The tragedy of our treatment of Dr Abdus Salam

EDITORIAL: The tragedy of our treatment of Dr Abdus Salam
Dr Abdus Salam (1926-1996) died ten years ago. He was the first Pakistani to get a Nobel Prize in 1979. But he might be the last if we continue to allow our state to evolve in a way that frightens the rest of the world. Our collective psyche runs more to accepted ‘wisdom’ than to scientific inquiry; and even if we were to display an uncharacteristic outcropping of individual genius the world may be so frightened of it that it might not give us our deserts.

We are scared of honouring Dr Salam because of our constitution which we have amended to declare his community as ‘non-Muslim’. When Dr Salam died in 1996 he had to be buried in Pakistan because he refused to give up his Pakistani nationality and acquire another that respected him more. But the Pakistani state was afraid of touching his dead body. He was therefore buried in Rabwa, the home town of his Ahmedi community whose name is also unacceptable to us and has been changed to Chenab Nagar by a state proclamation. But that was not the end of the story. After he was buried, the pious, law-abiding and constitution-loving people of Jhang, which is nearby, went over to Chenab Nagar to see if all had been done according to the constitutional provisions regarding the Ahmedi community to which he belonged.

And what did the constitution say? It said that the Ahmedis are not Muslims, that they may not call themselves Muslims, nor say the kalima or use any of the symbols of Islam. The original amendments to the constitution were passed by Z A Bhutto, a ‘liberal socialist-democrat’, and subsequent tightening of the law was done by the great patriot General Zia-ul Haq. Thus both the civilians and the khakis had connived in the great betrayal of Dr Salam.

After the great scientist was buried in Chenab Nagar, his tombstone said ‘Abdus Salam the First Muslim Nobel Laureate’. Needless to say, the police arrived with a magistrate and rubbed off the ‘Muslim’ part of the katba. Now the tombstone says: Abdus Salam the First Nobel Laureate. The magistrate remained unfazed by what he had done but Dr Salam’s grave is actually the tombstone of a Muslim culture that Pakistan had inherited from the founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. But ironies fly thick in Pakistan. In Jhang, for example, where Dr Salam grew up as a precocious child, the schools that he endowed with scholarships and grants now teach communal hatred rather than the love that he had in mind when he gave them his money.

Meanwhile, the Ahmedi community is under daily pressure and anyone with a twisted mind is free to persecute them.

Abdus Salam was born in Jhang in 1926. At the age of 14, he got the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination in Punjab. The whole town turned out to welcome him. He won a scholarship to Government College, Lahore, and took his MA in 1946. In the same year he was awarded a scholarship to St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he took a BA (honours) with a double First in mathematics and physics in 1949. In 1950 he received the Smith’s Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to physics. He also obtained a PhD in theoretical physics at Cambridge; his thesis, published in 1951, contained fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics which had already gained him an international reputation.

In 1954 Dr Salam left his native country for a lectureship at Cambridge University. Before the Pakistani politicians apostatised him, he was a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan and Chief Scientific Adviser to the President from 1961 to 1974. Pakistan’s space research agency Suparco was created by him and it is only symbolic that a group of Shia workers of Suparco were put to death in Karachi in 2004 by sectarian terrorists. Like Dr Salam, a lot of gifted Shia doctors have had to leave Pakistan because of the state’s twisted policies.

Dr Abdus Salam got his Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979. It was a most embarrassing moment for General Zia who had ‘supplemented’ the Second Amendment to the constitution with further comic disabilities against the Ahmedis. He had to welcome the great scientist and had to be seen with him on TV. Since the clerical part of his government was already bristling, he took care to clip those sections of Dr Salam’s speech where he had said the kalima or otherwise used an Islamic expression. It was Dr Salam’s good luck that one of the believers did not go to court under Zia’s own laws to get the country’s only Nobel laureate sent to prison for six months of rigorous imprisonment. Dr Salam then went to India where he was received with great fanfare. He had gone there to simply meet his primary school mathematics teacher who was still alive. When the two met, Dr Salam took off his Nobel medal and put it around the neck of his teacher.

Let us admit in a whisper that Pakistan did issue a stamp commemorating Dr Salam years ago — lest the government come under pressure to remove it from circulation. It is also true that his alma mater, Government College Lahore, now a university, has named certain ancillary departments and academic sessions after him following a long period of obscurantist domination. But Pakistan needs to feel guilty about what it has done to the greatest scientist it ever produced in comparison to the lionisation of Dr AQ Khan who has brought ignominy and the label of ‘rogue state’ to Pakistan by selling the country’s nuclear technology for personal gain. Can we redeem ourselves by doing something in Dr Salam’s memory on this 10th anniversary of his passing that would please his soul and cleanse ours?

Tein Basic VS Tein SS good review

User Review: TEIN Basic versus TEIN SS Coilovers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Car: '06 Acura TL
Experience:
-Rode the stock suspension for 500 street miles

-Installed TEIN Basic and rode for another 500 street miles

-Installed TEIN SS last night and have done just about 50 miles of testing in various street conditions since.

-Been riding lowered cars since the 80's.

-Most recently: had Eibach ProKit springs on E36 BMW M3, and Neuspeed Springs on VW GTI IV

-Know a little bit about suspension and settings (mountain bike and super bike racing)

-Cars I've owned in the past: all of them, it seems, lol.

Where I ride: SoCal/OC

OBJECTIVE:

--- Well when I got the TL one of the first things I wanted to do was lower it so that I could improve both the looks as well as the performance. They were of equal importance to me.

--- I did not want to go with just lowering springs because I knew how it was from my cars before, and it would be far to bumpy for my needs (I'm not young anymore and my kids are always riding in the car, everyday). Bottom line, while I could tolerate the typical bumpy ride from a lowered car, I did not want a bumpy ride for my passengers. So what was I to do?

-- The reviews from the net are confusing, since suspension is VERY subjective and really depends on each individual. I figured my best alternatives were to choose from either the TEIN Basic or TEIN SS, because I have heard many positive things about TEIN for its quality, and also, very important was the price as well.

TEIN Basic:
The TEIN Basics were the first coilover set I had ever tried. Everything I had before was just springs. I found the ride EXCELLENT in comparison to any lowered car I have had in the past. The handling of the car was transformed, and the TL was on RAILS in comparison to stock.

I could not believe I could have my car lowered this much and still have a relatively smooth ride, that is hardly noticable in MOST road conditions out here in SoCal.

The Basics take small bumps very well, actually not very well, but excellent. You can drive through most speed bumps even and hardly tell the difference from stock - it's that good.

My conclusion is that being a person that is accustomed to lowered cars, I found the Basics a very good buy, and worth the extra money (versus just going with Lowering Springs) since I am confident the shocks will hold-up well, they are matching, and also the added bonus of being able to adjust height.

My problem with the Basics:

It's simple, I frequently have passengers, everyday. And my passengers are my kids. The Basics are stiff enough so that when there are medium to large size road surface changes, particularly a SERIES of surface changes one-after-another, you will DEFINITELY feel the stiffness.

While I don't particularly mind this as I am accustomed to it, I don't want my passengers to be bouncing there in the back seat whenever we do ocassionally run into these "unfavorable" conditions (note that the rear passengers are sitting right on top of the rear wheel, so they will feel it more than the driver). Also I am not young anymore, and I would definitely appreciate a smoother ride - but I still want my car lowered!

And so, I made the decision to spend a few hundred bucks nessary to switch to the SS in the attempt (or hopes) to have a range of damping adjustment to smoothen-out the ride, something not possibile on the Basics.

TEIN SS:

My TEIN SS was installed last night, and I have since put about 50 miles and tested on various conditions I am very familiar with. When I was on the Basics, I made sure to take note of how they were reacting to certain conditions.

First: What setting should I start with on the SS? Well, I "guessed" or "assumed" that the Basics were set right around the middle of the 16-click range of the SS.

Since I am familiar with suspension or "click" adjustments due to my backgroud in downhill Mountain Bike racing, as well as SuperBike racing, I guessed that what I would start with on the SS to achieve my goal was the following settings:

If 0 is STIFFEST and 16 clicks is SOFTEST:

I set it to 11 FRONT (5 clicks away from SOFTEST)

and 13 REAR (3 clicks away from SOFTEST)

I noticed the change in my ride in less than 1 minute, even just pulling away from Mr. Heeltoe's driveway. From that point I had a good feeling we got it right, and just what I wanted... but still I had to test it in my "areas."

I took the car out and tested it last night, and got up early this morning to beat the traffic as well.

The difference, to me, is night and day, and THIS is what I wanted out of my lowered car. It is perfect, and takes to the bumps, what can I say, just perfect, for MY needs. The car is much smoother now, ever closer to stock... but not quite!

Like the porridge and the 3 bears, the SS at the settings above is "just right" for me, and my precious kids in the back.

The handling has suffered a bit since it is softer and rolls a bit more on the curves compared to the Basics, however, still MUCH better and tighter than stock. I believe I can or "may" tighten it up for the curves by installing a sway bar, so I can still enjoy my "fun time" when I am driving alone.

Bottom line:

TEIN Basics are excellent and highly recommended if you are on a budget, accustomed to a lowered car and do not have frequent passengers in the BACK of the car. It's really very good that way.

TEIN SS is worth the extra money if you are PICKY about suspension (like me) and can really notice suspension changes, have frequent rear-seat passengers, or if you really want a nice range of adjustability for various needs (street, track or what not).

Hope this helps, and thought I'd share some info since Acurazine has been a great source of info for me too.

Last note: Mr. Heeltoe is the man - and I highly recommend him for no less than excellent price and beyond-excellent service.

meguiars.com: FAQ - What's the difference between? *Dual-Action polisher *Orbital buffer *Rotary buffer

meguiars.com: FAQ - What's the difference between?<BR> <BR> *Dual-Action polisher <BR> *Orbital buffer <BR> *Rotary buffer

Oracle Announces Advances in App Security with Identity Management 11g
— To help organizations simplify application security, Oracle announced Oracle Identity Management 11g -- an integrated and open set of best-of-breed components built on a common platform and engineered to deliver unparalleled integration both within and across the suite through a series of common components.
As the industry's first Service-Oriented Security architecture, Oracle Identity Management 11g provides developers with shared services for identity administration and password management, strong authentication and authorization, workflow and auditing, thus radically simplifying application security. This services based architecture is also designed to naturally extend to cloud computing environments, providing a single point of control for on-premise and off-premise applications and systems.

How to Clean an iMac Keyboard | eHow.com

How to Clean an iMac Keyboard | eHow.com

How to Borrow Against Retirement Funds | eHow.com

How to Borrow Against Retirement Funds | eHow.com

Kidney Infection Detection and some Self Caring Tips

Kidney Infection Detection and some Self Caring Tips

Kidney infection occurs in upper part of urinary tract. This occurs because of the attack on urinary system by E coli bacterium. This is a very dangerous disease and should be treated immediately. Long term effect of this disease leads to the poisoning of blood, damage of kidneys and I some cases it leads to death. Detecting the disease in correct time and getting treatment helps you survive from many side-effects.

How to detect?

1. Patient suffering from kidney disease can feel pain in the lower portion of back. In some cases this pain will become very harder.
2. Victim can fell mild fever at initial stages and this fever level will go high if it is left untreated.
3. They can have symptoms of kidney infection even at initial stages of infection.
4. Patient can feel burning sensation while secreting urine and that may even lead tears to their eyes. Some people confuse this with yeast infection which directs to urinary parts itching.
5. People suffering from this disease will get tired soon and will be unable to concentrate on their daily activities. Symptoms of recurrent fatigue and will be unable to open their eyes.

Following some of the following tips you can be in a safer side.

1. Detecting the above symptoms in your body, meet a physician and get urine culture test or urinalysis to find the syndrome and possibility of its cure. Use the antibiotic medicines prescribed by the doctor to flush the bacterium throughout urinary system.
2. Never hesitate to use the drugs given by the doctor. Use the dosage properly and complete the course preferred.
3. Main reason for kidney problems is dehydration. So drinking water and various liquids in excess quantities lets the bacterium get flushed immediately it enters the urethra.
4. If you are working overtime then take a break from your work. Giving rest to your body helps you to get recovered from the weakness occurred due to kidney disease.
5. When you get back pains and mild fever, take pain killers and other medicines to get rid of them. This helps you to be active during your daily schedule.

If kidney infections are not checked properly, it will lead to serious irregularities in your body. So, when you find any problem related to kidney just contact your physician and tell him freely the problems you are facing. You should take treatment as soon as you observe any problem. This will help you let the bacterium run away from your urethra in the starting stage itself.