Nafisto the Great

The major news outlets in the United States are devoting a lot of column inches and air time to the 2000+ American casualties in the war in Iraq (see CNN and ABC News, for example). But, as with all things in the media, it’s important to take things with a grain of salt.

I don’t mean to undermine the tragedy of war that affects these young men and women or the devastation of losing a loved one. I also make no judgment or comment about the Iraq war itself.

I just find it fascinating that so much attention is devoted to these magic numbers. As if 2000 soldiers killed is somehow tragic and 1900 or 500 or 1 fatality is less of a milestone. I’m sure the family of fallen soldier number 1999 doesn’t feel any better than that of number 2000.

What about the Iraqis? Some counts put the Iraqi civilian death toll at up to 30,000–humbling the Americans’ losses. Then again, I feel a bit silly even bringing up nations; the loss of human life–regardless of the nationality of the dead–should be of concern to all people.

And then there’s a whole issue of relative perspective. According to several studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 2000 Americans die every 48 hours as a consequence of tobacco use. Every week, nearly 2000 deaths in the U.S. can be attributed in some way to alcohol consumption. It’s startling how little attention is given to these causes of death.

Of course, war makes news because it affects people. And in a war, casualties are to be expected, and we should be affected by them. But we should also be affected by the tremendous pain and suffering which affects humanity everywhere–be it a result of poor personal choices, natural disasters, or the actions of nations and governments.

Ultimately, all of humanity needs to realize that the only viable solution to these ills is to accept the healing Message of Baha’u'llah.

It’s official: I’ve become a Wikipedia junkie. It wasn’t enough that I was starting to use it more than Google (or, more precisely, ONLY searching Wikipedia from within Google by adding site:wikipedia.org to all my searches). Now I’ve even started to edit pages. After all, Wikipedia touts itself as the “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit”.

It seems crazy, doesn’t it? An online resource that is authoritative but lets anyone make changes to it. Well, as it turns out, I’ve found that you can find information on just about ANYTHING on there, since people are free to add anything they think is worthwhile for an encyclopedia. Also, mistakes don’t stick around long because readers who find them are quick to make changes.

Sure, there is the occasional article that’s a bit off or has a biased opinion. But then again, whenever I’ve run into articles like that, I’ve changed them to be more accurate and precise.

Yes, Wikipedia is an example of Internet democracy at its best. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Here are some sample articles to start you off.

• Bahá’í Faith
• Fibonacci numbers
• Progressive Revelation
• Minnesota Vikings
• The Dozens (aka yo mamma jokes)

UPDATE (2006-06-21): You probably got here because you did a search on Google and wanted to read a bit about Brio in Tysons Corner. First off, thanks for visiting! Secondly, I’ve included the contact details at the bottom of this page and a link to the Brio web site in case you want more information. Happy dining!

[Background: My wife, Shirin, and I went out for dinner last night and got treated like we were restaurant critics, so I decided to write a review of our experience. Perhaps this is my entree into a new line of work…]

There are a lot of good reasons that nice restaurants have been popping up in malls all over the country. Aside from the convenience of eating and shopping in the same place, it opens up possibilities for the occasional culinary suprise. That’s exactly what Shirin and I experienced last night when we dined at Brio Tuscan Grille.

Being a chain establishment–and part of the large Bravo family of restaurants–Brio is exactly the kind of restaurant you’d expect to see in a shopping mall. But just like the new mall expansion at Tysons Corner, our experience was anything but ordinary. Stepping inside the restaurant, we immediately left behind the hectic pace that an evening at the mall inevitably entails. We were greeted by a very pleasant staff that seated us in a large booth. Now I’m not that much into design but this place was nice: definite attention to detail.

Our wait staff was headed by a guy named Travis who prefaced his introduction by saying that he was a server from a Bravo restaurant in Virginia Beach who had been brought up to train new staff. It became quite evident why they chose him to be a trainer–he was quite talkative but in a strangely nice way. And he was really good at his job, attending to our needs and showing up at just the right times.

The service was second only to the food, a compliment we paid to the sous-chef who courteously visited us near the end of our meal. We started with a bruschetta which, I later noticed, was prepared on a traditional Tuscan-style stone oven. For a main course Shirin had mushroom ravioli which was topped in what seemed like breadcrumbs–a very nice touch. My steak was cooked to perfection and just melted in my mouth (much to my vegetarian wife’s chagrin).

With all of the nice things we have to say about Brio, it seems only right to point out a few things that could have been done better. For one, our drinks (non-alcoholic) were served out of plastic bottles which Travis brought to the table. It would have been nice to keep up the illusion of class by keeping the bottles backstage. Also, I’m a big fan of the doggy-bag, but literally giving us a plastic bag was a bit sad (try paper next time, a la Maggiano’s).

All in all, it would be hard NOT to recommend Brio to our friends and family, not just for the great food and friendly service, but also because it makes for a great break in-between spending all your money at the beautiful new stores in the mall. [Total side note: I love West Elm]

If you live in the DC area, hurry up and go to Brio Tuscan Grille at Tysons Corner before October 14–that’s when Travis returns to Virginia Beach. If you live in the tidewater area, ask for him at Bravo Cucina Italiana across from Pembroke Mall. Both of those restaurants can also be found in malls around the country.

Tysons Corners Center
7854L Tysons Corner Center
McLean, VA 22102
phone: 703-288-8882
http://www.brioitalian.com/

So another shout-out to some friends who dropped by recently:

• Krisia in Turkey (who continues to love Google)
• Mara and Mark–can’t wait to see you guys States-side
• Vince and Manijeh–less than two weeks until we see you! (Until then, we’re checking you out on Justin’s blog

It’s great to hear from all of you… please keep in touch!