Brand "Michael Jackson" / Brand You

I found this question on MENJ's blog:

"Although he once famously told Paul McCartney that he was a lover not a fighter, Michael Jackson now finds himself with a tumultuous battle on his hands. Despite the not guilty verdict, his career and finances hang precariously in the balance. His advisors know the only hope is to resurrect the Michael Jackson brand.

"What do you think this next step should be for the Michael Jackson brand? Think about who his brand should be talking to and how best to reach them."

MENJ thought the question was "bizzare" (sic), but as a business lecturer I think the question is quite appropriate for someone seeking a marketing position. Actually, the question is not only relevant for marketers, but for all of us who seek jobs. Tom Peters has long stressed the need for people (employees) to create "Brand You," in which we think of ourselves as a brand to be marketed to other people (employers). And I wholeheartedly agree with the concept.

So I would ask my readers: (1) How would you answer the above question, and (2) (not to be answered here) what do you think you should do for yourself, for "Brand You?"

The Puppet Master?

Two comments in Dan Froomkin's November 8th column in the Washington Post ("Bush's Tortured Logic") that caught my eye. The first was taken from Thomas M. DeFrank's article in the New York Daily News, "Dubya-Cheney Ties Frayed by Scandal":

"Multiple sources close to Bush told the Daily News that while the vice president remains his boss' valued political partner and counselor, his clout has lessened -- primarily as a result of issues arising from the Iraq war.

"'The relationship is not what it was,' a presidential counselor said. 'There has been some distance for some time.'"

No surprise there. I read about this almost two weeks ago in Justin Raimando column, "Earth to Bush: Ditch Cheney" (31 October 2005). But what was interesting was the second comment that Froomkin quoted, from James Carroll's article, Deconstructing Cheney," in the Boston Globe:

"When the World Trade Center towers were hit in New York, it was Cheney who told a shaken President Bush to flee. The true nature of their relationship (Cheney, not Bush, having shaped the national security team; Cheney, not Bush, having appointed himself as vice president) showed itself for a moment.

"The 9/11 Commission found that, from the White House situation room, Cheney warned the president that a 'specific threat' had targeted Air Force One, prompting Bush to spend the day hiding in the bunker at Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska. There was no specific threat. In Bush's absence, Cheney, implying an authorizing telephone call from the president, took command of the nation's response to the crisis. There was no authorizing telephone call. The 9/11 Commission declined to make an issue of Cheney's usurpation of powers, but the record shows it."

Which makes me wonder...is the President's recent slump in the polls due to this distancing between Bush and Cheney?

What People Want

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Xenophobia in Florida

So, I guess I should not be surprised. A city councilman up for re-election has made bigoted comments against his opponent, a Christian who was born in India.

Sherrill derided Abraham's accent at a political forum hosted and videotaped by the John Knox Village retirement community Oct. 12.

"I don't know what to rebut because I don't understand what he was saying, and I don't mean that facetiously, I really don't understand him," Sherrill, who wears a hearing aid, told the group of about 40 people.

He added that when Abraham speaks at city meetings, council members are "baffled" by what he says.

First, perhaps you should let the other council members speak for themselves; personally, I suspect that you're the only person "baffled" by your opponent's speech.

Secondly, if you can't understand what other people are saying (regardless of whether they're your political opponents, constituents or fellow council members), perhaps it's time for you to step aside in favor of those who can.


In a later interview with the Sentinel, Sherrill said that residents would not vote for Abraham if they saw and heard him.

"I'm usually not prejudiced, but I don't want an Indian in my government," Sherrill said. "As far as I know he could be a nice guy, but these kind of people get embedded over here. . . . You remember 9-11."

Incredible. That is the cheapest shot I've ever heard any politician make. You, sir, have sunk to the lowest low. Remember, his opponent is Christian, but that matters not one whit to Mr. Sherrill, who apprently equates foreign-born Americans to being potential terrorist cell members. (Hmmm, I wonder what he would think of Arnold Schwarzenegger? Foreign-born, thick accent, and he certainly knows how to handle a gun...)

In the meantime, the opponent is taking this situation in better stride than I might if I were in his shoes:

Abraham, who learned English at age 5 and taught the subject at a university in India, said he isn't angry about the remarks or the comparison to the terrorists who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

"It is not a very intelligent comment," said Abraham, 60, a political newcomer. "That is just part of his personality that I cannot correct."

And the xenophobic bigot begins to show his true color - yellow

In a follow-up interview Friday, Sherrill backpedaled from his earlier remarks. Sherrill, 69, said they probably came out because he has been under stress from serving on several boards and taking care of his wife, who uses a wheelchair and an oxygen tank. "I'm a little bit bent out of shape," he said. "I think it might have been taken out of context, because I don't really feel that way."

Sherrill said he was just repeating what he has heard.

Coward! "Everyone else says this." Time for you, Mr. Sherrill, to retire, stay home and help your wife.

Eid Mubarak and New Banners for You :)

First of all, Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim brothers and sisters. This Ramadhan was one of the more difficult for me, due to a fairly severe and persistent head cold and case of bronchitis that hit me in the last third of the month. Despite the illness, I continued fasting and was happy to make it to Eid, alhamdulillah. Eid was yesterday for us here in S'pore (we don't follow the moon-sighting rule due to the weather here); Milady and I went to her parents' flat, then to her aunt's flat in the next block over as that's where her grandmother lives. Of course, home-and-home visits will continue throughout the next few weeks, insha'allah.

Brother Abdul Khafid has been busy with creating more Muslims Against Terrorism banners. Below are the latest five banners, two for Malaysia, two more for Singapore, and a new version for the United Kingdom. All of the banners can be found on this page. Please put the appropriate country banner on your blog, and suggest that your friends do the same as well. If your country's banner hasn't been made yet, feel free to make the suggestion to Brother Abdul. He has been more than happy to make them, and encourages your feedback. All he asks is that you don't hotlink your banner to his website.

Arabic Courses at Corning C.C.

I was wandering around the Internet a little bit tonight, and visited the website of my old hometown's newspaper. Hey, my high school won the Erie Bell game for the third year in a row! ;) (That's nice, dear; now, what were you saying?) Anyhoo... I came across an article on how Michael Beykirch of Corning Community College was going to start Arabic language classes there, and there were two comments in this article (from June 2005) that struck me. First was a comment that really helps to shed light on America's cultural ignorance about other cultures, in this case Arab culture:

"Beykirch hopes the classes will help shed some light on a very misunderstood part of the world. For instance, he told his students that he obtained some really neat dance music, and one student was surprised to learn that 'they dance over there,' he said."

Yes, folks, Arabs dance. (Ever heard of belly dancing?) I even dance for Milady, although that tends to create howls of laughter. ;)

The second comment was in line with a recent blog post that I wrote, Our Diplomats' Arabic Handicap. You may recall that I made the suggestion to parents that their children should be learning second and third languages, and not just European languages at that.

In the article, "R. Kevin Lacey, who chairs the Classical and Near Eastern Studies Department at Binghamton, said he was ecstatic that instruction in Arabic is expanding to community colleges. Given the climate of misunderstanding that surrounds the Middle East, it is long overdue, he said. 'It's high time. Even high schools should start thinking about this,' Lacey said. 'This should have happened a long time ago.'"

So this is a positive development.

Islamophobia Down Under

Being American, I normally follow American news with regard to happenings about Islam and Muslims (the CAIR newsletter helps tremendously in that regard). However, I came across the following Australian news story today that, alhamdulillah, was resolved in our favor. What follows are several news stories that chronicle this case of Australian Islamophobia, along with a few of my own comments.


Scarves more rebellion than religion: Lib
Samantha Maiden and Nicola Lipman, The Australian (26 August 2005)

LIBERAL MP Sophie Panopoulos has backed a ban on Muslim girls wearing headscarves to school on the grounds it is "more an act of rebellion" than religion.

Attacking "politically correct" orthodoxy that a ban should not be debated, Ms Panopoulos said girls attending school in Australia should wear the official school uniform.

"For a lot of younger people it seems to be more an act of rebellion than anything," she said yesterday.

Hmmm, perhaps you would wear a hijab for rebellious reasons as it seems like that's the nature of your personality. However, just because you think that's so doesn't make it so. In fact, I suspect that you don't know anything about how Muslim women think regarding hijab because, if you did, you wouldn't have made any of these silly comments.


"My personal view is I would put a ban on those headscarves, as governments have overseas. That's up to individual schools and state governments but if a school has a uniform that's pretty much it."

Her comments sparked a sharp reaction last night from Sydney's Minaret College principal Mohamed Hassan, where students and staff are required to wear the hijab. "If you go to any beach, you will see people who are almost naked, and nobody tries to make a law about that," he said. "So you have the right to be almost naked but not the right to keep yourself covered?"

Great riposte, brother!


Sydney's Lakemba Public School students Katelyn Hamilton, 11, and her twin Courtney said they proudly wore the headscarves "for our religion". "We should be able to wear them to school. I like wearing it," Katelyn said.

Courtney said: "We wear it so you can tell Muslims apart from other religions. Our God says it's the right thing to do."

Mariam Basheti, 9, who attends Rissalah College, also rejected suggestions that young girls wore it as an act of rebellion against Western culture.

"No, I wear it for the sake of my God, Allah," she said.

Ali Roude, principal of Rissalah College in Lakemba, was one of 14 Muslim leaders invited to meet John Howard in Canberra on Tuesday. He said the right of women and girls to wear the hijab was raised at the meeting.

"I mentioned this to the Prime Minister," Mr Roude said. "If we are talking about tolerance, freedom, Australian values, then we are talking about the right to wear what you want, including the hijab."

Opposition education spokesman Jenny Macklin said yesterday that the ALP would not support a ban, describing the proposal as "extreme".

"There is no place for extremism in Australian society and Sophie Panopoulos's extreme comments are at odds with important Australian values such as tolerance and respect," Ms Macklin said. Education Minister Brendan Nelson told The Australian last night he did not back a ban on Muslim headscarves in Australian schools as long as students' dress was compatible with the school uniform.

"I strongly defend the right of Islamic students, female students, to wear dress to their schools ... which comply with their religious convictions," he said.

Alhamdulillah. May Allah (swt) bless you for this.



Headscarves deny women rights: MP
Patricia Karvelas, The Australian (6 September 2005)

VICTORIAN Liberal MP Sophie Panopoulos has described Muslim women's headscarves as an "uncompromising retrograde curtailment of women's rights".

In a speech to parliament, she defended her recent call to ban Muslim girls wearing headscarves to school, arguing the hijab oppresses women.

No, you're suppressing women who want to dress as they feel is appropriate. Who gave you the right to decide how people dress?


"Why should one section of the community be stuck in the Dark Ages of compliance cloaked under the veil of some distorted form of religious freedom?" Ms Panopoulos said.

Oh, so then you admit that women have the religious freedom to wear hijab if they so choose! So why are you butting into a decision-making process that doesn't pertain to you? Is this "white woman's burden?"


She said it was wrong to compare the hijab to turbans or nun's habits, as her critics had.

"What's not mentioned is that none of these other articles represent the uncompromising retrograde curtailment of women's rights, as does the hijab.

Of course she's not going to like a comparison between hijab and a turban because men wear turbans and that's irrelevant to a feminist. She doesn't like a comparison between hijab and a habit because almost all Christian women who wear a habit are Catholic nuns, and they, of course, have segregated themselves from mainstream society and are few in number, so why should she care? But a hijab, now, that's a problem for a feminist like this woman, because lots and lots of Muslim women wear hijab, and that goes against feminist dogma! Muslim hijabis show an alternative way of life to everyday, ordinary women. Horrors!


"When a suggestion is made to remove from state schools a symbol of what is essentially, as one commentator puts it, 'sexual apartheid', the Labor sisterhood and the left-wing women's movement cry foul.

Hmmm, "sexual apartheid" vs. sexual decadence. I'll go with the so-called apartheid. So do millions of women around the world.


"As a female MP, I am concerned about women's rights in this country. There are those who subscribe to a belief system that devalues and degrades women, that accepts a legal system that would relegate women back to the Dark Ages."

She also warned against the emergence of a frightening "Islamic class" in Australia, supported by a "perverse interpretation of the Koran".

Thus speaketh the bigot who hath probably never read the Qur'an...or knows anything about Islam. Ignorance must be bliss.


Bishop's Comments of Hijab Un-Australian: Apology Demanded

Muslim Women's groups and Civil Rights groups have condemned suggestions by Bronwyn Bishop that the hijab should be banned in schools.

"Her likening of Muslim girls to slaves and Nazis demonstrate a complete ignorance of even basic Islamic teachings," said Ms Maha Abdo, spokeswoman for the Muslim Women's Association. "It is insulting, inflammatory and contrary to everything that the Prime Minister has said about respect for difference and religious tolerance. We are appalled and offended that Ms Bishop would compare Muslim Women to slaves or our religion to Nazism. We demand an unequivocal apology."

White woman's burden once more... After reading Ms. Bishop's biography, these comments sound like a last gasp from a fading politician, clinging to any radical position as long as it can secure her a few more votes.


"Ms Bishop's statements have achieved nothing other than inciting hatred and distrust of Muslims generally and Muslim women in particular, especially at a time when our elected representatives should be playing a role in uniting rather than dividing the community."

"Bishop's argument is Swiss cheese -- it's full of holes," adds Agnes Chong, co-convenor of the Australian Muslim Civil Rights Advocacy Network (AMCRAN). "On the one hand Ms Bishop claims it's a type of slavery, then she claims it's an act of defiance -- it can't be both. The argument itself is tainted with racist overtones, and assumes Muslim women are weak and not fully intellectually developed. We can assure her that this is absolutely not the case.

"Australia is about freedom and tolerance, and this shows neither. It is unAustralian to prohibit the free exercise of any religion. In fact, it is one of the few rights enshrined in the Australian Constitution."

We call upon the Prime Minister Mr John Howard to take on a leading role in this debate and openly condemn the statements of Ms Bishop. We urge Mr Howard to make it clear that neither he nor the Australian government hold such views nor would they consider any laws which infringe upon the rights of Muslim women in their choice of dress.

Have you noticed by now how these Australian politicians don't practice the Australian values they supposedly represent? Or is it that these two women, Panopoulos and Bishop, don't have any values (or retrograde values at best)?


Now, the good news:

Howard Opposes Bishop's Call For Ban On Headscarves
by Justin Norrie, The Sydney Morning Herald (29 August 2005)

Mr Howard [Prime Minister of Australia] said he opposed Mrs Bishop's push to ban Muslim girls from wearing headscarves at public schools because it would be impractical. But he defended Ms Bishop's "right to express a view".

Mrs Bishop has called the headscarf "a sort of iconic item of defiance", and echoed the call of the Victorian Liberal MP Sophie Panopoulos for a ban. Mrs Bishop's remark prompted much criticism, including a rebuke from the NSW Minister for Education, Carmel Tebbutt, who yesterday ruled out any change to the uniform policy, which allows schools to develop a dress code in consultation with the community. She said she supported the right of students to wear the headscarf as long as it was within the school code.

Mr Howard said: "I don't think it's practical to bring in such a prohibition. If you ban a headscarf you might for consistency's sake have to ban a yarmulke or a turban."

He said he could understand why "people might be affronted by a full coverage including the face. I don't think that is desirable."

However, Labor's education spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, said Mr Howard had not gone far enough in opposing the MPs. "John Howard must show leadership and pull [them] into line over their calls. We need national leadership … not extremist knee-jerk reactions."

The federal Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, John Cobb, said Mrs Bishop's comments were ignorant and an insult to many Australians. In a statement he said: "The government does not seek to impose cultural sameness on Australians … Do we ban nuns from wearing a habit?"

Emphasis mine.

I can relate...

...to the guy. :) From Q-News.com

Islamophobes/Hypocrites in Indiana

Just gotta love them yahoos in Indiana! From the Northwest Indiana Times:


A presentation about Muslim culture last month to students at Porter Lakes Elementary School upset parents and sparked an argument about the role of religion in public schools.

On Sept. 30, a second-grade class and the entire third grade listened to a cultural presentation by the family of some Muslim students who are new to the school. In addition to talking about Muslim traditions, the children were read the book "Ramadan" by Carol Gnojewski.

"The presentation was intended to share information, hopefully to answer some of the questions children had," Porter Township School Corp. Superintendent Nick Brown said.

The presentation involved a lot of religious content because religion is heavily intertwined with the Muslim culture, Brown said.

The religious aspect of the assembly angered parents, who say that religion has no role in the public school setting. Several parents intend to discuss the issue at tonight's School Board meeting.

Oh yeah, right! Give me a freakin' break! Such hypocrites! No Christmas or Easter celebrations for your children in the schools then. No Christmas trees, no Christmas carols sung, no mention of the name Jesus (pbuh). After all, religion has no role in the public school setting!


Brown said the assembly was never meant to offend anyone. The school teaches its students about a variety of cultures with the hope of widening their world views, he said.

"We have Chanukah presentations, we do Christmas," Brown said. "It falls just within enlightening people."

How about enlightening your students' parents? It sounds like they need it more than their kids.

...

Having the new Muslim students in the small, rural community has gotten the rumor churning, including gossip about a possible terrorist search inside the school. None of those threats, including the spotting of a suspicious van, have been substantiated.

Next, the suspicious van will turn into black helicopters.


"We do not have a van or a license plate of interest to the FBI, nor do we have an individual or individuals in the area that are of interest to the authorities," Brown said.

There are also allegations of a special prayer room set aside for use by the Muslim students. Brown would not confirm such a room had been created, but said the school district tries to accommodate the needs of all its students.

"We make accommodations for students for many reasons -- health, academic -- as long as it doesn't interrupt the instructional day," Brown said.

Islamophobia - and jealousy - rearing their ugly heads once more. On the one hand, horrors! Muslims praying in the schools! (No doubt transported there by the black helicopters! ;) Or should that be, "a suspicious van?" ;) ) On the other hand, how that must rankle! Muslims praying in the schools when Christians have been fighting over this issue for years. But, then again, as you all said, "...religion has no role in the public school setting." You can't have it both ways, folks.

Welcome to the wonderful world of hypocrisy.


Note: Emphasis mine.

Get Real and Back Off

An interesting article over at Modern Muslima on what non-Muslims should do regarding the issue of women in Islam: Unveiled Frustrations: Notes to Non-Muslims from a Muslim Woman.

Technical Note and Some Comments for Guys Looking for Sania Material

I've added another section to my sidebar, of "Noteworthy and Popular" posts. I've categorized those posts into various topics, which will undoubtedly grow in number as time goes on, insha'allah. What may surprise some of you is that I've added a section for my three posts regarding Sania Mirza. Not that I consider those posts earth-shattering, but she is incredibly popular based upon my hit-counter statistics. (Right now, over half of all my search engine hits have to do with Sania.) I figured I might as well make it easier for those guys who want to read about her to find the other, related posts.

While I've brought up the topic of Sania Mirza, I'd like to make some comments to those guys who are looking for information and/or pictures of her:

1. I have NO pictures of Sania Mirza naked or semi-naked. If that's what you're looking for, you've come to the wrong blog. (I never thought I'd say this, but you're making me feel dirty!)


2. My interest in Sania was primarily about the controversy surrounding her choice of clothing on the tennis court. Otherwise, I know rather little about her. You might want to visit Adarsh Krishna's blog about Sania Mirza instead.


3. Yeah, I know, Sania's cute and all of you are secretly hoping she'll meet you one day and ask you to be her husband, but...it ain't gonna happen. Time for your reality check! Try asking the girl next door out for a date instead.

Our Diplomats' Arabic Handicap

There's a joke I've told my students numerous times over the past few years. It goes:

"A person who can speak three languages is known as?

Trilingual

And a person who can speak two langugages is?

Bilingual

And a person who can only speak one language?

An American!"

I tell this joke in part because I'm always amazed (and a little bit jealous) when my students can come to my lectures in business subjects - that are all given in English - and understand the difficult, theoretical concepts I talk about. After all, about 99% of all my students are non-native English speakers. We Americans have set ourselves up very badly in terms of our ability to speak in languages other than English. In fact, some backwards-thinking Americans have made matters worse, such as the 1998 passage of Proposition 227 in California and the 2000 passage of Proposition 203 in Arizona.

And, now, the chickens are coming home to roost. The Washington Post published an interesting article on Our Diplomats' Arabic Handicap. The United States' State Department has a grand total of eight (8) people worldwide who are able to speak Arabic at the highest levels of fluency. And I suspect that, while the article focuses on fluency in Arabic, the problem goes much deeper, that there are very few individuals employed by the State Department (and other agencies of the government) who can speak other important world languages. When do American school children begin learning foreign languages? When I was a teenager, my middle school had a short-lived pilot program to help teach Spanish. Regular foreign language instruction didn't begin until my sophomore year, with classes in Spanish, French and German - and these are still the only languages taught at my high school. That's waaay too late in life to start learning another language well.

Whereas...

...When I lived in Korea, foreign language instruction began for my university-aged students when they were in middle school. Today's Korean children begin learning English in primary school. Now, granted, most of those students use up all of their English conversational skills with a foreigner like me within a minute or two; however, I once had a 45-minute conversation with a group of ten or so primary school kids I had met at the beach. How many of us could have done the same at that age?

...Here in S'pore, all students learn both English and at least one "Mother Tongue" (either Mandarin Chinese, Malay, or Tamil - a language primarily spoken in southern India). Virtually all Singaporeans who are my age and younger are bilingual.

As Tom Friedman recently pointed out, the world is flat...and getting flatter. The need for Americans to speak another person's language, whether it's for diplomatic, military, educational, commercial, or just plain ol' social purposes is an absolute necessity. And I'm stunned that people still don't get this. For example, just now, while looking at Amazon's webpage for Tom Friedman's book, "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century", I found the following comment, "If the world is so flat, then why is everyone else in the world trying to beat a path to our door?" My response: Don't flatter yourself. Even if the United States opened up its doors to unlimited immigration, 99% of the world would still stay at home. You (Americans) will still have to deal with the rest of the world. And the only way you can really get to know someone is if you understand that person's language (which is also a gateway to understanding that person's culture).

This is an important topic, and one that I've only touched the merest surface of. Insha'allah, I'll write more about this in the future. In the meantime, my advice to those of you with young children is: get them started on a second and third language now!!! And don't just focus on European languages. Yes, Spanish is very helpful if you live in the Southwest, but the future belongs to Asia (if you haven't figured that out yet). Get those kids learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic. And it wouldn't hurt if you, mom and dad, joined in the language lessons either.

UPDATE: Muslims against Terrorism!

UPDATE!

Brother Abdul has made a few more banners (Australia and Denmark), which I've added below. Insha'allah, he'll be coming out with a new banner for Malaysian Muslims soon.

Good reading

Here are a few links to blog entries and articles that I have found interesting recently...and maybe you will too. The first two are blog entries, the latter three are recent articles by Justin Raimando over at antiwar.com. Enjoy!

Thoughts on a visit to the Mosque

I have


AIPAC and Espionage: Guilty as Hell

Bush's Satanic Verses

Democracy: The God That Failed

Shepherds Wanted - Must Know Accounting!

It turns out that the country of Hungary is in need of shepherds for its million-plus sheep. And not just that: "...shepherds must have accountancy skills and, since the country joined the EU last year, be capable of applying for grants..." After all, as one former architect turned shepherd says of his new profession, "Being a shepherd isn't just sitting next to your dog on the field all day, smoking a pipe." :)

I don't think becoming a shepherd is going to be one of my occupations anytime soon. ;) While I do have the accounting skills, here in S'pore we have a distinct lack of sheep. :) Still, some of history's greatest men were shepherds in their day: Amos (a Jewish prophet who is not mentioned in the Qur'an), Ibrahim, Musa, Daud and, of course, Muhammad (peace be upon them all).

Muslims Against Terrorism

First, let me say Ramadan Mubarak to all my Muslim brothers and sisters out there. Ramadan got off with a bang this morning, almost literally, as we had your classic tropical thunderstorm at 4:20 a.m. (I had set the alarm for Milady and I to get up at 4:30, so I didn't lose that much sleep.) So, another Ramadan begins (my 6th).

A week or so ago, I discovered the blog of Shaik Abdul Khafid, Spiritual Tendencies. Brother Abdul is also a graphic designer, and he had this very nice banner, Singapore Muslims against Terrorism, on his blog (see below). I liked the banner so much, I put it on my own blogs. When he left a comment saying that he liked that I had put his banner on my blogs, I wrote back and suggested that he create some more banners. A lot of my readers on this and my other blogs tend to be American, Canadian and British Muslims, and I think a lot of you would be receptive to the idea of putting a similar banner on your own blogs. Brother Abdul was more than receptive to the idea: he made the banners overnight, and has posted them on his blog, saying, "Go ahead and use 'em people. Show the world where we stand."

Below are the four banners that he has made so far. [Note: Obviously, I have updated the banners below to show the now six banners Brother Abdul has created.] Please feel free to copy them and insert them on your blog templates, and be sure to spread the word!!!

Seven Things

I've been tagged on Izzy Mo's blog for the "Seven Things" meme. This was much tougher than it looked. My wife made at least half of the suggestions (if not 2/3s); I wonder if I could do as well if we did this meme for her. :) Anyhoo...


Seven Things I Plan to do Before I Die, Insha'allah

1. Go on hajj.


2. Start a business ASAP.


3. Have lots of kids (preferably, at least three).


4. Start another non-profit organization (started one once before); not sure what this one would do just yet, though.


5. Visit the ruins of Hisarlik (the site of ancient Troy), Mycenae, and Knossos; also, to visit the Roman Forum.


6. Collect as many flags from around the world as possible. (It's a hobby; I collect flags from different countries/states. I've got about a dozen flags in my collection so far.)


7. Get my friggin' things out of storage back in the States. :)

Seven Things I Can Do

1. Make my wife laugh. :)


2. Make ramen, macaroni and cheese, and sandwiches. :)


3. Play the baritone bugle (I used to be in drum corps) and the trombone.


4. Write and edit articles (although I prefer editing to writing).


5. Take decent photographs. (I prefer using my 35mm SLR, but the tiny digital has been used more often in recent months.)


6. Navigate. :) (My wife may have been born and raised in Singapore, but I'm the one who tells her how to get from one place to another while she drives. ;) )


7. Read and recite very slowly from the Qur'an. (I've been learning in recent months.)

Seven Things I Cannot Do

1. Speak fluently in any language other than English (although I know lots of words and phrases in many languages).


2. Cook or sew very well. :)


3. Be patient with bureaucracy. (Too true.)


4. Take too much sugar/carbohydrates. (I'm diabetic.)


5. Tolerate humidity (which is ironic considering where I live now).


6. Tolerate racist speech.


7. Stay away from my computer. ;)

Seven Things I Say Most Often

1. "Tschhh." (A noise I often make...I think I do it mostly when I'm annoyed by something, but my wife says I do it "whenever." :) Actually, my wife often makes this noise now as well. :) )


2. "Good morning." (I say this to people regardless of the time of day.)


3. "What do you care what other people think?" (Picked up from the Richard Feynman book of the same name.)


4. "No, I don't!"


5. "Y'all." (I picked this up from my relatives down South.)


6. "Salaam 'alaikum."


7. "Terima Kasih/Sama sama." (Malay for "Thank You/You're Welcome." "Terima Kasih" literally means "Received love.")

Seven Things That Attract Me to the Opposite Sex

1. 1) Personality


2. Piety/religious values (I needed to find someone who had the same values as me; alhamdulillah that I did).


3. Someone who wanted to have a family and would be a good mother for my children, insha'allah.


4. Similar lifestyle. (A friend recently said that my wife and I lead a "boring lifestyle," but that's OK with us because it's the lifestyle we want to live right now.)


5. Someone who will tolerate my eccentricities. :)


6. Someone who can comfort me when I'm down and nurse me when I'm sick.


7. Someone who could cook and sew, because I sure as heck can't. :)

Once more...

into the breach, dear friends. ;)

Dear Technical IT Support,

Eighteen months ago, I upgraded to Girlfriend 1.0 from Drinking Mates 4.2, which I had used for years without any trouble. However, there are conflicts between these two products and the only solution was to try running Girlfriend 1.0 with the sound turned off. [Except putting on the mute seems to make the software buggy. ;) ] To make matters worse, Girlfriend 1.0 is incompatible with several other applications, such as LadsNightOut 31, Football 4.5, and Playboy 6.9, and successive versions of GirlFriend have proved no better. [No $#|+!] Eventually, I tried running GirlFriend 1.2 and Girlfriend 1.0 at the same time, only to discover that, when these two systems detected each other, they caused severe damage to my hardware.

I eventually upgraded to Fiance 1.0, only to discover that this product soon had to be upgraded to Wife 1.0. While Wife 1.0 tends to use up all my available resources, it does come bundled with FreeSexPlus and Cleanhouse2004. [My version of Cleanhouse seems to be going buggy. Wife 1.0 now wants the costly add-in of Maid 1.0 to be installed. :P ] Shortly after this upgrade, however, I found that Wife 1.0 could be very unstable and costly to run. Any mistakes I made were automatically stored in Wife 1.0's memory and couldn't be deleted. [No $#|+!!!] They would resurface months later when I had forgotten about them. [No $#|+!!!!!!] Wife 1.0 also has an automatic Diary, Explorer and E-mail filter, and can, without warning, launch TurboStrop and Whinge. These latter products have no Help files, and I have to try to guess what the problem is. [The software sometimes becomes buggy; the mute button's off, but no sound comes out!]

Additional problems are that Wife 1.0 needs updating regularly, requiring ShoeShop Browser for new attachments and Clothing Express which needs to be reinstalled every other week. Also, when Wife 1.0 attaches itself to my Saab 93 Convertible hard drive, it often crashes. Wife 1.0 also comes with an irritating pop-up called MotherInLaw, which can't be turned off. [I must have gotten a clean copy of that software; amazing, isn't it? ;)]

Can you please urgently advise the best course of action?

Answering PseudoArab on Teaching Overseas

PseudoArab wrote: "...if you don't mind, would you be willing to share some information about this whole thing about some agency helping you get a job?"

Well, if you're hoping I can tell you the name of my agent or the agency, that will be impossible. I've forgotten the names of both, and the woman who was my agent left that company after I got to Korea (we happened to meet on the street one day and she told me). However, I can give you some other, basic information.

Many countries around the world require ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers to have either a TEFL or TESOL certificate in addition to a Bachelor's degree (usually in any subject). Korea is one of the few countries that doesn't (or didn't) require any additional certification, just the Bachelors. Even if you don't have a degree in Education or English, it will help if you know the English language fairly well (how to write well, being able to answer grammar questions, etc.). We Western teachers had a steady barrage of questions being asked of us, not only by the students, but even by our Korean colleagues. So the more you know about English (syntax, grammar, vocabulary, etc.), the better.

There are, of course, lots of pros and cons regarding teaching overseas. Most of the following information concerns Korea, but I may throw snippets in about teaching in Singapore as well.
* The pay in Korea was good. I averaged about 2.1 million won a month (pay was variable at my school, depending on the number of hours taught and whether any classes were special, higher pay classes, such as teaching Business English or Writing). The cost of living in Korea was low enough that I was able to save up several thousand dollars in that one year in addition to buying a very expensive 35mm SLR camera set. I saved far more money in Korea than I had ever been able to save up in the US. Other benefits at Korean schools included: a bonus equal to one month's average pay if you finished the entire 12 month contract, a one month vacation (but they only paid one week's worth of salary for that time), and free airfare to and from Korea (you may need to pay for the trip upfront, but they'll reimburse you). Some schools may also pay your rent; mine didn't, but they were very helpful in getting me set up in a nice apartment.
* The free airfare deal is quite handy. I worked with one guy from Ireland who travelled from country to country around the world with his wife and dog. That was how they got to see the world and make a living at the same time. Of course it also helps to have a sense of adventure. :)
* Other countries may not be as generous as the Koreans. Singapore pays decently, and the cost of living is roughly the same as Korea's, but the schools here don't pay either a 13th month bonus or airfare. I don't know if I would have saved as much money in Singapore as I did in Korea (in part because I got married fairly quickly after coming to Singapore). Chinese pay scales seem to be very cheap, although I believe they all provide housing.
* Don't forget that, wherever you teach, you may still have bills to pay in your local currency (e.g., the US dollar). I was able to arrange monthly wire transfers of money to my US bank account to pay local bills (like student loans and storage fees). You need to keep fairly up to date regarding all of your finances (not just local, but at home as well).
* Working in Korea was tough on women. Of course, virtually every expatriate who works there is not in a relationship. For some reason, women seemed to have a tougher time handling Korea than men did. Many blamed Korea's male-dominated society, but I'm not sure that's entirely true.

I've got more to write on this topic, but it will have to wait for now. In the meantime, a good place to start is Dave's ESL Cafe Job Board. Look around, see what's available, think about whether this type of life is what you want (not a clearcut question to answer), and if you have any other questions, by all means feel free to ask.

This looks fairly accurate too...

You are a Social Liberal (60% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (36% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

"Americans need to beware of the Muslim scourge within"

This letter appeared in CAIR's daily e-mail under its "Incitement Watch" heading. While the letter is worthy of that heading, trying to incite other non-Muslims to hate Muslims, it's also one of the more unintentionally funny letters I've read in a while. This clown is truly "red" to the core. Thirty years ago, he would have been writing about the communists; today it's the Muslims. It's a sad day when the average American can only see "enemies." My comments are in blue.


Dear Editor, I pray that the silent majority in our great nation is not being at all fooled by all the latest rhetoric being distributed in the media regarding President George W. Bush. He has more on him at this time than any person in the history of America.

But never believe he can't handle it. The Bible says that up until a person becomes a child of God, he or she just never realizes the true light when they see it. This absolute gives our president a lot of strength, and this silent majority is praying for him every day. And every American should be doing the same thing. Please start doing so.

He has many big problems, but the biggest by far is the nation of Islam.1 I have done a lot of research recently2 and the following are a number of truths -- which I can prove. These things started long ago, but the Muslim world did not appear to be intelligent enough to pose much of a threat to anyone except themselves.3

1. One wonders if this guy knows the difference between Orthodox Islam and the "Nation of Islam." I'm not completely convinced that he does.
2. I'm sure you have (rolling eyes).
3. The pot calling the kettle black - as you'll be able to read for yourselves all too soon.


We have a very large number of Americans that are doing everything they can to cause America to fail. And since our president has had the courage to address hard subjects that absolutely must be resolved, it takes a true Southern Christian gentleman to grab the bull by the horns.4 Can you believe that since Sept. 11, 2001, there have been approximately 34,000 Americans who have become Muslims?5 How about this one: There are 1,209 Muslim mosques existing in America at this time, and 25 percent of them have been built since 1994 -- just one year after the first bombing of the Trade Center buildings.6

4. Don't evuh let dem dam' Yankees evuh run the gubbuhmint ag'in, dagnabit! ;)
5. Really? Alhamdulillah! (Singing) "We shall overcome...we shall overcome..." :)
6. Alhamdulillah! A chicken in every pot, and a masjid on every street corner. :)


And did you know that if you ask 100 Americans who we were fighting a war with in our country for the first time, they would probably say England. Wrong! The great U.S. Marine Corps was fighting the Muslims in the country of Tripoli. It was called the Tripolitan War. Hence the song: "to the shores of Tripoli."7

7. Almost. Actually, the US's first military engagement after the Revolutionary War was the Quasi-War with France, which ended one year (1800) before the First Barbary War started (1801). Nice try, though.


Wake up, America. There are at this date 6 million Muslims who reside here in our country, all over most states.8 And there are 1.5 billion on planet earth.9 Our historians have let us down since our conception.10 It is time we learned who our enemies are! They are Bush-bashers who run down our president and have a total of nothing in the suggestion box to do anything any other way!11

8. We're everywhere! ;)
9. Horrors! 20% of the Earth's population is Muslim.
10. It's the historians' fault! Why don't they nevuh teach me nuthin' at skool?
11. And then there's this wonderful leap of "logic." Who are the "enemies?" Is it the Muslims? No! It's the "Bush-bashers!" :) Those darn democrats! :) And they don't ever make any good suggestions either! ;)


I do not have a copy of the Muslim Quran, but I have one on the way. It has 114 chapters.12

12. The last sentence gives me the mental image of a schoolchild reciting a "fact." This guy is going to be in for a surprise when he finds the latter 30 "chapters" or so are just a few lines each. No doubt he's expecting something along the lines of Hitler's "Mein Kampf" or Marx and Engels' "Manifesto of the Communist Party."


Only 30 percent of the Muslims in the world are literate.13 They must listen to their leaders for the contents of the Quran.14 I have several verses copied from one of the books of the Quran, and it is very clear that no Muslim is our friend.15

13. One can only guess where this "statistic" came from.
14. Ooooh, mind control. No wonder dem Muslims is always fightin'. :)
15. But Hugh, we like you! You're very entertaining! :)


I'm probably running out of time. I'll tell you more of this enemy when I get my copy.16

16. Hurry on back now, ya hear?


Sept. 18th is Constitution Day. Pray for America and pray for John Roberts and for George Bush.

God bless you all and God bless America.


Hugh Jenkins
Woodbine
Chaplain
Confederate States of America
Camp 747

Come on, say it! (You know you want to.) "The South will rise again!" :)

Actually, I think this is fairly accurate of me... :)

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Fourth Anniversary

Today is my fourth anniversary: I've lived in Asia for four years now.

2001 was a rather turbulent year for me. I had been working for Shasta, a swimming pool company, since late 1999, but felt that my job and career as an accountant had completely stagnated. I had reverted to Islam in June of the previous year, and while I felt comfortable living my new life as a Muslim I found it somewhat difficult (at the time) to find a Muslim woman to marry. So I turned to the Internet, and began a correspondence with a Moroccan woman living in Switzerland. I thought we had a chance to develop a serious relationship, and so I began to divest myself from my life in America - I wrapped up my affairs and traveled to Geneva in June...

Only to be rejected by her almost as soon as we met at the airport. I spent two weeks there, my first trip to Europe. We did spend some time together, testing to see if the relationship could be re-started, but I left Europe with bitterness (at having been spurned after all the emotional and financial capital had been invested) and relief (talking to a friend after I returned to the US, I told her that being with this woman would ultimately give me an ulcer; my friend said, "Are you kidding? She'd have given you a heart attack!"). And so I returned to the U.S., only to find that I was unemployed. I stayed with a relative for a while, but she kicked me out after not being able to pay rent (I had gone completely broke). For three days, I found myself homeless, rejected by family and friends, but welcomed in by Muslim brothers who were otherwise complete strangers. (May Allah (swt) bless these men for the kindness they showed me in my darkest hours.) Eventually my relative asked me to return, in part (ironically) because her dog missed me and would wait at the door every evening for me to come home. (May Allah (swt) bless "Pete" too.)

And while I couldn't find a permanent, full-time job, I was able to go back to Shasta for a few months as a part-time employee. I paid my relative her rent, and began looking for other work. The thought crossed my mind that I had a brand new passport; was there any work I might find overseas that would allow me to travel? Eventually, I came across an Internet advertisement for a job teaching English in Korea. On a lark, I submitted my resume, and an employment agency contacted me very quickly, saying they'd be more than happy to help me find a job. Thus began a dance between the agency, myself, and three schools who were interested in hiring me (the third school ultimately did). The funny thing was that I was very much torn as to the whole idea of moving to Korea. I knew virtually nothing about the country, and I wasn't quite sure if I really wanted to leave the U.S. One week I would say, "I'm definitely moving to Korea," and the next week it would be, "There's absolutely no way I'm going to Korea." It wasn't until I talked to my dad over the phone, when I asked him what I should do, that I made my final decision. "Go!" he said, and I did, and it was the best decision.

So I packed everything up one final time…and then waited. September 11th happened. (I was originally supposed to leave on the 14th, I believe.) Of course, I had to rearrange all my travel plans and get a new ticket. After a 14-hour flight from LAX, I finally got to Incheon International Airport late at night on September 22, 2001, where some woman (an employee of the agency) quickly got me off my Asiana flight and onto another plane bound for Busan (I was the last passenger to board; the plane for Busan had been waiting for me).

So I lived for a year in Korea, falling in love with that country and still missing it even today. Since then, I’ve lived in Singapore, where I started another life here with my wife. I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few other countries out here: Malaysia a few times, Japan for a day (to get my Korean work visa), and a few hours at the Bangkok International Airport – if you want to count that. ? There are lots of places I’d love to visit around here in time: China, Japan (again, but much more thoroughly), Cambodia (to see Angkor Wat), Vietnam, Brunei (to visit one of my wife’s relatives, who frequently asks us to come over) and, of course, Korea once more.

It’s been a wild ride. Lots of fun, happiness, pain, and sorrow. Real life, just like anywhere else. My dad was ultimately right. Coming to Asia was one of the best decisions I ever made. I’m glad I’m here.

Honest Abe :)

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Cronin's Criticism regarding Sania

Two weeks ago, if you had mentioned the name of Sania Mirza, I'd have said, "Who?" :) However, this topic has started to take on a life of its own (based on the number of hits and comments I've received in the past few days).

Adarsh Krishna, who has a nice blog on Sania Mirza, had a recent post in which he referenced an article about Ms. Sania by Matthew Cronin of tennisreporters.net. Following are some of my remarks to Mr. Cronin’s commentary:

“She's a national hero in short skirts, and the Islamic fundamentalists do not want her to exert any real influence on other young women who might get "heretical" ideas about dressing the way they want to.

Horrors! Now, if a Muslim suggests that a young Muslimah should cover herself, he (or she) is an “Islamic fundamentalist.” Actually, the “heretical” ideas about dressing come from the non-Muslims, but Mr. Cronin appears to be blind to that perspective.


“To her credit, Sania has stuck up for the positive principles of her religion. But, the fact is, there are numerous negative ones, such as the existence of extremists who have declared a "fatwa" on her.”

Mr. Cronin shows his ignorance of Islam when he equates the writing of a fatwa to that of extremism. As I’ve written before (and which many other Muslims will tell you), a fatwa is merely an opinion about a religious question, frequently having to do with mundane, day-to-day issues. Ms. Sania is free to accept or ignore the fatawa that have been written regarding her. (Obviously, she has ignored those fatawa so far to date.)


“That's when it's either time to stand up and say that your religious opponents are wrong and don't represent the thinking of many young Muslims, or you leave that religion.”

What a hoot! “Islam is wrong” vs. “Become an apostate!” What a “choice.” Mr. Cronin proves the Qur’an correct once more: “Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of religion. Say: "The Guidance of Allah,-that is the (only) Guidance." Wert thou to follow their desires after the knowledge which hath reached thee, then wouldst thou find neither Protector nor helper against Allah.” (2:120)

Mr. Cronin, how about the choice of “I go against the norms of the tennis world by covering up in a way that preserves my modesty, but still allows me to compete effectively.” Oooh, “heresy!” No doubt that would rock your world.

The Next Star Wars "Kid"

OK, this is too funny. Check it out! :) Magazine Man vs. Art Lad (Episode I).

Yo, MM, next time, may the Force be with you. ;)

Response to a Comment regarding my Sania Mirza Post

Steve came by the other day, and had an interesting comment regarding my Sania Mirza post. I've decided to post my response here, and also at my Learn About Islam blog.

Thanks for your comment, Steve, and I hope you'll make more in the future, insha'allah.


Steve wrote: "I think a reasonable person can debate what kind of clothing is acceptable under Islam. I know dozens of Muslims who ruitinely wear shorts and skirts, and at the same time affirm most of the basic principles of Islam."

Those shorts-and-skirts Muslims must be young. :) Yeah, I've heard of cases up in Malaysia where a young woman might go out in public wearing something skimpy but also wearing a hijab. Go figure. Still, there are clearly defined dress codes for both Muslim men and women. Those women who wear the shorts and skirts are not following the dress code. While they may "affirm most of the basic principles of Islam," Islam is not a "pick and choose," cafeteria-style religion. Muslims should (ideally) follow all aspects of Islam as much of the time as possible. As my wife would say, "We strive to be better Muslims."


"That being said, whats at issue is whether or not the actions of this tennis player is worthy of a 'fatwa.'"

A fatwa in and of itself is merely an opinion, and does not necessarily have to be obeyed. Most people who ask for a fatwa normally ask for themselves (i.e., they have a particular situation they would like resolved, and they are looking for guidance in the form of a fatwa). That someone asks, "What about the type of clothing a female tennis player wears in public, like Sania Mirza?" seems a little odd, but is still not out of the realm of the ordinary. In that regard, Ms. Sania is worthy of a fatwa, as is any other Muslim in the world.


"I completely agree that an Islamic council should be more worried about things like Wahhabism or the Mujahadeen than tennis attire."

In all honesty, the vast majority of fatawa that are issued deal with very mundane, daily life issues. There's nothing wrong with an Islamic council dealing with the bigger issues (many Muslims wish they would), but most of their work deals with very small issues.


"However, it is the position of some Islamic scholars that if the purpose of rules and regulations regarding attire is to not attract attention to ones self, then covering up in conditions such as western society and or tennis courts might actually defeat the intended purpose of such modesty..."

Possibly, but... The purpose of the dress code, of course, is for modesty; it's not necessarily not to attract attention to one's self. While a pro female tennis player might attract attention initially by, say, wearing a sweat suit instead of a skirt and blouse, don't you think the fuss might die down fairly quickly (within a year's time at the most)? Is women's beach volleyball popular because we value the women as athletes...or because they wear bikinis? Was Anna Kournikova as popular as she was because of her tennis skills (her having never won a Grand Slam tournament) or because of her looks?

Sania Mirza

The Sania Mirza controversy seems a little odd to me. If you haven't heard, Sania Mirza is an Indian Muslim tennis player who started the year ranked #206. However, she was able to reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open, and will possibly be among the top 35 women tennis players in the latest rankings, insha'allah. The controversy is that Ms. Mirza has been the subject of two fatawa recently due to her wearing standard tennis clothing (a shirt and skirt).

"Sania Mirza is a Muslim and she stands half-naked on the tennis court while playing, which is against Islam," said Siddikulla Chowdhury, secretary of the Jamiat-Ulama-Hind Islamic movement in Kolkata. "She is trying to ape some Western tennis players who dress in a similar way."

"The dress she wears on the tennis court not only doesn't cover large parts of her body but leaves nothing to the imagination of voyeurs," said another cleric, Maulana Hasheeb-ul-Hasan Siddiqui of the Sunni Ulema Board. "She will undoubtedly be a corrupting influence on these women."

Ms. Mirza herself has declined comment on the fatawa. "I have nothing to say about that."

My own thoughts:

First, I wonder at the credibility and motivation of the people who are issuing these "fatawa." Who are they? The Sunni Ulema Board in particular has been described in some news articles as "little known." Likewise, is this just grandstanding by people who want to take advantage of this young woman's recent success? According to one article, "Zafarul-Islam Khan, editor of The Milli Gazette, a bi-monthly publication with a focus on Islamic issues, told AFP no fatwa had been issued. 'It is just for sensation,' he said. 'There is no fatwa.' According to Khan, a fatwa is a response given in writing to a specific question, and can only be given by a qualified scholar, or 'mufti.' 'But every time a bearded person says something it is called a fatwa,' he said, adding that Mirza's attire was not an issue among most Indian Muslims."

On the other hand, what the two groups are asking for is not unreasonable either. I don't think it's necessary that she be covered up completely, but I also don't think her performance on the court would be hurt if she, say, wore sweat pants instead of the skirt.

The Shia have given an interesting response to the controversy so far: MYOB! The All-India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board on Saturday disapproved the edict issued by some Muslim clerics on dresses worn by Indian teenage tennis sensation Sania Mirza while playing and asked them not to meddle in [the] sports arena. "The fatwa issued against Sania by a section of Muslim clerics is unnecessary and uncalled for. It is not for them to issue guidelines on what players should wear during matches," Board Chairman Mirza Mohammad Athar told reporters in Lucknow. Asserting that Sania had committed no sin by wearing her choice of dresses on [the] field, he asked clerics not to interfere in matters pertaining to sports. Athar said it was regrettable that the clerics issued the fatwa against Sania who did the community and the country proud by becoming the first Indian to reach pre-quarterfinals of the US Open. The Chairman told them to understand that sports had its own dress code, and a player, belonging to any religion, was the best judge to decide what dress suited him or her while playing. Lauding Sania's achievements, he said she had become a role model for her community and the country by her performances. Athar urged clerics and countrymen to encourage her to bring more laurels for herself and the country. "They should not demoralise her by issuing fatwas on her dresses," he said. For the record, my wife (who is Sunni, as am I) is surprised at the Shia response in that she does believe that a woman showing that much skin is committing a sin. She would have expected the Shia to take a more conservative response (i.e., agreeing with the fatawa).

Sources:

Muslim clerics lash out at 'half-naked' Indian tennis star Mirza

Fatwa on Sania dress uncalled for: Shia Board


Update: (1 April 2010) A lot of people are visiting this blog post now that Sania Mirza has announced her engagement to Pakistani cricket player Shoaib Malik. For more information, please visit Sania Mirza Engaged.

Problems with Husband 1.0?

I got this from a friend in Malaysia (hence the "odd" references, like to Teh Tarik and the lack of other American sports like baseball). Cute.


Upgrade Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0


Dear IT Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a slow down in the overall performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications that had operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, but installed undesirable programs such as Formula One 5.0, NBA 3.0 and World Cup 2.0.

And now Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and House Cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,


Desperate



Dear Desperate,

First keep in mind: Boyfriend 5.0 is and entertainment package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Try entering the command C:\ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME and download Tears 6.2 to install Guilt 3.0.

If all works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewellery 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Late Night Teh Tarik 6.1. Late Night 6.1 is a very bad program that will create SnoringLoudly.wav files.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-Law 1.0 or reinstall another Boyfriend program. These are not supported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have a limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider additional software to improve memory and performance. I personally recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 6.9.

Good Luck!


IT Support

A Cultural Mutt

ChaliceChick (a Unitarian and ex-BeliefNet poster) had an interesting question on her blog recently. Her post is about how location and culture influence the way we are, how our personalities are shaped over time. Or, as she writes, "...so what cultures do y'all come from? Which influence who you are the most?"

Here's most of my response on her blog:

"...It's not only about where I've lived, but also what cultural attributes I've picked up along the way. Up through HS, I lived in upstate NY. My family lineage is primarily Irish-English, but I never felt any strong ties to those cultures (my family has lived in America since the Colonial days). Moreover, certain relatives had married Italian immigrants, and I've often felt I grew up Italian, even though I'm not.

"After HS, I moved to Arizona where the Italian influence continued, but I was also influenced by Mexican culture as well, having many Mexican-American friends.

"Now, the past four years, I've lived in Asia and I've noticed how my thinking and lifestyle has started to assimilate East Asian thought and cultural practices (especially as my wife comes from this area).

"So, based on all these different places of residence and cultural influences, I feel like a real mutt. :) "

Iraq/New Orleans

A few thoughts on the travesty that has befallen New Orleans after Katrina:

• If the government (take your pick: federal, state or city) is unable to provide security for the people of New Orleans immediately after a natural disaster like Katrina, is it any wonder that the US government is unable to provide security to the people of Iraq? The "insurgency" that has happened in New Orleans the past few days merely shows why the insurgency in Iraq has gone on for so long.
• The US government will never, ever gain international support for another Iraq-type invasion. Governments around the world will look at both the Iraqi and New Orleans insurgencies and say, "The US is very good at destroying things, but they cannot build something back up again. If they can't provide a stable environment after a disaster (natural or man-made) so that we can help these people (which is to the benefit of everyone), why should we help them?" This shows very clearly where American priorities lie.
• I haven't heard any news about the likes of Halliburton or Bechtel licking their chops to help rebuild New Orleans anytime recently. ... Oh, I forgot, there's no money to be made in helping one's own people.
  

Muslim Pick-Up Lines

I found the following pick-up lines on the blog of an Internet friend (we met on Beliefnet long ago). These are cute.

1. "OH MY GOSH! I just saw part of your hair, now you're obliged to marry me."
2. "Our parents engaged us when we were little, they must have forgotten to tell you."
3. "I'd like to be more than just your brother in Islam."
4. "To watch you pray is a sin of its own."
5. "Will my platinum VISA cover your dowry?"
6. "You can't play basketball with a jilbab on, marry me, and we will go one-on-one our entire life."
7. "Muslims are supposed to have many children, and I am willing to do my part..."
8. "Will you help the cause of the Ummah by helping me fulfill my deen?"
9. "Wanna pray in jamaat? shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet?"
10. "Assalamu 'alaikum; so what time does a hurain (beautiful person from Jannah) like you have to be back in paradise?"
11. What school of thought do you follow because I thought about you all through school
12. Can I have your wali's phone number?
13. So, read any good Surahs lately?
14. Do you believe in the hereafter? Oh you do? Then you know what I'm hereafter.
15. Would you like to see my collection of Bukhari's?
16. Lets get married so I dont have to lower my gaze everytime you walk in the room.

One more comment regarding Izzy Mo's "Society for Caucasian Muslims" post

Izzy Mo wrote: "This is John, better known by his Muslim name Yahya. He was raised in a moderate Christian family and converted to Islam after he took a class in World Religions. He recalls to us in our April 23rd meeting this story. 'So, after being a Muslim for about two years, I figure it's time for me to be married. You know, fulfill the other half of the deen. I'm looking around for potential spouses, letting everyone know I am interested in marrying a good Muslima. I was so rejected. There was even a nice Pakistani sister who I seemed to have a lot in common with but her father flat out rejected me. "Convert someone from your own community." I thought this was my community.'"

"Convert someone from your own community." Actually, this is what John and Juan, our African-American and Hispanic brothers, would be told. White American Muslim converts, both male and female, tend to be sought after by non-American (and sometimes even American) Muslims. (Heck, I had a black American brother - a friend - tell me that he wished he had a sister so that he could have her marry me. I was very honored by that comment.)

The problem is, I've heard lots of black and hispanic Muslim brothers complain, in person and over the internet, about how difficult it is for them to find spouses among the immigrant community (which, of course, represent about half of the American Muslim population - a very significant number). In looking for my own wife, I had very few problems. I did initially try the internet matchmaking option, and got tons of responses to my ad. (I quickly realized that I didn't need to hunt for women to write to; why should I bother? They all wrote to me first.)

And so I understand why Izzy wrote the above, but this problem tends not to be ours (meaning, us white Muslims).

My Response to Izzy Mo's "Society for Caucasian Muslims"

I've been meaning to respond to izzy mo's take on what a Caucasian Muslim Society might be like. She wrote: "I remembered an article about Caucasian Muslims printed in Islamic Horizons which stated that out of all the various ethnic groups in our umma, Caucasian Muslim never started a group specifically for Caucasian Muslims. There's Black groups, Latino groups, Indian groups, even Vietnamese and Native American groups, but no White, Anglo-Saxon or Caucasian groups."

I haven't read the article in question, but I would agree that there probably aren't any Caucasian Muslim groups in the US. (If there are any, they're probably very small in size.) Actually, I suspect that most American whites tend to think that we, as the current majority ethnic group/race in the US, don't need to create organizations specifically for Caucasians because it's assumed that we can join these groups anyway. (And, historically, those Caucasians who did create organizations specifically for whites have been criticized publicly over the past few decades due to discriminating against people from other races who wanted to join. So the general attitude by most whites now I think is, why bother?)

The funny thing is, here in Singapore, there is a "Caucasian Muslim" group, known as the Euro Club, which is affiliated with Darul Arqam - The Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore. Despite the name, the Euro Club is really for any Muslim (of any race) who comes from Western countries. Most of the members I know come from either Australia or New Zealand; I also know two Europeans, and then there's me, the only American in the group that I know of (although there may be more).

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A few months ago, a friend from Arizona asked me, "How do you feel being a minority?" Meaning, in a country where 77% of the population is Chinese, 14% is Malay, and 7% is Indian, the remaining 2% or so is mostly white (in three years here in S'pore, the number of blacks I've run across could probably be counted on both hands and feet). The irony is that I've felt like a minority since my reversion to Islam five years ago. Going to masjids, regardless of the country I've been to (US, Switzerland, Korea, Singapore), there is rarely any other white Muslim praying there with me. Years ago, I used to worry a little as to how I might be treated by the other Muslim brothers; after all, white Americans hadn't always treated black Americans that well (and likewise, Americans haven't treated the rest of the world that well either). But all of my worries have been for naught. In fact, instead of being treated poorly, I am treated very well. I am frequently the object of attention, the great curiosity: a white male American Muslim. Whodathunkit? And there are also times when I feel I'm a type of ambassador for American Muslims in these countries that I visit. People are curious as to how Islam is practiced in America, how big the Muslim population is, and so on. I try to be honest with them, telling them about both the good and bad. But the conversations tend to be interesting, and I hope we all will profit from the encounters.

One thing that I do enjoy about Islam, though, is the lack of emphasis on skin color, especially during salat. In the masjids I've been to around the world, there's very little segregation between different communities like you might find in American churches (white churches over here, black churches over there). I like the fact that in most places I've been to, there is a rainbow of skin colors, meeting Muslims from around the world (perhaps 20 nationalities so far). When the Qur'an talks about being a universal message for all mankind, I can believe it because I've seen so many diverse people who are Muslims. Alhamdulillah!

(Insha'allah, I hope to post a second comment to Izzy Mo's post later.)

The US and the Nation Brand Index

I came across the Nation Brand Index today while breezing through a local newspaper article. Simon Anholt, author of Brand America, has started doing a survey of how people around the world look at specific countries, as if each country is its own brand. The following is what he wrote regarding the United States, and part of his conclusion. I have a few comments at the end.


The United States

It has been pointed out many times – in the first Nation Brands Index, amongst others – that America’s brand image has suffered severely as a result of the unpopularity of the current administration’s foreign policy. This is not an unfamiliar situation for the USA as the country has faced international opprobrium for its foreign policies more than a few times during the last century.

Two questions spring to mind in this context: firstly, is the effect of these spells of unpopularity iterative, or cumulative? In other words, does Brand America fully recover its prestige after each unpopular overseas engagement, or does the ill-will gradually build up? If cumulative, Brand America may be truly in deep trouble. The second question is whether we are witnessing for the first time some symptoms of this political harm beginning to leach out into other areas of the nation brand. I addressed these questions in my last book, Brand America, and will not go into detail here. The second NBI, however, does provide some new evidence.

The US scores extremely poorly on the ‘heritage’ side of the culture axis, ranking last of the 25 countries in the survey. One is tempted to assume that this is a deliberate slight on the part of our respondents, a kind of protest vote. Still, there is a question on the ‘governance’ axis that offers a much clearer opportunity to express disapproval of US foreign policy:

"Please rank how much you trust the following countries’ governments to make responsible decisions which uphold international peace and security"

Here, America comes in nineteenth, certainly a very low ranking, but not twenty-fifth. The governments of South Korea, India, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and China are still rated by our panel as being less responsible (South Korea, as I mentioned in the first NBI, being probably the victim of a certain amount of confusion with North Korea).

In some ways, I find the low culture score of Brand America more disturbing than the low governance score. One could argue that a degree of unpopularity is the unavoidable price of being the world’s only military superpower. However, the culture score is associated with the maturity, prudence, wisdom, cultivation, humanity and intelligence of the nation. Such a low score for Brand America hardly provides a positive context in which to evaluate America’s political and military acts.

Perhaps this poor showing in serious culture is only to be expected, since successive administrations have dismantled much of the machinery of cultural diplomacy that helped to The Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index – Second Quarter, 2005 win the Cold War, and now serve so well as a foil to many of the country’s currently negative brand attributes.

All things considered, American brands are still doing well. However, there are worrying signs at the margins. As I mentioned earlier, in the 2004 Interbrand/Business Week survey of the world’s top 100 global brands, no less than 57 are American owned. The number has fallen slightly, from 63 two years ago, but the survey still evidences the most staggering domination of the global ‘brandscape’ by American firms. Germany is in second place with a mere 9 billion-dollar global brands, followed by France (as we have seen), Japan and the UK.

What is most surprising, given this state of affairs, is the fact that our panellists now rank Germany higher than America as a desirable producer of branded products and
services, despite the fact that American brands outnumber German brands on the global marketplace by more than 6 to 1. This has changed in the space of three months since the first NBI, both in terms of satisfaction with products and how highly the country of origin is rated on those products. In these cases, the positions of these two countries have reversed.

It is also noticeable that only two of the new entries in this year’s Business Week Survey are American and the other seven are European: one is Swiss, one is Dutch, one is French, one is Italian, and three are German.

It looks as if American brands have a serious competitor on their hands: tiny in terms of numbers, but significant in terms of consumer preference.


Conclusion

The Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index – Second Quarter, 2005 respected political figures; neither is an especially prolific or prominent contributor of cultural offerings on the worldstage. Both, however, are large, beautiful, relatively remote countries with relatively small populations. They both have Any discussion about the brand values of nations, their importance in the modern world, and their impact on people’s decisions inevitably raises the question of whether there is anything that can be done to reverse a negative image.

The promotion of tourism, cultural relations, media personalities, branded exports, politicians, investment promotion and the people of the country all play in to creating the brand image of the nation. However, in the end, deliberate acts of communication, no matter how well performed or how well funded, can only work at the margins of perception, and one simple truth about nation brand emerges from the NBI: a reputation can only be earned.

People form their views about countries in the following ways:
a. By the things the country does, and how it does them
b. By the things the country makes, and how it makes them
c. By the way the country looks – or people think it looks
d. By the way other people talk about it
e. By the company it keeps
f. By the way the country talks about itself

There is a common misconception that nation branding is mainly about (f); in other words, that the image of a country can be built through paid-for communications, through attractive logos and clever slogans. Actually, this is one of the least effective and least reliable ways of communicating the ‘national brand’. Saying things is not enough: they either have to be said by respected independent voices – (d) – or better still, proven: (a), (b), (c) and (e).

Just as advertising cannot sell a product that does not deliver on its promises or that people don’t need, a country cannot build its reputation by singing its own praises, or spewing out endless information about its wonderful products, investment opportunities, people, places and achievements. In today’s world, information is virtually valueless because there is so much of it.

In the end, if a nation wants to change its brand image, it must learn to behave differently. However, before changing its behaviour, a nation needs insight into how it is really perceived by its various audiences and stakeholders. It also needs a firm understanding of how nation brands form and change. With this knowledge, a nation’s new behaviour will help build its new brand as effectively, efficiently, fairly, truthfully, usefully and predictably as possible.


JD: I find the last three paragraphs of the conclusion to be the most interesting. Of course, many (if not all countries) need to take these words to heart, but as an American, I think the US needs to take these paragraphs to heart more strongly than others. The US government's reaction to 9/11 was, in part, to create an "advertising campaign" in Muslim countries extolling the virtues of the US and American culture. And yet, Mr. Anholt here is quite plainly saying, this is the least effective means for winning over the minds of Muslims (or anyone else for that matter). If the US really wants to win over the minds of Muslims, *they* need to change their behavior - and this extends not just to the US government, but to the average American citizen as well. Otherwise, you're never going to convince non-American Muslims that the US has their best interests at heart.

New Posts on My Other Blogs

Just in case this is the only one of my blogs that you visit, I've made some recent posts to my two other blogs that you may find of interest. On my Learn about Islam blog is an article from the Wichita Eagle on Overcoming the Islamic Fear Factor. Take the short quiz and see how well you do.

The other recent post is on my Ang Moh in SG blog. The Hungry Ghost festival happened the other night, and I've posted one of my photos that I thought came out really well. Check it out.

And, of course, I hope to have more posts made on all three of my blogs in the near future, insha'allah. :)

Bad Writing

These were a hoot. :)

A Microsoft analyst has won an annual contest celebrating bad writing by comparing fixing carburetors to fondling a woman's breasts.

"As he stared at her ample bosom, he daydreamed of the dual Stromberg carburetors in his vintage Triumph Spitfire, highly functional yet pleasingly formed, perched prominently on top of the intake manifold, aching for experienced hands, the small knurled caps of the oil dampeners begging to be inspected and adjusted as described in chapter seven of the shop manual."


The winner in the children's literature section was sent in by Shelby Leung of New South Wales, Australia.

"The woods were all a-twitter with rumors that the Seven Dwarves were planning a live reunion after their attempted solo careers had dismally sputtered into Z-list oblivion and it was all just a matter of meeting a ten-page list of outlandish demands (including 700-threadcount Egyptian cotton bedsheets, lots of white lilies and a separate trailer for the magic talking mirror) to get the Princess Formerly Known As Snow White on board."