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Authors: Faisal Ansari
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Bill Irons: Do you think Samuel should submit to tests to find out exactly how he is healing these people? Science needs to know if this gift can be replicated and passed on.
Mariam Fara: As a scientist I have the same natural curiosity and am driven by the need to understand why something occurs, but to arrive at any kind of answer you need a willing test subject. Bill, I really enjoy boxing. My father, also a scientist, called it the science of destruction. Ali, the two Sugar Rays were all masters of the science. My father would show me old movies; we would stay up late to watch televised bouts. I can even throw down a few rounds in the ring. To answer your question, I need to paraphrase the great boxing promoter, Don King. The chances of Samuel willingly agreeing to a barrage of testing are between slim to none and slim just left town.
Bill Irons: What do you think people will do once Samuel has healed them?
Mariam Fara: Samuel just heals and moves on. He is trying to heal as many people as possible. What these people do, how they behave after meeting Samuel, is up to them. He has no control or influence over them.
Bill Irons: There are Internet rumours about a little girl in Jericho. He raised her from the dead.
Mariam Fara: Those rumours are untrue. I was there. The little girl was very sick, she was not dead. Samuelâs powers are for healing, nothing more.
Bill Irons: Why do you think he was chosen?
Mariam Fara: I donât know, neither does Samuel. We donât know why he has been blessed with these abilities. I know people will be looking to him for leadership, for guidance, but he doesnât have those kind of answers. He really is just an ordinary man. Heâs not interested in telling people how to live their lives or society how to function.
Bill Irons: Do you believe people will be threatened by Samuel and his powers?
Mariam Fara: I canât understand why people would be threatened by someone who is only interested in helping others.
Interview ends.
***
HAZEL was third out of the plane and bustled with energy as she power-walked through arrivals and immigration. The flight had been uneventful but had provided her with necessary thinking time. She prepared herself as she usually did on an aircraft: Took an aisle seat and counted the rows to the exits both forward and aft. In a survivable crash, most people died from smoke and fire, not the impact, so knowing which way to go in the dark, she felt, was somewhat important.
Bill wasnât waiting for her at arrivals. He had messaged her to let her know he would be around forty minutes late. She didnât mind the delay as it gave her time to download the last five and a half hours of data from her sniffer programs. She found a coffee shop with Wi-Fi and filtered through the latest results. She re-checked her data and within twenty-five minutes was confident of her analysis and its conclusions. She took off her glasses, cleaned them impatiently and ordered another coffee while ticking off the minutes before Bill arrived.
Bill looked bedraggled as he slumped down next to Hazel on the coffee shop settee. He was unshaven, his eyes brimmed with sleep and he smelt faintly of stale beer. He offered a faltering apology for his tardiness and ordered a strong black coffee. Together they hunched round Hazelâs laptop. Bill retrieved his reading glasses from his shirt pocket and put them on. Hazel thought they made him look like a slovenly piano teacher.
âFirst thing I want to show you is the news timeline I have put together. Have you seen one of these before?â
Bill shook his head and took a large swig of his coffee.
âThe timeline is a data amalgamator, an interactive graph if you will. The X-axis is time and runs from left to right in chronological order. The Y-axis is volume of Internet activity related to the events we are looking at. Internet activity can be anything my sniffer can access, so news, blogs, videos
Bill Irons: Do you think Samuel should submit to tests to find out exactly how he is healing these people? Science needs to know if this gift can be replicated and passed on.
Mariam Fara: As a scientist I have the same natural curiosity and am driven by the need to understand why something occurs, but to arrive at any kind of answer you need a willing test subject. Bill, I really enjoy boxing. My father, also a scientist, called it the science of destruction. Ali, the two Sugar Rays were all masters of the science. My father would show me old movies; we would stay up late to watch televised bouts. I can even throw down a few rounds in the ring. To answer your question, I need to paraphrase the great boxing promoter, Don King. The chances of Samuel willingly agreeing to a barrage of testing are between slim to none and slim just left town.
Bill Irons: What do you think people will do once Samuel has healed them?
Mariam Fara: Samuel just heals and moves on. He is trying to heal as many people as possible. What these people do, how they behave after meeting Samuel, is up to them. He has no control or influence over them.
Bill Irons: There are Internet rumours about a little girl in Jericho. He raised her from the dead.
Mariam Fara: Those rumours are untrue. I was there. The little girl was very sick, she was not dead. Samuelâs powers are for healing, nothing more.
Bill Irons: Why do you think he was chosen?
Mariam Fara: I donât know, neither does Samuel. We donât know why he has been blessed with these abilities. I know people will be looking to him for leadership, for guidance, but he doesnât have those kind of answers. He really is just an ordinary man. Heâs not interested in telling people how to live their lives or society how to function.
Bill Irons: Do you believe people will be threatened by Samuel and his powers?
Mariam Fara: I canât understand why people would be threatened by someone who is only interested in helping others.
Interview ends.
***
HAZEL was third out of the plane and bustled with energy as she power-walked through arrivals and immigration. The flight had been uneventful but had provided her with necessary thinking time. She prepared herself as she usually did on an aircraft: Took an aisle seat and counted the rows to the exits both forward and aft. In a survivable crash, most people died from smoke and fire, not the impact, so knowing which way to go in the dark, she felt, was somewhat important.
Bill wasnât waiting for her at arrivals. He had messaged her to let her know he would be around forty minutes late. She didnât mind the delay as it gave her time to download the last five and a half hours of data from her sniffer programs. She found a coffee shop with Wi-Fi and filtered through the latest results. She re-checked her data and within twenty-five minutes was confident of her analysis and its conclusions. She took off her glasses, cleaned them impatiently and ordered another coffee while ticking off the minutes before Bill arrived.
Bill looked bedraggled as he slumped down next to Hazel on the coffee shop settee. He was unshaven, his eyes brimmed with sleep and he smelt faintly of stale beer. He offered a faltering apology for his tardiness and ordered a strong black coffee. Together they hunched round Hazelâs laptop. Bill retrieved his reading glasses from his shirt pocket and put them on. Hazel thought they made him look like a slovenly piano teacher.
âFirst thing I want to show you is the news timeline I have put together. Have you seen one of these before?â
Bill shook his head and took a large swig of his coffee.
âThe timeline is a data amalgamator, an interactive graph if you will. The X-axis is time and runs from left to right in chronological order. The Y-axis is volume of Internet activity related to the events we are looking at. Internet activity can be anything my sniffer can access, so news, blogs, videos
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