Finished reading...

..."The Queen: Elizabeth II and the Monarchy" by Ben Pimlott. Had picked it up on impulse at the new arrivals section at the library, and its a big brick of a book, so took quite some time finishing it. But read through till the end, since its not written in the sycophantic tradition of books about royalty, but instead contains much historical background. Overall, though, the author's sympathy with Elizabeth and the monarchy is quite evident though.

Though pretty long, I would not consider reading it wasted time.

Started reading...

...The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.

For those...

...who might be wondering at the West's sudden awakening of conscience, or curious about what more bombs falling amid the already falling ones might mean, can read the following article for some clarity:

Robert Fisk: First it was Saddam. Then Gaddafi. Now there's a vacancy for the West's favourite crackpot tyrant - Robert Fisk, Commentators - The Independent

An end of...

...February sunset.

“We are using...

...tear gas canisters we imported from countries that promote human rights. These are not not homemade weapons,”.

Read it here.

Some photos...

...of the destruction in Japan.

A not very...

...pleasant to watch illustration of the before-and-after due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan:

Whether or not...

...Islam belongs to Germany, is a question that might be best answered in PhD theses (not the plagiarized variety), but when politicians start acting as expert historians, its fair to assume fishy fishy motives behind their sayings.

Read two different viewpoints in a German magazine.

On a side note, if we take for granted that Judaism is an intrinsic part of Germany, we should also remember what happened to its followers just a few decades ago!

There is the...

...world cup of cricket being played these days. Somehow I have never been too interested in cricket, even though its followed passionately by a majority of those in the subcontinent. When I check Facebook, most of my friends' statuses are minute by minute comments on progression of a game. One theme that has emerged ever more strongly in recent times is the role of fixed matches, and the way results seem to go, its not difficult to discern a suspicious pattern by an imaginative mind.

The leader of...

...the free world and the rule of law!!

Barack Obama restarts Guantánamo trials | World news | guardian.co.uk

This is a...

...bad time for PhDs :)

LSE is paying a heavy price for Saif Gaddafi's PhD | Meghnad Desai | Comment is free | The Guardian

With the hype...

...around the iPad 2 in full steam, it is interesting to note dissenting voices:

Just how bad is the iPad 2 camera?

What Apple hopes you didn't notice about iPad 2

Also, the iPad 2 is expected to be on sale in Canada at a higher price (before taxes have been added to inflate it even further) than in the US, despite the canadian dollar valued at more than the US dollar for some time now. Dunno why this is so.

So the chances...

...are that a PhD thesis will be read, if not during submission and defense, then possibly later, if one is unlucky, and by others than the Profs; these others can be more thorough :)

German defence minister resigns over plagiarism row | World news | guardian.co.uk