| In other words, let's make phone calls and show our interest in their culture, in their history and in their progress. If we buy more Iraqi pistachios and dates from Afghanistan, then the children of farmers might have a better education. |
| Joseph Nye tells this joke. The class dummy arrived at his 20th class reunion in a limo. Nice suit, great shoes, he talked about having his own company and he made a $100,000 donation to the school. His classmates gathered around and asked, “How did you do it?” The class dummy replied, “Well, I bought stuff at $1 and sold it at $3, and pretty soon that 2% profit just added up.” Now, that's soft power... spread harmony with humor. |
BIBBI Sample Building International Bridges By Internet PENPAL LIST The evolution of an idea (What can ordinary people do?) People to People (The Eisenhower program) What if it's unsafe in the other country? Technology plus good will = BIBBI SAMPLE showing how to START a BIBBI conversation English Lessons page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 English Links Discussion about Islam FORSUBS SEE Karen Armstrong's writings More Discussion about Islam |
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| Should we observe 15 July as an anniversary of mourning? What happened in 1099? In Jerusalem? |
| Go to the BIBBI Pen Pal List ......... Click HERE |
| Here's a sample "BIBBI" conversation... It starts when a person reads an interesting article and then writes a letter to the article's author... ----- Original Message ----- From: steve mccrea To: s.tabbas@yahoo.net Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2005 7:17 PM Subject: thanks for your link about paul wagner (From a fan in Fort Lauderdale) TO: tabbas Thank you for your blog. I was looking for Paul A. Wagner and one of your blogs included a review by Paul Wagner in Texas. THIS IS WHAT YOUR BLOG CONTAINED Paul A. Wagner, Ph.D., Director, Project in Professional Ethics, Department of Philosophy, University of Houston—Clear Lake, Texas, USA, reviews Decisions, Uncertainty, and the Brain: The Science of Neuroeconomics by Paul W. Glimcher, here. Your academic career sounds interesting. I too pursued some science until it was over my head and then switched... Tabbas was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. He obtained a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from PrincetonUniversity, after finding that a physics major was too difficult for him, and subsequently stayed and worked in the United States as a Software Engineer and C Programmer for eight years, while also lecturing in English Literature at various colleges including Harvard University and the United States Naval Academy. He now lives in Newark, pursuing a doctorate in philosophy at Columbia University and doing freelance work. I can relate.... I go from project to project while pursuing my doctorate in history.... http://www.taula.cc/~tabbas/showallpov/ I'm currently working on a method for my students to interact with students in other countries and I wonder if you might have some suggestions. I send emails to my friends in Venzuela and Poland, but I want my students to develop their own connections in the Middle East and elsewhere where USA is perceived as "evil" or misinformed. Do you know of anyone in Pakistan who would like to correspond with 13 year olds? Perhaps teacher to teacher, class to class? Many thanks Steve McCrea Fort Lauderdale analyst@comcast.net www.teachersTOteachers.com ========================================================= Then the author replied to me: "S. Abbas " <s.abbas@yahoo.net> wrote: Dear Steve, Thank you so much for your cheering email. I am thinking about how to find young friends for your students. The first thing that comes to mind is that I will forward your message to my 13-year old nephew in Karachi, who could share it with his classmates, etc. I will ask him to contact you directly if he likes. Thanks again very much for writing. Best, Tabbas P.S. Do check out http://3quarksdaily.com if you like.. ========================================== So then I wrote back... ----- Original Message ----- From: steve mccrea To: Tabbas Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 11:54 PM Subject: Thanks for the reply... from ( a fan in Fort Lauderdale) I'm a middle school teacher who is a product of eurocentric teaching... I'm interested in talking or corresponding with people who know more about the issues behind Pakistan and India... it's one thing to read about the historic break up of India (partition) and another to hear how people in Pakistan view the issue. For example, in the USA the people in the North call it the "Civil War" (which puzzled me as a youngster... "It wasn't civil or polite") while the people in the south call it "The War Between the States." I'm curious about how people in Pakistan look at history that is generally described (in many US departments of history (at university) from a viewpoint of India. As a school teacher, I try to find the gaps in my education and make sure my students are exposed to the terms that I wasn't told to study. For example, I knew that there was a mountainous area of India (Kashmir) but I didn't know that part of that area lies in Pakistan. History in my high school overlooked South Asia and didn't ask about Borobudur, Mongols, etc. I was 27 before I learned that the towers in the Taj Mahal are in fact minarets... which makes sense if one knows that muslim conquerors swept into India around the 15th Century... I'm sure that I would have been more open to different interpretations of history had I been corresponding with students in other countries.... Email makes these discussions much more interesting. If you know of some helpful web sites about Pakistani history, let me know. (i.e., trustworthy sites. I'm wary of sites created by U.S. professors who might simply not know enough about a country to describe the "soul" of the country's history). Thanks for writing. I hope your nephew agrees to join our email project. I recommend that he use a "free" email account with the supervision of an adult (always a good idea with email with strangers) :-) We have such nuts in the USA. www.lookforpatterns.com click on "PEN PALS" Steve McCrea Fort Lauderdale ======================================== ... and then he replied with the ultimate compliment that a teacher can receive... Dear Steve, All I can say is, I wish I had had teachers like you! Sorry for the delay in my reply. I have once again forwarded your message to my nephew, and told him to contact you directly. Ciao for now... Tabbas This saga will continue... send me an email and let me know if you want to be alerted when the next step in this correspondence occurs... such as "What do Karachi teenagers think about the USA and Europe?" www.DemocracyBonds.com The FLAT Challenge for Middle School students |