indonesia

When bad news sells, money politics buys.

The absolute value of being neutral is zero.

It__ not that I had more important things to do or that I didn__ want to help with whatever problems were interfering with her students being successful__ather, it__ this horrible truth that life has taught me: misplaced hope is the most devastatingly painful thing you can give someone.

The sun appeared between the twin spires of the cathedral as its light reflected off the crescent and star that rose out of the dome on top of the mosque. It was beautiful, and surreal. In one instant, the bells rang out from the cathedral and if I closed my eyes then I could easily imagine that I was back home in Europe, but in the next, the call to morning prayer sounded from the mosque, and it was a stark reminder of how far away I actually was from my true home.

The first ring glowed in the distance, lit up by consumerism that was brought to Jakarta courtesy of western cultures and Christian nations, and it influenced impoverished Muslims in the third ring, who wore Manchester United tee shirts with 'Rooney' on the back, twisting further the attitudes and perceptions of those who were bent already toward radicalism.

It was only a couple of chickens. Real chickens. The kind that walk around clucking and pecking. Which is what they were doing. Only no one else seemed to care, or even notice. This is normal? Obviously I had a little hiccup reading my notecards. Understandable. I was talking to forty orphans who had to share a dirt floor with two chickens. No one in college had ever prepared me for this scenario.

I__ not sure I ever met an American teacher in Korea that hadn__ volunteered at an orphanage at least once__ven our resident idiot could be surprisingly decent on occasion__ut I__e also visited foreign countries where children are taught hatred. I__e seen it up close and personal. It__ antithetical to everything I believe in as a teacher. The mandate for all teachers is to instill hope, not fear and hatred.

Based on the experience of history and civilization of mankind, which is more important for Muslims today, to no longer busy discussing the greatness that Muslims achieved in the past, or debating who first discovered the number zero, including the number one, two, three and so on, as the contribution of Muslims in the writing of numbers in this modern era and the foundation and development of civilizations throughout the world. But how Muslims will regained the lead and control of science and technology, leading back and become a leader in the world of science and civilization, because it represents a real achievement.