The English alphabet has Arabic origins, does it not?
No, it is mostly Latin/Greek in origin. Those alphabets some have pointed to early Semitic (Phoenician) alphabets as precursors. Arabic is written totally differently, right to left, like its cousins Hebrew, Farsi, and Aramaic.
The English number system, on the other hand, was totally lifted from the Arabic, as the Latins had a cumbersome letter style we still see on offical documents (MCMXXLVII stuff) which was hard to do higher math functions in. The Arabs brought us the concept of zero from India and our numerical system looks very similar to theirs still.
Of course it is confusing to Westerners translating that a 'five' (hamsa) looks like a zero and a zero (sifr- another loan word 'cypher') looks like a period, but what can ya do?
EDIT: Check out the cool Arabic ten-sided dice I found looking for a pic to show you the numbers! Top left is one, bottom right is ten.
Curses! Blocked here at work.
I am wondering why the western press did not pick up this. I mean, I feel for the Iranian people, but also for oppressed people anywhere.
I am wondering why the western press did not pick up this. I mean, I feel for the Iranian people, but also for oppressed people anywhere.
Because it happened in sub-Mediterranean Africa and US news papers don't care what happens there.
...the Latins had a cumbersome letter style we still see on offical documents (MCMXXLVII stuff)
That's not a number.
Just sayin'.
I am wondering why the western press did not pick up this. I mean, I feel for the Iranian people, but also for oppressed people anywhere.
Come on. NYTimes declared Afghanistan's election "a success" when blatant vote fraud beyond anything in Iran was clear to everybody. Some moral fretting since then, but that just maintains the myth of moral supremacy. Seriously, did you see in mainstream press even 1% of the Iran coverage when the Egyptian regime started shooting anybody trying to go to voting stations half-way thru the vote when reality broke thru their self-believed propaganda and they realized they wouldn't win a real election? Or even a peep about the farce of the PLO 'elections' (from hand-picked delegates) who AFTER announcing the final results (after holding the ballots in arbitrary secret locations a couple of days), have to go back and say 'oh, this guy actually WAS elected' after some back-scene horse trading. The reason you haven't heard a peep about Saudi elections... there aren't any.
It's called (our) good guys and (not our) bad guys.If want to know more than what's on the loyal statist press' menu of the day, you have to stray further afield.
...the Latins had a cumbersome letter style we still see on offical documents (MCMXXLVII stuff)That's not a number.
Just sayin'.
Sorry. I didn't check to see if it actually was a legitimate number. Would MCMXLVII (1947) work for you trollie?
Sorry. I didn't check to see if it actually was a legitimate number. Would MCMXLVII (1947) work for you trollie?...the Latins had a cumbersome letter style we still see on offical documents (MCMXXLVII stuff)That's not a number.
Just sayin'.
Much better, thank you.
2 Iranian dissidents say they were raped in captivity
I am appalled. Is there any way these allegations could ever be confirmed?
2 Iranian dissidents say they were raped in captivity
I am appalled. Is there any way these allegations could ever be confirmed?
Most likely no. I'm sure they weren't filmed in any fashion. I am really surprised the gentleman came forward with his allegations, the nature of which convinces me that it is true. Considering the fundamentalist Shia view on homosexuality, he has indeed committed 'social suicide' by revealing that he was raped by his captors. Even in our relatively open society, something like that would be hard to live down, in Iran it would make you a pariah.
*sigh* and as for nukes, I'd really hate to see Iran get them. I would hope if they do they would have the forebearance not to try and nuke Israel off the map, but considering the undercurrents of Jihad and the rhetoric they put forward, I wouldn't like to bet money on that. Hopefully the horrors of nuclear warfare can penetrate even the Supreme Council's thick skulls.
Balance of deterrence, or a catastrophe
Do you realize that Iran actually has the upper hand in this game?
Balance of deterrence, or a catastropheDo you realize that Iran actually has the upper hand in this game?
And, in other news on this subject ...
Iran is winner in nuclear talks
The US is slowly becoming impotent. I believe we have seen the zenith of the US empire.
The US is slowly becoming impotent. I believe we have seen the zenith of the US empire.
Well, it's about time for the BRIC nations to start shouldering some of the world security burdens we seem to have to underwrite. That and America really has to try and start living within its means.
Unrest as Iran marks embassy siege
Looks like it is still not over. I worry over the violence which may re-errupt.
I foresee Iran imploding within the next couple of years.
The protesters are not giving up and Ahmadinejad seems like he is doing every thing he can to piss off NATO and the UN. It will end badly.
The UN has no teeth, especially since the US is not in a position to do much but make threats. I feel for the Iranian people. This is the 21st century. Is it really so much to ask to stop killing people in the name of god?
Some poeple will do anything to keep power. I hope that the Iranian people see through such a blatent perversion of Allah's will.
Although it will be bloodier, I think the US or the UN meddling with Iran's internal politics will only bring misery. Their country is overwhelmingly young, and they cannot squash all the methods of information sharing without running back into the 20th Century. Eventually, they will have a civil war, and then, perhaps, the UN can go in as peacekeepers once the dust settles. And then only if invited. The US should stay clear out of it. Maybe China can send in a few divisions for the UN. It'd be nice to see the fundamentalists hating on someone else for a change ...
Iran shuts down reformist publications
If you burry your head deep enough, it will all go away.