Gravity - John Mayer
Sad. Happy. Reall Happy. Sad Again. Now a mix of both.
Senior year’s been really fun, but the transitions to come can be really unsettling. College stuff is hard and confusing, and my summer right now is a complete mess!
I haven’t watched an Indian movie for a really long time. I really want to / need to. Sorry mommy if you read that but it’s true.
I also just deactivated Facebook for a couple of days. It can be so sickening and can get totally out of hand. I find myself seeing the most stupid things on that website. Sometimes I love it, sometimes I think life would be nicer, simpler, and easier without it. Right now it’s GROSSING ME OUT.
In other news, this past weekend I went to the 2007 MIST Southeast Regional in Atlanta with the North Carolina Najms (basically 5 of my best friends ever), and the craziest thing happened. MY TEAM WON FIRST PLACE OVERALL! It took me like 10 minutes to really believe it. Usually the biggest team (Al-Hedaya, or this year Marrietta) wins, but this year they divided up the total scores by how many people were in each team, AND WE WON! I actually had tears in my eyes. Here’s a picture of the cutest team at MIST:
I love them!
Back to the stress in life. I’m finally starting to realize that these 7 years at Cary Academy were definitely enough. While I must admit that I’ve had an amazing time and I’ve got some pretty awesome friends, I feel like I’ve gotten like socially retarded muslim-wise! Other than my really close Muslim friends, I feel like I am totally freaked out by 65% of the Muslim girls I meet, and 99.9% of the Muslim boys I meet! It’s horrible!
Haha, I feel like I’m the only one on hadithuna who rants about their personal life on their blog. I say what I feel!
April 17, 2007 at 10:52 pm | Uncategorized | 1 comment
Bossy
^An addicting bad bad song! I love it! hahahaaÂ
Some of my favorite secrets on the postsecret blog. The first one is my all-time favorite. Don’t ask why because I don’t know myself! Â
March 25, 2007 at 9:41 pm | Uncategorized | No comment
DiscotechÂ
Each year I find myself being dragged along by my father to a small, dingy scuba shop in some foreign country to pick out a skin tight wet suit—a total contradiction to my usually loose attire. Entering the scuba boat is a bit embarrassing, whether they are Europeans vacationing in the Sinai, or Australians at the Great Barrier Reef, I know there is no one else there like me. I feel the eyes watching me, knowing that they’re wondering how in the world I am going to dive with a black scarf and a wet suit. What they don’t know is that in my bag I have a handy Speedo swimming cap that I will slip on with smooth style as the dive site nears. After much turmoil in configuring the equipment onto my body, I head for the big jump, the dive into the other world. Gliding through the cliffs and caves of down under, chasing after the myriad of fishes whose colors would outnumber those in my closets any day, looking out into the deep abyss, that’s when I know all the awkward stares and confused gazes were all worth it.
March 20, 2007 at 10:59 pm | Uncategorized | 1 comment
Guantanamera by Julio Iglesias
 Songs like that just make me happy!
It’s a little cliché, and all but I don’t care:
I awoke to another fine 3rd grade morning, got dressed, did the usual tooth-brushing—for life would not be complete without membership to the No Cavity Club—and then ate breakfast. One thing, however, stood well apart from the usual routine. I covered my hair with a scarf. Little did I know that this hot pink beaded garment would change my life forever; no longer would I enjoy the blissful anonymity along with other brown-eyed brown-haired girls; rather, I would earn an epithet that accompanies observant practice of my religion: Muslim girl with the rag. I came to school understandably nervous and slightly apprehensive as to how classmates would react. Fortunately though, my first day wearing the scarf, or hijab, went by very encouragingly. Of what I remember, the girls loved my extra pink accessory, while the boys guarded jealous reservations because I could wear a “hat,†and they could not. During the next three years of elementary school, the simple state of my appearance polarized those around me. Some loved it, while others abhorred the difference. Those who could not bear my style of dress tore at the hijab, succeeding only once at removing it. On the other hand, friends who approved, loved it to such an extent that they wanted their own. I fondly remember that my Jewish best friend would wear the green hijab whenever she played outside; I had convinced her that the scarf possessed its own natural air conditioning system. Things took a disastrous turn for the worse at the dawn of middle school when kids jostled the ranks for their claim of popularity. Hanging out with “the girl with the towel on her head†certainly went against achieving this end. Except for a few Southern sweetie-pies, I can recall very few friendly contacts in sixth grade. This is not to say that I did not get “approachedâ€; at this time I began my reign as the Queen of Awkward Question-Answering. Days rarely passed without queries quizzically questioning my quirky towel/rag/cloth/napkin, whatever they liked to call it. Some addressed me politely but the question would nevertheless remain awkward: “I was just wondering what the purpose of your towel/rag/cloth/napkin is?â€Â The majority of them however came off more crudely: “Can you take showers?â€; “Do you sleep with that?â€; or “Are you bald?†One would presume that in a position like this, I would really want to take my hijab off (permissible if I so wished), but somehow I felt extremely attached. Despite the negative ramifications which boded for American Muslims following the September 11th attacks, my experience surprisingly lacked any excessive drama. Unlike many of my Muslim friends at public school, I barely had any trouble atCary
Academy, and many teachers assured me that I had their “protection†if anyone bothered me. The only change was the terrorist jokes. Now at the end of high school, I’ve gotten to a point where my hijab is indispensable to my identity; it not only outwardly signifies my faith and ensures a heightened conscience of modesty, but also presents an opportunity in which I can set a different example for Islam. Ignorance has badly informed others of my religion through the ages, and my hijab gives me the responsibility to demonstrate the truth. Because of it, I may be called the Car-Bomber-Woman, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
March 19, 2007 at 10:34 pm | Uncategorized | 1 comment
2007February 2
The first month is already over.
This is going to be a good year (iA). So far it’s going well. I got into college. My dear dear cousin got extremely sick, into a coma, and now she’s like way better and she even IMed me today, wow.
I realized music really touches you when you’re in a really really bad situation, or you’re like on top of the world. While my cousin was really sick I totally got obsessed with the Fray, which is why I bought tickets for their concert today!
A picture of another one of my really favorite bands, The Killers
I know this is a really random post with really bad grammar and whatever, but I’ve had enough of writing good and good grammar in all those college essays and schooool. More of that randomness on this blog.
February 2, 2007 at 12:46 am | Uncategorized | No comment
HiOctober 26
I wish it was summer again.
Too much work, too many applications, too much cross country, too much ramadan i am dead tired man.
I shouldn’t even be writing in this, i have an essay i’ve barely started due in 33 minutes. hai haw life can be stressful. and i know i’m going to look back and say pssh i was such a complainer! oh but it’s true.
in addition, i feel so ugly and extremely fat. boy i need my weekend. badly.
October 26, 2006 at 11:20 pm | Uncategorized | 2 comments
i LOVE this book.
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
On Joy & Sorrow
Then a woman said, “Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.”
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
Everybody needs to read it.
In other news, i found out that THREE Khans died in the September 11th attacks, which for some reason was very shocking to me… i thought only like one or two Muslims who died and if let alone there were three Khans that died, the number could have been way more than that… I don’t know why it fascinates me oh so much.
September 12, 2006 at 11:06 pm | Uncategorized | 3 comments
I was in math class, pre-algebra, 7th grade. I came into class and my teacher, Mr.Fisher, said we have to watch the news. And so we did. At that point only the first tower had been hit, and we saw the next one hit live on tv, it was weird and i remember thinking that it was totally fake. Mr. Fisher was my favorite teacher, and he seemed a little scared and weirdly excited at the same time, but i remember being sad because he said he thought it had to be Palestinean Terrorists or Afghani terrorists, and although i am from neither country, they’re still a part of me.
I was sad, and still am sad, to hear about the september 11th attacks, but sometimes it frustrates me that america can still be so indifferent to other things happening elsewhere. okay now here are the pictures!
the scene from inside an apartment:
crazy:
a photography professor took this one:
this one is so bizarre to me, these people are like totally chilling with the biggest attack on America right behind them:
smoke:
i can’t believe it’s been five years…
September 10, 2006 at 8:10 pm | Uncategorized | No comment
| There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims. Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine’s ‘Person of the Century’, was a Jew. Sigmund Freud — id, ego, superego — the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole humanity: Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine. Alert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine. Gertrude Elion gave us a leukaemia fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B. Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease). Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases.Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission. Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism). Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias). Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill. George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye. Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their development). Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes).
Why are Jews so powerful? Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip. Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor. Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable; Charles Adler, traffic lights; Benno Strauss, Stainless steel; Isador Kisee, sound movies; Emile Berliner, telephone microphone and Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder.
Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include Ralph Lauren (Polo), Levis Strauss (Levi’s Jeans), Howard Schultz (Starbuck’s), Sergey Brin (Google), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Donna Karan (DKNY), Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts).
Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state), Alan Greenspan (fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush), Joseph Lieberman, Madeleine Albright (American secretary of state), Casper Weinberger (American secretary of defence), Maxim Litvinov (USSR foreign Minister), David Marshal (Singapore’s first chief minister), Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia), Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM), Barry Goldwater, Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal), John Deutsch (CIA director), Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM), Pierre Mendes (French PM), Michael Howard (British home secretary), Bruno Kreisky (chancellor of Austria) and Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury).
In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer (Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).
Can you name the most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world? The name is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far donated a colossal $4 billion most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world. Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an estimated $2 billion.At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by wining seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, Krayzelburg and Boris Becker are all Jewish.Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish? As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo 1/2/3), Michael Man (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The thief of Baghdad) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery.William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to?
Question: So, why are Jews so powerful?
Answer: Education.
Why are Muslims so powerless?
There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas. Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims. Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless?
Here is why: There are 57 member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758 universities and India has 8,407. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an ‘Academic Ranking of World Universities’, and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top-500.
As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent. A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent. Some 98 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Muslim world did the same. Around 40 per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the ‘literates’ in the Muslim world did the same.
Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million). Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of its GDP.
Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.
Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society. In Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK, the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.
Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.
Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan’s exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent. The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent while Singapore is at 58 per cent.
Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge.Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t producing knowledge.
Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t diffusing knowledge.
Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren’t applying knowledge.
And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis).Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545 billion (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining).So, why are Muslims so powerless?
Answer: Lack of education.
|
Thanks,Mariya Shaikh
Lenovo Capital Finance
GG-311, Bldg 656
919-543-3562 (T/L 441)
shaikhm@us.lenovo.com
Thanks,Mariya Shaikh
Lenovo Capital Finance
GG-311, Bldg 656
919-543-3562 (T/L 441)
shaikhm@us.lenovo.com
September 7, 2006 at 8:11 pm | Uncategorized, Uncategorized | 1 comment