Int'l Day of Women and Girls in Science

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Beauty-and-brains combine: Latina genius

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is an annual observance adopted by the United Nations General Assembly to promote equal participation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields [1].

• Did the world forget all the female greats in herstory (his-story)? There was Kwan Yin (Buddhist Goddess of Compassion); Scheherazade; Asherah (the Jews' God's wife); Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavanna (the Buddha's chief female disciples); the world's first Buddhist nun (the Buddha's mother Maha Pajapati); Prince Siddhartha's wife -- who became an enlightened Buddhist nun and the top debater in the land -- found hidden all over ancient Buddhist texts by many and varied names: Rahulamata (Rāhula's mother), Bhaddakaccā (Lucky One), Yasodharā (Graceful), Bimbā Devī (Princess Bimba), Bimbā-sundarī (Bimba the Beautiful), Bhadda-kaccānā (Lucky Kaccana), Subhaddakā; though Mahayana Buddhist texts favor the epithet "Yasodharā" the daughter of Dandapānī, she was born Bimbā, and names like Yosadhāri were descriptive epithets applied to her, which later became regarded as names. It is also possible that in Gautama's court there was a Yasodharā, daughter of Dandapānī, and that there later came to be a confusion of names (Dictionary of Pali Proper Names).

Al-Lat in Islam, the pre-Muslim Goddess the Patriarchy buried and nearly forgot.

What did we lose by losing our Goddess?

The U.N. General Assembly passed the resolution in 2015 [2], which proclaimed February 11th as the commemoration of the observance [3].

A theme is selected annually as a focus point for gender equality [or parity] in science [4].

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is implemented annually at the U.N. Headquarters by the Royal Academy of Science International Trust in partnership with UNESCO and UN Women to promote the role of women and girls in scientific fields and celebrate those who have been successful in the field [5]. More

The smartest woman in (literary) history?

Sultan and Scheherazade (1001 Nights)

Sheherazade (mnemonic "She Her a Sadie," Scheherazade, Shahrazad, Šahrzād) is the legendary narrator and central character framing One Thousand and One Nights (Arabic ألف وواحد ليلة, Romanized Alf wa waħid layla).

This collection of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and North African folktales compiled in Arabic between the 8th-14th centuries is a powerhouse in the West, where its origins are deemphasized.

• Buddhism came out of the Middle East, not today's geopolitical morass dubbed the "Middle" East but rather Gandhara [ancient Afghani-stan, Saka-stan, Paki-stan, ir "Kapilavatthu-stan," the mahajanapada of Gandhara at the foothills of the Hindu Kush, which are part of the greater Himalayan range, in Central Asia, northwestern frontier of what later became the Empire of "India" united by Buddhist King Ashoka, but was not yet India or Hindu-stan and no longer Maha Bharata), and the Buddha was a Saka (Indo-Scythian, Shakya, Sakya] in the ancient Kingdom of Magadha now the modern Indian state of Bihar. Note that nowhere is Nepal mentioned because, according to Dr. Ranajit Pal, author of Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander, that seems to be where the Buddha's hometown/homeland was RELOCATED for religio-historical, cultural, and geopolitical purposes after Islamic invasions overrunning the Near East and "Middle" East, and the rich Empire of India, all make-believe designations resulting from imperial British colonialism in a region of the world the ancient Greeks called Scythia and beyond].

Princess Yasodhara, Prince Siddhartha's wife

Sheherazade is the super smart wife of King Shahryar who saves herself, and ultimately all the women in the kingdom, from execution by recounting a continuous sequence of interlinked stories over the course of 1,001 nights.

Sheherazade is not the protagonist in the individual tales she narrates. Rather, she functions as the unifying narrative consciousness of the entire work of brilliance. She's the storyteller.

Through [the use of cliffhangers or] deliberate pacing, narrative suspense, and thematic selection, she gradually transforms King Shahryar from a ruler driven by misogyny and vengeance into a just and stable king. More

• International Day of Women and Girls in Science (Bing)
• International Day of Women and Girls in Science (illustration Instagram social media template post | Premium AI-generated PSD)
  

Hollywood made a movie: Black female human calculators

• Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The World's Oldest Profession Today

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, Oct. 15, 2010

Must we objectify others in the pursuit of our happiness? (me19leela.deviantart.com)

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October is "Monster Month" on Wisdom Quarterly

Historically, authorities have winked at "the world's oldest profession." If 100,000 German men a year choose to visit Thailand on package sex tours, who is to object? Only recently has anyone begun to ask

• How many of Thailand's 2 million prostitutes are minors?
• How many have been sold by parents or husbands as indentured servants to brothel owners?
• How many have been kidnapped from villages in Burma, Laos, and southern China to service the new breed of tourist?

A 1991 conference of Southeast Asian women's organizations estimated that 30 million women had been sold worldwide since the mid-1970s. Such figures are at best guesses and at worst only the tip of the iceberg. "The sex industry is a huge market with its own momentum," says Wassyla Tamzali, director of UNESCO's women's-rights department.

"You have an infernal race between the client and the pimp to expand the boundaries, to find the newest experience possible. Selling a 14-year-old girl has become so commonplace, it is banal." More>>

"Child abuse" taken to the ultimate extreme in a world we only imagine could be true

• Prostitution: Defiling the Children
• See how recession affects the sex trade
• Internet infidelity: Is it time to snoop?
• Thrill seekers vs. comfort creatures: Sexual compatibility
• Positive HIV test prompts call for halt to porn shooting
• Feds bust Rapper's major marijuana ring
• Fish found too deep to live but they're alive
• Man gets $650,000 after being kicked in face by stripper
• Little Cancer in the Ancient World
• Only in India! Monkey guards and snake charmers
• 9 months condition rest of our lives
• Gavin Rossdale (Mr. Gwen Stefani) admits to being gay
• Corporations paid ghostwriters to sell carcinogenic HRT

The Isle of Man in Irish Sea is not Europe

Discover Isle of Man: Europe’s most notorious island? | 37 Fascinating Facts

(All About Europe) May 11, 2023. Discover Isle of Man: Europe’s most notorious smuggling island and 37 more fascinating facts about this island. Join in to uncover the Isle of Man and immerse in its rich culture, traditions, Manx Gaelic language, captivating history, breathtaking nature, hidden gems, way of life, rare wildlife, interesting cuisine habits, dangerous TT races, The Bee Gees (not Australians), crazy laws, the island’s stunning scenery, geography, and so much more.

This video is a passport to an unforgettable journey on the amazing Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland.

Palestine in, UNESCO out, Gaza flotilla

Amber Dorrian (Wisdom Quarterly), Codepink.org, Christian Science Monitor

Half of Palestine's 1.5 million people are under the age of 15 (d3mha.com).

This week, with tears in our eyes, we witnessed history in the making when UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) voted in favor of admitting Palestine as a full member.

• UNESCO votes to admit Palestine
  
• Eyes on Gaza flotilla
  

This marks a major step in the Palestinian people’s struggle for self-determination in spite of unbelievable Israeli (and complicit American) oppression.

A second flotilla of peace in support of Gaza has gone forth in support of equality (NT).

UNESCO’s mission is to contribute to building peace, eradicating poverty, and creating sustainable development and intercultural dialogue. It accomplishes this through education, the sciences, culture, communication, and information. All the while they emphasize gender equity.

These sound like the goals of CODEPINK, Wisdom Quarterly, and other progressive organizations. This admirable institution will now include Palestine, a move that has been greeted with both celebration and condemnation.

What has been the US response?

Israeli Navy boards protest boats bound for Gaza (Fox News)

While the whole world was watching, the US government again flouted international will by opposing Palestinian membership (along with only 13 other countries, none from the EU save Germany). On Halloween the US pledged to kill all funding to UNESCO, against its own best interest... More

Drones and mechanical war? Not in our name.

How to Transform Anger

Acarya Buddharakkhita (Positive Response)

The approach of positive response calls for self-transformation through a sustained process of self-admonition and self-correction. Unless one has brought about a measure of transformation in one's conduct and beliefs, attitudes and thinking, it is impossible to respond positively, leading to one's own well-being as well as that of others.

But transformation cannot come about without a reorientation of one's motivations. That is where self-admonition and self-correction play a crucial role.

Self-admonition requires a recon-sideration of one's judgments and a reassessment of one's value-system. The Path of Purification (IX, 17-22) contains some very valuable passages concerning reassessment and consi-deration of judgments that instantly cause resentment to subside:

"If by striving and putting forth effort (in the manner mentioned already), one's resentment subsides, well and good. If it does not, one should then consider some of the qualities of the person which express calmness and purity and which inspire confidence when recollected, and after reconsidering in this manner, one should make resentment subside."

Text: Removing Anger
[There are five kinds of people one might meet.] 1. Now for someone, bodily conduct is calm, and this calmness can be seen by the way this person performs various duties. But the person's conduct in speech and thought is not calm. Having ignored the latter, only the calm conduct in bodily actions should be considered.

2. For another, conduct in speech is calm, and this calmness is apparent to all. One is by nature very skillful in welcoming others, friendly, and a good conversationalist; one is congenial, easily approachable, and courteous in speech; one expounds the Teaching in a pleasant way, explaining the Dharma in clear language and in detail. But this person's conduct in bodily actions and in thought is not calm. Having ignored the latter, only the calm conduct in speech should be considered.

3. Another is calm in thoughts, and this calmness is evident to all from the way this person reveres at a shrine, and so on. One who is not calm in thoughts, when saluting at the shrine or at the Bodhi tree, or an elder, does not do it devoutly. And when one sits at the pavilion where the Dharma is preached, this person's mind strays and he or she nods off. Yet another has calm thoughts, gives honor devoutly and deliberately, and hears the Dharma attentively, retaining it in mind and evincing joyful conviction. Thus for someone, conduct in thought is calm but not so conduct in bodily action and speech. Having ignored the latter, only the calm conduct in thought should be considered.

4. For someone, however, not even one of these three actions (conduct, deeds, karma) is calm. For such a person compassion should be aroused thus: "Although now going about in the human world, after a certain time this person will surely end up in any of the eight great hells, or the sixteen minor hells." For through compassion, resentment subsides also.

5. For someone, all of these actions are calm. For such a person, whichever one likes one might consider. Towards such people the cultivation of universal love is easy.

Self-admonition
If by an enemy you are pained

With something that belongs to him,

Why try to hurt your mind

Yourself, which does not belong to him?

Crying, you left your family circle

Which had been of such help to you

This great destructive enemy — anger,

Why don't you leave it then?

All the virtues you preserve, but

That which cuts at their very roots,

This anger, you have not yet abandoned.

Who is a greater fool than you?

Done is an ignoble deed

By another — so you get angry.

Aren't you just like him?

Who wants to copy the very same act?

If, wishing to provoke you,

Another acts aggressively,

By allowing anger to spring up,

Why do that which he would have you do?

If you are angry, maybe or maybe not

You make the other person suffer;

But even here and now to yourself

You inflict the pain that anger brings.

Anger-blinded enemies

Indeed tread the path of woe.

Yet you are getting angry too,

Why do you only follow them?

If, because of your anger,

Hurt is done to you by a foe,

Then why not put down that very anger?

Why should you be harassed thereby?

Indeed, states last but for a moment,

Those aggregates by which you did

The odious act have ceased now —

With whom are you angry then?

Who inflicts pain on whom?

Without him, whom will he then inflict?

You yourself are the cause of pain.

Why then are you angry with him?

Minister: Jews to blame for UNESCO loss

CAIRO (AP) – Egypt's culture minister on Wednesday blamed a conspiracy "cooked up in New York" by the world's Jews for keeping him from becoming the next head of the U.N.'s agency for culture and education. Farouk Hosny was defeated on Tuesday by Bulgarian diplomat Irina Bokova in a tight race for the position of UNESCO chair. "It was clear by the end of the competition that there was a conspiracy against me," Hosny told reporters at the airport upon his return from Paris. More>>

Buddhism thrives as China relaxes policy

Robert J. Saiget (AFP)

WUTAISHAN, China — Temples thrive, monks travel far and wide in search of enlightenment, the faithful fill the halls of veneration -- after decades of official atheist policies, Buddhism is making a huge comeback in China.

Nowhere is this revival more apparent than at Wutaishan, the most important of China's four "holy mountains" and home to a sprawling complex of temples, 180 miles (300 kms) southwest of the capital, Beijing.

"I have come to study at Wutaishan because Zen Buddhism, Han Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, all the different schools from different places, are represented here and mixed together," itinerant monk Master Shi told AFP. "This is the Buddhist holy land. Buddhist monks and nuns from all over China want to come here to study."

Shi, with a shaved head and wearing a grey robe, has visited temples throughout China in search of Buddhist knowledge, repeating a pilgrimage undertaken by generations of monks before him. Besides studying Tibetan Buddhism in Lhasa (Tibet), he has visited the Hongfa Temple in Guangdong, south China, and been to the White Horse Temple -- China's oldest Buddhist temple -- in Henan province in the center of the country.

Interest in Buddhism has grown dramatically since the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, a period of communist zeal when religion was largely banned, the clergy persecuted, and many temples and monasteries destroyed. In stark contrast to this era -- during the opening and reform era of the last 30 years -- the totalitarian state has largely allowed religion to develop, albeit within strict parameters.

For decades, the communist-run State Administration for Religious Affairs has said there were "only" about 100 million religious believers in China. But state press reports have recently said that number has grown to 300 million.

In late June, Wutaishan was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nation's cultural arm UNESCO, a move expected to bring more visitors to this holy shrine that houses some of China's oldest Buddhist manuscripts. Currently 53 temples house monks and nuns, while the ruins of more than 150 temples are scattered around hillside terraces or isolated on remote mountain tops. The earliest temples date back to the first century when Buddhism first arrived to China from India.

"Twenty years ago, as we started recovering from the Cultural Revolution, the total number of monks here was just a few hundred," said Yi Bo, spokesman for the Wutaishan Buddhist Association. "Since then Buddhism has not stopped developing. More and more monks have come. The numbers hit 1,000, then 2,000, then 3,000. Three years ago we hit 5,000." At that time the government stepped in and began restricting the number of monks who could study here, he said.

Meanwhile, 2.8 million visitors came to Wutaishan in 2008, bringing in 1.4 billion yuan (roughly 206 million U.S. dollars) in tourist revenues, according to government figures. This year more than 3.1 million visitors are expected.

"The government supports us mainly with policy, but funding for our growth mainly comes from donations from the Buddhist faithful," said Miao Yi, a nun at the Buddhist Institute at the Pushou Temple, China's largest convent.

More than 600 nuns are studying in the Buddhist Institute, which has received generous funding from Buddhists in Hong Kong and Taiwan [prosperious semi-autonomous regions that have seen extraordinary rises in Buddhist affiliation and practice], she said. Still the government remains wary over religion and monks here refused to discuss Tibetan Buddhism or its spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who once asked communist leaders if he could make a pilgrimage to Wutaishan's ten Lama temples.

"We must work to support patriotism and national unity. We must embrace the leaders of the Communist Party and the socialist system," Gen Tong, a senior Buddhist leader said on the occasion of 50th anniversary of the Wutaishan Buddhist Association in late 2007. "In the past, [the rulers] of different dynasties were all impressive emperors and were all devout Buddhists," said association spokesman Yi Bo.

If Chinese communist leaders were allowed to publicly adhere to Buddhism, he said, "for sure it would bring a huge benefit to us," he said.

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Additional editing by WQ

Free "World Digital Library" launches today

Launching today, a new resource of the world's greatest treasures made available to all, introducing the WORLD DIGITAL LIBRARY:

www.wdl.org/en/

Still in its infancy yet soon to grow exponentially (along the lines of Wikipedia entries and Google searches, both of which it seems to combine), the WDL connections on Buddhism is diverse but sparse.

It works like this: Sponsored by UNESCO, the WDL seeks to put all the world's libraries at the tip of WWW users' fingers.

• Libraries put some of humanity's earliest written works online

What is it?

(October 2007) -- UNESCO and the US Library of Congress will join forces to build a World Digital Library, following the signing of an agreement by Abdul Waheed Khan, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, and the Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

The World Digital Library initiative will digitize unique and rare materials from libraries and other cultural institutions around the world and make them available free of charge on the Internet. These materials include manuscripts, maps, books, musical scores, sound recordings, films, prints, and photographs....The prototype was developed by the Library of Congress and UNESCO with five other partner institutions: Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the National Library of Egypt, the National Library of Brazil, the National Library of Russia, and the Russian State Library.

The prototype functions in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, the six official languages of the United Nations, as well as in Portuguese.

It features search and browse by place, time, topic, and contributing institution. The World Digital Library initiative has been designed to promote international and inter-cultural understanding, increase the quality and diversity of cultural content on the internet, and contribute to education and scholarship.

Individuals and institutions in more than 40 countries and the IFLA have participated in working groups and expert meetings to plan the World Digital Library.

“Libraries are key actors for ensuring universal access to information and building knowledge societies,” said UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura. “We are very pleased to build on the excellent partnership that we have long enjoyed with the Library of Congress to work in innovative ways to preserve and make accessible the memory of the world.”

FREE-ACCESS: Library materials from around the globe free online

Huexotzinco Codex, 1531, documenting in pictographic language part of the testimony in a legal case against representatives of the colonial government in Mexico, ten years after the Spanish conquest in 1521 (Photo: Library of Congress).

(Guardian.co.uk) -- Libraries and archives from around the world have come together in a project to share their collections of rare books, maps, films, manuscripts and recordings online for free.

Almost four years in the making, the World Digital Library will launch on 21 April, 2009. It will function in seven languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. It will also include content in additional languages....

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The brainchild of James Billington, from the US's Library of Congress, the project has been developed by Unesco and the Library of Congress, along with 32 other partners from around the world, including national libraries from Iraq, Egypt, Russia, Brazil, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Uganda. More>>