Germania

Here’s looking at you Germania,

Goethe,Leibnitz, Kant, Karl Marx, Nietzsche, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Heisenberg, Schrödinger, Fahrenheit, Röntgen, Hertz, Hegel and Hitler

Kant, Hegel, Marx and then Hitler - the “germ” is always there

For anyone out there crouched in their prison cell, who cannot hear the ocean, who thinks “secular” and “progressive” are cliched twentieth century words - Germany is one lesson from history on eternal vigilence. A secular progressive society where every human being has the right to live in the land they were born into, a right to “food, medicine, clean air, pure water, trees and grass, pleasant homes to live in, some hours of work, more hours of leisure” is not a destination, it is a journey - something the society needs to achieve at the end of every day. Any one who strives for it is not a utopian but a realist. Because the ‘germ’ will always be there and every sunrise is another day.

A place called hope

'Saudi Arabia's peace plan for the Middle East was long considered stillborn by the West. Now the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is lauding it as "revolutionary."'

"Last week, the 22 government leaders of the Arab League renewed their commitment to the Beirut proposal. First, however, Abdullah, who has since become the king of Saudi Arabia, gave them a telling-off the likes of which has never been heard before at an Arab summit. He mentioned the bloodshed in occupied Iraq, the political deadlock in Lebanon, the "Arab meekness" in Sudan and the seemingly endless series of civil wars in Somalia. "The real blame should fall on us -- we the leaders of the Arab nations," he said." - Speigel story here

The hellfire in Iraq notwithstanding, a breakthrough in middle east seems possible. With Israel warming up to the Beirut peace plan put forth in 2002 by the then crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The realization of mistakes by both sides is important and maybe we could shed our cynicism for a moment, there could be peace and as some experts say,it could happen in the very short term.

And

Six months after the heart wrenching massacre, it is a new beginning for the students in Nickel Mines. Despite a tsunami in the Pacific, there are reasons enough this Monday morning to believe in a place called 'hope'.