Monika’s Pensieve

Here’s an article, which talks a bit about Sufi Islam and how it differs from the more hard-line forms of Islam.

This is an article about Afghanistan’s continuing problems. It’s generally sad, but I was particularly shocked to read this paragraph:
On the road into Kabul from Jalalabad - on the dangerous route from Pakistan and the Khyber Pass - I sat on a woven plastic mat drinking green tea from glass cups with a group of [...]

{FILM SPOTTING}
New York (India, 2009)
Polish Distributor: I have no idea if there will be one or not
Release Date (worldwide): sometime early in 2009
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfan Khan
Production House: Yash Raj Films
Plot: (from nowrunning.com)
“New York” is a contemporary story of friendship set against the larger than life backdrop of [...]

{BOOK DIARY}
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
Language: English
What It’s About
It’s a novel about a boy (Aamir) who grows up in Afghanistan and moves to America with his father when the Soviet war breaks out. He has a very guilty secret that he has to eventually atone for by going back to Afghanistan during the Taliban [...]

This is a very nice audio report about the work of the British medical personnel in Afghanistan.

You give Afghan warlords Viagra in exchange for information *grin*

Below is what I felt is a really interesting debate - a former prime minister of Afghanistan, a Pakistani security expert and an American journalist discuss the increase of troops. The guests are chosen very well in that they really represent completely different attitudes and points of view - each of them is coming from [...]

I found this very heartening. Most Western countries (with the exception of Canada and the case of Omar Khadr) have successfully gotten their citizens out of Guantanamo. Hardly any non-Western countries have tried to put any sort of diplomatic pressure on the US about this though. In fact in many cases they have refused [...]

This is a very informative article about water-boarding - a procedure the USA has legalized to aid interrogating of prisoners.

Obama’s victory has brought a lot of reactions from all over the world, but so far there’s only been one that’s grabbed my attention. I somehow didn’t expect the Taleban were organized enough to have a spokesman or that they would feel the need to give any official comment on the matter, but apparently they [...]