Cat in a Bowl !!

The CEO

A young executive was leaving the office at 6 p.m. when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document, and my secretary has left. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO, as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy."

King Abdulaziz (Jeddah) International Airport

OMA in the Middle East: Office for Metropolitan Architecture have designed a new international airport for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia .

Located between Jeddah and Mecca , the airport will cater for the two million pilgrims who make the journey to Mecca during the holy Hajj period and features a special terminal for the Saudi Royal Family (top two images).

The main terminal is in the shape of a ring with an oasis at its centre and is configured to cope with a massive increase in visitor numbers during the Hajj , while the smaller Royal terminal echoes the form of the larger building. Below is a statement from OMA: -

NEW JEDDAH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT For 33 days per year the new Jeddah Airport will host the influx of two million Muslims for the holy Hajj period in Mecca . No other airport in the world can claim such overwhelming specificity of its use. These programmatic requirements form the base for a new approach to both the organization of the airport and its architecture.

Predictability over indeterminacy Airports come in two sizes: too big and too small. Fundamentally compromised by the necessity to accommodate unpredictable future expansions , airports are ultimately forced to 'gamble' on their right size. In terms of its design the airport is condemned to a permanent open end.

With the Hajj as one of the main defining elements , the new Jeddah International Airport presents a unique situation: its expansion is a given in advance , occurring at a fixed moment for a fixed length of time. This relative predictability allows the design of the Jeddah airport to acquire a level of specificity unheard of in a 'regular' airport: allowing the rehabilitation of the particular over the general , of centrality over linearity , and of character over blandness.

Arrival over departure Airports are primarily places one leaves from. With the business trip and the vacation as the airport's main , perhaps even only , use , the excitement of going away generally outweighs that of coming back.

This discrepancy is also expressed in the design of the airport , with departures generally located in a 'grandiose space' on top (mostly under a billowing roof) and arrivals located in a flat utilitarian luggage-collect-space below , making the first acquaintance with a new destination often one of disappointment.

The unique condition and purpose of the new Jeddah International Airport presents us with a compelling reason to consider arriving with the same consideration as leaving. ( Mecca you don't leave , to Mecca you go!)

The surface required by the Hajj equals that of the airport itself. Accommodating the Hajj theoretically means building the same volume twice , with one volume being empty for most of the year. In the current situation this is solved by having the Hajj section as a temporary structure in the form of a big tent. Design Proposal. The initial proposal resulted in six different schemes with an emblematic quality. The final design follows the organizing principal of 'the ring'. Both the main terminal and Royal pavilion with their crescent-like shape enclose an internal oasis that can accommodate different forms of use. The layout of the airport is organized in such a way that Airport and Hajj become a single integrated whole without forcing the airport to double in size.

The design realizes departures and arrivals on the same level allowing both to benefit from the same spatial conditions. The realization of departure and arrival on a single level creates a large surface that equals that of the Hajj , allowing the Hajj to be accommodated on the same footprint as the airport itself. No longer realized as a separate section , the Hajj becomes the almost casual by-product of a particular airport design. The Hajj becomes the invisible twin that - at fixed moments - allows the airport to expand its size.

Project: International Airport for Jeddah Status: Commission 2005 Client: Wthheld Location: Jeddah , Saudi Arabia Site: Desert between Jeddah and Makkah , Saudi Arabia Program: New International Airport with Hadj facilities and royal family terminal Partner: Rem Koolhaas Associate: Fernando Donis Team: Gustavo Guimarães , Laurent Troost , Miho Mazereeuw , Katrin Betschinger , Joshua Beck , Haiko Cornelissen , Léonie Wenz , Filipe Balestra , Jo ão Amaro , Inge Goudsmit , Joao Ruivo , Ben Milbourne , Tiago Branco-Sampaio Project: International Airport for Jeddah Status: Commission 2005 Client: Wthheld Location: Jeddah , Saudi Arabia Site: Desert btween Jeddah and Mecca , Saudi Arabia Pro! gram: New International Airport with Hadj facilities and royal family terminal Partner: Rem Koolhaas Associate: Fernando Donis Team: Gustavo Guimarães , Laurent Troost , Miho Mazereeuw , Katrin Betschinger , Joshua Beck , Haiko Cornelissen , Léonie Wenz , Filipe Balestra , Jo ão Amaro , Inge Goudsmit , Joao Ruivo , Ben Milbourne , Tiago Branco-Sampaio

Kashmir's extra-judicial killings

Courtesy : BBC news : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367917.stm

A young Indian soldier recently stationed in Kashmir reflects on the controversial issue of 'fake encounter' killings - where the security forces are alleged to carry out extra-judicial killings while claiming they were caught up in gun battles with militants.

Since he gave these views to the BBC's Urdu service, seven policemen have been charged with murder in connection with the death of a carpenter that he refers to.

"I heard that there have been some 'fake encounter' killings in Ganderbal [near the summer capital, Srinagar]. It's not that I was not aware of the fact that these things happen, but somehow the number disturbed me. Apparently the security forces are being held responsible, and they have probably even accepted responsibility.The big game being played here is that of money
Some of the people who are part of the security forces are Kashmiris, some of them are even surrendered militants who fought the army at one time. I was appalled, and at the same time very sad.
The question is, why would anybody want to kill a poor carpenter? I mean how harmful can he be? The answer is so obvious that I was at first surprised and then angry at my own naivety.

The answer is the system.

The system in the Kashmir valley has become such that "kills" by so-called security forces are associated with medals, monetary benefits, promotions and a host of other perks.So any organisation getting or registering more "kills" reaps the benefits.Now, to kill a seasoned militant these days is difficult, because these guys are mercenaries and are tough.So some elements within the security forces apparently do the next easiest thing: pick up an innocent man from the street and get him killed somewhere else.
And the saddest part about the whole thing is that even Kashmiris themselves are doing this to their own people.Suddenly everything becomes a blur. It becomes unclear who the real enemy is. I had come to the valley with naive ideas of being able to make a difference, but in reality I can only influence not more than 10 people.
And then something like this happens, and there are villagers and more villagers protesting on the street, asking for freedom from this kind of oppression.Obviously they will protest. Anybody would.A solution to the suffering looks a long way off
Even if there is no solution in sight one cannot just go and pick up people from the street and kill them. And if they do this there will be never be any solution.I had dear friends who had nothing to do with the Kashmir problem, who were from places far away from here, who were soldiers, who died here believing they were dying for a cause because they were told so.But now I realise they do not really want to solve the whole issue.
The big game being played here is that of money. Money being pumped in by Pakistan to wage the war and money from India to conquer it.And as long as there is a war going on in the valley there will be unaccounted money and people to make good use of it. I realise that we are just pawns in this game of dirty politics. And I suddenly feel small... very small.

Article is taken from BBC News
You can view it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367917.stm

Professional Animals

NASA Prediction

NASA predicts Worldwide Holiday on Feb 1, 2019 as the world is scheduled
to end
the second photo is terrible .....scroll down to see that....
......
......
......
.....

.....


......

Don't miss the third photo of how the world could be saved!
(scroll down)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-----------
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
So…………………..Don't worry..
Be happy…

Canned Art

Have a Fresh Morning ( YummY )

World's highest bridge - Finally opened