- The pursuit of beauty | The New Yorker
“Pure mathematics, as opposed to applied mathematics, is done with no practical purposes in mind. It is as close to art and philosophy as it is to engineering… The pursuit of beauty in pure mathematics is a tenet. Last year, neuroscientists in Great Britain discovered that the same part of the brain that is activated by art and music was activated in the brains of mathematicians when they looked at math they regarded as beautiful”. - The unconscious allure of grand national narratives | The Straits Times
“There will always be a need for a coherent account of the past in order to function as national communities. But we need to remind ourselves that we can also recognise the limitations of reflexive habits that play such a powerful role in guiding our views”. - Mumbai battles between medieval and modern times | Hindustan Times
Human society will always experience competing tensions between progress and regression, while its people will always spout strange rhetoric to delude themselves – or others – so as to reinforce flawed beliefs. - This free online encyclopedia has achieved what Wikipedia can only dream of | Quartz
How an online repository achieved the “impossible trinity” of authority, expanse and currency when it comes to providing data and information for research and scholarship. - What the British are really laughing about | The Leveller
“…David Cameron’s nasty little scandal speaks to a suspicion many people already have: that in British society, you don’t get to become Prime Minister because you’re talented or because you work hard. You don’t even get there just because you’re rich. You get there by traumatizing the homeless and skull-fucking a dead pig, and that ritual gives you power because you have demonstrated utter, pathetic submission to your fellow oligarchs”.
Author - Laremy Lee
Dear Madam/Sir,
I respectfully disagree with “Unequal benefits for single unwed mums a matter of deterrence” (Aug 3).
The writer argues that benefits for single parents is an incentive for people to have children out of wedlock.
Children are not born out of wedlock as a result of benefits for single parents.
It is unprotected intercourse between heterosexual couples which causes unintended pregnancies.
As a matter of public interest, unprotected sex occurs for myriad reasons.
It ranges from the thrill of making love in the raw to ignorance about reproductive cycles.
Unprotected sex can also inadvertently take place when prophylactics fail.
Couples most assuredly do not have unprotected sex while thinking about the benefits that single parents will obtain.
It is the furthest on the average person’s mind before and during the deed.
Unplanned conception can be deterred through holistic sexuality education programmes, such as those already being carried out in educational institutions.
But the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry; there will be people who fall through the cracks, as well as accidents that happen.
Single-parent benefits will address these unfortunate scenarios – not incentivise more women and men to make the beast with two backs.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Laremy LEE (Mr)
(Published as “Unprotected sex, not state benefits, causes unintended pregnancies” on 4 Aug 2015 in TODAY.)
Nani has begun dreaming again.Since she began recounting her life, she’s been having dreams of her youth.She dreams…
Posted by Laremy Lee on Saturday, 11 July 2015
Nani has begun dreaming again.
Since she began recounting her life, she’s been having dreams of her youth.
She dreams about 1930s Sindh, in what was still India, and not yet Pakistan.
In them, she recalls the freedom of childhood and being a child: how she and her friends ran races, played games like dog and bone, how they roamed the streets of Hyderabad – courageously, in all their urchin-like temerity.
She remembers fearlessness: her father never scolded her so she was very brave; her mother would back down whenever Nani stood up to her – which was often.
There were neither borders nor obligations; no boundaries to be afraid of crossing.
Most of all, she remembers the freedom.
Were you happy, Nani, we ask.
“Khush,” she says, spreading her gnarled fingers in an expanse of expression. Happy.
“Ma free has; ma sochandas ma free aayah.”
“I was free,” she said. “I would think then, ‘I am free.'”