Mois : septembre 2008

• 2008-09-01: Betty Burkes – USA;
• 2008-09-02: Michel Husson – France;
• 2008-09-03: Berenice Abbott – USA (1898 – 1991);
• 2008-09-04: Miriam Makeba – South Africa;
• 2008-09-05: (Mary) Ann Wright, Col. (Retd.) – USA;
• 2008-09-06: Alice Ophelia Hyman Lynch – USA;
• 2008-09-07: Susan Brownell Anthony – USA (1820 – 1906);
• 2008-09-08: Frederick William Engdahl – Germany and USA;
• 2008-09-09: Rein Müllerson – Estonia;
• 2008-09-10: Janaki – India;
• 2008-09-11: Vasanth Kannabiran – India;
• 2008-09-12: Donald Rayfield – England;
• 2008-09-13: Rafil A. Dhafir – Iraq and USA;
• 2008-09-14: Rodrigue Tremblay – Canada;
• 2008-09-15: Yuri Kochiyama – USA;
• 2008-09-16: Marcel Votlucka – USA;
• 2008-09-17: Neal Ascherson – England;
• 2008-09-18: Ruth Manorama – India;
• 2008-09-19: Nani Zulminarni – Indonesia;
• 2008-09-20: Nigar Ahmad – Pakistan;
• 2008-09-21: Beena Sarwar – Pakistan;
• 2008-09-22: Ali Ahmad Jalali – Afghanistan and USA;
• 2008-09-23: Fumihiko Sueki – Japan;
• 2008-09-24: Holly Near – USA;
• 2008-09-25: Rahul Mahajan (the blogger) – USA;
• 2008-09-26: Anne Firth Murray – USA and New Zealand;
• 2008-09-27: Mark Vernon – England;
• 2008-09-28: Sir Anthony Barnes « Tony » Atkinson – England;
• 2008-09-29: Elizabeth Teixeira – Brazil;
• 2008-09-30: Jean Baudrillard – France (1929 – 2007).

Linked with This is the Fourth World War. Read also Definitions: The Intelligentsia.

Jean Baudrillard (July 29, 1929  – March 6, 2007) … was a French cultural theorist, sociologist, philosopher, political commentator, and photographer. His work is frequently associated with postmodernism and post-structuralism … (full text).

More on wikipedia:

• 1 Life;
• 2 Introduction to his work;
• 3 The object value system;
• 4 Simulacra and Simulation;
• 5 The end of history and meaning;
• 6 The Gulf War;
• 7 The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks;
• … etc. (full text).

French theorist Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007) was one of the foremost intellectual figures of the present age whose work combines philosophy, social theory, and an idiosyncratic cultural metaphysics that reflects on key events of phenomena of the epoch. A sharp critic of contemporary society, culture, and thought, Baudrillard is often seen as a major guru of French postmodern theory, although he can also be read as a thinker who combines social theory and philosophy in original and provocative ways and a writer who has developed his own style and forms of writing … (full text, April 22, 2005, Stanford Encl. of Philosophy).

He said: … « There are really only two interesting moments in history: the Big Bang and the Apocalypse » (citation used by Andy Martin as a comment about CERN) … (full text, 10 Sep 2008).

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Jean Baudrillard – France (1929 – 2007)

His video in french/en français (one of many): Jean Baudrillard, French Super-philosopher Who Inspired Matrix, 12 min.

A moment of Baudrillardian irony appeared in the NY Times this morning. Jean Baudrillard is the French philosopher-critic whose concepts of the Hyperreal and Simulacra landed him many frequent flier miles during the late 1980s and 1990s. Mistaken for a post-modernist, he’s actually more of a nostalgic and perhaps melancholic modernist, I think. His passage on the hyperreal was summarized in The Matrix by Morpheus in the oft-sampled: « Welcome to the Desert of the Real » … (full text, Oct. 21, 2005).

… It also summarizes the way modern warfare has become central to the media overload that French media philosopher Jean Baudrillard (a Brown favourite) calls the « whole pornography of information and communication » … (full text, Sept. 18, 2008).

hannah arendt and jean baudrillard: pedagogy in the consumer society, by Trevor Norris, 2004.

… These children of Jean Baudrillard dare you to deny their ball-busting bounce, ear-bleed volume, and bloodless hooks, sans even the cartoon/anime-cool, featureless, anti-human « faces » of Daft Punk, or the too-cool-for-school ‘tude of, say, Death From Above 1979. As with their recently banned video for « Stress, » Justice are tinkering with pop violence, devoid of true gore, a.k.a. passion … (full text, Sept. 17, 2008).

… Wow. This means that a Turkish professor in a university who sympathizes with, say, Jean Baudrillard rather than Auguste Comte might find himself to be on the “traitor” side. And if he travels to somewhere to join a conference sponsored by some “global power,” his “treason” will be confirmed. Similarly, media pundits who toy with postmodern ideas could also be on the black list of the military … (full text, Sept 6, 2008).

… « Smile and others will smile back, » Jean Baudrillard thinks. « Smile to show how transparent, how candid you are. Smile if you have nothing to say. Most of all, do not hide the fact you have nothing to say or your total indifference to others. Let this emptiness, this profound indifference shine out spontaneously in your smile » … (full text, Sept. 6, 2008).

Find him and his publications on wikipedia /bibliography; on Google Video-search; on inauthor Google-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

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Sir Anthony Barnes « Tony » Atkinson, FBA is a British economist and has been a Senior Research Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford since 2005. He served as Warden of Nuffield College from 1994 to 2005. Before that he held positions at the University of Cambridge, University College London, the London School of Economics, the University of Essex and the University of Oxford. His work is predominantly on income distributions. There is an inequality measure named after him: the Atkinson index. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1984, a Fellow of the Econometric Society in 1974, Honorary Member of the American Economic Association in 1985 and Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994. He was President of the Econometric Society in 1988. He was knighted in 2000 and made a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2001. (wikipedia).

Cambridge Uni: short bio, and full bio.

The Atkinson index, (also known as the Atkinson measure) is a measure of economic income inequality developed by Anthony Barnes Atkinson. The distinguishing feature of the Atkinson index is its ability to gauge movements in different segments of the income distribution.

His homepage.

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Sir Anthony Barnes « Tony » Atkinson – England

Tony Atkinson teaching at LUISS University Rome for the Master in European Studies in the year 2008/2009: (Elective Course: European Welfare and Labour Economics) … He has edited for many years the Journal of Public Economics, he is member of the Research Council of the European University Institute in Florence and of Section 37 of the Comité National du CNRS in France, as well as chairman of the Foundation for International Studies in Social Security. He has been member of the Conseil d’Analyse Economique, advising the French Prime Minister from 1997 until 2001. His latest publications, out of a long list, deal with problems of economic inequality and social distribution of income in the European Union, as well as social security and public finance (full text).

His books (inclusive Google download-books):

• The changing distribution of earnings in OECD countries, 2008;
• Social Justice and Public Policy, 1983, 444 pages;
• Poverty in Europe, 1998, 183 pages;
• Unequal shares, wealth in Britain, 1972, 279 pages;
• Incomes and the Welfare State, 1995 368 pages;
• Economic Transformation in Eastern Europe and the Distribution of Income, 1992, 448 pages;
• New Sources of Development Finance, 2005, 251 pages.

Find him and his publications on Joyner Library Catalogue; on Nation Master Encyclopedia; on alibris; on NLA Catalogue; on amazon; on ECON papers; on IDEAS; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search.

Sorry, professor Atkinson’s TV-debate shows an economist who is concerned by economic justice and human development, and with a good logic for economic managment, but beside the Google download-books there seems none of his written texts being available on the normal internet.

links: Public Economics, 1994, 558 pages.

Linked with Neither a borrower, nor a lender be.

Mark Vernon is a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He began his professional life as a priest in the Church of England: it may not seem an obvious step from there to journalism but writing a sermon is remarkably similarly to writing a feature; and speaking to parishoners is remarkably like talking to a microphone. His academic interests led him from physics to philosophy via theology. Michel Foucault introduced him to the ancient Greeks on friendship; he thinks that Plato has it just about right on that one at least. He has a PhD from Warwick University in philosophy, degrees in theology from Oxford University and Durham University, and a physics degree from Durham University … (full text).

He says:

• « What Not To Say is about the moments in life when you are silenced – overwhelmed with embarrassment, gobsmacked, dumbstruck. Someone confronts you with a situation, and you have no idea how to respond.
• What Not To Say takes those situations, unpacks them with philosophy, and – understanding gained – explores what’s at stake.
• Why philosophy? Because ever since Socrates, philosophy has always been gripped by questions of life. The ancient Greeks saw it as something of an art. They understood that the moments when we are stunned or confounded – when lost for words – are some of the most valuable in life: it is then that people find themselves at the limits of their understanding of things and are ready to learn more.
• Some of the situations considered in What Not To Say: …
• … (full text).

Watch the video: Mark Vernon – Science, Religion and the Meaning of Life, 9 min, added May 10, 2007.

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Mark Vernon – England

Two Podcasts to be listened (click in the left column of his blog):

• What is friendship?
• How to be an agnostic.

His Homepage.

In an uncertain age, writes Mark Vernon, we need to question our beliefs: … The idea of agnosticism sounds strange only in a culture with a lust for certainty. Thomas Henry Huxley coined the term. This other « Darwinian bulldog » never lost sight of the fact that science has its limits. His neologism was a rebuke to all those who peddle their opinions as facts in the name of religion or science. « The things one feels absolutely certain about are never true, » opined Oscar Wilde, neatly summing up the more rigorous argument of the philosopher Karl Popper, that any intellectual system which cannot doubt itself is suspect. The more the militants of the mind dominate debate, therefore, the poorer they leave us all … (full text).

Not so highly evolved, Aug. 18, 2008.

He writes about himself (on his blog): I am an English writer, journalist, and author of The Philosophy of Friendship, After Atheism: Science, Religion and the Meaning of Life, What Not To Say: Philosophy for Life’s Difficult Moments and 42: Deep Thought on Life, the Universe, and Everything. I used to be a priest in the Church of England, live in South London, and am an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck College, London. My new book is Teach Yourself Humanism – just out – and that will be followed in September ’08 by Wellbeing. This is one of a new series of popular philosophy books called The Art of Living I am also editing. Do contact me: Mark Vernon.

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(Disambiguate with Rahul Mahajan, the son of Pramod Mahajan, a prominent Indian politician)

Rahul Mahajan is a noted American blogger and author of The New Crusade: America’s War on Terrorism, and Full Spectrum Dominance (also on wikipedia). He has a PhD in particle physics from the University of Texas at Austin … He currently serves on the Administrative Committee of anti-war coalition United for Peace and Justice, the Board of Directors of Peace Action and the Advisory Board of website Occupation watch. In 2002 he ran as the Green Party of the US candidate for governor of Texas. Mahajan has been particularly involved in campaigning around issues relating to Iraq. He was an opponent of the sanctions regime imposed on Iraq under the auspices of the UN during the 1990s. He was actively involved in opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and has remained an outspoken critic of the ongoing occupation. He has travelled to Iraq twice and reported from Fallujah during the siege in the month of April 2004. (full text).

Rahul Mahajan, is an independent journalist and author of Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond (Seven Stories). He has a Ph.D. in particle physics and teaches at New York University. He runs a blog called Empire Notes. He has been to Iraq twice and reported from Fallujah during the siege in April 2004. (Selves and Others).

Download the audio: Rahul Mahajan’s Interview (and other interviews on The Progressive).

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Rahul Mahajan (the blogger) – USA

He says about himself: « Still Thinking … Like to explore new horizons, innovate science. Enjoy to work on innovative concepts in technology. Latest passion: Mobile computing and Artificial Learning (on his blog JSF Future and my experience). His other blogs: Empire Notes; Rahul Mahajan on Blogger.com.

He says also:… “The United States has completely lost control, and even the mildest of people are now absolutely enraged at what is being done in Fallujah, and want the United States out…anyone that didn’t have a gun today could pick up a gun tomorrow” … and: frankly, I don’t do anything to protect myself. I have the slight advantage that I look very much like many Iraqis. There are — a lot of them are darker skinned and indistinguishable from an Indian, which is my origin, so if I play deaf and dumb, I’m not particularly a target. Others, women, there’s — you won’t find a single foreign white woman in Iraq who doesn’t wear a head scarf whenever she leaves. You will see Iraqi women without a head scarf. You will never see an American woman without one. I have heard that even some of the more delicate-featured men, with very striking blond hair, do the same thing. But, in general, there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself. Everybody’s got a kalashnikov, and it’s just of matter of luck. I just try to keep my head down … (full long interview text, April 13, 2004).

His book: The New Crusade: America’s War on Terrorism.

Find him and his publications (please disambiguate this results with Rahul Mahajan of India, the son of Pramod Mahajan, a prominent Indian politician): on amazon (with 69 results); on Zspace; on Selves and Others; on the free dictionary; on Google Group-search.

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Linked with International Association for the History of Religions IAHR, with Religion and Peace, with The Buddhist Community at Stanford and with York Centre for Asian Research YCAR.

SUEKI Fumihiko studied at the University of Tokyo and received his Ph. D. degree in 1994. He became Professor in the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology at the University of Tokyo in 1995, where he teaches Buddhism, in particular Japanese Buddhism. He works mainly on the reconstruction of the intellectual history of Buddhism in Japan from ancient to modern times. His recent research also covers Zen philosophy and comparative studies of modern Buddhism. His publications (in Japanese) include History of Japanese Buddhism (Tokyo, 1992), Miscellaneous Essays on Japanese Buddhism (Tokyo, 1993), Studies in Buddhist Doctrines in the Early Heian Period (Tokyo, 1995), Studies in the Formation of Kamakura Buddhism (Kyoto, 1998), and Rethinking Modern Japanese Thought (2004). He has contributed several articles in English to the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies and other journals. He was Guest Professor at Ruhr University in Germany in 1997, was Guest Researcher at Renmin University in China, and Directeur d’Études Invite de la Section des Sciences Religieuses de l’École Pratique des Hautes Etudes in 2001 … (full text).

Find his datas on ReaD (Directory Database of Research and Development Activities).

Find his Bio on UNESCO.

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Fumihiko Sueki – Japan

He writes: … Conclusion: We have examined some of the works included in Nichiren B. These works cannot be conclusively demonstrated to be either Nichiren’s authentic works or apocryphal ones, but there exists the possibility that they are Nichiren’s work. Usually the ideas developed in them are not identical to those of Nichiren A, but they are often more fully elaborated expressions of ideas found in Nichiren A. For this reason, we cannot disregard them when we consider Nichiren’s ideas, but neither can we treat them as being on the same level as those of the Nichiren A category. This is the reason why we must acknowledge the category of Nichiren B (along with its ambiguity), and not just Nichiren A and Nichiren C. We cannot always deal with medieval literature in clearcut scienti³c terms but must sometimes acknowledge some ambiguity. (full 20 pdf pages text about Nichiren’s Problematic Works).

Shigaku zasshi, Vol.109, No.1(20000120) pp. 104-114, The Historical Society of Japan ISSN:00182478 (in japanese).

He writes also: Japanese Buddhism is sometimes called “funeral Buddhism” contemptuously. Buddhism is often criticized in that it serves only the dead and does not useful for the living. In truth, the main duties of Buddhist monks are to perform funeral services, maintain graves and perform memorial services for the dead in Japan today. Modern Buddhist leaders in Japan tried to argue against such criticism and insisted that Buddhism in origin was not a religion for the dead but for the living. In the post-modern situation, however, the philosophy of the dead is becoming necessary instead of the philosophy of the living that has been prevalent in modern ages. The living human beings cannot live without thinking of the dead. For example, the war victims in Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Nanjing and other places do not forgive us even today. In this situation, it is necessary to evaluate Buddhist tradition in Japan that shows us the way how to go with the dead. In this paper, first, I will introduce the philosophy of Tanabe Hajime (1885-1962) who insisted the existential co-operation with the dead under the influence of Zen Buddhism and next, examine some Mahayana Buddhist sutras from the viewpoint of the relation between the living and the dead. (Buddhist Philosophy of the Dead, on the XXII World Congress of Philosophy, July 30 to August 5, 2008, Seoul, Korea).

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Ali Ahmad Jalali (born 1940) is an Afghan American and a Distinguished Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University,  which is located in Washington, D.C. He is also the former Interior Minister of Afghanistan, (who served from January 28, 2003 to September 27, 2005) … (wikipedia).

His Bio on Afghanistan online.

Afghanistan: Top Security Official Resigns Amid Controversy.

He says: … « I will not work as Interior Minister anymore. Maybe there are reasons for this and maybe not, but one of the main reasons is that I wish to resume my academic research », … and: « All these rumors are baseless, and I seriously reject them », … and: (he is) more committed than anyone else in the fight against drugs » …(full text, September 28, 2005).

… Prior to joining the Afghan government, Jalali lived with his family in suburban Maryland. His family remains there, and his children continue to attend Prince George’s County schools … (full text).

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Ali Ahmad Jalali – Afghanistan and USA

… Trafficking amongst children has turned into one of the major menaces of a developing society amongst which Afghanistan, a war, torn and socio-economically dilapidated nation has turned into one of the major breeding grounds of such a menace after illegal narcotics trafficking … ‘Afghan children are being kidnapped on their way to school or while playing in parks. The Afghan interior minister, Ali Ahmed Jalali, says that both boys and girls are abducted for both domestic and international markets, to be used for sex or labor, or to provide human organs’. (full text, 03 May, 2008).

Many speculations have been made about his retirement from Karzai but nothing has officially been confirmed as the real reason for his leaving his post. He told Afghan television on Tuesday there were « various reasons » for his resignation, primarily a desire for the « more relaxed » life as an academic … (full text).

Find him and his publications on amazon; on Encycopedia; on EMM; on INSS; on Google Book-search;
on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

Fun Summer Reading: I am finally getting around to reading, The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan, Lester W. Grau and The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War, Ali Ahmad Jalali and Lester W. Grau.  For some reason, The Other Side of the Mountain is about twice as long as The Bear. Go figure … (full text, Aug. 7th, 2008).

… “The Afghan authorities have always said that if Pakistan’s government does not prevent cross-border activities by the militias, they will pose a serious threat to Pakistan’s government itself,” former Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, who is a professor at the Near East South Asia center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, told RFE/RL. “The security situation inside Peshawar is now worse than the security situation inside most Afghan cities. Therefore, the first phase of this Pakistani military activity is aimed at forcing these militants out of these areas.” Jalali expressed his “hope [that] this operation continues until it creates such a situation that, on one hand, it destroys the strongholds of the militants inside Pakistan from which they attack NATO and Afghan forces across the borer, and on the other hand, until it creates such a situation in [Pakistan’s] tribal areas that militants no longer pose any threat to Pakistan or Afghanistan or the region” … (full text, July 3, 2008).

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