabitants killed and injured by four or five planes which offer them no real target and no opportunity for glory or avarice. Not surprisingly, at least six thousand and perhaps as many as eighty five hundred or even ten thousand Iraqis were killed during the suppression of the 1920 revolt, many of them civilians. The casualities in Morocco and Syria among civilains during the French military campaigns were similarly high.

Overview

Begun as the United States moved its armed forces into Iraq, Rashid Khalidi's powerful and thoughtful new book examines the record of Western involvement in the region and analyzes the likely outcome of our most recent Middle East incursions. Drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of the political and cultural history of the entire region as well as interviews and documents, Khalidi paints a chilling scenario of our present situation and yet offers a tangible alternative that can help us find the path to peace rather than Empire.

We all know that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Sadly, as Khalidi reveals with clarity and surety, America's leaders seem blindly committed to an ahistorical path of conflict, occupation, and colonial rule. Our current policies ignore rather than incorporate the lessons of experience. American troops in Iraq have seen first hand the consequences of U.S. led "democratization" in the region. The Israeli/Palestinian conflict seems intractable, and U.S. efforts in recent years have only inflamed the situation. The footprints America follows have led us into the same quagmire that swallowed our European forerunners. Peace and prosperity for the region are nowhere in sight.

This cogent and highly accessible book provides the historical and cultural perspective so vital to understanding our present situation and to finding and pursuing a more effective and just foreign policy.

Meet The Author

Rashid Khalidi, author of three previous books about the Middle East - Origins of Arab Nationalism, Under Siege, and the award-winning Palestinian Identity-is the Edward Said Chair in Arab Studies and director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. He has written more than seventy-five articles on aspects of Middle East history and politics including pieces in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and many journals. Professor Khalidi has received fellowships and grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Research Center in Egypt, and the Rockefeller Foundation; he was also the recipient of a Fulbright research award. Professor Khalidi has been a regular guest on numerous radio and TV shows, including All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, Morning Edition, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Nightline.

Table Of Contents: 

Introduction : the perils of ignoring history
Ch. 1 The legacy of the Western encounter with the Middle East 1

Ch. 2 America, the West, and democracy in the Middle East  37
Ch. 3 The Middle East : geostrategy and oil 74

Ch. 4 The United States and Palestine 118
Ch. 5 Raising the ghosts of empire 152