On Facebook and Cell Phones

Photo Credit

I deactivated my facebook about two months ago. I had a little over 600 friends and, surprisingly, I knew every one of them. I also am using my phone less. I still keep in touch with friends, but I'd rather do it in a phone call or meet up. Texting is so impersonal. I still have my twitter, which I like because I feel like I'm talking to a wall. And I like my instagram because I can see outfits and food ideas.

But how do I keep in touch with people!? There was life before Facebook. Just like there was life before cell phones. Sometimes I wonder how people functioned before cell phones. But it was so simple. You're going out, you tell your parents, call via pay phone when you get there saying you're ok.  In my case I had to get dropped off because I was young. If I needed a ride home they would call my friends house or I'd call them and they'd come get me. The end.

These days, if I don't pick up my phone my mom gets worried and thinks something's wrong. We're just so used to being able to contact people at our disposal. It makes us impatient and go crazy inside. When we had to meet up with someone back in the day, we'd mention the place and time. Wait 15 minutes and be ok. Now, I {and I am guessing many people out there} can not wait 5 minutes without sending a text saying, "I'm here." or "Where are you?"

I think know this is where cell phones have made me lazy. If I'm running late I can shoot someone a text and take my time, because they KNOW I'm running late. If I couldn't tell a person that before I met them I'd sure as heck do whatever it takes to be on time!

My close friends are not on Facebook or are extremely inactive. But they have as much fun in their lives as people on facebook appear to have. I do, too! I take photos of my food and trips I have taken. I Just don't put them up for everyone to see. If I would like to share things, I share it with my friends and family who I'd want to see anyways, most of whom are not on facebook. Or who I'd contact through, phone, text or email anyways.

I have to admit, although I was not active on Facebook I still went on multiple times per day hour to see if anyone posted anything new. When I deactivated it it was a habit to get on my laptop and go straight to facebook, even though that was not what I was going on my laptop in the first place. It took about a week to get out of that habit. And I didn't have major withdrawals. I think it was easier for me because I was blessed with many friends and family who don't care for updating their timelines.

This applies to social media as a whole. But it isn't limited to only social media, either. Anything that will consume all of your time like fire consumes dry wood will obviously not be good for you. The key is balance. I am not a good at that, so it's more damaging that I continue to use it, rather than deactivate it altogether.

Photo Credit

Since I've made these minor changes, I don't use my laptop as often. I don't feel "busy" all the time, or that I have so much to do I don't know how I'm going to do it. Those few minutes on facebook and social networking sites at a time really add up and one can easily waste hours every day. In fact, I feel as though I have a lot of extra time on my hands. I feel like I enjoy things more now that I'm not thinking of "putting it up on Facebook".

Photo Cred

PS - These are my two cents. I am not condemning or looking down on anyone who uses facebook, as I do know it is a great, easy and quick way to share and keep in touch with important people in your life. It's so useful for quickly spreading news and information about events and businesses. I am merely stating how it was a waste in my life as the important people in my life were not on it, or inactive. Anything can be used positively or negatively, and in my case, it was just a waste of time.

I came across this tweet and took this screen shot. Although technology definitely has it's perks, I think it's sad the effect it has on relationships. Friends, families, spouses; many prefer communicating through  screen, rather than face to face.

My husband and I decided to put our phones away when we are together. If the hospital needs him, they page him. It works out, no harm done and, I'm glad we decided to do this before it turned into a problem where we wouldn't be able to speak to one another without pressing buttons on a device. Before it became awkward. I also hope we can carry this on to our children and be one of those families that actually enjoys spending times with each other and not with each others' mobile devices and iPads.

Think about the last time you met up with someone face-to-face. Were you able to give them your undivided attention? Or were you always checking your facebook, twitter, instagram, twitter, etc? Multitasking isn't always a good thing.

I feel that it's leading to a lot of people developing something along the lines of Attention Deficit Syndrome. I have a longer post post dedicated to this written up, I'll be posting more about that later.

Living out of a suitcase

I'm sitting in a hotel after a not so hot "hot" breakfast. The eggs contained bacon residue because I think  they cooked it on the same stove. Muslims can not eat pig or pig products, in case you were wondering. The potatoes were cold and hard, my plastic fork could not stab them. My toast popped out of the toaster and landed on some spilled juice on the counter. #firstworldproblems But at least I have food. So I will stop complaining...now. 

I have been doing a bit of traveling lately. While I do like going to various places, I have not had a chance to relax and do my own thing. I want to spend a quiet day or two at home. One thing I don't enjoy about traveling is living out of a suitcase. Packing light hasn't been one of my strong points. Unpacking after returning is an even bigger hurdle. 

Packing for a wedding is much worse! Fancy Indian clothes are not light. Then there's the jewelry, shoes and makeup. It is impossible to go for a weekend with a carry on bag. Indians have parties the days before and days after the actual wedding. So we have to pack clothes, shoes jewelry and makeup for all those events. It's ridiculous, if you ask me. But it's also fun and tiring. But if I could ever travel without going to an Indian event, count me in!

I haven't been going to any weddings or events lately. These trips are strictly for business. It's been pretty relaxed and care free. But there's no place like home. I want to spend a day curled up in bed with a good book and periodic naps in between. Like a cat, maybe with more reading than napping. But knowing me, only one of those days is enough! I start to feel unproductive and need to do something that makes me feel accomplished. I guess it's good that I chose the profession that I did. :)

The Housewife Life - episode 1 "Dryer Woes"

I've picked a few fights with my laundry dryer in the past few months. I end up feeding it the wrong things. And I'm not a ditz that I don't know how to work a dryer. One occurred out of 100% pure laziness and the other was unintentional. Either way, the dryer decided to fight back.

My husband has a habit of not emptying his pockets. Ever. So anytime I have to put his pants or jeans in the washing machine I stand over the garbage can throwing away handfuls of tissues and receipts or putting dollar bills and coins on the night stand.

I do this pretty religiously, because I don't like the rest of the laundry to go bad or an important receipt to get destroyed. One time I was so unfortunate to miss an inky pen. A pen! Who misses a pen? I do. I've found a pen or two in the past. But usually no damage has been done. But this time there was ink all over the dryer. Surprisingly and thankfully, none of the clothes got stained, despite it being a load of whites.

Since the clothes were not affected, I didn't learn my lesson. Of course not.

Another item that frequently gets missed is a stick of chewing gum. Normally nothing happens, except the gum comes out really soft. My husband sometimes eats only half. I noticed a lot of people do this and my question is why? It's so little it's hard to chew it, let alone find it in your mouth. I tried it once and I kept thinking that I'd miss the gum and bite down on my cheek or tongue instead.

This time I knew there was gum in his pants. I could smell the stick of Juicy Fruit all the way across the room. I was lazy and in a hurry to get the laundry done. Thinking that it's no big deal I tossed it into the washing machine. Then the dryer. As I was removing the clothes I noticed white junk all over the dark shirts and pants. This can't be good. I also noticed the strong smell of Juicy Fruit all over the clothes. I looked inside the walls of the dryer and there was sticky gum all over it, all over the clothes. I guess it was half a stick of gum, so it would be easier for the gum to escape onto everything. It didn't look pretty there with all the black ink from the previous incident.

At least the clothes smelled fruity.

I had to scrub the gum off with a metal sponge and goo gone, which worked like a charm. If you haven't heard of it, buy it! It's amazing and a life saver. Only I was scared the goo gone would catch flame the next time I tried to dry something because of the warning label, which is on everything, really, on the back. So I had to wipe it down really good to make sure it would be ok. And that it wouldn't ruin the next load going in.

Did I learn my lesson? Probably not.

I'm so 2000 and late

I didn't get my first real cell phone until the second year of sophomore year of college. That would be 2005/2006. Nowadays everyone is so technologically advanced that it's really hard to keep up. One of my students saw my phone today, and asked if my phone flipped two ways. And I replied in the negative. I just recently upgraded. Two types of flip is way too advanced for me.

I currently settled on this bad boy because of technical difficulties with the others:


Anyways, apparently his cell phone does. He's eight years old. What does he need a cell phone for? What does anyone under the age of 18 need a cell phone for?

When I was in undergrad and I needed to contact someone----which really wasn't anyone except my dad to tell him to pick me up, because well, another thing I'm late in doing, is getting my license-----I would go to a pay phone.



I would find loose change in my purse and call my dad. Yes, I did feel super lame doing it and was just as equally embarrassed. My parents didn't think it was a necessity at the time, so they didn't get me one.

Currently, if you don't have a phone by the time you are in middle school, you are uncool. Why?

And just a year ago, I finally gave in and got unlimited texting and learned the functions of texting with T9. But even with texting, I've realized that I'm behind because I don't have a keyboard on my phone.




For most of my life, my family has had one of these as well:


Yup, with the bunny ear antennas and everything.

We didn't get a newer T.V. until about two or three years ago. And even that's not plasma/flat screen T.V.

Just recently, like two weeks ago, I made my first purchase of my very first laptop. Alhamdulilah. And had my first web cam conversation/chat with my cousin. Lol. It was very entertaining.


Obviously I'm extremely slow when it comes to catching up with the 21st century.

Eh, whatever floats ones boat, right?

What do you think of America?

My dad has been trying for a number of years to bring his brothers and sister and their families to America. Over the past five years, it finally happened and they are all here, all 20 members (minus a few here and there).

It's funny to meet relatives that I've never met before. My siblings and I feel kind of famous when we're with them sometimes. They know so much about us. And you can totally see the resemblance between all of us that it's downright freaky sometimes.


The place that my family is from overseas, is not exactly the most caught up with the Western world. My family is from a very small, very rural village of Bangladesh. A place where electricity and running water are new. And a place where you'll be lucky to find a doctor that can treat you when your ill and provide you with the correct medicine. The past ten years, this place has not made much progress and advancements.
But it was/is home to my father and his family. My uncles were highly-qualified teachers who taught the community about the religion of Islam and its fundamental practices. They were affiliated with the local mosque since it was founded. Their children were all part of that community as well and went to school there with their friends.

Of course I've never been there, I'm just going off of what others have told me.

So since they've all come to America, they have been asked countless times:

What do you think of America?

Not everyone is like me and says they love America and cant get enough of this place. My Aunt actually thinks it's too cold here. Well of course she would. This is the first time they've seen snow. The first time they've had to layer and wear socks, mittens, and boots. It's the first time they've been in a car with a female driver and the first time they are able to visit another relatives house without an incredibly long journey ahead of them.
It's home to me, but not to them. It's a foreign world where everyone speaks a funny language, wears different clothes, and eats weird birds. (They all had turkey for the first time the other day at our house.)

My uncles think it's extremely boring here. With the cold weather, they are cooped up inside the house all day long. It's also a culture shock. Over in Bangladesh, they only saw Bangladeshis. And now here in the states, they see a multicultural world. Black, White, Polish, Yugoslavian, Bosnian, Syrian, Palestinian, Yemeni, Pakistani, Indian, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans. Not to mention the different languages they hear too.

My cousins say they love it. I think they're just saying that for fear of offending us.

It sounds like my family is a bit Amish, if you ask me. Minus the riding buggies and electricity bit.

Seeing them out of their comfort zone makes me feel sad at times. America is my home. Not theirs. The only reason they came here was for a better life. Same reason a lot of people came/come here. Our family is just a generation late with the process. My dad wanted to bring them all here for hopes of them gaining a good education. Let's face it, education in the area they are from is not up to par with what it should be. Lack of books. Lack of teachers. Lack of resources.

And it sounds like they came from a totally different era, not a different country. But this is real. Although we're living in the 21st century and it may be hard to believe, people out there still live in areas where something as minuscule as electricity, is a luxurious item.

I just hope as the years progress and as they become familiar with the Western world, they can at least call it their second home.

Why are you kissing the floor?

I met a Nate.

Not a Nate.

But a guy with the name Nate.

I've been gone this past week to a New Teacher Orientation for my new job as a first grade teacher.(Insha'Allah)





















I stayed in a five start hotel, and was spoiled like crazy. And loved every. single. second. (Alhamdullilah)




















George Bush Sr. and Jr. stayed in this hotel and Colin Powell and some other really VIP-ish people.

























(If you look closely, you can see me in the reflection. Don't you love my polka dot shawl. And my fake Coach purse :) )



And the chandeliers in the hotel were the size of a house.





























There were 200 new teachers hired by our employer. Most from this state and others from other states.

It was a week filled with teacher stuff. Free stuff. And fun stuff.

The girl I was supposed to room with couldn't make it due to a family emergency and I thought the hotel and my employer would overlook that and let me stay in a room by myself.

Nope.

They assigned me a random roommate. I checked into our hotel room first and decided to relax before our meet and greet.



















I took off my hijab and started to unpack and a half our later, my roommate knocks on the door. I looked through the peep hole just in case it was room service or a guy or both.

My roommate turned out to be a really sweet girl that was going to be teaching fourth grade. We clicked right away.

Before we left to the meet and greet, I had to pray one of the five daily prayers that is obligatory on Muslims. Also one of the five pillars of Islam.

When we pray, we don't just bow our heads and clasp our hands. It's a totally different process. We recite surahs (passages) from the Qur'an. We prostrate in front of Allah. We kneel on our knees. And we bow down to our Creator. We go from one movement to the next while reciting Surahs.





















Its a bit of a complicated method.

And to people who may not be familiar with it, you might not understand what exactly is going on.

I wanted to explain to my roommate what it was I was doing so she wouldn't judge me and think I was a weirdo kissing the floor.

I will admit that I was wary of explaining it and kind of shy about doing it as well.

I'm not ashamed to talk about being Muslim and explaining my faith. Nor am I embarrassed of it.

I am scared though, that people will judge me.

So I kept hesitating. But I needed to pray. And she wasn't leaving the room without me.

So what to do?

I just told her, "Muslims need to pray five times a day and I need to pray before we go to the meet and greet.Cool?"

And she said Ok and asked if I needed some privacy, and I said it would be ok if she stayed.

And that was that.

As the week went on, she asked more questions which I really,REALLY appreciated. I love it when people ask questions about Islam and Muslims instead of just wondering.

She wasn't the only one.

Remember the Nate I mentioned before? Well we spent an hour just talking about Muslims and Islam. And he even told me at the end of the convo that I explained (and hopefully wiped away) a lot of stereotypes that he had before.

I guess what I really want to say to you all is that, if you have questions for us, we would really appreciate it if you would just ask them, and would be more than happy to answer them.

To the best of our abilities that is. And in due time. (Because if you haven't noticed already, we are a bit of a slow bunch here at Symphonic Discord)

The Demise of Crocs

I hope you all are happy.

All you croc haters out there got your wish granted.

I'm not a big croc person. And I dont own a single pair of crocs.

But I never wanted this to happen to the inventors of croc.

According to Newsweek magazine, the Croc Inc. company people might be going bankrupt and the Croc stock is around $3 as opposed to what it was at before, a whopping $75 (I'm not sure what this really means, but it seems like some real bad news)....And the CEO resigned too.

I feel so bad for people who make crocs. They all might be out of a job.

So this could possibly mean that there will be no one making crocs anymore.

This is sad.

I mean, sure they can be an eye sore, but what isn't.

Who the heck cares what they look like. Have you seen some of the other trends out there that are still popular?

Leggings as pants.


























Harem pants






















Leg warmers


























Twilight



























Kristen Stewart's Mullet




























Chris Brown and people accepting his lameeeeeee apology




People still like all that stuff, so why doesnt everyone just accept crocs?


I have a friend who swore off crocs and ridiculed them like no other. Come to find that they were her savior during our trip to NYC. (She's the genius that packed a bajillion pairs of stilletos and wedges and couldnt wear a single one of them because all we did was walk. She would have died without Controlled Chaos' Crocs)


Now she loves them. She even went and bought herself a pair of pink crocs.

Anyways, I think everyone should go out and buy a pair of crocs so we can save the croc company!


Who's with me!!!

Just my $0.0299999998

It always interests me to find Muslims that describe themselves as "liberal" or "conservative" or identify with one political party or another... or classify themselves by the accepted political and economic dispositions.


Some corporatist white fat guy in a suit, or neo-feminazi chick (I made that up but think of the evil psychologist, Dr. Faxx from Robocop 2) came up with new phrases like, "moderate muslim" and "secular Muslim", "civil democratic blah blah" and I see people buy right into it. 'Separation syndrome' or something, if you will.

It ought to be noted though, that Islam is a complete religion that lays out guidelines for every aspect of life, including the socio-economic-political realm. As God in the Qur'an said to His beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and to us: "This day I have completed your religion for you, fulfilled My favor upon you, and have chosen for your way of life, Islam." (5:3). Today we have a distorted picture of it all, thinking that "islamic governments" are just characterized by oppressing and punishing women and hindering technological advancement (ironically it is the civilized West that keeps bombing countries back to the stone age, but that's another story). It is widely ignored and forgotten that once upon a time, an Islamic Empire existed, once a meritocratic government that created prosperity and destroyed the gap between the rich and poor through mandatory charity (a time existed when you couldn't find a single poor person in North Africa), used taxes for public services alone(!), and led the world in advancement. This empire came to a gradual decline through outside and inner corruption (root cause: greed <--worth clicking), until the empire fell and was divided into the borders we see today, upon the close of World War I. Well, despite the misrepresentations of Islam-based governance and economics, I make it known that this is where I lie;

• Political views: Muslim
• Economic ideology: Muslim

This in turn gives me the belief that ALL of today's economic and political problems can be solved by restoring moral legitimacy in our systems.

Anyway, I really just wanted to share an excerpt about economics in Islam (you know, just in case you thought "islamists" were a bunch of commies or somethin'):

In Islam the market is to be free and permitted to respond to the natural laws of supply and demand. Thus, when the prices became high in the Prophet's time and people asked him to fix prices for them, he replied, God is the One Who fixes prices, Who withholds, Who gives lavishly, and Who provides, and I hope that when I meet Him none of you will have a claim against me for any injustice with regard to blood or property. (Reported by Ahmad, Abu Daoud, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, al-Dari and Abu Y'ala.)

With these words the Prophet of Islam (peace be on him) declared that unnecessary interference in the freedom of individuals is injustice. If, however, any artificial forces, such as hoarding and manipulation of prices by certain merchants, interfere in the free market, public interest takes precedence over the freedom of such individuals. In such a situation price control becomes permissible to protect society from greedy opportunists, for the above hadith [prophetic tradition/narrative] does not mean that price control is prohibited regardless of the circumstances.

If price control compels people to sell their goods at a price which is not acceptable to them or denies them the reasonable profit permitted by God, it is haram [prohibited/unlawful]. If, on the other hand, price control establishes equity among people, for example, by forcing sellers to accept a price equal to that commanded by other comparable commodities, it is allowed—and necessary.

The hadith cited above relates to the first type of situation. Accordingly, if merchants are selling a commodity in the customary fashion without any wrong-doing on their part and the price subsequently rises due to the scarcity of the commodity or due to an increase in population (indicating the operation of the law of supply and demand), this circumstance is from God, in which case to force them to sell the commodity at a fixed price would be unjust compulsion.

In relation to the second type of situation, should the dealers in a commodity refuse to sell it, despite the fact that people are in need of it, unless they secure a price higher than its known value, they must be compelled to sell it at a price equal to the price of an equivalent commodity. Price control here is in conformity with the standard of justice demanded by God. (Refer to Risalat al-hisbah by Ibn Taimiyyah, as well as to Al-turuq al-hikmiyyah by Ibn al-Qayyim, p. 214 ff.)

Source:
"The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" - Yusuf Al-Qaradawi ( <- I don't agree with the entire book's/author's message on other issues, but the excerpted part will do.. although the author conveniently ignores the issue below... hm)

It should also be noted that in addition to establishing free trade, Islam prohibits all forms of usury (what we call "interest"). Today's global economy is an interest-based economy. This is a widely accepted, and widely ignored problem that burdens society. In Islam, usury is seen as a false way of multiplying wealth at the expense of the poor who often can't pay it back. Eliminating interest from the system shortens the disparity between the rich and poor- this gap is continuously increasing in today's interest-based world. Such a measure also reduces distortion in the projected prosperity of a country (*ahem* e.g. America)-- leading to increased unemployment, debt, false inflation, and recession. Eliminating interest would also put the legitimacy back into the value of money as "a medium of exchange for real goods and services, [which, through interest] becomes increasingly usurped by the rising significance as means of accumulation of might. This [power] is not subject to any 'falling marginal utility'; the might over the compound interest mechanism can be built up without expense beyond every limit" (quote from http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/probst/english/aberrations.html).

Central to Islamic economics is the effort to limit the illusion that money is 'power' (whereas money is merely a means for trading things of use), through prohibition of interest, hoarding, and stressing the moral obligations of human beings to avoid debts and dishonesty.
In fact, the longest verse in the Qur'an (2:282) concerns transactions and debts!

The Qur'an on interest (a few of many references)*:

And eat up not one another's property unjustly (stealing, robbing, deceiving, etc.), nor give bribery to the rulers (judges before presenting your cases) that you may knowingly eat up a part of the property of others sinfully (2:188).

"O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah [God], even though it be against yourselves, or your parents or [family], be he rich or poor, Allah is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not your own lusts, lest you may avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, God is ever well acquainted with what you do." (4:135)

And this must constantly be reflected on:

"Whatever you pay as interest so that it may increase the wealth of people does NOT increase in the sight of GOD. As for the charity that you give, seeking with it God's good pleasure, that is multiplied manifold."(Qur'an 30:39)


Today I see this situation loud and clear, and I provoke you towards charity as a wise investment. I also wish to provoke the Muslim readers to scale in as "Muslim" on the so-called economic compass. Or at least, I hope this turned out to be some good food for thought! Just imagine... Imagine no possessions/ I wonder if you can/ No need for greed or hunger/ a brotherhood of man./ Imagine all the people/ sharing all the world. /You may say that I'm a dreamer... lol

Thanks, whoever made it this far!




*Another striking verse is 2:278

Soap bars shaped like "O's"

So there's this movie called Obsession everyone' s talking about. Silly zionist propaganda to instill fear in the hearts of Americans!!111 People are just ig'nant man.

But that's not what this is about. It's that my friend told me the DVD cover has "Obsession" written with a crescent moon and star to make the "O" and an AK-47 on the "N". how badass is that?? Since my name starts with O, I am officially photoshopping My name to look like that. That's just how I feel right now. Do guns empower me? No, but I see their potential. Just saying. I think instead of an AK-47 I'll have a 9mm. Because I'm just a tarantino-style Gangsta at heart. I'm like Jackie Brown. Or Mr. White. Or Zoey in Death Proof. I love Death Proof. I can't believe people don't consider it the greatest movie of all time.

Sometimes I feel like, I can never talk about violence. Muslim girls don't do that. I shouldn't see destruction and say "SWEET DUDE!" or "what a beautiful spiral of life." I can't joke about suicide without being reported to the FBI. I can't say things like "I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass. And I'm allll out of bubble-gum," and other such popular 80s phrases. I'll get stared at, or be an object of amusement. Sometimes I have to stop and think before I talk about my childhood aspirations of becoming a neurosurgeon, so that I could turn people into powerful bionic-cyborg-androids (Yes i am aware of the redundancy). I guess I don't mind. In this society - in this "state of fear" - I am always dancing on a fine line. Like an ant on the lines of a spider web. I'm sorry I'm not trendy enough to say that "Islam means peace" and "jihad is more about inner struggle." Of course, that's all true (explanation not provided here, sorry). But I feel like we are constantly making ourselves more and more powerless. Everyone's talking about politics these days. Everyone is saying that: we will vote between two puppets, and this will somehow empower us. I like this puppet because he has a cool hat. I like the puppet on the right because he has shiny buttons.

Why must we sugarcoat the situation of people that are victimized or attacked? Ignore the rape, the torture, the murder, the slaughter, the genocide, but dear, why are you Arabs so angry? Embrace the message of Jesus while cluster bombs rain on your hospitals and weddings!! I don't understand why you must be so full of rage... let's work together for peace, while we send you to a cage to be raped 20 times a day without due trial, and re-allocate your homes. But yes, WE are peaceful. Yes, WE cannot be "radical". We cannot be "extremist." We must learn to be more reasonable, more civilized, and peace-loving, to appease the "liberators" as they rape us. Let's admit to our alleged crimes and say that Islam does not stand for this hate and "terrorism". Let's have interfaith dialogue with the people trying to divide us and categorize us and name us without any authority, and say we did our part. Let's ignore the duty of a human being to fight back. A man's instinctive nature to defend his family, his beliefs, and his land. Let's downplay that and let's talk about how moderate and civilised we are. How privileged we are.


It becomes easier to numb any pain in our joints or limbs. Sleep at night with no bad dreams.


I have had many lovely discussions these past couple weeks about getting involved in these affairs, about politics, about history.

What's growing however, is deeper. bigger than politics. Bigger than economics. Bigger than historical patterns.
Have I become "superstitious"? Or cynical as they say? Suffice it to say, it has become easier and easier to predict world events. It has been so since I was 10 years old. But its becoming more and more intuitive and less about reading books and such. I hate to be the one at the end saying "I told you so." I am not cynical. I want to be wrong. Two years ago I predicted what would happen in Pakistan. When your hopeful barack obama becomes leader, I will be there to expect the war fully escalated into my country and elsewhere, intensified and worsened.

Sometimes I wonder if despite all my efforts towards scientific discovery and medicine, is it inevitable for me to be thrown into the dynamics of Pakistan, and to a broader sense, the "muslim world"? In fact, will science itself lead me to political uprising? To complete my father's work in our country, as it is deeply infiltrated by people with vile agendas? Is all my thinking, all my insomnia, ultimately to turn me into the strategies that my mind concocts?

But really, is any of that important? When reality is that politics is overshadowed by deeper forces. We must all know this deep down. It is silly to talk about politics and war, and refuse to acknowledge these forces.. A very ancient war with very dark forces surrounding all of us. Wars about definitions and contexts and beliefs... "politics" is a dumb way to describe it. and here i digress

What's deeper is the thought of tapping into a collective psyche. The hope of common sense. It comes in cycles I suppose, just like the cycles of growth and recession in the economy. Maybe 'common sense' is a shorter peak though, a variance approaching zero if you will. Perhaps we can map this out with variables including revolutions, coups, rise of movements. With enough statistical analysis, can we predict the next wave of collective awakening...?

Have I wasted so much time trying to come up with a political model? Is the answer just in physics all along?

Actually O, the answer is in 99 beautiful names (102 to account the hidden), 114 wonderful meals, 9 excellent volumes, and countless revivals....


Perhaps by recognizing these, my opponents may recognise physical battle (self-defense to be exact), charity, invocation and sincerity as the only viable references towards "change" as they love to call it. and not the deceptive dividing mechanisms of our propaganda queens... Of course there is something deeper that is missing. A matter of the heart. A level of intimacy, believe it or not.



[These thoughts took their own life and control, like robots with artificial intelligence breaking free of humankind; none of this was intended when i sat down to write. and I'm actually a very colourful and happy individual. just ask my friends ;)]