BBC: India refineries told to clean up

Finally....I am sure the refinaries arent the only one doing this in india or that this is happening in only India. It is a HUGE problem in the developing world.

India refineries told to clean up


Authorities in India's north-eastern state of Assam have threatened local oil refineries with closure unless they stopped polluting local rivers.

Assam's Pollution Control Board has given five refineries a year to stop discharging effluents into rivers.

It says the refineries were dumping effluents at levels much higher than acceptable federal limits. READ ON

Tikkun: Holocaust Denial Undermines Islam

Sh Hamza Yusuf on how holocaust denial undermines Islam. A lot of Muslims you mention holocaust to either would deny the extent of it, would either link it to the Israel=Palestine issue ( you can link it but you should not just directly link it without acknowledging the pain of the holocaust) or would say that "There have been other holocausts of other communities as well...Why is this overplayed so much"...I feel that you cant be talking about apples and oranges at the same time. YOu have to first acknowledge that the holocaust was a terrible thing. Sh Hamza Yusuf's article talks about the transformation of information and sees more Muslim sensitivity towards the holocaust a starting point for a discussion which could lead to more fruitful discussions on the more controversial issues:

Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature and basis of knowledge. How do we know things? It also studies the veracity of “truth.” How do we know the difference between belief, knowledge, opinion, fact, reality and fantasy? The Greek philosopher, Carneades, believed that knowledge of reality, of what is true or false, is impossible, that nothing can be known with certainty; his philosophy is known as skepticism. It does not reject belief altogether; Carneades felt that our belief about any given matter should be subjected to intense scrutiny and then, using a scale of probability, we should accept or reject the likelihood of its truth or falsehood. But we must make no absolute claims to it. Another Greek skeptic, Cratylus, however, was more radical in his approach and believed that nothing could be known at all, and thus no statements could convey anything true or meaningful. He finally gave up talking altogether. READ ON

Historical Islamic Texts/ Fiqh of Marriage program at Islamic Foundation this weekend

For Registeration please visit www.alzahraonline.com

Program Details: http://www.alzahraonline.com/Program.pdf

Freelance Switch: 10 Essential Steps To Get To The Top Of Your Field

Good advice on how to maximize your knowldge of your feild...whatever it may be..

For now, if you’re not already at the top of your field, there are some essential steps you can take today to get there. Whether you’re just starting out or even if you’ve been doing what you do for over a decade (like I have), there’s always ways to improve.

READ HERE

Islamic Perspectives: Mind control and repentence

A post on the "Psychology Today" website made me ponder over bad thoughts ,we have about past sins. Or sins we are thinking about and might be tempted to do in the future.

I once mentioned the "Dont think of an elephant" theorem in one of my previous posts. It is a similar phenomena. The more you try to forget about something the more you think about it. As research points out:

You're not the only one who feels that way, says Harvard University psychologist Daniel Wegner, author of White Bears and Other Unwanted Thoughts: Suppression, Obsession, and the Psychology of Mental Control. His research has shown that trying very hard not to think about something almost guarantees that we will think about it.

Now I guess the question becomes what do you do when you think of something that you want to forget about or don't want to think about. You would try to offload it somehow and cut the means to that thought.

I connect this to Sinning and tawba i.e. the Islamic perspectives. When you commit a sin, you are islamically encouraged not to ponder about it and repent right away while cutting the means to it. As Sunnipath says:

1) One shouldn't leave repentance if one keeps falling into the sin. Rather, one should keep renewing one's repentance--while striving to fulfill its conditions of sincere remorse, leaving the sin, and resolving never to return.

Often, sins are the manifestations of bad habits that have crept into our lives, and it takes repeated renewal of resolve to rid oneself of them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) reminded us in many hadiths that, "Allah continues accepting the repentance of a servant until they take their very last breath." [Tirmidhi (3460) and Ahmad (5885), from Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him)]

(2) The key to successful repentance is not merely resolving to leave the sin, but to figure out what is leading to the sin, and to take the positive means to stay away from the causes of the sin.

So, for example, if one finds oneself watching impermissible things when using the internet alone at night in one's basement, then successful repentance would entail changing one's internet use such that the matters leading one to sin are avoided, while also fulfilling the conditions of sincere repentance (namely, remorse, leaving the sin, and resolving never to return).

The early Muslims used to say, "Whoever considers consequences is safe."

Instead you are encouraged to make tawba ASAP (i.e. repentance of sin which includes the acknowledgement of the sin to God) and move on. . Quoting from Sunnipath again:

The conditions for repentance are well known:

1. Leaving the sin;
2. Remorse over having committed the sin;
3. Resolve never to return to the sin;
4. (If it relates to the rights of another person, then to) Return the rights or property one wrongly took. [al-Bariqa fi Sharh al-Tariqa; Riyad al-Salihin]

If these conditions are truly met, then one can expect one's sins to be forgiven. However, one has to be very careful about how sincere one is in fulfilling one's conditions. It is recommended to seek forgiveness a lot, and to repent every time the sin comes to one's mind.

So you know what to do next time you try to get rid of bad thoughts.....Repent!

QUote

"Information erodes uncertainty".

said by someone I respect.

EI: Decoding the media's Palestinian "civil war"

An interesting look at the media bias in Coverage of the Israel/Palestine issue:

Major news stories from Palestine/Israel are often accompanied by what becomes a self-reinforcing "vocabulary," typically generated by Israeli government ministries or other propaganda outlets, and then picked up by the Western media. A classic example was the redeployment of Israeli settlers and military from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which was successfully packaged as a "disengagement" that pitted "Israeli against Israeli," in a "painful compromise." This kind of marketing exercise often works even when there are widely available contradictory reports, such as how "disengagement" was openly trumpeted by Sharon and his advisors as a strategy for destroying the peace process.

This phenomenon went into overdrive recently, as dramatic events across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but especially in Gaza, presented the evening news with a problem of how to reduce the conflict in the internal Palestinian political arena into an easily digestible sound bite. The solution was, as usual, lazy journalism and an almost total blackout on Israeli/US collusion in the dark events unfolding. Here then, is a guide to decoding the Palestinian "civil war," presented as a series of oft-repeated, yet entirely misleading, clichés. READ ON

YaleGlobal: Letter from China:

The downfalls of the Chinese economy:



The Last 'Competitive Advantage': Letter From China ( click here to read article)

Workers of the West resent the transfer of manufacturing jobs to China, as companies pursue cost advantages and low wages. With good jobs hard to come by, the Chinese have little choice but to work long days for low wages. Some employers withhold wages altogether. Allowing competition to take its course and viewing jobs of any sort as the best way to alleviate poverty, the Chinese government has long resisted enacting or enforcing policies that could protect workers. Instead, the government keeps the cycle going: purchasing US Treasury bills, encouraging the US spending spree, feeding the US deficit and keeping interest rates low. Few in the West protest the harsh labor conditions in China, with so many corporations and investors reaping big profits and consumers enjoying cheap goods. But according to Han Dongfang, a unionist with the China Labor Bulletin, a Hong Kong journal, China’s
own legal system may eventually end exploitative labor practices, forcing employers to recognize and pay the full value of work done in China. Han and his colleagues have tried about 30 cases and won most.The number is impressive for an authoritarian government – establishing precedents, putting ruthless employers on notice and giving workers hope for a better future. – YaleGlobal

Punjabi Wisdom 1: Dog and tiger

I have a book from which I will be quoting famous punjabi quotes from time to time. There are thousnads of such sayings whch have been orally transmitted to our elders over the centuries. They are very wity, speacially if you are familiar with punjabi:

Apni galee which kuta wee shair hounda hay

Even a dog is a tiger in his own street

The above quote implies that even a dog can act like a tiger when it is in its own backyard. So even a week person can be brave when he is in his own backyard. This is obvious in sports where even week sports teams can be hard to beat at home. It may be the psycological advantage that you given that you are familiar with all the conditions which may arise.

Or it could also mean at the dog may have lots more friends in it's own backyard which may make itas effective as a tiger.

Quote

"It is easier to act yourself into a better way of feeling then to feel yourself into a better way of action." O.H. Mowrer

Video: 60 Ways to keep your wife happy

Reccommended by married friends:

Christian Science Monitor: A tribute to my mom's moral influence

Christian Science Monitor has an article written by a successful professional, who talks about this one little incident at the age of 10, where he burried the neighbor's porch with tomatos. He goes on and writes about how his mom's subsequent dealing with this incident shaped his life.

I think almost everyone ( when they were younger) has had little positive instances like the one narrated in this article. It seemed insignificant at the time but it's affects basically linger on for the rest of you lives ( for example I remember the consequences there were if I ever lied....also I think if parents practice what they preech it has a even more significant impact). And thats one of the reasons we should be thankful to our parents. Anyways read this!

Every time I see a tomato vine loaded with ripening fruit, I think of my mother. I have never forgotten the lesson she taught me after my complete destruction of our neighbor's summer Beefsteak harvest nearly 50 years ago. She created a moral bond with me that forever linked me to her strong sense of right and wrong. I don't know if she ever realized how powerfully her involvement in my punishment influenced the formation of my ethical compass. READ ON

Toronto Star: A haven for South Asian women

Took me a year to find out that this Muslim Welfare Centre exists in Whitby. Weird that I eventually find out about this through the Toronto Star. Read the article. Kudos to the people who runs this centre. These domestic issues need to be addressed at every level in our communities. Cant put our hands on our eyes and pretend they do not exsist. Of course this problem is not unique to Muslim communities.

Regardless, I believe that the community itself needs to step up to resolve it's own problems because the community itself is the most skilled in understanding its own situation the best. I recall discussions I have had with volunteers from downtown shelters who complain about the lack of muslim volunteers, which often leaves them ill equiped to deal with Muslim youth. Specially when it comes down to understanding the roots of the problems that the Muslim youth face when they leave thier homes for these shelters. Yes, unfortunately quite a few Muslim youth end up in these shelters. Anyways read article below about some good work being done in Whitby.

A haven for South Asian womenA family shelter in Whitby offers refuge for abused Muslim women

Sara Shah sits in her near-empty apartment quietly studying her hands. With her long black braid and smooth, unlined face she seems much younger than her almost-40 years.

Sara (not her real name) moved here just a few weeks ago. There are no curtains, no showy knick-knacks. There's just a table and two shabby chairs. A handful of toys lines the floor along one wall.

Her 3-year-old son rides his tricycle in circles, the wheels thundering in the emptiness. Sara sends him to ride in the other room.

She takes a deep breath and continues with the story of the marriage she left just four months ago.

"For three years, it was like I was being burned alive............READ ON

Toronto Star: Honeymoon redux? Not exactly

Muhammad Lila talks about his wedding aniversery celebrations after the advent of his kids. The couple travelled to the same destination as their honeymoon. He compares the difference....I have been told the next two big changes in my life will be: 1) Marriage (Inshahallah) and 2)Kids ( inshahalah). The article goes over both of the fore-mentioned changes. Good read. read it.

Toronto Star: Honeymoon redux? Not exactly

It was one of those perfect, once-in-a-lifetime moments. Two newlyweds on the last day of their honeymoon, holding hands, strolling along the beach in the picturesque Red Sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Squishing wet sand beneath her feet, my wife Samrina smiled.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could come back someday?" she wondered.

"I'll tell you what," I answered. "One day, we'll come back for our anniversary."

"What if we have kids then?"

"It's okay, we'll bring them, too."