Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (Отцы и дети)

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (Отцы и дети)


Fathers and Sons is an 1862 novel by Ivan Turgenev. A facinating book about two generations of Russians, and the character Yevgeny Bazarov has been referred to as the "first Bolshevik", because he says he follows nihilism all the time. He also trys to reject the old order. Personally I don't like this character, in his intellectual world he fails to recognize that he is very mediocre, due to the pyseudo science he preaches as true and his morally individualistic character.

Turgenev wrote Fathers and Sons as a response to the growing cultural schism that he saw between liberals of the 1830s/1840s and the growing nihilist movement.

The Clash - Only Band that Matters (as they say)

I dare anyone listen to the powerful First album titled simply "the clash". I dare someone listen to 'Super Black Market Clash" and not feel insightfull and excited. After these, its inevitable to follow with "Give'em enough rope" the "SANDINISTA!", "Combat Rock" and even "Cut the crap" (not in chronological order)

Anyways, listen to them. In the meantime, heres a cool punk77 page
http://www.punk77.co.uk/

Tchuss!

D.

Who are the Taliban?

Recent years have seen the re-emergence of the hardline Islamic Taliban movement as a fighting force in Afghanistan and a major threat to its government.

They are also threatening to destabilise Pakistan, where they control areas in the north-west and are blamed for a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks.

The Taliban emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

A predominantly Pashtun movement, the Taliban came to prominence in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1994.

It is commonly believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries - mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia - which preached a hard line form of Sunni Islam.

The Taliban's promise - in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan - was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power.

In both countries they introduced or supported Islamic punishments - such as public executions of convicted murderers and adulterers and amputations of those found guilty of theft.

Men were required to grow beards and women had to wear the all-covering burka.

Madrassas

The Taliban showed a similar disdain for television, music and cinema and disapproved of girls aged 10 and over from going to school.



The Taliban first came to prominence in Afghanistan in 1994
Pakistan has repeatedly denied that it is the architect of the Taliban enterprise.

But there is little doubt that many Afghans who initially joined the movement were educated in madrassas in Pakistan.

Pakistan was also one of only three countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which recognised the Taliban when they were in power in Afghanistan from the mid-1990s until 2001.

It was also the last country to break diplomatic ties with the Taliban.

But Pakistan has since adopted a harder line against Taliban militants carrying out attacks on its soil.

The attention of the world was drawn to the Taliban in Afghanistan following the attacks on the World Trade Centre in September 2001.