The Sum of One's Actions & The Weight of One's Heart

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” 

― Mahatma Gandhi

"Soft you; a word or two before you go.

I have done the state some service, and they know't.

No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,

When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,

Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,

Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak

Of one that loved not wisely but too well;

Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought

Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand,

Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away

Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,

Albeit unused to the melting mood,

Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees

Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;

And say besides, that in Aleppo once,

Where a malignant and a turban'd Turk

Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,

I took by the throat the circumcised dog,

And smote him, thus."

― William Shakespeare, Othello

Rasa Tabula

"Though bitter, good medicine cures ills." 

― Sima Qian, 145~90 BCE

"Formless" 

Jean-Michel Basquiat 

(1983)

“Oh, if only it were possible to find understanding,” Joseph exclaimed. “If only there were a dogma to believe in. Everything is contradictory, everything tangential; there are no certainties anywhere. Everything can be interpreted one way and then again interpreted in the opposite sense. The whole of world history can be explained as development and progress and can also be seen as nothing but decadence and meaninglessness. Isn’t there any truth? Is there no real and valid doctrine?”

The master had never heard him speak so fervently. He walked on in silence for a little, then said: “There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught.”
― Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game

Future's Brain Exchange

Code Fluency

How techniques like Vedic Math, Abacus, and Soroban are making mathematics fun for kids
16 NOVEMBER 2014 ECONOMIC TIMES PRERNA KATIYAR

... "Kids just love to hate math. But with the help of Vedic math techniques, calculations become quick and fun," says Gaurav Tekriwal, president of the Kolkata-based The Vedic Maths Forum. The Vedic Maths Forum offers online as well as offline course across five countries including India not just for school kids but also for those preparing for competitive exams such as IIT-JEE, GMAT, GRE, CAT, MAT and GATE.

Tekriwal illustrates how even a third-grader can solve a seemingly complex mathematical problem within five seconds. Suppose one has to multiply 32 by 11. Simply add 3 and 2, which gives you 5, put that in between the units and the tens place, and that gives us 352. This technique works for 11. Similarly there are techniques for other numbers. "With training in the right technique, a third-grader can do 98 x 97 in his mind in five seconds," he adds. Read More

Noblesse Oblige Remedy

Obama pledges commitment to Asia in remaining tenure
15 NOVEMBER 2014 NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW

BRISBANE  (Kyodo) -- U.S. President Barack Obama pledged Saturday to remain committed to the Asia-Pacific region, defining it as a core of his administration's foreign policy in the remaining two years of his tenure.

.. "As a Pacific power, the United States has invested our blood and treasure to advance this vision," he said.

... "America supports free and fair elections."

Obama said the United States stands up for "the inherent dignity of every human being" including gays and lesbians, ethnic minorities and women.

"We'll stand up for the rights and future of our wives and daughters -- including welcoming more women into the workforce -- because nations are more successful when they tap the talents of their women," he said.  Read More

Ecosystem Carnival

Insular biogeography
13 NOVEMBER 2014 (VIEWED) WIKIPEDIA

(Wikipedia) -- ... The theory of insular biogeography proposes that the number of species found in an undisturbed insular environment.. is determined by immigration and extinction... [T]he isolated populations may follow different evolutionary routes, as shown by Darwin's observation of finches in the Galapagos Islands.

Immigration and emigration are affected by the distance of an island from a source of colonists... Islands that are more isolated are less likely to receive immigrants than islands that are less isolated.

.. In addition to having an effect on immigration rates, isolation can also affect extinction rates.. Populations on islands that are less isolated are less likely to go extinct because individuals from the source population and other islands can immigrate and "rescue" the population from extinction; this is known as the rescue effect.  Read More

Human Interface

The Future of Shopping, Part Two: Federico Marchetti

"Part of me, I'm a shopkeeper. And part of me, I'm an entertainer. You need to entertain your customer, otherwise they will never shop. It's as simple as that."

30 OCTOBER 2014 STYLE DIRK STANDEN

When I asked Federico Marchetti, the founder and CEO of Yoox Group, to take part in this series, he suggested we first meet for lunch at an Italian restaurant near his company's U.S. offices in Soho. It was a convivial gesture and, it struck me, a typical one for this Milan-based entrepreneur who combines European sophistication with American drive and openness. That combination of qualities has made Yoox one of the biggest success stories in digital retail. In addition to running their own multibrand e-commerce sites--Yoox.com, TheCorner.com, and Shoescribe.com--Marchetti's team operates the online stores for designers ranging from Armani to Alexander Wang, as well as several brands under the Kering umbrella. Once we had finished our espressos, we headed up to Yoox's white-walled, open-plan space and got down to business.  Read More

Stan By Me

Kawasaki Heavy to build world's 1st gas-to-gasoline plant in Turkmenistan
6 NOVEMBER 2014 NIKKEI ASIAN REVIEW YOSHIFUMI UESAKA

TOKYO (NAR) -- ... In August, Kawasaki Heavy won a roughly 150 billion yen ($1.44 billion) contract to build the world's first gas-to-gasoline plant in Turkmenistan. It will use new technology from a European company and work closely with its Japanese partner, Sojitz.  Read More

Could Iran and China Cut the US Out of Afghanistan?
1 NOVEMBER 2014 DIPLOMAT SHANNON TIEZZI

.. The question of China-India cooperation on Afghanistan has received a great deal of attention, while the potential for China-Iran cooperation has been relatively overlooked. Like China (as well as most other interested parties, including India and the U.S.), it's in Tehran's best interests to have a stable Afghan government in Kabul, one that is free of influence from the Taliban. But Iran also seeks greater political and cultural sway over its neighbor, which puts it at odds with the U.S.  Read More

Another Wrinkle in Kazakhstan-Russia Relations?
The extradition of accused embezzler Mukhtar Ablyazov could complicate an already prickly relationship.
28 OCTOBER 2014 DIPLOMAT CASEY MICHEL

... A French court in Lyon last week ruled that France had the right to extradite Ablyazov, who remains wanted for embezzling approximately $6 billion in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. As the Ukrainian government recently announced that it would not cooperate with Russian prosecutors, and as Kazakhstan and France do not maintain an extradition treaty, Russia remains the most likely destination for Ablyazov's extradition.  

.. Relations between the two nations over the past eight months have reached their lowest point in years -- perhaps their lowest in the post-Soviet period -- due to a confluence of Russian revanchism in Crimea, economic sag through the Eurasian Economic Union, and Putin's recent and remarkable slight that ethnic Kazakhs claim no statehood until the fall of the Soviet Union.  Read More

More Evidence of Economic Slowdown in Central Asia
"The bottom, it seems, has yet to come. And with closer economic integration via the Eurasian Economic Union on the horizon for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and potentially Tajikistan, this initial dip may be a signal of what to expect for the foreseeable future."
7 NOVEMBER 2014 DIPLOMAT CASEY MICHEL

... Overall, all five Central Asian states are looking at more sluggish projected GDP growth moving forward than they’ve recently known, especially for those nations most closely entwined with the Russian economy.  Read More

India, Iran, and the West
9 NOVEMBER 2014 DIPLOMAT HRISHABH SANDILYA

... If things go well, and India is able to leverage its investment to boost trade and send the supplies and aid it has promised the Afghan government, it is reasonable to assume that India will be willing to make an increased commitment to Chabahar, similar to the Chinese investment in Gwadar, in the future. Iran’s offer to make the province a free-trade zone and offer India preferential tariffs for its exports en route to Afghanistan and Central Asia is also a game-changer and bodes well for the development of Chabahar.  Read More

"Outwit, Outlast, Outplay."

"Show Me."