Do the bobble head people!

This commercial is too funny!
I love it how this happens to me in class and I always freak out wondering if someone noticed. I can never tell, unless it's a Professor staring me down.



Do the indian bobble head people! If you get what I mean..

Beauty is of soft whisperings, she speaks in our spirit.

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Beauty is of soft whisperings, she speaks in our spirit., originally uploaded by Rabujee.

If I adore You out of fear of Hell, burn me in Hell!
If I adore you out of desire for Paradise,
Lock me out of Paradise.
But if I adore you for Yourself alone,
Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty. -Rabia al-Adawiyya( Rabia Basri)

The rest of us may not have the courage, the faith or the audacity to say something like this to God. But you have to the admire the woman that does; fall in love with her words, and even wish to feel the truth of her words as she does.

I carry a torch in one hand
And a bucket of water in the other:
With these things I am going to set fire to Heaven
And put out the flames of Hell
So that voyagers to God can rip the veils
And see the real goal -(Rabia Basri when questioned why she was running with a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other)

For those who are scandalized by her words, I just wanted to say, shouldn't our ultimate goal be to worship our Creator, only for his sake? What is so wrong with her making such a statement to get that point across? We are the voyagers to God, people of different faiths worshiping our Creator, and Sustainer. Can any of us say that we worship God only because we love him?

Your thoughts?

Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee

In 1967 there was a war between (suprise, suprise) America and Vietnam, a.k.a the Vietnam War. And obviously during this war, many people, or should i say many men, were being drafted and forced to enlist in the Army.

Among those many men was Muhammad Ali, the boxer and Heavyweight champion.

The only difference between those that were being drafted and Muhammad Ali was that Ali refused to take any part in this war. His refusal reason: "War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an(the holy book of Islam). I'm not trying to dodge the draft. [And] I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong" . And for this reason he was accused of draft evasion, he was confined , his boxing license was revoked, and he lost his title as world championship.

Ali fought the courts for four years and on June 28, 1971(exactly 37 years ago): The Supreme Court overturned the conviction of boxer Muhammad Ali for draft evasion, finding that his refusal to fight in Vietnam is based on the religious principles of Islam.(http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/onthisday.aspx)

On a side note: I wonder if this would still hold today--to avoid the draft in a war because of your religious beliefs.

A quote to think about

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it...
- Mark Twain




Dr. Wayne Dyer

Shh..I kinda stole this from the BBC

I decided since today was Friday for about 4 more minutes, I could put up the "This week in Pictures" thing on the BBC, so I hope you enjoy!



Confusion marred French President Nicolas Sarkozy's farewell to Israel, after a soldier shot himself dead during an airport departure ceremony. Mr Sarkozy and his wife were rushed into their plane.




Ana Ivanovic saved two match points as she battled her way into the second round at Wimbledon, only to lose in the third



Nelson Mandela met the Queen as part of a week-long UK visit marking the former South African president's 90th birthday.


German football fans had reason to celebrate as Philipp Lahm scored a last-minute winner in their match against Turkey to reach the Euro 2008 final.



One person died after police fired on a group of protesters in Srinagar, capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.



Keyshia Cole performed at the BET Awards where Kanye West, UGK and Missy Elliott scooped awards.



Voting proceeded slowly in Zimbabwe's presidential run-off. Although Morgan Tsvangirai had officially withdrawn from the contest...



South Korean riot police were deployed as protesters attempted to march on the Presidential House during a protest against US imported beef in Seoul.



Crowds at Britain's Glastonbury music festival got into the party spirit on the opening day of the music extravaganza.

Thou Shalt Not Vote!

The white Evangelical community. Shall I say more? When Kerry was running back in 2004, I was taking American Government and my teacher had mused aloud wondering whether or not John Kerry would reach out to the Evangelicals. Of course Kerry never did, and it was shown in the margins Bush had won Evangelicals by, 78-21. Tipping Ohio most assuredly in Bush's favor, although you can argue that a Gay marriage proposal that was on the ballot that election year turned out faith-based voters with a vengeance. BUT to go with my story we shall ignore that :).
Now where was I? Right, faith-based voters. So back before Kerry we had Gore, who also lost the white Evangelical vote 68-30.

Everyone talks about how historic Obama's campaign is, I argue that it is historic in EVERY way. Earlier this month Obama met with some 30 Religious leaders of different faiths- from evangelical to main line. And what pundits have found is that when Obama speaks to you personally, whether it be in a rally or a lunch date, people leave- if not liking him- not hating him. The reason why Bush won his second term was because he rallied the base, he got Evangelicals to come out of the woodworks and vote for possibly the first time in their lives. But back in 2004, Kerry was portrayed as a wide-eyed Liberal whose only point in life was flicking God off and advocating mass abortion! What has been found in this election is that those tactics don't work, at least not so far. Obama does not shy away from his faith, or talking about his faith for that matter.

Now the question is will Obama get the Evangelical vote, hell no! (excuse the pun :P). But will an Obama presidency be regarded as a mortal threat to the Evangelicals most deeply held beliefs? Again, hell no! So in conclusion I argue that the most effective way to stop the opposition, is to lower the temp, in effect neutralizing the Republican arsenal "Ok don't vote for me, but you have nothing to fear from me." And so far, Obama seems to be doing pretty well with this tack, so much so that is has gotten James Dobson, head of the Christian Group Focus on the Family and one of the most influential voices in the evangelical community, to come out and denounce Obama on his "fruitcake" interpretation on the Constitution.

Your problems are my problems too...

originally uploaded by Rabujee.

Yes, we've gone through it before in the news: the ongoing energy crisis is a menace for drivers around the world. We all know how its been affecting OUR lives presently. But do we really know what others around the world are experiencing?

In Central Asian countries power generation is solely dependent on water based plants, which meant that the sub-zero temps and harsh winters this year froze over the water supplies that had not already been depleted.

So what were citizens left with? Not much. In some villages of Tajikistan, the residents received a max of only 2 hours of electricity in a day. During the nights, many reported layering up in jackets and sleeping under one blanket as a family to keep themselves warm. Sadly, hospitals were also affected by the outages so maternity wards had to pronounce many babies dead soon after birth (although the government will deny this).

Uzbekistan villages report reverting back to old ways to provide heat and cook food. The logging however has resulted in whole villages without a single tree intact. Of course that can't be good for their economy since villagers rely on selling fruit grown on those very trees to make a living.

Moving on down to Southeast Asia, Pakistan's power cuts averaged 10 hours daily and are still ongoing, even as the summer sets in and temps reach (and surpass) 3 digits.

I'm sure many similar stories reverberate across the world, for now these are enough to make us cringe. If that is the effect on us, imagine living through it all.

Lesson: Always look at those less fortunate than you, not out of arrogance, but to practice humility. Then count your blessings, become empowered, and make a move to HELP them in whatever ways, big or small.

Stop Calling Me!!!!

Recently it was suggested by Artistic Logic and Controlled Chaos for me to concoct up postings of historical events from various time frames. Sort of like a "This day in History.." kinda thing.

So here goes nothing:

On June 27,2003 more than 735,000 phone numbers were registered on the first day of a national do-not-call list aimed at blocking unwelcomed solicitations from telemarketers.(http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/index.html)

I thought this was hilarious and sorta ironic. It's hilarious because I am a Supervisor at a call center at my University. And its ironic that my first post of historical events should be related to a place that I despise and wish to get away from. Also because I have frequently heard many people say "I'm on the national Do Not Call list, how did you get my number." In which case, we must respond by saying, " We are exempt from that list because we are a non-profit organization." (Complete B.S. if you ask me.)

Anywho, piece of advice: if you are registered with the National Do Not Call list and yet still receive a phone call from any type of solicitor, telemarketer, or other types of annoying people who want money or information from you, but are considered "non-profit" organizations, just say the eight magic words, Put Me On Your Do Not Call List, and you shall never [*fingers crossed*] hear from them ever again.

Mrs. Cullen: The Genius

Dear Friends,

Many of you know what a genius I am. Examples of my genius-ness include tipping over a kayak in which a friend and I were sitting in, trying to shake a Muslim brothers hand at the MSA banquet, choosing to watch LOST all night before my Chemistry final, etc. Today in this post, I would just like to share with you another story in which you will all praise me for my genius-ness and perhaps follow in my footsteps.

Yesterday, as I was driving home from school I noticed the orange light near my "EMPTY" sign. I knew I must put gas in the car but talked myself out of it. "I'll make it home." "No big deal." "I'm sure it'll be fine." "If I must, I'll stop somewhere on the way home." Those were the many genius things I tried to tell myself. Soon after taking 94, my car stalled. I pulled to the side and began to panic. Quickly, I called my friend Constructive Attitude who cannot drive and does not have a car. Luckily, she has a [younger] sister who can. I waited and waited and they came to my rescue. Unfortunately, I did not have the red gas jar [thingy] in my trunk, nor did they. After attempting to put gas in my car with a plastic gallon milk [thingy], I remembered I had several pop bottles in my car for the masjid bottle drive. Constructive Attitude held the Mountain Dew bottle while I poured the gasoline from the plastic milk thingy through the filter (or perhaps it was the other way around, I can't remember, for I was too busy making sure the trucks and cars driving 70 miles an hour didn't hit us). It was easy to pour the gasoline into my car from the small Mountain Dew bottle, but do keep in mind the bottle was only 1 liter, so we did have to go through the process several times during which the M DOT dude finally decided to show up. So while Constructive Attitude flirted with the old man, I used her cell phone to call my parents (because mine had died; of course) and made sure my car started and then was off to the nearest gas station! Still, I decided to take another risk and instead of taking the next exit, I drove down till Telegraph and exited there.

Please do learn from my genius-ness and NEVER do as I do, ever.

Yours for the sake of Peace and Sisterhood,
Mrs. Cullen

PS: I was joking about the flirting part. Calm down CA!

My brother's a baka

Haha My younger brother(let's call him C) is such an idiot. Funny but a dork.

I was cleaning my kitchen earlier today and I hear a scream. A high pitched scream, coming from C, from the garage. I look up to see my Dad, drop the knife he was cutting the vegetables with ( my Dad loves cutting vegetables, and of course my mom loves it too, but only when he's cutting them) and run to the garage while tripping and jumping over my shoes. (I really should pick them up)
"What? What's wrong?!"
"AHHHAHAHAHAHHH"
My dad looks around trying to find the cause of the agonizing scream. My brother looked okay enough, except for the screaming and the foot clutched in pain.
"I think I STEPPED ON SOMETHING"
"You scared me. I thought something had happened." (That's an Indian parent for you, nothing has happened to you until you get a B in school or at least passed out)
C looks down to discover flowing blood and then comes the loudest scream ever.
"AHHHHHHNNNNNNN OOOAHHHH OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD"
And of course he won't let my Dad near him to examine his foot. And just like on several different occasions, he starts begging for his life, like you might do IF my dad was Hitler or something.
"No I'm begging you. Please don't. Please baba(Dad) don't touch it . I'm begging you. Please. Oh My God. Please. I'll do anything.Please."
Such a drama queen
My dad decides to finish getting the groceries my brother had dropped in his frenzy and to call me over to take care of our drama queen. Of course at this point we were both laughing.
Promise we're not heartless.
To C's defense, there was a lot of blood flowing. I walk over, ignoring his protests and pleadings to spare him.
Apparently now I'm Hitler.
I pick him up and have him hop on one foot to a chair in the kitchen. All the while he's screaming about blood and just overall freaking out.
"Ok seriously. Is it hurting that badly for you to be yelling???"
Pause
"No"
I think I'm about to give him a reason to be yelling in actual pain.
Apparently he picked up on that.
" No it's just there's so much blood. Look at that blood. Oh my God, your hands are bloody"
No they really were, he wasn't just saying that to escape for me.
Some of his blood had come on to my hands. But at least the screaming had stopped.
I wiped his foot, put on a band-aid and decided my 12 year old brother is the funniest thing in this house. Ok not the funniest, my cat beats him sometimes.

What GOes on in ThiS woRld?

Over Here:

In a 92 to 6 vote, the Senate yesterday approved unrestricted funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that allows continuation of the current military course of action through the end of President Bush's term and beyond.

On the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) bill, the Senate delays vote on immunity until after the July 4th recess.

More than half of American teens say they've consumed alcohol, and more than 40 percent of those children say they sometimes get their alcohol free from an adult, a new federal survey found. (Washington Post)

The chairman of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is stepping down from his day-to-day job at the company.

U.S. eases N. Korea out of isolation by lifting some sanctions (mainly symbolic) in return for nuclear cooperation.

Over There:

Zimbabwe holds the second round of a presidential election in which incumbent Robert Mugabe is the only candidate. Figures.

Colombia's President Uribe calls for an early presidential vote after allegations that his 2006 re-election was illegal. (If he hadn't, there would have been a coup)

Hamas acting as reluctant moderator trying to keep other militant groups from breaking the Palestien-Israel 6 month cease fire.

India at impasse over civillian nuclear deal with U.S. which would give India access to nuclear fuel and technology, this impasse threatens to bring down the government.

Women who are depressed during pregnancy can have babies who develop more slowly than their peers, a UK study suggests. (just something I found and thought was interesting :D)

Ok so that is the run down of the top stories in the news at 1:52 am actually 1:53 now but whatever. Hope you learnt something,

Salamz (peace out!)

Me.

So it's 1:25 am right now and I can't sleep so I thought I might share something i've begun to think about recently.

I have come to a realization, one that changes my life, completely. There is no-one I have to be, nothing I have to do to just be. I don't know if that makes sense but, I realize that I am completely and utterly perfect, whole and complete, just the way that I am right now at this very moment in time and if I never changed a thing about myself I would still be perfect, whole and complete. That realization is incredibly amazing to me. I don't have to live up to any expectations I don't have to prove myself to anyone, there is nothing I have to do in this world. That of course doesn't mean that I won't, it just means that I don't have to.

T his place is a dream.
Only a sleeper considers it real.
Then death comes like dawn,
and you wake up laughing
at what you thought was your grief.
But there's a difference with this dream.
Everything cruel and unconscious
done in the illusion of the present world,
all that does not fade away at the death-waking.
It stays,
and it must be interpreted.
All the mean laughing,
all the quick, sexual wanting,
those torn coats of Joseph,
they change into powerful wolves
that you must face.
The retaliation that sometimes comes now,
the swift, payback hit,
is just a boy's game
to what the other will be.
You know about circumcision here.
It's full castration there!
And this groggy time we live,
this is what it's like:
A man goes to sleep in the town where he has always lived, and he dreams he's living in another town
In the dream, he doesn't remember the town he's sleeping in his bed in. He believes
the reality of the dream town.
The world is that kind of sleep.
The dust of many crumbled cities settled over us like a forgetful doze,
but we are older than those cities.
We began
as a mineral. We emerged into plant life
and into the animal state, and then into being human,
and always we have forgotten out former states,
except in early spring when we slightly recall
being green again.
That's how a young person turns
toward a teacher. That's how a baby leans
toward the breast, without knowing the secret
of its desire, yet turning instinctively.
Humankind is being led along an evolving course,
through this migration of intelligences,
and though we seem to be sleeping,
there is an inner wakefulness
that directs the dream,
and that will eventually startle us back
to the truth of who we are.
-Rumi

Because sometimes nature just needs to be shown in all its splendor...

Because sometimes nature just needs to be shown in all its splendor..., originally uploaded by Rabujee.

In my musings I have found there is one constant truth about nature: that it is completely unpredictable. Now there's an oxymoron. Today there's a storm gushing in all its beauty and ferocity while tomorrow brings cheerful sunshine that seems to lift us in its grip and hold us afloat. Even within the span of a few hours you can find the symphony of colors that nature paints. You can smell the nectar of blooming flowers followed by the sweet scent of rain and hear the quiet hum of its pitter patter in our lives. I think not too many words can describe the pure essence of what the eyes experience, how the aroma can transform us, and what memories are awakened. The lessons are ours to be learned: slow down, open our senses to the world around us, take things in stride, and always , always cherish the facets given to us by Allah Subhana Wa' Taala (The Most High).

This was my first photolog. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

I've recently borrowed the book "Three Cups of Tea" but haven't started reading it yet. It's a true story about this one guy who wasn't successful in his attempt to climb a moutain (In Pakistan)...and his "failure" landed him amongst these local villagers. They were so generous and welcoming. Their kindness touched the climber soo much that he went back and built them a school.

People like that truly amaze me. I only pray that kind stuff is part of my destiny.

Oh and this is one of my favorite quotes, by Rumi nonetheless:

All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there.

I relate to that 100%.

God accused of selling cocaine near Tampa church

Police say a man named God, was arrested near a Tampa church for selling cocaine. The end.

Um...

Hi! :)

Wth were they thinking about WTF?

So apparently last year due to us "darn text savvy kids", license plates with WTF have a brand new meaning, well not so brand new for the rest of us.
Anyways, somebody told their grandmother what her license plate stood for in the text messaging world. Appalled, she went and complained to her DMV in North Carolina. Who in turn, where appalled to hear what their license plates meant. So then the DMV in North Carolina offered everyone with WTF on their license plates new replacement license plates (10,000 people or so).
And it was a happy ending.
Until this week, when they learned that their sample license plate on their website had the same three horrible letters-WTF.
Of course, once again appalled, they immediately decided to remove it.

Too funny. Click on the title for the actual article.

So this is me...Ranting.

Ok so the revised version of the Foreign Intelligance Surveillance Act bill was passed in the House with a Senate bill expected to pass in the next few days. Ranting beginning now: This bill a) violates constitutional rights and b) basically cements Bush's abuse of executive power. Under the bill telecommunication companies who participated in Bush's illegal warrantless wiretapping are afforded immunity, meaning they will not be held accountable for their participation in the program. Another provision in the bill states that officials can do warrantless surveillance for up to a week before actually obtaining a warrant as compared to the 48 hrs it was before. AND the government now has the authority, under this bill, to basically spy on people who make phone calls to Europe or the Middle East, WITHOUT a warrant.

So..what do our Presidential candidates say on the issue? Well I can tell you one thing, they BOTH flipped flopped their way over this issue. McCain had said that warrantless surveillance was illegal and had denounced most of the provisions in this bill, now he's saying that it is exactly what needs to be done. Obama said that he would filibuster a bill that would provide full immunity to tellecom companies and any form of "legal" warrantless surveillance, and yet he too has changed his mind and said he will not filibuster the Senate vote.

News anyone?

So I bet you didn't know that Israel and the occupied West Bank was ranked as the world's 58th most unstable place this year. What is the number one unstable-est place in all of the world, you ask? Somalia. Ranked as the most unstable country in the world, according to a new report by the Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace. 7 of the top 10 countries on the list are in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Sudan coming in second.

Another important little tidbit to know, the Supreme Court this week, actually today, took up a case in which a Louisiana man, Patrick Kennedy 43, was sentenced to death for raping his girlfriend's 8 yr old daughter. The court was to decide whether or not someone could be sentenced to death for child rape and in a 5-4 decision the court decided that no, they could not. It was deemed "cruel and unusual punishment" when the intent was not to kill or cause death to the victim.

I don't know if any of you have heard about the MASSIVE protests going on for the past couple of weeks in South Korea over beef imports from well- here. Just today 5,000 protesters clashed with riot police amid the government's decision to lift the ban and allow our beef into their country. Now the main fear amongst South Koreans is well, Mad Cow Disease. No joke. Both governments have tried to rework the original agreement which restricts US beef exports to meat from cattle under 30 months old. And the agreement also forbids exports of parts that are thought to pose a higher risk of mad cow disease.

So I guess that's it for this moment in time, insha'Allah (God-willing) tomorrow will bring an even better day in news and politics, but for now I hope you learnt something!

Salamz (Peace Out!)

Explain the title please???

Hi Everyone
For those of you who really don't get what symphonic discord means, or are wondering what we were smoking when we came up with it, this entry is specifically for you.
Let's start out with the dictionary definition of the words. (Special thanks to dictionary.com)
Symphonic:

1. Relating to or having the character or form of a symphony.
2. Harmonious in sound.
3. Characterized by similarity of sound, as words.

Discord:

1. lack of concord or harmony between persons or things
2. disagreement; difference of opinion.
3. to disagree; be at variance.

Obviously enough, the two words are antonyms of one another. So the reason for this oxymoron?
Because I decided on it. (haha I'm kidding. That's not the COMPLETE reason why)

Ok the reason WHY I decided on it is because it describes us, the authors, the best. We are all similar in many ways, united by experiences or our faith. And in this way we are harmonious, or so we at least seem to all those who can't tell us apart from one another.
(So many a times, I've been walking on campus and waved to by people I've never met.
"Hi Ayesha!
"Um Hi"
::My greeter frowns and then opens her face wide in shock::
"Oh My GOD! I'm so sorry, I thought you were somebody else"
"Haha it's okay. It happens all the time" No really, it almost does. )

But the truth is while we are related and similar in many aspects, we are all so very different from each other. While one is spazzy and chaotic, another is proper and organized, another is outspoken and strong, while another is mild and a push over. We argue, we disagree on politics, or events, whether we would marry Edward Cullens or even minor rulings in our faith.

So I present to you our symphonic discord. We will speak for ourselves, sometimes each other and sometimes for our faith. These are the voices of different muslim girls that aren't oppressed nor have "terrorist" beliefs nor are ashamed or tired of saying that we are American and Muslim, and the two are NOT oxymorons.

Do's and Don'ts

So I used to have a blog. And I used to have a xanga (a different type of blog provider). But then I deleted both. Why? Because I become very paranoid when people read what I write.

But I guess since all of us are doing this together, it wont be so bad? Hopefully?

Anyways just don't critique my writing or I'll quit.But feel free to critique "Controlled Chaos' posts :P

K bye

Potential names

Here are some of the names we were thinking of for me and/or the blog (I don't know why most of them are oxymorons, they just happen to be more fun. )

-Expressive Silence
-Silent echo
-Silent Voice
-Voice of Silence (we decided against it since we thought that it made it seem like we are oppressed, which we are not fyi)
-Silent Vibrations (I'm so glad we steered away from the word silent. I don't know why we had that momentary obsession with that word )
-Spazz Attack (apparently this is the perfect name to describe me according to all three of the people i asked. whatever. )
-Spazzymcfazzy( Once again. Whatever.)
-Rogue
- wretchedvibrationsessence (it's an engineering student thing. Ask rabujee)
-green eggs n harm ( Definite NO)
-Falling up
-Perfect mismatch
-Accidentally on purpose
-vaguely aware ( You should be able to tell, at this point we were just copying words off a website we found on oxymorons)
-same difference
-Deafening silence (Headaches had kicked in)
-Minor crisis (apparently another good one for me. I don't get it. Just cuz I 'spazz' alot)
-Act naturally
-simple enigma (another favorite of mine)
-Clearly confusing
-Definite maybe
-Perplexed by you
-Perplexed
-Mehh
-Hmmm (this word/sound/phrase is used way too often)
- All the cool ones got taken ( I liked this one, others didn't agree)

I wanted..

...to write the first post. :)

Hmm

Ok
So my first post of my very first blog. I wonder if I'm doing this correctly (I'm slightly technologically challenged)
So last night rabujee and me (or I, for those who have to be grammatically correct) were discussing creating a blog and what its name and my display name should be. After a couple of hours, and annoying headaches, we just gave up. But due to some unknown force I found a blog created under my gmail account using some of the ideas we discussed(this very blog, though I did make changes to it). Of course my friends claimed innocence, and I know I didn't do it. But someone out there is having a good laugh with messing with my mind and entering my gmail account. And I hope they have a good laugh, until I find out who they are...

(Oh and I begin this in the name of God, the most gracious the most merciful. Amen)