Life is Full of Surprises

Written by Chuck Gallozzi

Life is full of surprises, and you’re one of them Life is full of surprises, and you are one of them. I’ll begin by offering two reasons YOU are so surprising. The first deals with your relationship with the universe. Although the size of the universe can be measured, its vastness is unfathomable. Nevertheless, I’ll try to paint a picture of its size. Imagine gathering all the beaches on earth and placing them in one pile. The pile represents the universe and a single grain of sand, the sun. What about our planet, earth? To represent it, you would have to use a speck that is 1/300,000th the mass of a single grain of sand. Can you see why finding a needle in a haystack is infinitely easier than finding planet earth in the universe? But wait a minute, if our planet is 1/300,000th the mass of a grain of sand, what size would you be? The answer is: so small and insignificant that, as far as the universe is concerned, YOU DON’T EXIST! Yet, you do! That’s what’s so surprising. Ready to move on to surprise number two? What are the odds of you being born? Before answering that, let me paint another picture. Pretend that somewhere in Canada, The U.S., Mexico, Central America, or South America there is the perfect mate for you. And pretend that every single member of the same sex as you, in all the above regions, regardless of their age, are striving to marry the same person you want as a mate! Since the total population for the above areas is about 765,873,947 and about half are the same sex as you, you would have to compete with roughly 382,936,973 people for the same mate! Imagine how incredibly lucky you would have to be to marry the person of your dreams. Getting back to the question I posed earlier, what are the odds of you being born? Well, very similar to my illustration of millions of people competing for the same mate. You see, before YOU were conceived, there were between 300 and 400 MILLION sperm (spermatozoa) competing to fertilize one egg (ovum)! Depending on which sperm fertilized the egg, a completely different person would have been created. So, the odds of YOU being born are one in three or four hundred million! Considering the odds, I find our existence quite surprising. Now you know what I mean when I say that life is full of surprises and you are one of them. Someone who agreed with this assertion was the English biologist, Lewis Thomas (1913 - 1993), who wrote, "Statistically, the probability of any of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in contented dazzlement of surprise." Apparently, George Burns’ great love, Gracie Allen (1906 - 1964), also agreed, for she said, "When I was born I was so surprised that I didn't talk for a year and a half." The world we live in consists of order and disorder. The laws of nature are evidence of order. The many laws are so dependable that we often forget about the chaos in our midst. Yet, uncertainty, unpredictability, randomness, the unanticipated and the unexpected are equally enmeshed in our lives. Unfortunately, the words we use to describe chaos evoke negative images such as insecurity and instability. However, if we refer to chaos as SURPRISE, we are more likely to discover its beauty. After all, we love surprises, such as the surprise endings of stories and jokes. Why, at my last birthday, close friends surprised me by the absence of a party. Wow, what a surprise that was! A hike in the woods is the perfect place to experience life’s dance of order and disorder. Maple leaves turn crimson and fall from trees as ordained by the laws of nature. But what shade of crimson? And in which direction will they fall? Like the forest, our life will have its share of order and chaos. Chaos is to order what energy is to matter, they are just different expressions of a single principle. When we understand life, we expect the unexpected. You’re resting under a tree when suddenly, plop, a caterpillar drops on your hand. What do you do? Brush it aside? A child would never do so. Instead he or she would take a close look, trying to decipher the wonder and mystery of life. We need to regain that spirit of adventure. When disaster strikes, why do we moan about our pain instead of grabbing hold of life. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers." No, it is not misfortune, insecurity, and the unexpected that need to be confronted, but SURPRISE that needs to be embraced, for it is a doorway that leads to a better you. Here’s how Robert D. Ballard expressed the same idea, "Everyone is an explorer. How could you possibly live your life looking at a door and not open it?" SURPRISE is life tickling us. It is a source of joy and delight. A life without surprise, is a life of boredom. We don’t have to wait for surprise to appear. We can add excitement and pleasure to life by creating our own surprises. Opportunities abound. Interested in another position, but afraid that if you applied you would be turned down? Apply anyway. For if you do, you will experience surprise. What kind of surprise? They may hire you! Wow, that would be a nice surprise. If they don’t, you will be surprised by the courage you displayed and delighted by your newfound strength. Look for areas in which you can improve and surprise yourself by creating a better you. Share the pleasure of surprise with others. Surprise your spouse, family members and friends. Surprise your boss by showing up on time! What exotic dishes haven’t you tried? Surprise yourself and friends by trying new types of food. Mmmm, delicious! Do you have some favorite hangouts? A pub, bar, coffee shop, or restaurant? Why not explore a new neighborhood? Surprise yourself with a different mood, crowd, and atmosphere. What about your tastes in music and the arts? Isn’t it true that if you tried something different you may be delightfully surprised? The same is true with books, as we venture into new fields, surprising new worlds open. So, let’s welcome the uncertainty of life by using surprise to uncover new opportunities, recover the wonder of our youth, and discover the joy of life.

Holy Person

Written by Chuck Gallozzi

When night turns into day and darkness into light Sugimori Nobumori was hunched over the corner table, slurping a bowl of noodles. Behind him he could hear the crowd in the noodle shop excitedly discussing the sighting of a wise holy man. The sage had come to town for supplies and then returned to his home in the wilderness. Finishing his noodles, Sugimori turned to face his fellow villagers and asked, "Does anyone know where he lives?" "I do, said the fishmonger, "the holy man lives in the northeastern part of the forest." Thanking his friend, he left for home. As he lied on his futon that evening, Sugimori reflected how few people would have the opportunity to visit a holy man. So, the next morning he decided to set off and call on him. The trip was difficult because the outskirts of villages were not developed in seventeen-century Japan. Despite the hardships he faced, however, Sugimori found the house three days later. He stood before the door, and, as was the custom, shouted, "Excuse me! (Is anyone home?). Within seconds, a servant in tattered garments slid open the door and asked how he could help. "I want to see your master;" Sugimori said, "take me to the holy man." "Very well, follow me." Sugimori was led through the three rooms of the house and finally through the back door and into the garden. As his tattered clothes billowed in the breeze, the servant bowed and said, "Thank you for coming. Good-bye." "Wait a moment," Sugimori protested, "I want to see the holy man!" "You already have." came the reply. "Every person you meet, whether in rags or well dressed, rich or poor, young or old, learned or uneducated, male or female, sick or healthy, attractive or plain, well-mannered or ill-bred, boisterous or soft-spoken, every one you meet is a holy person. Every one is wholly human. Every one is a teacher. Every one is your sister or brother. Once you learn and live this truth, you, too, will be a wise, holy man." Those who treat everyone they meet as a holy person live in peace. For their lives are free from conflict, impatience, or jealousy. How wise they are who treasure their fellow human beings, for the source of our strength and power are other people. At first it may appear that I am independent, working alone at home. But my computer was designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold by people. If it breaks down, people service it. My software was programmed and my frozen lunch manufactured by people. The list goes on and on. We are completely dependent on one another. We not only need one another to exchange our services, but to learn from each other as well. We learn and develop our skills by working together. And the good examples and mistakes of others teach us what to imitate or avoid. Less obvious, however, is how important the weaknesses of others are for our spiritual growth. After all, how can we practice patience, acceptance, and compassion unless others are irritable, rude, or thoughtless? To put it in another way, we need others because it is through interacting with them that we discover and create who we are. When we act kindly toward others, we become kind. When we forgive others, we become forgiving. When we try to understand the thoughts and feelings of others, we become understanding. And when we feel the pain of others, we become compassionate. After they were both finished eating, Martha started clearing the table and said, "That was a great lunch, Sue. Let me help you with the cleanup. As they washed, rinsed, and dried the dishes, Sue pointed at the window to the bed sheet drying in her neighbor's yard. "Look," she said disgustedly, "did you ever see such a dirty bed sheet? My neighbor has no shame!" "But Sue," said Martha appalled, "it's not the bed sheet, but your kitchen window that's dirty!" That brief story is an excellent metaphor for how we project our own failings on others. In other words we blame them for our own shortcomings. This is another way we can learn from others, not by THEIR behaviour, but by OUR feelings. So, whenever we are tempted to belittle or criticize another, it is a sign that there is something we do not like about ourselves. Therefore, when we have such an urge, we should bite our tongue and remember to work on improving ourselves. For the happier we are with ourselves, the happier we will be with others, and the easier it will become to realize that everyone is a holy person. Remember, to belittle is to be little. It is to be small hearted and have little confidence. Learn to open your heart to everyone and you will open the doors to endless opportunities, friendships, and learning. Her eyes fluttered. Just before drifting into sleep, Hazel wondered what it would be like in Heaven. Suddenly she found herself in an ordinary small town. Yet, something told her that she was in Heaven. Puzzled, she approached a handsome young man who shone as brightly as an angel. "Excuse me," she said," but is this Heaven?" The handsome being said, "You can find Heaven in any of the homes on this street." So, Hazel entered the nearest home. But all she saw were ordinary people doing ordinary things. Confused, she returned to the luminous being. "I looked in the house," she said, "but the people don't seem to be in Heaven." The handsome man smiled and said, "No, you misunderstand. They are not in Paradise, but Paradise is in them." When we open our hearts to others by seeing them as holy, we also open our hearts to Paradise. But those who demean and ridicule others have constricted hearts that prevent Heaven from flowing in. Hasidic Jews have a rich repository of instructional tales. In one such tale, a Rabbi asked his pupils how they could tell when night turns into day and darkness into light. "It is when there is enough light to distinguish between distant olive and fig trees." said one pupil. Another volunteered, "It is when it is bright enough to tell the difference between distant dogs and cats." After they all had a chance to speak, the Rabbi said, "All were good answers. But the answer I want you to remember, comprehend, and live by is simply this: it is when you can look at the face of any man or woman and see them as your brother or sister. Until that time, it is still night."

Finding Forgiveness

Written by Chuck Gallozzi

Forgiving is for giving As I write this, Christmas decorations appear everywhere, reminding me that this is the season for giving. But for giving what? Children's eyes may light up when they get a new toy, but the excitement quickly fades. Yet, one kind word may leave an impact on an entire lifetime. Aren't gifts of the heart far more potent than gifts of the purse? With this thought in mind, I believe one of the most valuable gifts we can give this season is the gift of forgiveness. You see, forgiving is for giving. When we forgive, we become godlike. And how does God forgive? It is described in the Sunni Islamic holy book, Mishkat Al-Masabih, "Whoever approaches Me walking, I will come to him running; and he who meets Me with sins equivalent to the whole world, I will greet him with forgiveness equal to it." God's forgiveness, then, is unconditional and unlimited. In the same vein, Peter asked Christ how many times he should forgive someone who injured him. "Until seven times?" asked Peter. "I don't tell you until seven times," said Jesus, "but until seventy times seven." Of course, Christ didn't mean that our forgiveness should be limited to 490 times, but that it should be unlimited. In Hindu Scripture, the message is the same: "One should forgive under any injury. It hath been said that the continuation of the species is due to man's being forgiving. Forgiveness is holiness; by forgiveness the universe is held together. Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is sacrifice; forgiveness is quiet of mind. Forgiveness and gentleness are the qualities of the Self-possessed. They represent eternal virtue." (Mahabharata, c. 400 CE) Granted, as mere mortals, it is difficult to change from someone who is always bickering, squabbling, and arguing to someone who forgives 'until seventy times seven.' Yet, with a little effort and some baby steps, we can make progress. We can start by changing our focus from the hurtful acts of others to their kindness. No one is completely bad or good and we can choose which area to focus on. With practice, we can learn to stop blaming, condemning, and punishing others. As we forgive others, we will come to realize that we are decent after all and grow to forgive ourselves. On this subject, Anna PATTY DUKE Pearce has this to say, "It's toughest to forgive ourselves. So it's probably best to start with other people. It's almost like peeling an onion. Layer after layer, forgiving others, you really do get to the point where you can forgive yourself." For her Online Center for Mental Wellness, see http://pattyduke.net/blog/ Perhaps the quickest way to learn how to forgive is by studying human nature. For when we understand why people misbehave, it becomes easy to forgive them. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1819 ~ 1892) put it, "If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each person's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility." And what is true for others, is true for us. In other words, forgiveness is also the act of recognizing we are no different than others. We are no more guilty and no more innocent than our neighbor. Tom asked, "Have you forgiven your kidnapper?" "No," Mary replied, "I can never forgive him for keeping me captive for five years." "Until you forgive him," Tom answered, "you will remain a prisoner." Although Mary was rescued by the police several years ago, she remains in prison, shackled by anger, resentment, and bitterness. Does that make sense? Forgiveness sets one free. It is a gift we give ourselves. When we deny forgiveness to others, we deny ourselves the capacity to love. And we deny ourselves of the healing and peace that accompanies love. To remain bitter is to remain twisted, tormented, tortured and in a state of dis-ease. Besides, when we refuse to forgive others, we are simply giving them power over our lives while losing control over our well-being. It has long been shown that because of the mind-body connection, negative emotions wreak havoc on the body and are a leading cause of disease. For more information on this subject, see: http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/stress-relief-tips.htm. A leading proponent of mind-body medicine, Doctor Gerald (Jerry) G. Jampolsky said,"FORGIVENESS is the way to true health and happiness." Doctor Jampolsky founded the first Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, California. There are now 120 such centers across the United States as well as in over 30 countries. During an interview of him and his wife, Diane V. Cirincione, Ph.D., they had this to say: "Forgiveness is the key to happiness, the key to peace of mind. Unfortunately, most people miss the real point of forgiveness. It's not enough to forgive someone for having done something you disagreed with. You have to go much deeper than that. You've got to forgive yourself for your misconception of that person -- for judging that person and not seeing them as a loving human being. And that relieves guilt." (Diane V. Cirincione, Ph.D.) "Letting go of judgement really takes a shift in perspective. There are 360 degrees of everything that exists on this planet. So whether you're looking at a flower or a human being, there are 360 different ways to view it. Unless you've explored every angle, there's no way you can totally know that object or person. And without knowing everything about someone, you can't possibly understand the reasons for his actions. So why not be open to that fact? Why waste your energy judging?" (Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D) In addition to dispensing healthy doses of forgiveness this Christmas, you may also want to give one of these five books as a gift to yourself or a loved one. Each book deals with the healing properties of positive emotions and the punishing effects of negative emotions on the body. FORGIVENESS: The Greatest Healer of All by Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD, Beyond Words Publishing, Inc.,1999. PEACE, LOVE & HEALING Bodymind Communication & the Path to Self-Healing: An Exploration, by Bernie S. Siegel, MD, Walker and Company, 1990. DEADLY EMOTIONS, Understanding the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection that Can Heal or Destroy You, by Don Colbert, MD, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003. HOW TO LIVE 365 DAYS A YEAR: And Live 365 of Them Happily, by John A. Schindler, MD, Running Press Book Publishers, 2002. TIMELESS HEALING, The Power and Biology of Belief, by Herbert Benson, MD with Marg Stark, Scribner, 1996. Quoting Doctor Jampolsky once again, "Now is the only time there is, and each instant is FOR GIVING." So, what are you going to do about it? (This last quote was taken from Doctor Jampolsky's fifth principle of attitudinal healing. You can find his principles here.)

Controlling Your Thoughts

Written by Chuck Gallozzi

You are no greater than your thoughts Part 1 Imagine rummaging through the attic and coming across an old, wooden chest. Not recognizing it, you pry open the heavy lid. After clouds of dust scatter, you peer into the chest. Youre puzzled by what you see: seeds. Thousands and thousands of seeds of every imaginable type. Some smaller than a grain of sand, others larger than a coconut. Seeds designed to be carried by the wind, or to be entangled in the fur of passing creatures, or to be transported by brooks and streams, or to be carried in the bellies of birds. Seeds that germinate into multicolored flowers and lofty trees or poisonous plants and destructive weeds. Seeds that grow into plants that provide oxygen, food, beauty, shelter, and shade. Others that develop into plants that devour, poison, ensnare, and injure living creatures. As you close the lid, your hands tingle; you can almost feel the enormous potential contained in the chest. You realize this simple container can easily become a treasure chest or a Pandoras Box, depending on the types of seeds it holds. Yes, the chest represents our mind, and the seeds, our thoughts. You see, our thoughts germinate and create the garden of our life. Thousands of thoughts stream through our minds each day. We seem to think of everything, except our thoughts themselves and the role they play in shaping our lives. As a young man, Liberace was no different. He, too, didnt pay much attention to his thoughts. That is, until he read The Magic of Believing by Claude M. Bristol. The book changed his life and transformed Liberace into Mr. Showmanship, one of the biggest draws in Las Vegas and the worlds highest paid musician and pianist. Claude M. Bristol had a simple message: Every person is the creation of himself, the image of his own THINKING and believing. As individuals THINK and believe, so they are. Two thousand five hundred years earlier, Buddha delivered a similar message: We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. . . . What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind. We are born with an empty chest (mind), but when we reach five or six years old, it contains thousands of seeds, which have been placed there by our caretakers. If a child is unfortunate, most of the seeds may look like this: Youre a naughty child. Mommy doesnt like you. Youre so clumsy. Thats a stupid thing to say. Go away now. No, I dont have time to play with you. If you dont go to bed right away, Im going to spank you. Dont touch yourself. Didnt I tell you to stop sucking your thumb? Go in your room and study your alphabet. Sit in the corner until you learn how to behave. . . . With seeds like that, what kind of world does the child live in? Is it a warm and cozy garden or a dark and dreary jungle? As adults, we can operate our minds like aircraft, either manually or on autopilot. When we run our minds on autopilot, our thoughts control us. But when we use our minds manually, we control our thoughts. And when we control our thoughts, we control their outcomes, or as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. So, how do we reap a destiny? How do we escape from the threatening jungle we live in and arrive at the Garden of Eden? How do we change our Pandoras Box into a treasure chest? How do we control our thoughts? You may be surprised to learn that it is not difficult. If we follow a simple plan, which I will describe in the next article, we will start on an exciting adventure. On the other hand, if we dont follow the plan, the chariot were riding in will either crash or not get very far because the wild stallions (our thoughts and emotions) are pulling it in different directions! However, once we tame and control the stallions, we can take our chariot to the destination of our choice. Have you ever wondered why you exist? You are here not because of what you are, but because of what you can become. Join me in Part 2 of this article, so we can together continue becoming what we were meant to be. Part 2 In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about a wooden chest stuffed with seeds of every type. I explained the chest represents our mind, and the seeds, our thoughts. The life we now lead was created by our thoughts. If we would like to improve our life, we will have to improve our thoughts. Or, as James Allen wrote, He who would be useful, strong, and happy must cease to be a passive receptacle for the negative, beggarly, and impure streams of thought; and as a wise householder commands his servants and invites his guests, so must he learn to command his desires and to say, with authority, what thoughts he shall admit into the mansion of his soul. In other words, if we are to improve, we must become aware of our thoughts and control them, rather than having our thoughts control us. How do we do that? One way is by following the procedure outlined below. 1. Get a cheap pad of paper or a notebook. Spend 15 minutes, longer if necessary, to analyze your average day. What you are looking for is one hour of wasted time each day. Once you have found it, plan to use that time to work on controlling your thoughts, their outcomes, and your life. 2. Did you set aside one hour each day? If so, you are ready to begin opening the chest (your mind) and examining the seeds (your thoughts). You will need your notepad and at least an hour a day for one week. On the first day, write on the top of page one, What do I think of myself? Next, carefully and neatly list everything that comes to mind. For example: I am attractive. I am overweight. I am shy. I am too sensitive. I am a good parent. I am lazy. And so on. You have set aside an hour, so use it. List everything that comes to mind. Try to come up with a list of 150 items or more. If you cant do it in one hour, complete the list the following day. Once the list is complete, add a plus sign next to every positive statement and a minus sign next to every negative statement. I am intelligent would be a positive statement and I am lazy would be a negative statement. As you are not in the habit of examining your thoughts, this exercise will help reveal the contents of your mind. Suppose you discover 75% of your thoughts are negative, that would suggest you are losing at least 75% of your potential! Before you can control your thoughts, you must become aware of them, which is just what this exercise is designed to help you do. 3. On the second or third day return to your list. Every statement that includes the verb to be is inaccurate and needs to be corrected. For example, if you wrote I am lazy, that is wrong. Why? Because the verb to be means to have the essence of, or to equal. Thus, I am lazy means I = lazy. Which is not true. What you mean to say is, I sometimes behave in a lazy manner. There is a big difference in those two thoughts, and the difference affects your self-esteem. Dont allow the verb to be to cloud your thoughts. Get in the habit of precise thinking. Even where other verbs are used, you need to reevaluate what you wrote and make it more accurate. For instance, I lack confidence is not accurate enough; what you mean to say is, In my opinion, I lack confidence. By focusing on the truth, it helps you realize that your negative thought is only an opinion, and opinions can be changed! 4. On the next day, return to your list and dig deeper into your mind by asking the questions who, what, where, when, how, and why. Thus, if you wrote, I sometimes behave in a lazy manner, WHEN do you do so? WHY do you do so? HOW do you do so? You get the idea. This exercise is designed to help you better understand yourself. Answer these questions for as many of the statements on your list as possible. True, it is a big project, but it has a big payoff; mainly, a new, better you. 5. Over the next following days, add new questions and make new lists. Questions such as, What do I think of life? What do I think of my family? What do I think of my job? If you diligently follow these exercises, you will get a clear view of your present state of mind. After a week of focusing on the contents of your mind, awareness of your thoughts should automatically appear at other times of the day. When this begins to happen, encourage it by pausing and taking control. Lets say youre at work and suddenly catch yourself thinking, Darn it! This guy gets on my nerves! All right, you caught the thought, now STOP. Label the thought. Is it good? Is it going to help to make your life better? The answer is no. So, CHANGE THE THOUGHT. For example, change it to, How can I better understand this person and grow to appreciate him or her more? This new way of looking at things can lead to better understanding, harmony in the workplace, and a new friend. In other words, you can create a better life, a better you, by taking charge of your thoughts. As you practice being aware of your thoughts, you will grow more and more skillful. Whenever you find yourself harboring a negative thought, imagine it is a weed; pluck it out of your mind and immediately replace it with a positive thought. A bar of iron costs $5, made into horseshoes its worth $12, made into needles its worth $3,500, made into balance springs for watches, its worth $300,000. Similarly, a person made into someone who has control over their thoughts has immeasurable value and infinite potential. All it takes is a pad of paper and a pencil to begin!

How Many Civilians Would Be Killed in an Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Sites?

No one in Iran is — and few in the West are — talking about the potential death toll, but it could rival the catastrophes of Bhopal and Chernobyl

By Azadeh Moaveni | September 27, 2012 |

BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP / Getty Images

Iranian twin sisters sit in front of worshippers performing 'Id al-Fitr prayers to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan in the Olympic Village neighborhood of western Tehran on Aug. 19, 2012

Clarification Appended: Sept. 28, 2012
For Iranians these days, life under economic sanctions is a crescendo of hardships. With the Iranian currency at an all-time low against the dollar, shortages of essential medicines and quadrupling prices of basic goods like shampoo and bread, a sense of crisis pervades daily life. Now Iranians are worrying about one more thing: imminent death from an American or Israeli military strike.

With talk of an attack growing more feverish by the day, the mood in Iran is unsettled as never before. In their fear and worry, Iranians say they feel alone, stuck between a defiant government that clings to its nuclear ambitions and a world so unattuned to their suffering that the fatal consequences of a strike on the Iranian people has so far been totally absent from the debate. “We are close to reliving the days of the Iran-Iraq war, soon we will have to wait in line for everyday goods,” says a 60-year-old, middle-class matron from Tehran. “Things are getting worse by the day,” says a 57-year-old Iranian academic preparing to emigrate to North America. “It is better to get out now while it’s still possible.”
(MORE: Ahmadinejad Leaves World Stage with a Whimper)
While Iranians are increasingly fretful of an imminent attack, they remain broadly unaware of just how devastating the human impact could be. Even a conservative strike on a handful of Iran’s nuclear facilities, a recent report predicts, could kill or injure 5,000 to 80,000 people. The Ayatollah’s Nuclear Gamble, a report written by an Iranian-American scientist with expertise in industrial nuclear-waste management, notes that a number of Iran’s sites are located directly atop or near major civilian centers. One key site that would almost certainly be targeted in a bombing campaign, the uranium-conversion facility at Isfahan, houses 371 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride and is located on the city’s doorstep; toxic plumes released from a strike would reach the city center within an hour, killing or injuring as many as 70,000 and exposing over 300,000 to radioactive material. These plumes would “destroy their lungs, blind them, severely burn their skin and damage other tissues and vital organs.” The report’s predictions for long-term toxicity and fatalities are equally stark. “The numbers are alarming,” says Khosrow Semnani, the report’s author, “we’re talking about a catastrophe in the same class as Bhopal and Chernobyl.”
Beyond those initially killed in a potential strike, the Iranian government’s lack of readiness for handling wide-scale radiation exposure could exponentially raise the death toll, Semnani says. His study, published by the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics and the nongovernmental organization Omid for Iran, outlines Iran’s poor record of emergency response and notes that its civilian casualties from natural disasters like earthquakes have been far greater than those suffered during similar disasters in better prepared countries like Turkey. With virtually no clinical capacity or medical infrastructure to deal with wide-scale radioactive fallout, or early warning systems in place to limit exposure, Iran would be swiftly overwhelmed by the aftermath of a strike. The government’s woeful unpreparedness remains unknown to most Iranians. “This issue is a redline, the [Iranian] media can’t go near it,” says Jamshid Barzegar, a senior analyst at BBC Persian. “To talk about this would be considered a weakening of people’s attitudes. The government only speaks of tactics and resistance, how unhurt Iran will be by an attack.”
But if the aftermath of a war remains murky to most Iranians, their anticipation of its inevitability is growing. The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, told Iranians last week that “we must all prepare for the upcoming war.” His warning, the bluntest yet by a senior official, that Iran and Israel would enter a “physical conflict,” has raised expectations of an attack among Iranians, who are typically accustomed to dismissing such talk. When reformist MP Mohammed Reza Tabesh criticized Jafari’s remarks in parliament, the hard-line majority shouted him down with cries of “Allahu Akbar.” “When people see their top military commander and officials speaking of the inevitability of war, the belief sinks in,” says Barzegar.
Whether Iranian officials actually think Israel is closer to launching an attack than it has been in the past, or their readiness rhetoric is meant to convey their own unflappability, the Iranian public is left with greater uneasiness and less real information than ever. Sterile media speculation in Israel and the U.S. ignores the question of civilian casualties, portraying an attack on Iran as a tidy pinpoint strike like those Israel has carried out against Iraq and Syria. Iran, for its part, claims the number of casualties it might sustain will be tolerable. “Hawks on both sides, Israel and the United States, and Iran, want to underplay the level of casualties,” says Ali Ansari, an Iran expert at Scotland’s University of St. Andrews. “But both sides are wildly wrong, there will be quite devastating consequences. It will be a mess.”
Clarification: The original version of this story said that a report estimated that a strike on the nuclear facilities in Isfahan would result in the deaths of as many as 70,000 people. The report’s author says the estimate is that such an assault may kill or injure 70,000 people.

Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/09/27/how-many-civilians-would-be-killed-in-an-attack-on-irans-nuclear-sites/#ixzz27vYqz0CP

The Wholesome Hidden Message of ‘Gangnam Style’

By David Futrelle | September 24, 2012 | 18

Isaac Brekken / Getty Images / Clear Channel

South Korean singer-songwriter Psy poses backstage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Sept. 21, 2012

If you have access to the Internet — and you sort of have to in order to read this — then chances are good that you’ve seen the over-the-top music video for South Korean pop star Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” which has racked up more than 250 million views on YouTube. You may have watched some of the many parodies, like this video combining the song with clips from the film Downfall featuring an apoplectic Adolf Hitler. You may have even tried to teach yourself Psy’s “Gangnam Style” horse dance.
The song is catchy enough, and the video ridiculous enough, that you may not have realized that “Gangnam Style” mixes its silliness with social satire. Gangnam, you see, is Seoul’s richest and flashiest neighborhood, what one commenter describes as the Korean equivalent of “Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Beverly Hills, Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Miami Beach all rolled into one.” The video depicts Psy’s comically inept attempts to live large in Gangnam style, offering a satirical take on South Korea’s burgeoning culture of consumer excess.
The video starts off with Psy luxuriating on a sunny beach, being fanned by a beautiful woman — at least until the camera pulls out to reveal that he’s actually on a children’s playground and the woman is a figment of his imagination.
(MORE: Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ Is the Best Invisible-Horse-Riding Rap Video You’ll See All Week)
Despite his flashy clothes and his preening and strutting, Psy’s Gangnam-style life is distinctly unglamorous: he sweats in a sauna alongside low-ranking gangsters, goes for a swim in a public bathhouse and joins a couple of elderly pensioners playing a board game on a bench underneath a highway overpass. Instead of dancing in an exclusive club, Psy boogies in the aisle of a tourist bus. (Thanks to the blog My Dear Korea for pointing out the cultural significance of various scenes in the video.)
Of course, Psy’s character isn’t the only wannabe Gangnamite in South Korea. As Max Fischer points out in his analysis of the video on TheAtlantic.com, plenty of Koreans are spending like they’re rich:

In 2010, the average household carried credit card debt worth a staggering 155 percent of their disposable income (for comparison, the U.S. average just before the sub-prime crisis was 138 percent). There are nearly five credit cards for every adult. South Koreans have been living on credit since the mid-1990s, first because their country’s amazing growth made borrowing seem safe, and then in the late 1990s when the government encouraged private spending to climb out of the Asian financial crisis.

As satire goes, “Gangnam Style” is fairly gentle, more silly than stinging — perhaps because Psy himself grew up a rich kid in Gangnam.
But in some ways the gentleness — and the relentless cheerfulness — of the video may in the end make it even more of a challenge to the consumer society it satirizes. Psy’s character may be more than a little ridiculous in his aspirations and affectations, but he’s not unhappy. He’s as happy in the children’s playground as he would have been on a beach at an exclusive resort, and he meets the girl of his dreams while riding the subway.
(MORE: Selling ‘Gangnam Style’: Why K-Pop and Commercials Are a Perfect Match)
Perhaps the message of the video isn’t so much that Gangnam-style life is hollow and meaningless but that living large is more about attitude than money. In a society obsessed with money and status and consumer excess, it’s a reminder that the best things in life are free — or at least don’t require maxing out credit cards.

Read other related stories about this:

• Gangnam Style, Dissected: The Subversive Message Within South Korea's Music Video Sensation The Atlantic
• There's A Personal Finance Message In ‘Gangnam Style’ Business Insider
• Beyond the Horse Dance: Viral Vid ‘Gangnam Style’ Critiques Korea’s Extreme Inequality Open City Mag

Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/09/24/the-wholesome-hidden-message-of-gangnam-style/#ixzz27vYOlqZj

Thailand to finance road to Myawaddy

Friday, 28 September 2012 15:29 Mizzima News

Thailand will grant financial aid to build a 76-kilometre road from Mae Sot, Thailand, to Myawaddy-Kawkareik in Burma, to promote the area’s economy.

Myawaddy is across the Moei River from Mae Sot, Thailand. The Friendship Bridge, in the background, connects Thailand and Burma. Photo: AFP

The road would serve as a link from Thailand to India through Burma, Thai officials said.

Addressing the Asia Society in New York on Thursday, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck said Burma has Thailand’s support in its move toward democracy.

She said the Thai government would also work closely with Burma to tackle refugee problems.

The Mae Sot-Myawaddy border trade checkpoint on the Burma-Thailand border took in around US $277 million in the first quarter of 2012 because of improved economic and social conditions in Burma, officials said. The quarter marked the first trade figures since the checkpoint was reopened in December 2011 after being closed more than one year.

In March, Mizzima reported that Pongthep Buathap, the chief immigration officer at Thailand's Mae Sot cross-border checkpoint, said trade has shown steady growth in recent months. Continuous growth resumed this year due to improvements in Burmese domestic politics, he said. The two most important products were fuel and commodities, he said.

Mizzima reported last year that construction would also begin on a second bridge linking Mae Sot and Myawaddy.

 “Trucks will use this bridge, and they won’t have to go through Myawaddy to reach the trade zone,” a Thai official said.

Authorities said that the current Friendship Bridge is weak and only pedestrians will be allowed to cross on it.

The existing Friendship Bridge was built in 1997. In 2005, the bridge became weak due to water erosion. Many traders now use motorboats to transport goods between Mae Sot and Myawaddy.