Books reviews, current events, and other musings

 
The Guardian suggests that bin Laden may have been guided by Isaac Asimov's Foundation series (from Unknown News):

In October last year, an item appeared on an authoritative Russian studies website that soon had the science-fiction community buzzing with speculative excitement. It asserted that Isaac Asimov's 1951 classic Foundation was translated into Arabic under the title "al-Qaida". And it seemed to have the evidence to back up its claims.

"This peculiar coincidence would be of little interest if not for abundant parallels between the plot of Asimov's book and the events unfolding now," wrote Dmitri Gusev, the scientist who posted the article. He was referring to apparent similarities between the plot of Foundation and the pursuit of the organisation we have come to know, perhaps erroneously, as al-Qaida.

I don't buy it. You can find correlations between any two items if you try hard enough, but it generally doesn't mean anything.
posted by Julian at 6:43 AM

 
One individual, missing since 9/11, was found to be alive:

A man who was believed to be near the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and was later reported missing has apparently been found at a New York hospital.
...
Family members said they believed Sims was "selling things" near the twin towers when the attacks occurred and, when they did not hear from him for a few weeks, they reported him missing to city police on Oct. 7.

Sometimes life is like a soap opera. I wonder what the family would tell the guy if he recovers and asks what happens to him.
posted by Julian at 7:17 PM