Personal sans Professional

Working in the world of social media, there's often a dilemma that I feel is something worth discussing. Social Networks allow customers and clients exist on the same terrain, so it becomes quite simple to overlap the two. What this means is, that if I were a customer of Mercedes Benz and I found something on their Facebook page that I liked, I could very easily share it on my own personal space (wall).

The conflict that arises is, what about when they're your clients? How often do you plug your client's campaigns, apps, pages, etc. on your own personal space. I'm not saying, you shouldn't like their status updates or re-tweet any of their offer. What I'm specifically leaning towards is doing things like blatanlty tweeting, "check out this brand's awesome page xxxx wow!" (or the like) or tagging them in a Facebook status update "You guys should head on over to xxxx now!" (or the like)

So I went ahead and asked this on the Digital Media UAE Facebook page. In retrospect, I should have probably phrased my question a bit better, but in the words of Alexander McNabb, the internet is self - correcting, so my point was found out and debated. One of the sentiments agreed upon was that while it's nice if you do plug your clients, overdoing reduces your credibility. The most prevalent thought, the one many agreed with, is the only reason you should plug your clients is because you actually like the products or services that they have to offer. In fact, Wassim Moumneh went further to say that, "you'll not only look like a tard bumping [product] on your personal property, but will lose all credibility to do so when you're lucky enough to get the chance to work with something that you do believe in and want to support."

Nagham Akileh also shared her input saying, "you lose credibility if you plug 'em in posts unless you truly believe in the product/service/cause regardless of the work you do for it." However, my favourite answer to the thread was by Nora Bakhsh, a recent graduate from the American University in Sharjah, who said, "the whole point of handling a client's page is making it seem like they're doing it themselves."

I have to agree that, you should be able to successfully separate a personal social network account from any work that you happen to do on social networks. Suffice to say, you will rarely see me plugging my clients in my Twitter, my blog or my Facebook page. :)

Guess who's back?

...yes. I'm back.

I'll be honest here, I'm fairly certain it'll take me awhile to get back into full swing blogging, but things are starting to slow down in the real world, and I'm hoping that I'm going to have a little more time to dedicate to my blog. Today was the first time that I set eyes on my blog ever since I went on this break, and I WANT CHANGE. Not now, but sooner or later, I'm going to make a massive change to this blog and make it a lot cooler. It's nice to be back.

I went on hiatus, officially, on the 1st of this month, and it's funny that I'm back within the same month. If I am to be honest, I really expected to stay away from blogging, blogs and all such things for a couple of months at the very least. It wasn't writer's block. It was more of a lack of motivation TO write. Which I could blame on other things, but I won't and I'm glad I can start accepting responsibility for my actions.

Funnily enough, the moment I decided to go on hiatus a number of things popped up and my first thoughts on them were, 'Oh I should blog that!' And then I remember that I've gone on a blogging hiatus and then it's, 'DOH!'

Either way, stuff I'm looking forward to blogging about in the near future:

1. My University
2. Work Ethic
3. My First 'Job'
4. A Memory of a cousin

And other stuff, that I can't remember at the moment. But rest assured, the ZOMG is back and I'll be writing again.

Bring it.


xx


M



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The other problem...

As promised here is the other side of the big debate that is, 'How to help Gaza.' In the earlier post I spoke thoroughly about how people can try and bring Israel down to earth by cutting off it's supply of money and arms from the USA. Not that the USA is a bad guy, NO, but just possible solutions of slowing down the pace of a war machine. In this post I'm going to focus on the Arab/Muslim/non-Israeli/non-USA side of it all, the benefits and the problems.

It's quite plain to see that the oil rich countries here in the Middle East have never hesitated to offer any kind of financial aid to the Palestinians. Ideally I wanted to give you a statistic of how much Palestine had received in donations (to help rebuild Gaza). I tried to find some ready data, but what I found was mostly older articles on how much some of these nations promised to give, how much they gave individually, or how much they gave in single events. There were far too many for me to try and compile the data, so suffice to say that, yes, financial aid has almost never been a problem.

Unfortunately, I'm of the opinion that throwing money at the Palestinians is not the only kind of support they need. My main issue with some people is not that they don't want to help the Palestinians. My main issue is that many people are far too close-minded now to figure out a solution to a problem that's been more than half a century in the making, in recent history, and for hundreds of years throughout history (Jerusalem has been a religious and related issues hotspot for centuries) [but yeah you guys knew that already I'll just go on now shall I..]

I guess it'd be easier for me to relay I'm trying to say with an example. It's a personal experience that I had, and it was the single moment where I saw what I was doing wrong to help improve this crisis. In 2005 I attended the Global Young Leaders Conference in New York & Washington DC. Throughout it, we had various workshops and attended various lectures by fairly influential people in the political circles of the USA and the UN. It was at this conference that I became an alumnus of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, which is the same council that invited me to President Barack Obama's Inauguration, 6 days ago. Pity I couldn't go :(

One of the lectures was at a hotel where the speakers were an Israeli Advocate, a Palestinian Peace worker and a moderator to prevent anything from going terribly wrong. The way things were run, once both speakers had finished speaking, the students were allowed a question and answer session with the speakers. Back then I had a lot more josh in me. Moment the QnA session popped up, I ran down to the front of the queue, and I was one of the mid-line questioners. When it was my turn, I strutted right up to the mic and said, "Hi my name is Muhammed Ali. I'm a Muslim from India, living in the Middle East, and my question is directed to the Israeli Advocate. How can you consider your country a legitimate body if, in the pure essence of it all, you dropped your bags in Palestinian territory and decided to set up shop? Is the Accord of Camp David really your excuse?"

In my defence I was an angry young kid, who wanted to get back at the big bully.

To my surprise, the Palestinian Peace worker spoke up, and boy, was he mad. I'm going to try and remember exactly what he said, for more emphasis.

"What is the point of bringing that up over and over again? We are beyond that stage and crying over spilt milk isn't going to help anyone, not us or the Israelis. Forget what happened and now focus on stopping the war and the killing."

I'm sure he said more, because I remember when he was done, I felt like an idiot. I guess what he was trying to say that the best way to approach this sitiuation is like a doctor would (my cousin also said the same thing). If a doctor sees an illness, he'll administer medicine and treatment and will wait to see if your symptoms disappear. If what he gives doesn't work, he'll switch to something else. If that also doesn't work, he'll switch to something else, and will continue doing so until he's found something that works. So many countries here in the Middle East still refuse to accept Israel as a nation. Maybe they think it will help, but on the grand scale of things, if you want your neighbour to stop being a certain way, you have to stop giving it the cold stare. I'm not saying Israel is justified in it's actions, but we've tried and seen that what we've been doing for so many years does not work. So then why not try something different? Sure there are extremists in Israel who won't settle for anything less than complete domination of all Palestinian territory, but then aren't there extremists on this side of the fence too, who won't even acknowledge this country's existence? How can a country apply political pressure on another country that it refuses to even acknowledge? How can any Arab country expect peace from Israel, when all you see is them throwing mud on them, calling it names, and refusing any dialogue with them?

Yes, the Israeli army and some of it's leaders are doing terrible things. But what if they were given no reason to be bitter anymore? Simple example, if Hamas stopped firing rockets into Israel, then, on paper, Israel would have no reason to attack anyone or anywhere inside Gaza. They would not attack Hamas Headquarters or the like, because they now have no reason to. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure this won't happen because through generations and generations of hate breeding, and witnessing the massacres first hand, many Palestinians won't even want to see it any other way. Sad part is, you can't even blame them. That's what sucks though. The Palestinians refuse to learn from their mistakes and keep throwing bombs into Israel and then when Israel hits back (albeit responding tenfold) they get all whiny and mopey.

Another thing that really upsets me is the spiff between Hamas and Fatah. It's RIDICULOUS. If BOTH these parties want the same thing in essence, ie peace, then HOW IS ATTACKING EACH OTHER GOING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?! Gosh, the infighting amongst these two parties is so stupid at times. There were rumours floating around that Fatah would leak info to the Israeli Army to help them attach Hamas. I hope they were just that, because if they weren't then that's just low. Very very low.

Moving past the Palestinians, I just want top see some pro active steps from the countries here in the Middle East in trying to attain a sustainable peace in Israel. You've tried the cold shoulder technique and it BOMBED (no pun intended). And I understand that it might be against our morals or ethics or even pride to accept Israel, but maybe that's one way to start a process that might lead to a self-sustaining era of peace for the people in BOTH Palestine and Israel. It's the mindset that has to change, on both sides.

More importantly, the problems of today can not be solved by those who created them. The problems of today can only be solved by the leaders of tomorrow. That's why I think the best way to do this is to educate the Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, Jewish and Israeli youth into believing that a vocal and acceptance approach is more likely to attain peace than guns and rockets.

I don't know. Maybe I'm still as naive as I was 4 years ago. I just really, really think that education of the youth, allowing them to change their predefined emotions towards the other races will really help make that difference that peace still needs.


M


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A Letter to President Barack Obama

(I realize this may be a really stupid idea, but I'm gonna do it anyway so shoot me.)

Dear Mr. President,

I initially wanted this letter to be a formal, welcoming sorta letter, for your new job at the White House and all that. But I think it's safe to say you've had enough of that already.

(Either way Congratulations dude!)

Errm, my name's Muhammed Ali J., and I'm a Muslim from India, born and bred in the Middle East, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I first heard about you in 2005 when you were elected into the Senate in Illinois. Surely the news of someone with 'Hussein,' becoming a US Senator was big news over here. Soon after that in 2007, when you announced that you were running for Democratic Nominee, ears perked all over this part of the world (Yours Truly's included). Since then I followed your whirlwind campaign that stretched two years and now you're sitting in the Oval Office. Whoo!

I had a whole bunch of ideas that I wanted to say. I was gonna quote big words stuff like, sacrifice, hope, leadership, divine redemption, so on and so forth. However, now that I'm here I guess it's eventually of no end and I might as well speak from the heart (and brain). President Obama, I don't need to tell you that there are a lot of expectations on your shoulders. You know it better than anyone else, and it's what you built your campaign to the top job on. You know that every citizen (Well maybe besides some of the Republicans. And Ralph Nader) is celebrating your every move and every critic is just sitting around waiting for you to slip up.

Here's hoping you never do, big guy! (Slip up, I mean....)

Now, forgive me for being ignorant but this letter isn't about the change that you promised your countrymen IN your country. This letter is about the rest of us. As the only superpower in the world, your actions in some way or another affect a lot of people, especially those in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, even Israel. Those and a lot of other countries, if not most. Mr. President for the past 8 years people in many countries have suffered ridiculous atrocities due to the selfish, ignorant and terribly biased actions of your predecessor. Sure your fellow citizens look at you with eyes full of expectations for jobs, tax cuts and whatnot. But just as every American looks to you with hope, the eyes and minds of every Iraqi, Afghani, Palestinian are maxxed out on optimism. Believe you me when I say that on the 4th of November 2008, the folk in this part of the world breathed a unanimous "OH THANK GOD." We're all rooting for you. Some more than others.

Mr. President there's nothing I can say now that you don't already know. And the big truth is you probably won't read this letter ever and it'll just be up on my blog collecting cyber dust. But if by some chance you happen to come across this, PLEASE know that the rest of the world really needs you to keep your promises. The people in Iraq, Afghanistan and both Palestine and Israel are all fed up with genocide. There's no pro-Palestinian side or pro-Israeli side to this anymore. Ask anyone what they want and you have my word, the top reply is, 'Peace.'

This letter is in it's essence a plea to please do what those who are suffering on all sides, expect you to do. You are now at the precipice of what will soon become your legacy. Soon you'll be taking that plunge, and we all hope you soar. Don't let us down. We need you to be everything you said you would.


Long story short: Please, don't screw up.


Sincerely,

Muhammed Ali J.

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Boycott American Cars!

Ok that title was just to attract more visitors..


Either way, this post has been long overdue and I'm surprised that it took me so long to actually get to writing it. I will now speak of the atrocities in Gaza and the American sit-on-my-butt attitude towards Israeli genocide. BUT, before you draw conclusions, this is the first of two posts about the topic. The second topic shows the equally stupid non-helping Arab countries. So don't be that quick to draw your conclusions. On GFWMG I try to be as unbiased as possible.

THIS post however, is for those who want to help Gaza and anyone else oppressed by the American (Read: Bush) War Machine and the Bush Administration's foreign policies, that will soon be rendered obsolete once BO is in power. But just to be safe.

Whenever I spoke to anyone regarding Gaza, even though the conversation was full of heightened emotions and opinions, there was always this lingering aftertaste of helplessness. Sitting at our coffee shops, cafes, pool bars, bars (for a few), there was only that much bitching and moaning that one could do before you just ran out of excuses and this horrible feeling of dread would take over you as you realized that there really was nothing much you could do. And I'm sure we've all been through it, both pro-Palestinians and pro-Israeli (ie, in terms of pro-peace) people alike.

However, my brother mentioned this to me and at the time I did not think of it as much of a deal. On his saying, I did some research and it turns out there's a pretty decent way to make a difference. You know how everyone keeps rambling on about "Boycott *insert random country* Goods!" Well, that really does make a difference with regards to the American Economy. Let's start with a little background.

Want to help Gaza? Want Israel to stop it's atrocities? If you want to kill a snake (Being totally metaphorical here) cut off the head. The first country to recognise the State of Israel in 1948 was the United States Of America, under the leadership of Harry S. Truman. The country that gives the most in terms of foreign aid, both direct and indirect, military and non-military is the United States of America. What I'm trying to establish is, that if people were to apply decent amounts of pressure on the government of the USA, we would actually be able to take a step towards helping the people of Gaza.

Lemme give you some numbers. American fiscal aid to Israel began in 1948 itself with Harry Truman setting the bar. Every president since, the bar's only gone higher. Since WWII Israel has been the largest overall recipient of American aid.

• Between 1948 - 2006 Israel has received more than$156 billion in Direct Financial Aid.
• Until 2003, Israel received a third of the annual US Foreign Aid Budget.
• The US also 'loaned' money to Israel, but waived them before repayments even began. The tally of waived loans only stands at $45 billion, up to 2003.
• During 1996 - 2006 Israel received more the $24 billion in Financial Military Aid from the USA.
• 50% of the USA's Foreign Military Financing (FMF) budget is directly allocated to Israel, who can spend more than 26% of that in buying weapons produced by Israeli arms manufacturers, keeping that percentage of money in their economy.
• In August of 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the USA and Israel, guaranteeing them $30 billion over the next 10 years in military aid via the FMF.

I could go on about these facts. A lot of them are easily available over the internet, from reliable sources. One such source summarised it like this, "The Real Cost of US Aid to Israel: $3 Trillion."

I'd take that with a pinch of salt, but it's still quite a number.

Now it's safe to assume that poking and prodding at the American economy could cause ripples big enough to affect Israel.

Disclaimer: I understand that Barack Obama's term as President may not see the same support, and would hereby render this post obsolete, but these are the facts. If, in the coming months, you see no difference in American Foreign Policy towards Israel and the Middle East, I don't see why not.

Let's get straight to the point. 1 out of every 10 American jobs is directly linked to the automobile industry. If Detroit, America's autmobile manufacturing stronghold, were to fall, as many as 3 million jobs would be affected. Now while the number of jobs lost due to GM, Chrysler and Ford's deaths could be cancelled out by the aggressive capture of the market by Japanese giants Toyota, Nissan, Honda and even Hyundai, it is not the jobs that would kill the American Economy.

GM, Ford and Chrysler control about 40% of the global automobile industry, worth $450 billion, and control over 60% of the domestic market, worth roughly $300 billion. I'm going to say this part slowly. The size of the domestic US auto industry controlled by foreign brands is the same as the share controlled by American auto manufacturers in the global market. ie, American auto manufacturers sell enough cars overseas to counter balance money lost to the sales of foreign cars (ie imports) in the USA. If Detroit were to fall, this dynamic economic balance would die with it and the American economy would have a direct negative effect of roughly $450 billion. And when the entire cookie crumbles and all the bits have fallen off, the cascading effect of this fall could shave of well over a trillion dollars of the American GDP annually.

This void left by GM, Chrysler and Ford, will soon be filled by foreign manufacturers and more sooner than later, foreign companies will have the largest influence on American economy in history. Eventually, the American auto industry would sputter and die, expedited by the new found power for foreign brands in economy of scales, marking it as the most tragic event in US economic history.

NOW, while the result is assumption based on facts, it still is quite possible. If you really want to start trying to help people of Gaza or any other country oppressed by the American war machine, stop talking and start doing. Stop buying Ford Explorers. Stop purchasing Mustangs. No more 300Cs. No more Tahoes or Suburbans. Buy Japanese. Their airconditioners wont die out on you.


xx


M



Ps.
I don't want the USA to die off. Really. I want to go to Harvard. But I do want to put enough pressure on them, so that they stop directly helping the genocidists that sit in powerful places in the Israeli government. The next part of this series will show how some countries *cough*middleeasternoilrich*cough* sit back and do nothing save for talk. My next post will be on that. Look out for it.


Sources:

1. http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm
2. http://knol.google.com/k/mic-mac/the-financial-cost-of-american-support/1xmk75xoq251y/2#
3. What To Do With Detroit Is MoreA National Strategic Decision by A. D. Amar, Strategy & Policy Professor, Stillman School of Business.
   

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Help Save Wikipedia!

Every child in today's generation has used Wikimedia to his or her advantage. Research, projects, assignments or homework, we've all referred to the online encyclopedia. And not only our generation, but absolutely anyone with a computer and internet at their disposal has gone to Wikipedia in search for answers.

All this year we've been seeing a little bar on the top of Wikipedia's pages asking for donations to help keep the monster of a website running. If you go back now, you'll see in it's place a message from the founder Jimmy Wales...

-x-x-x-

As I wrote that last sentence, I opened up a new tab and went to the Wiki page so as to link a few words to the message and instead I found that Wikipedia had finally reached their target donations and the new banner was now a thank you from Jimmy Wales. Looks like they reached their targets. But still, if anyone who reads this can afford to, then please donate to the largest free online encyclopedia and source of free information and knowledge to internet citizens. Anything helps

I'll leave you with this funny little strip from XKCD about Wikipedia. It's quite... precise?






:)

I was gonna do my little bit in trying to help Wikipedia stay afloat. Thankfully, it's already done!

Who'd've thunked?!


M


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Let's wrap this one up folks!

As promised, this will be my final post for this year, and also a review on how 2008 was for me.

Personally 2008 wasn't one of the better years for me. Similar to 2007, only with a varied timeline and a few differences in the actual happenings, but for the most bit it did not live up to what I had in mind for it. Unlike 2007 though, I remember starting 2008 at a major high. This time last year, I would say that I can't be fazed. One year down the line, I will say that I was wrong.

The first half of 2008 did live up to some of the expectations that I had for it. I was doing well academically, personally and professionally. So was she. I managed to land my first paid job, even though it was a mere 20 day stint, it was still something that I really enjoyed doing, and did it with all my heart. It's something that I'd love to do on a regular basis. During the first half of this year I moved from strength to strength and I had it all planned out. I was motivated, dedicated and ridiculously energetic.

Professionally, 2008 was my first real exposure to a working environment. It's not that I haven't ever worked before. All the time I spent at Make A Wish and ERAD & UNOPS was not wasted time. But this was the first time I was working to better my career. And even though it was a learning experience I can, Alhamdulillah, safely say that I only had good experiences. I hope and pray that 2009 continues my run.

In 2008 I've also actively returned to blogging. I've made it a point to post regularly, and I started a few things that keep this blog alive like TWS and BOM. I'm glad I'm keeping the promise that I made when I started blogging, and 2008 has been the more successful of the two years that this blog has been on the internet.

The last third of 2008 wasn't all that it was spruced up to be though. In fact, it all started at one instantaneous moment, and I guess it was something that I wasn't prepared for and wasn't something that I expected. I lost a loved one to circumstances that were.. are.. beyond my control. I guess if 2008 taught me anything it's that I have a fear of not being able to control the happenings of my life, and letting others affect it. If I could change it I would, but the fact that there's nothing I can do to affect it, sorta leaves you with this helpless feeling. It's like doing great at work, but not getting the credit that you deserve.

4 months since, I can safely say that my thought processes have changed beyond what I'd like them to be. I'm not as confident about myself as I was, and that to me is a major blow. I want to regain it, and over time I know I will InshAllah.

I met T this year after lessay 5 - 8 years. T, I want to thank you for being a great friend and.. I dunno. Thanks again. I may not be as much of a friend to you, as you are to me, but as a new years resolution I'll try and change that (sooner or later you'll stop missing Irfan :P ).

Sana left for University this year - I met her today - and I guess I realized that I really do miss her a lot. She's my best friend. No one functions with me the way she does. She's a rare person and I'm glad I met her. Well whaddya know, Anish did something right after all.

I want to appreciate the fact that Barry and I have also become best friends. If at all MAHE did anything right, it was putting the both of us in the same section, and I'm glad I met you buddy. Although, I have to apologize, I can't take you with me to Boston (Harvard). That travel companion position is reserved. (Guitar Hero tomorrow again?)

One of my closest friends, Hussein Ali, got married this month. I've been with him for a while now and I know that no one deserves it any more than he does, and I pray that he get's everything that he wants and that he lives up to everything that his parents want him to. Hussein I know you're never going to read this, but for the record, you're a great friend. Even though we've not met/spoken as much in the last 2 months, you're a great guy, and I'm glad I invited you for my 18th birthday.

As for you. I really don't know what to say. I guess at the end of it all, I've said everything that I've wanted to, and so have you. It was one hell of a ride. 2 and a half of the best years of my life, however short they both may be. I guess at the end of it all, I know that Allah will guide us to what is best for us and our futures. Both mine and yours. Whether they're separated now, or maybe at some point in the future, joined again. Unfortunately, he can only guide us, but the decision is still made by us. For now, I'm going to stick with mine. I am moving on. But I'm never giving up. Because that's what I would have done last year. And that's what I'll do now.

Do me a favour though. What was the name of that song? The one you made me listen to that night? I think it was by She Wants Revenge, but I'm not sure. Either way, be safe.

This time last year, I expected the following year to be just great. In some ways it was. I got much closer to some people, some GOOD people. A Muslim is defined by the company he keeps. And I think I keep good company. In some ways 2008 blew.

At the end of it, I've learned that we as people have very limited control over our lives, even though we claim to be in total control. We're not. Our lives are deeply affected by the actions of others, both in positives and in negatives. The difference is you only tend to notice the negatives because they make your life that much harder. I'm not bitter about it, it's just something that I've noticed. People tend to remember only the bad, and forget the good.

InshAllah, InshAllah, InshAllah, 2009 will bring a change for me, my life and those in it.

This is a story from the Prophet's (SAW) time. It's not the exact words or translation, but it's the same meaning. A man came up to the Prophet (SAW) once and asked him, "I have a camel. Every night when I travel, should I leave it up to Allah to protect it, or should I tie it up and then pray to Allah?" The Prophet (SAW) responded, "Tie the camel down and then pray to Allah." What it means is that you can't leave everything up to Allah and hope for him to fix things. There are things that you have to do yourself, and only once you've done them can you ask Allah to help you.

InshAllah, he will. InshAllah 2009 will be everything that I want it to be.


This is your writer, signing off after a long, eventful and tumultuous 2008. See you guys again in 2009.


Muhammed Ali Jamadar


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The Ballads of M: I can't think of a title for this..

This is something I've done in the past, and I can say without doubt that it's because I am naive and immature. But being another young adult with only a laptop and internet connection at his disposal, I know that this is my little bit in trying to help. I'd love to do more, and maybe one day I can and will be able to do more. Till then, I'm not going to stop writing.

Today, Israeli warplanes launched multiple aerial attacks across Palestinian lands and killed at least 155 people, wounding another 310.

I know that a LOT of people have Yahoo! as their homepage, but I wonder why I don't see that much of a reaction? I mean, apparently we're still human beings right? When India was attacked and a similar number of people were killed at the Taj and the Trident, remember the buzz? The Media attention? The public outcry? The political pressure on Pakistan to control their people?

I'm not saying that, what happened in India was a small deal, not at ALL. What I'm trying to say is that why is it that people who were SO shocked about the death and murder in India, why those SAME people don't have the same reactions to the terrorist actions of the Israeli army in Palestine? Whether it was a 20 year old waving an AK-47 or it was an Israeli pilot in an F-16, murder is MURDER.

When a few Israelis were killed at the Narmin house in India and a baby ( "Baby Moshe" ) was orphaned, HOW many TV hours were dedicated to them? HOW many news channels aired their plight repeatedly? Again, I'm not saying that an Israeli's life is worthless (although I'm sure a lot of people would), but WHY not the same outcry when SO many MORE people are slaughtered in Palestine?

Where are the NDTV specials? Where is CNN's live covering? Where are the BBC? I'm not even gonna mention FOX news.

It is DISGUSTING to mention that the populace of this world has come to ignore the deaths of certain communities only because, it is now so common to hear of their deaths. Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghanis and even the Chechnyans earlier on.

It is DISGUSTING that the superpowers sit back and allow Israel to do as they see fit, but will threaten Pakistan with military action when India was attacked.

It is DISGUSTING that your average bloke can power up his TV or laptop and read the deaths of a hundred Palestinians and go, "Oh well," and then go on checking the football scores.

It is DISGUSTING that we sit here in our comfortable lives and care about the deaths that happened in India, or the 9/11 attacks or the London Tube attacks only because we know people there and because it "affects" us in a manner of speaking. But when we hear about the other deaths that don't affect us, we can read, comprehend and then continue to ignore.

It is DISGUSTING how people can care when supposedly superior races of humans are killed but then turn away when a supposedly inferior race is slaughtered in broad daylight.

It is DISGUSTING how some countries will defend the perpetrators of mass genocide.

How can an American or an Israeli now sit back and wonder why they really are hated so much. I don't hate every American or Israeli, because I don't want to stereotype. And because I know there are good people on all sides of a war. I know there are bad people in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan too.

But believe you me, it's not easy convincing yourself to remain focused, and not to hate.

M


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Thursday, September 18, 2008

The day mentioned in the title was one very eventful days. It's one of those days where you see so many different things, and each one of them has an effect on you.

Event 1: Mrs. Fokiya's Movie.

Mrs. Fokiya is a newly appointed Professor at my University. She'd been a temp with us for 2 years and only this year she was offered a full time post, which she took. So it turns out Mrs. Fokiya makes movies on the side and from what we were told she's made over 20 short documentaries. Most of them are about humanitarian issues and the like.

So, on titular date, the faculty decided to show a screening of one of her movies. This movie was about widows and mainly orphans in Kashmir. It was a good depiction of the troubles and worries that orphans and widows in Kashmire face in their day to day lives. It was one of those things where, it wasn't like you didn't already know about it, you just had never seen it. In my time working with the UNERU and RAD, I've organized a lot of supplies for these people so this movie had a very personal impact for me. 18 year old boys taking care of entire families. 6 year olds with ambitions to be a doctor or a teacher so he can heal or teach other orphans. A 13 year old girl, when interviewed, showed the maturity that most adults of our generation lack.

What got to me though, was when after the movie was screened I heard a lot of my peers commenting on how ,'boring' that was and how, 'pointless' it was that they wasted their precious time sitting there and watching that movie about some kids who struggle with their lives.

Is my generation really that shallow? Are our stomachs and our looks all we ever care about? How could we possibly complain about education, family, friends or the hardships that WE face, while these children face unsurmountable challenges without battering an eyelid.

We're screwed.


Event 2 - Almost roadkill

I was invited to the Games Alliance Middle East Show 2008 (GAMES 2008) to try out new game titles. Now, while that I will speak about as well, this part is about what happened on the way to the hotel.

It was being held at the Grand Hyatt and I was in Satwa. A friend was to pick me up and since he didn't know where I would be exactly, he waited at the big Satwa Mosque, which was a 5 minute walk from where I was. I made my way there and just as I saw his car from across the street, a taxi pulled up behind him and stopped. Two women got out, and I could see some children in the car. Three, if I remember correctly, and amongst them was a little boy roughly about 2 years old.

The moment this little guy hit the pavement he bolted for the main road that I was about to cross. He caught his mother by surprise and made a dash for the road. Why? Dunno. He's a kid. Either way, the kid jumped onto the road and freezed. An RTA bus saw the child and hit the brakes, but it wouldn't have stopped in time.

At that point, I managed to bolt down the road, scoop the child and reach the other side. The bus drove past soon after. I figured that the driver saw me running across to pick the child up and so wasn't worried. The mother was screaming hysterically throughout the entire thing. Her sister was yelling at her, as was the cabbie. My friend was standing there looking at me with his mouth open. I don't know if I saved the child's life, but Alhamdulillah we didn't have to find out.

The interesting thing is that I was in Satwa for an Iftar party at my aunt's place. She did not want me to go, and it took me 45 minutes to convince her to let me go. Even then she was hesitant and my father wasn't particularly happy that I was skipping out on a family event. Had she not delayed me, or was I not permitted to go, would things have happened differently?

Funny how things work out.


Event 3 - Games Alliance Middle East Show 2008 (GAMES 2008)

Microsoft, Pluto Games, Red Entertainment and Sony's Gulf Playstation Division invited me to attend GAMES 2008, where I was able to try out never-seen before titles. Some of these titles were still a few months out but were available for testing and trials at this exhibition.

Long story short:

I TRIED GEARS OF WAR 2! AAAAAHH!!!!

It was BEAUTIFUL. Every bit as orgasmic as I had imagined. The cool thing was that it was still a development module and there were bugs and I FOUND ONE. When you revved up the Lancer's chainsaw, while walking towards an enemy if you grazed past a wall or a vehicle or anything, the player would discharge onto it, so you' waste time, the element of surprise and would have to rev up all over again. But the gameplay was beautiful. The characters were crisper and new movements and new abilities just make this already awesome game just that much better.

Other titles to watch out for:

Resident Evil 5 (Simply the BEST graphics I have ever seen in ANY game. EVER.)
Brothers in Arms: Highway to Hell
Fable 2
Quantum of Solace
Star Wars: Force Unleashed (I'm not so sure about this one)
Legendary
Killzone 2
Resistance 2
Call of Duty: World At War


What a day!


Cheers!


M




_

I have no idea what to call this.

What you're now reading is probably the fifth or sixth time that I've erased what I wrote to try and put down something that would make more sense as an introduction as to what I'm about to say. Same thing applied to the title of this post as I put in more than five or six different titles, but none of them suited me just. I guess I'll just cut to the chase and get on with this article.

There are some misconceptions in this world. Correction: There are a lot. But the ones that I'm about to talk about occur a lot more commonly than most others.

Q1) Is black a colour?

When you go to the stationery store, or a car dealership or a cell phone store or any place where you can buy things of different colours, one of the most common colours available is black. It's the most popular because it looks sleek and cool and whatnot.

But is black really a colour?

Let's see. If you take the complete spectrum you will have a giant white light. When VIBGYOR (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red) combine you get a dazzling white colour. Now, start taking the colours out one by one, anyway you want. What you'll notice is, that as you continue doing so, the light that you see get's darker and darker with every progessing colour removal. Finally, when you're removed the final colour, all you have is black.

So is black a colour? To get black, we removed all other colours. So black, is not a colour, rather it is the absence of any colour.

Q2) Is cold the exact opposite of heat?

No. It's not. Here's why. Let's assume that cold was the exact opposite of heat. That means for every degree that get's higher, you should be able to go a degree lower. But see you can't. This is why:

It is not physically possible to go beyond 0 degrees Kelvin, or, Absoulte Zero. But, heat can never be limited. It can go higher and hotter, with no theoretical limit. So cold, is not the exact opposite of heat. Rather, cold is the word we use to describe the absence of heat. Heat can only be absent until 0 degrees Kelvin, after which it cannot get any cooler.

Unlike black and white which are pure opposites. Take a black light and a white one. Remove one of the lights from the white light and add that colour to the black one. There will be an equal amount of change on both sides. Do this 7 times and the black light become white, and vice versa. However with temperature, it's not the same.

Let's assume we have 2 solids at 0 degrees Celcius each. (Note: Absolute Zero = -273 degrees Celcius)

One solid we heat, and the other we cool. For each corresponding degree heat the first solid, we cool the other one. Once we've done this 273 times, the respective temperatures will be 273 and - 273 degrees Celcius. Beyond this, the temperature of only the solid being heated can be increased. The other one's temperature can not be reduced any further.

Hence, cold is not the exact opposite of heat, it is merely a term used to descride the degree of lack of heat.



I thus complete one of the worst things I've ever written. I dunno why I wrote this. I dunno why I'm still posting it. Ew. Ew. Ew. I'm gonna go bury my head in sand now.



Bye.




M







_

Ugh..

I don't really read the papers all that much, but I tend to watch more news on TV because dad likes to. So I catch on a lot of things and two things that happened in the last 30 days shocked me to such an extent where I found it hard to believe that people could consciously do this to themselves and their country.


"Impeach the President?"

Yes. That's right. Pakistan (Read: Asif Zardari & Nawaz Sharif) are pushing for the impeachment of President General Parvez Musharraf. What utter nobs. Parvez Musharraf is, with the possible exception of General Zia ul Haq, the best head of state that a country like Pakistan has ever had. He has brought Pakistan out of debt and has done so much good for his country. Yet the fanatical zealots that can't see further than their own bellies (or penises) want him out of power. These people were smart enough to force him to retire as head of the army. If Musharraf was still the head of the army the opposition had less than a snowball's chance in hell to make him quit or have him impeached.

It's odd how a man who has given his entire life to first defending his country and then leading it from some of it's worst economical times to a certain amount of stability, is being thrown out by the very people who he swore to defend. That's why sometimes the Pakistani attitude disgusts me. Arrogance, greed, zeal. How can these men be SO selfish? What will Asif Zardari or Nawaz Sharif gain from having Musharraf impeached? While Sharif was in power, Pakistan was, economically, pathetic. Once Musharraf came into the picture he brought Pakistan a lot of economical stability. Zardari is not particularly well known. His popular nickname, "Mr. Ten Percent," ought to speak for himself. He's also been accused of conspiring in murder. But yeah, who cares about that in Pakistan?

I realize what I'm saying is EXTREMELY offensive to Pakistanis, but it's about time you guys read this and understood that you guys are LETTING your country be fed to the dogs of greed. Pakistan needs military rule. That is the only way you can keep the zealots in check.


"Vote of Trust"

By far the biggest (and most embarrassing) drama that I ever witnessed in Indian Parliament was the recent fiasco with the Vote of Confidence that was held for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Indian Parliament is the single, most largest gathering of goons, hoodlums, local thugs, uneducated bullies and out of work actors that I have seen.

India is touted as the, "largest true democracy in the world." What a load of crap. All you need to do is take one good look at our Members of Parliament and realize what a big fat load of cowcrap it is.

The opposition just wants to be in power. These are people who couldn't give a flying fart whether or not the Indian population starves or not. And while Manmohan Singh is actually trying to further progress in the country, these immature thugs can't seem to focus on anything else but their own wants. A few hours before the actual vote, the opposition brought in wads of cash and started waiving it around. Mind you, this was broadcast all over the world on television. A bunch of MPs, dressed in old shirts and pants waving wads of cash claiming it to be bribe money. Ugh. What an embarrassment. After seeing that I was not particularly proud of being Indian. Not with these kind of people representing us in Parliament.

The Indian Parliament is just one giant fish market, with "MPs" yelling across the hall to one another, and in many cases throwing shoes or trading punches. Most of them are uneducated for the most bit.

Simply put, the Indian Parliament is a big fat joke and is a disgrace to politicians in India. Well, I guess by majority, most politicians in India ARE jokes.



Stupid Indian Subcontinent....


M

Now see THIS is interesting..

I found this VERY interesting piece of statistics on BBC's international website in this article. Have a gander for yourself:

DEADLY ATTACKS IN ISRAEL

4 Feb 2008: One dies, Dimona suicide bombing

29 Apr 2007: Three die, Eilat suicide bombing

17 Apr 2006: Nine die, 40 wounded, suicide bombing near old bus station in Tel Aviv

30 Mar 2006: Four die, Kedumim suicide bombing

29 Dec 2005: Thee die, suicide bombing near Tulkarm

5 Dec 2005: Five die, Netanya suicide bombing

26 Oct 2005: Six die, Hadera market suicide bombing

12 July 2005: Two die, Netanya suicide bombing

25 Feb 2005: Five die, 50 hurt, suicide bombing outside Tel Aviv nightclub

13 Jan 2005: Six die, suicide bombing at Karni crossing

Now what's interesting you ask? I answer:

1. The most number of people dead in any attack is nine, the daily average in Palestine
2. The attacks number in 10, not including yesterday's.
3. And they're spread out over 4 years.
4. Now it's on an international news page.
5. lol, wtf....

M

8 Israelis massacred in Seminary

..was one of the major headlines on CNN today.

Wow. 8. Eight. That's one more than 7. But not quite 9.

(Funny it took the death of 8 Israelis to make me want to blog all over again)

Coming back to the topic of hand, WHY does the death of 8 Israelis make the headlines on CNN? I mean, people die (read: get killed) all the time don't they? Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya, Kashmir, Sudan, etc. So why is the demise of 8 Israelis, shot to death by a rampant terrorist at a Seminary, SUCH a big deal?

How come CNN doesn't cover the DAILY massacre of the Palestinians by those Israeli bombers? I think that's important. More than eight people were killed everyday. Were their demises not headline worthy for CNN?


Shame.



Oh and, my condolences and all to the families of the 8 Israelis killed.


M

Degradation/Degression..

This topic is something that I've partially written on earlier, but after a recent discussion with a new friend, I stumbled upon some points that I felt, deserved blogging about!

Either way, the topic at hand is Degradation and/or Degression.

I'm not much in the mood to give a super killer blog post right now, but I'm just gonna make a quick mention of something that you oughta think over.

Has anyone noticed how people cannot be f***** to read about anything but death and destruction? Has anyone noticed how most bestsellers involve death, corruption at the highest levels, deceit and/or lies? Has anyone bothered to find out WHY there are so many deaths in Darfur, rather than when Paris gets out of jail?

Summarized:

The irony will always be that people will forever love to read about it in newspapers, hear it on the radio and watch it on television, but it will never be something that the can handle if it's upon themselves.



We're all so f*****.


M

Mmmm...pixel goodness.

I've had this saved in my drafts folder for about two months now, and it's high time I post it...

"Inspired by the research of Pawan Sinha, who had found that people can recognize faces using just 12 14 pixels' worth of information, we wondered if people can distinguish between faces and non-faces with even less information. So, last Friday, we asked CogDaily readers to try to identify faces as small as one-quarter the size of those used in Sinha's study: just 6 by 7 pixels."

via Cognitive Daily.



Hokay, so let's introduce a little fun to the blog. Okay?
Okay!


Let's go.
Below is a picture of a famous personality, pixelated and edited. Lets see who gets it first.









Aaannnd go!

Guilt

Guilt. What is Guilt? When someone does a misdeed and then feels guilty about it, how many different ways are there to translate that emotion? I can think of a few.

Number 1: Real Guilt
Real guilt. A simple way to describe Real guilt, is when after committing the misdeed, you feel guilty about your actions, correct yourself, apologize, and then stay away from the vice and never return to it. Ideally a perfect "Sorry" scenario. Made the mistake. Felt bad. Apologized. Never did it again.

Number 2: Partial Guilt
Now see, this one is KINDA tricky. Very similar in fashion to Number 1, but subtle differences make it partial. Obviously you commit the misdeed first. But, at that moment you feel NO guilt attached to the action. Then, external circumstances persisting, things go back to normal, and then you admit to the misdeed and apologize to it. So you weren't guilty about it at the time of committing it, but felt the burden to inform later on. Also very acceptable and normally leads to good things

Number 3: Selfish Guilt
Selfish Guilt is the kicker. Selfish guilt is the guilt you feel NOT because of the actions you committed, but rather from the embarrassment of being associated with them. Sorta like, "I did that. Shit. I don't mind it and I'm not changing it, but shit, I did it either way. That sucks, what a bummer." Sorta like Ethnic Cleansing in Africa, only with apologies. They mean the apologies, but their actions totally cancel out their words. And as the words of age go, 'Actions speak (much much) louder than words.'

Hey you wanna judge people? Judge their damn actions.

And if you're feeling guilty, refer to above mentioned categories, and try and categorize yourself.

Now that's effing rich innit?!

xx

M

She calls it quits. (I'm not sure, is that right?)

Once again, I find my news on the Yahoo! homepage. Laziness consumes us all. Who needs a newspaper anymore. I mean, you need TWO hands to use it. The mouse only needs two fingers.

Either way coming to the point of this here post. Cindy Sheehan has called it in and she is quitting doing what she did best (i.e. pissing off both Democrats & Republicans. Oh, and standing against the war) and is going back to her family in California. For those of you who don't really know who Cindy Sheehan is go here (A little Wiki-knowledge should help).

The brave story of a war-mom has come to an end amid allegations of her being an attention whore, a sadist, a demoralizer, and someone went as far as to call her a traitor. How original. To be completely fair she had her share of both support and criticism. I'd like to think that the, "Bring the troops home!" campaign was benefitted tremendously by Mrs. Sheehan.

I've two points to make for this post. Number one: Conformism. Once again, someone who tried not to go with the tide has been beached like a sperm whale. Everyone said let's bomb them some more, she said let's bring them all home before more people die. But now due to the lack of care for something out of the ordinary, Cindy Sheehan stopped her protest. Her words, "Good-bye America ... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it." Sad innit. A country that conformed to what a few wanted. Now they look down upon even their own. Here is something Mrs. Sheehan said about her struggle and how helpless she felt. These words drive my point home.

"Casey (Cindy Sheehan's son) did indeed die for nothing ... killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think."

Another great example of Conformity. I wish she retired earlier, I'd have mentioned her in my older post.

My second point: How stupid is the average American anyway? Well obviously, my words seem very harsh, and I'm pretty sure very offensive. But hey, don't tell me it never occurred to you before. I mean for a country that has seen numerous amounts of people who have gone great lengths for such minor details, THIS protest drew crowds yes, but resulted in absolutely effing nothing.

In the USA, we've seen people hold protests for homeless animals, sick children, a bear stuck in a condo (Yes I saw it on TV) and many other comparatively small things. Not that I'm saying that it's wrong but where are the Vietnam-esque protests against the mass genocide that is Iraq and Afghanistan? If they care about the Vietnamese so much, why are Arabs and Middle Easterners so different.

Really, has the average American ideal changed so much since the late 60s that now a war that's going terribly wrong is not even cared about, and even less, objected or protested by it's people. The very people who are the family of the troops that fight this savage and absolutely pointless war.

xx

M

Conformism

Conformism is a funny concept. In some ways it can even contradict itself.

As I sit here thinking about what to write about this topic I see myself running out of many ideas. What I've realised is that Conformism is not really something that you can label someone with. You can't always call someone a conformist. Although in many situations it is possible to label someone like that, but in my opinion it can be easily mislabeled.

An example as simple as in iPod. I know many people who've bought the iPod because, "they needed an mp3 / movie player and the iPod is the best." Now someone who probably hasn't much technical knowledge and decided to buy the iPod, because either everyone he knows has one or has praised it as the most awesome thing that's ever happened to them, CAN be labeled as a conformist. But somebody else, a tech-savvy fellow, can NOT be labeled one, due to his superior knowledge and whatnot.

Conformity is defined by sociologists as behavior that matches group or peer expectations. But conformity can not be limited to social and private lives. A more drastic example of conformity can be seen in politics. In general, political conformity is encouraged by jailing opposition leaders and silencing or getting rid of nonconformist ideas. In fact, the most extreme example of conformity can be seen in Germany during WWII. The citizens of Nazi Germany were like droids that conformed to their Fuhrer.

Conformity comes in many different shapes and sizes too. Like a group leader faced with a choice, A or B. Both seem fair but some prefer B over A. However the group leader chose A. So even though many people prefer B they won't speak out and they'll conform over what the group leader has decided. Take Iraq for example. America invaded Iraq. Many Americans died, and even more Iraqis were slaughtered. The war was a disaster. And I'm sure that many of Bush's close advisers had warned him against it. Yet, they chose to keep quiet and accept Bush's decision without arguing their stand. That is conformity as well. Although to a much larger and different scale when compared to what we see everyday.

And about what we see everyday. Of course people are going to conform. Has anyone wondered why the, weirdos, geeks, goths, punks, agnostics, etc etc are all looked at distinctively in a crowd. Simply because they don't conform. Anyone who is different from what is the norm is looked upon in puzzlement if not disgust. So why shouldn't people conform? If not for the sake of want, they do it for the sake of not being looked down upon.

Conformity for many is a shelter from the unknown and from the harsh looks and words. From those who don't seek it, it is what makes them different from all the others. They don't conform. They don't need to. Rather they don't want to. I'm not surprised people conform. And I don't think anyone should be. As for the people who don't conform, they oughta be looked at in awe rather than in puzzlement.

Simply put: It takes more balls to be different from all the rest that it does to be the same. So stop mocking and start appreciating.

xx

M

Another war story...

You know what I noticed during my latest excursion to Magrudy's the other day? I noticed that if you walk into the fiction section of any bookstore (not just Magrudy's) most of the books are war based. To play Devil's Advocate, a lot of those are my favys. Robert Ludlum's especially. Unfortunately there were aisles of books about covert warfare, espionage, terrorism, lunatics hell bent on blowing up the world etc etc. But very few on peace.

It's kind of saddening isn't it. I mean can you imagine that a decent majority of reader's of fiction novels read about some terrorist or organisation planning to take over the world, or, steal an old Russian Nuclear warhead, or, sink thousands of shipping vessels to destroy the economy world over etc etc etc.

Why don't people write about a lawyer-turned-politician who pens down one of the world's most influential peace treaties. Or, a humanitarian worker in Africa that's able to bring peace to some warring factions. Or, a religious leader in Philippine who's able to get the rebels and the government to come to a ceasefire, standstill and eventually a final and resting peace. Or even a local police officer in some county in California who's able to stop two neighbors, a Republican and a pious Muslim, to stop arguing and get along. Simple stuff even.

I've never seen books like those. Which could totally be my fault entirely and it could be that such books exist but I've never seen them. And I'd like to think that I'm a voracious reader. Either way, it'd be nice to see a book that focused on an individual or party that was a forerunner in world peace and/or did something to make the world a more peaceful place.

To be fair to the war books, the bad guys weren't ALWAYS Arabs or Muslims. Many a times they were Europeans or Far Eastern or Russian/Eastern European. But there was ONE thing that ALL the books had in common. At least one, if not the only, good guy of the book was from....... (no prize for guessing the right answer) the USA. Very Gung-ho very Americanised very Hollywoodised.* coughtypicalcough*

War is easy. Anyone can do it. It's the peace thing that's hard to do. Try writing books about a peace treaty that worked out. Oh, and it has to be a fiction novel. Hope I'm not asking too much.

xx

M

Virginia Tech Massacre Part 1. The Event

Normally if I had to read the news I just jump to some online editions of popular broadcasts like BBC, Al-Jazeera, Gulf News or 7Days. This time however when I opened up Firefox, Yahoo's frontpage said all that I needed to hear. "Massacre at VT"

VT? Virginia Tech? Really? WTF?! AMMAR & SEAN STUDY THERE! Quick as a flash I opened up multiple tabs and started browsing for any news that I could find on the event. BBC, CNN, Google News, Yahoo News and any any any any website that had anything on it. Needed to know if these guys were ok. Within a few minutes I had some details. There were TWO shootings, a couple of hours apart. Somewhere around 30 people killed, later this was confirmed at 33 including the shooter himself. More sketchy details here and there, but within a few hours I managed to get most of the details. Eventually I managed to contact Ammar on Messenger and he was fine, and so was Sean. I was relieved. Then I continued on some research on the incident.

Cho Seung-Hui was a 23-year old South Korean at VT. Read more about him here. That day he took out 32 students and then shot and killed himself, with a Glock that he was able to purchase because he was a legal resident of the United States of America. The irony for this; the KKK actually promote more students to own handguns, 'so that they could defend themselves.' Read more on that here and here. That is pretty sick. A post on Gun Laws in the USA soon.

Jamal Albarghouti, a grad student at VT, was on his way to meet an adviser, just before the second shooting. He hadn't heard about the first one yet. On his way there he heard what he thought were gunshots. He didn't panic due to the recent bomb scares at VT, and kept on his way. Later when he saw the police draw their weapons as well, he knew that this was going to be serious and began taking a video. See the video and his interview here.

More on the VT Killings and discussion later. Just the facts for now.

May God bless the dead, and keep safe the living. Inshallah.

xx

M