Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina | Guardian Unlimited
This seems like a joke, but somehow my brains satire filter did not register this one.
September 25, 2005
September 23, 2005
Rhyme-adan
I've been rather busy over the last week, so instead of writing something new and meaningful, I'm just going to recycle a silly poem I wrote last year for the Ramadhan issue of Muslim Link.
We have come again upon that time of the year
Yes, certainly the month of Ramadan is near
So to Allahs teachings we must adhere
Fasting has been ordained to attain unto fear
The Prophet, on whom be peace, said on the last of Sha'baan
As narrated in Bayhaqi by the trusted companion Salman,
Telling the companions that a great month was in sight
And better than a thousand months in just one blessed night.
The gates of Paradise are open, gates of Hell are closed
Among the bounties that the Prophet disclosed
And as our beloved Prophet explained
In this blessed month, the devils are chained
So for one full month, Muslims celebrate
By virtuous actions, not by what they ate
Breaking their fasts with a simple date
And still somehow end up gaining weight
It is a test of patience and self-restraint
To abstain from food without complaint
To leave routine during the entire day
To worship and reflect, and especially pray
It is to give to the poor, to show we care
It is to pray at night, the Tarawih prayer
It is to learn respect and learn to share
It is to give up comfort without despair
Obscene language must go, for those who cursed
And if you lie, you might as well also quench your thirst
For fasting is not just about the food and drink
It is about our conduct, our actions, the way we think
In a narration by Muslim, the Prophet reported
That fasting will be exclusively rewarded,
While rewards for other deeds are generally known
The reward for fasting is with Allah, and Allah alone
Fasting is a shield, so let us defend ourselves well
If we live another year, only Allah can tell
September 13, 2005
Another eventful elevator ride
On returning from Isha prayer in the basement, the elevator opened up on the main floor. In walked a Chinese woman, two other Muslims, one of whom is a friend of mine, and Mr. White-Anglo Fascist. He had the usual scoul on his face, and appeared poised to make himself look like an idiot all over again.
My friend who was in the elevator with me was a big guy, not the type of guy you would want to mess around with. The White Anglo looked at his position in the elevator, and muttered to himself, "Looks like I'm a f**king minority in here."
"Where are you boys from?" he asked me. I casually replied that I was from Ottawa, which he could not quite swallow. "No f**king way you're from Ottawa. I'm from Ottawa." I was born in Montreal, I told him. That seemed to annoy him even more, so I told him that I'm historically from India. To this, he muttered a lot of expletives, but I don't think he felt safe attacking me directly with the other Muslims in the elevator. In particular, he probably felt threatened by the bigger guy, who I had engaged in small talk with as he started swearing at us. The two other Muslims got off before me, so it was just the white anglo, the Chinese woman, and myself left.
Then he launched his verbal assault, blabbering on about Jesus and Muhammad not existing, and how we've all been deceived, and that's what is causing war, us "f**king towelheads and Christians." The Chinese woman looked visibly upset, though said nothing. We reached her floor, and she got off. The white anglo then unleashed a barrage of ignorance regarding China and Chinese people. I told him to keep his opinions to himself.
He was to get off at the fifteenth floor. On reaching his floor, however, he had started saying terrible things regarding the Prophets of Allah, and how we were to blame for all that was wrong in the world. He told me that everything I believed in was bullplop, though his choice of vocabulary was less polite. He held the elevator door open and did not leave, only so he could belittle everything I hold to heart with his mindless nonsense.
"Religion is to blame for all the f**king nonsense going on right now." I replied that it was not religion in particular, it was intolerance. He asked me what I believed; I told him that I'll keep my beliefs to myself if he keeps his beliefs to himself.
"Have you heard of Nostradamus?"
"I believe you've already asked me that," I replied.
"Yeah? And what did you say?" I didn't say much last time, but by this point I was quite annoyed, and wanted him to get out and let me get back to my apartment. I quietly supplicated that Allah SWT take care of this situation for me before things got out of hand.
Then the elevator door started closing on him, and he got stuck in the middle. He tried pushing it back open, but could not; the elevator kept closing in on him. I replied to his Nostradamus question, telling him that I never heard Nostradamus say it was a good idea to get stuck in elevator doors. He started cursing, so I pressed the button to open the door. The door opened, and he clenched his arm in pain. He looked at me with malice, and turned towards the hallway.
I called out, as I did before, "Have a nice night!" He did not swear at me this time, but instead muttered incoherently. I was alone in the elevator now; the door closed, and I proceeded up towards my floor.
My friend who was in the elevator with me was a big guy, not the type of guy you would want to mess around with. The White Anglo looked at his position in the elevator, and muttered to himself, "Looks like I'm a f**king minority in here."
"Where are you boys from?" he asked me. I casually replied that I was from Ottawa, which he could not quite swallow. "No f**king way you're from Ottawa. I'm from Ottawa." I was born in Montreal, I told him. That seemed to annoy him even more, so I told him that I'm historically from India. To this, he muttered a lot of expletives, but I don't think he felt safe attacking me directly with the other Muslims in the elevator. In particular, he probably felt threatened by the bigger guy, who I had engaged in small talk with as he started swearing at us. The two other Muslims got off before me, so it was just the white anglo, the Chinese woman, and myself left.
Then he launched his verbal assault, blabbering on about Jesus and Muhammad not existing, and how we've all been deceived, and that's what is causing war, us "f**king towelheads and Christians." The Chinese woman looked visibly upset, though said nothing. We reached her floor, and she got off. The white anglo then unleashed a barrage of ignorance regarding China and Chinese people. I told him to keep his opinions to himself.
He was to get off at the fifteenth floor. On reaching his floor, however, he had started saying terrible things regarding the Prophets of Allah, and how we were to blame for all that was wrong in the world. He told me that everything I believed in was bullplop, though his choice of vocabulary was less polite. He held the elevator door open and did not leave, only so he could belittle everything I hold to heart with his mindless nonsense.
"Religion is to blame for all the f**king nonsense going on right now." I replied that it was not religion in particular, it was intolerance. He asked me what I believed; I told him that I'll keep my beliefs to myself if he keeps his beliefs to himself.
"Have you heard of Nostradamus?"
"I believe you've already asked me that," I replied.
"Yeah? And what did you say?" I didn't say much last time, but by this point I was quite annoyed, and wanted him to get out and let me get back to my apartment. I quietly supplicated that Allah SWT take care of this situation for me before things got out of hand.
Then the elevator door started closing on him, and he got stuck in the middle. He tried pushing it back open, but could not; the elevator kept closing in on him. I replied to his Nostradamus question, telling him that I never heard Nostradamus say it was a good idea to get stuck in elevator doors. He started cursing, so I pressed the button to open the door. The door opened, and he clenched his arm in pain. He looked at me with malice, and turned towards the hallway.
I called out, as I did before, "Have a nice night!" He did not swear at me this time, but instead muttered incoherently. I was alone in the elevator now; the door closed, and I proceeded up towards my floor.
September 12, 2005
A Brief History of Decline
Over 1400 years have passed since Rasulullah SAW stood at Mount Arafah, and addressed his companions for the final time. The beloved Messenger of Allah began by appealing to the hearts of the people by calling upon their reverence of that holy day of Arafah, reminding them that they must also revere each and every Muslim. He reminded them that they must respect the sanctity and honour of the Muslim people just as they respect the sanctity and honour of Makkah, of the Ka'aba. He called upon them to deliver that message, as well as the entire message he gave his life for, to all those unable to accompany him at that time.
And so the companions set forth, not in search of treasure or land, but in search of those unfortunate people who were unable to hear the message of the Messenger of Allah SWT directly. They carried their message to all the corners, wherever they might expect to find someone to hear the message - and many places where they did not expect to find anyone at all. But they went on either way, because the message was so important. They pushed onwards into the unknown, for years and years.
Many did not even return to their homes. The message entrusted to them was too valuable to afford them time in other than the propagation of it. It was that message, after all, that elevated them to the heights of spiritual and moral excellence, after spending generations living in depravity and chaos. They endured extreme conditions of hunger, exhaustion, torment and pain for that message; it was not something they would take lightly ever again.
And so they mounted their camels and called all those they encountered to the way of their beloved Prophet, peace be upon him. In the absence of the transportation readily available today, they delivered the message throughout much of the entire known world through tremendous physical strain and hardship. Their graves are scattered in locations many thousands of miles across, but the message they conveyed did not die with them. It endured and prospered for many generations, and has now been left to us.
And now, whenever injustice occurs in the world, the Muslims have to defend themselves. Whenever acts of hatred claims the lives of innocent people, the Muslims are blamed for it. Whenever civil liberties are threatened, the Muslims fall back into the same refrain of apology and regret. Muslims are being tortured and blown apart at the core, and the ummah is in shambles.
With the Muslims under attack from every corner, one would expect that we would at least be united in defending our beliefs and our values. One would expect that with such merciless agression against us, we would stick up for one another, and develop compassion amongst ourselves.
Instead, we exhaust ourselves in belittling one another. Rather than discuss issues in a constructive manner, we instead seek to point out errors in the views of others. Every group is trying to "expose" the wrongdoings and miscalculations of the other groups. Each one of them believes they have the exclusive right to call themselves the follower of the Prophet, peace be upon him, yet the rhetoric of each group is eerily the same - and nearly all of it contrary to the teachings of compassion and tolerance that our Prophet taught.
The heart of the Muslim world, the lands of the Prophet (peace be upon him), has been ruptured. The Hajj has become a business and spirituality is declining. Racism is rampant, with Africans suffering from hunger, poverty and mutilation, while the locals look down upon them with derision. The air is thick with the stench of the thousands of smokers who have no problem with exercising their disgusting habit in the vicinity of the Ka'aba. Unlawful food is being sold and consumed by those sincere foreigners who have assumed that everything there must be halaal. At the site of the first revelation of Quran, a merchant will dress you up in traditional Arab garb and take a picture of you pretending to supplicate to Allah for five riyaals.
And most of the rest of us are oblivious to all this, because we feel that attending some lecture and yelling at some rally is all we need to do. Instead of addressing our concerns amongst our companions and community where we can actually do something productive, we rant to strangers under the title of Irrelevant Opinions. Still, we feel good inside because Muslim organizations are working hard to break stereotypes plaguing our community; after all, the world must know that we too can sing and dance.
How has it come to this?
And so the companions set forth, not in search of treasure or land, but in search of those unfortunate people who were unable to hear the message of the Messenger of Allah SWT directly. They carried their message to all the corners, wherever they might expect to find someone to hear the message - and many places where they did not expect to find anyone at all. But they went on either way, because the message was so important. They pushed onwards into the unknown, for years and years.
Many did not even return to their homes. The message entrusted to them was too valuable to afford them time in other than the propagation of it. It was that message, after all, that elevated them to the heights of spiritual and moral excellence, after spending generations living in depravity and chaos. They endured extreme conditions of hunger, exhaustion, torment and pain for that message; it was not something they would take lightly ever again.
And so they mounted their camels and called all those they encountered to the way of their beloved Prophet, peace be upon him. In the absence of the transportation readily available today, they delivered the message throughout much of the entire known world through tremendous physical strain and hardship. Their graves are scattered in locations many thousands of miles across, but the message they conveyed did not die with them. It endured and prospered for many generations, and has now been left to us.
And now, whenever injustice occurs in the world, the Muslims have to defend themselves. Whenever acts of hatred claims the lives of innocent people, the Muslims are blamed for it. Whenever civil liberties are threatened, the Muslims fall back into the same refrain of apology and regret. Muslims are being tortured and blown apart at the core, and the ummah is in shambles.
With the Muslims under attack from every corner, one would expect that we would at least be united in defending our beliefs and our values. One would expect that with such merciless agression against us, we would stick up for one another, and develop compassion amongst ourselves.
Instead, we exhaust ourselves in belittling one another. Rather than discuss issues in a constructive manner, we instead seek to point out errors in the views of others. Every group is trying to "expose" the wrongdoings and miscalculations of the other groups. Each one of them believes they have the exclusive right to call themselves the follower of the Prophet, peace be upon him, yet the rhetoric of each group is eerily the same - and nearly all of it contrary to the teachings of compassion and tolerance that our Prophet taught.
The heart of the Muslim world, the lands of the Prophet (peace be upon him), has been ruptured. The Hajj has become a business and spirituality is declining. Racism is rampant, with Africans suffering from hunger, poverty and mutilation, while the locals look down upon them with derision. The air is thick with the stench of the thousands of smokers who have no problem with exercising their disgusting habit in the vicinity of the Ka'aba. Unlawful food is being sold and consumed by those sincere foreigners who have assumed that everything there must be halaal. At the site of the first revelation of Quran, a merchant will dress you up in traditional Arab garb and take a picture of you pretending to supplicate to Allah for five riyaals.
And most of the rest of us are oblivious to all this, because we feel that attending some lecture and yelling at some rally is all we need to do. Instead of addressing our concerns amongst our companions and community where we can actually do something productive, we rant to strangers under the title of Irrelevant Opinions. Still, we feel good inside because Muslim organizations are working hard to break stereotypes plaguing our community; after all, the world must know that we too can sing and dance.
How has it come to this?
September 07, 2005
August 31, 2005
Breaking some stereotypes, enforcing others
I was browsing the web for information regarding the upcoming ISNA conference in Chicago. I never go to ISNA conferences, but wanted to keep abreast of the latest happenings to get an idea of the scale of the event. This eventually lead me to the infamous Naseeb.com site, which I've heard much about but have never visited before.
Anyway, it has always bothered me that in spite of all our efforts to promote Islam in North America and in spite of the extremely educated Muslim population living here, we still can't spell. There, on the front page of this famous website, is a typo, in a sentence claiming that American Muslims will be breaking stereotypes. I love the irony.
Anyway, it has always bothered me that in spite of all our efforts to promote Islam in North America and in spite of the extremely educated Muslim population living here, we still can't spell. There, on the front page of this famous website, is a typo, in a sentence claiming that American Muslims will be breaking stereotypes. I love the irony.
August 25, 2005
Google Manipulation
It's old news that a search for the word "failure" on Google returns the biography of President Bush as the first result. This works because numerous people have linked to that page using the words "Failure" or "Miserable Failure" as the link text.
Bush supporters, unable to think of something original, decided to counter this Google manipulation by using the same trick to push Michael Moore to the top of the search results for that same query. Currently, his webpage ranks second on the word "Failure". First of all, I find it funny that Bush supporters find Michael Moore to be their greatest enemy, and not an actual political figure who could actually have some real influence.
Anyway, even with this attack on Michael Moore, the Bush supporters have lost again, as I discovered today. By virtue of what is probably some server-side scripting on www.michaelmoore.com, whenever someone tries to visit the Michael Moore website from the Google "Failure" search results, it will redirect the user back to the website of George Bush. Hilarious!
Bush supporters, unable to think of something original, decided to counter this Google manipulation by using the same trick to push Michael Moore to the top of the search results for that same query. Currently, his webpage ranks second on the word "Failure". First of all, I find it funny that Bush supporters find Michael Moore to be their greatest enemy, and not an actual political figure who could actually have some real influence.
Anyway, even with this attack on Michael Moore, the Bush supporters have lost again, as I discovered today. By virtue of what is probably some server-side scripting on www.michaelmoore.com, whenever someone tries to visit the Michael Moore website from the Google "Failure" search results, it will redirect the user back to the website of George Bush. Hilarious!
August 23, 2005
Speculations on Google Talk
The web has been abuzz with rumours of Google releasing their own Instant Messaging service, which they are calling Google Talk. Only mere days after they released Google Desktop 2, which puts a multitude of Google and web services on your desktop without need for a browser, Google seems poised to release a competitor for the IM services of MSN, Yahoo, AOL, etc. It appears as if the service is already live, though the Google client software is not yet available.
There are probably already too many IM services as it is, but history has shown that Google always goes several steps beyond what anyone thought was possible. Much of the innovation on the web today can be attributed directly to Google. With that being said, these are the types of services I expect Google to eventually include in their IM client if they do in fact release one.
VoIP. It's pretty certain that this is part of their plan, as Yahoo has launched a competing service, and I think MSN is working on it.
Integration with Google Desktop 2. I imagine that your contact list will be neatly stored as a module for Google Desktop 2, leaving no need for another program running as the client.
Integration with GMail, which will double as a voicemail box and the central contact list (all available from Google Desktop 2). Like Skype, I expect users to be able to have actual phone numbers that people can call and leave voice messages. Incidentally, Yahoo introduced a very similar service 5 years ago by the name of Yahoo By Phone, which provided users with a 10-digit extension that can be reached at by a toll-free Yahoo number. Yahoo By Phone used to also be able to read your mail out for you, so you could literally check your e-mail from any payphone.
Integration with Google Local, Google Maps, and Google Earth. I expect that some day, I can click on a location on Google Maps and have it automatically place a call to that location. You can almost do this already with the Vonage "Click2Call" service, which provides a couple of web services that make it extremely easy to automatically dial any number. Unfortunately, the service is not available to Vonage Canada customers like me just yet.
Voice-based ads. There is a service in Ottawa where you can pick up a payphone, call a toll-free number, listen to a short ad, and then make a local call. It saves you the quarter if you're not in a hurry and don't mind listening to a couple of short ads. I expect Google to employ a similar revenue scheme for their service, perhaps delivered when checking your voicemail.
Integration with Blogger and AudioBlogger, which will allow a person to quickly publish a voice or text conversation to their blog or podcast. They can also receive instant messages whenever a comment is posted on their blog, which they could then reply to immediately through the Google Talk interface.
So let's see how much of this actually happens. And remember, you heard it here first!
There are probably already too many IM services as it is, but history has shown that Google always goes several steps beyond what anyone thought was possible. Much of the innovation on the web today can be attributed directly to Google. With that being said, these are the types of services I expect Google to eventually include in their IM client if they do in fact release one.
So let's see how much of this actually happens. And remember, you heard it here first!
August 12, 2005
As the ink dries
The same night I encountered the "white-anglo" who insisted I should address him as sir, I also witnessed a violent scuffle between a few other people. Some guys who live in my building had gotten into an argument with the Chinese convenience store owner over something trivial, and started smashing the windows of the store.
The Chinese man, enraged, chased the kids outside, where the kids all started attacking him jointly, kicking and taunting him. I happened to be passing by at the time, and pulled one of the kids aside and spoke with him. He was a Muslim kid, a pretty nice guy who tends to find himself in the wrong crowd all the time. He pulled away from the fight, and eventually the others dispersed. Shortly afterwards, police arrived at the scene. By that point, I was long gone enjoying my meal at the nearby Somali restaurant.
Though the dispute was a trivial one, the violence erupted largely due to racial differences. As I witnessed myself shortly afterwards, racism still exists in our society all over the place. Over the last little while, somehow, it has become even more apparent especially within my own neighbourhood.
For the first few months after I moved into this building, there was quite a bit of vandalism on the walls and elevators, with most of it aimed at the large Bengali community in my area. Recently, all the elevators were redone, and for once they were clean and racism-free. Last week though, the vandalism started again; as I was taking the elevator to go down to the musalla, I saw the words "f***ing muslims" written on my elevator.
Thankfully, the building administration dealt with it promptly, and it was removed the next day. As I went down for Isha today, however, all the elevators had been freshly filled with more anti-Muslim and anti-Bengali vulgarity; the ink must be drying now as I write this. As I returned from prayers, I got into a discussion with the guy riding the elevator with me.
"Man, there's still so much racism, eh?", he asked me.
"Yeah, unfortunately. The administration has been very prompt in cleaning it up, though," I replied.
I reached my floor, and thought about the inaccuracy of what I had just said. The administration can clean non-erasable ink, but they can't clean up the hatred of the hearts.
The Chinese man, enraged, chased the kids outside, where the kids all started attacking him jointly, kicking and taunting him. I happened to be passing by at the time, and pulled one of the kids aside and spoke with him. He was a Muslim kid, a pretty nice guy who tends to find himself in the wrong crowd all the time. He pulled away from the fight, and eventually the others dispersed. Shortly afterwards, police arrived at the scene. By that point, I was long gone enjoying my meal at the nearby Somali restaurant.
Though the dispute was a trivial one, the violence erupted largely due to racial differences. As I witnessed myself shortly afterwards, racism still exists in our society all over the place. Over the last little while, somehow, it has become even more apparent especially within my own neighbourhood.
For the first few months after I moved into this building, there was quite a bit of vandalism on the walls and elevators, with most of it aimed at the large Bengali community in my area. Recently, all the elevators were redone, and for once they were clean and racism-free. Last week though, the vandalism started again; as I was taking the elevator to go down to the musalla, I saw the words "f***ing muslims" written on my elevator.
Thankfully, the building administration dealt with it promptly, and it was removed the next day. As I went down for Isha today, however, all the elevators had been freshly filled with more anti-Muslim and anti-Bengali vulgarity; the ink must be drying now as I write this. As I returned from prayers, I got into a discussion with the guy riding the elevator with me.
"Man, there's still so much racism, eh?", he asked me.
"Yeah, unfortunately. The administration has been very prompt in cleaning it up, though," I replied.
I reached my floor, and thought about the inaccuracy of what I had just said. The administration can clean non-erasable ink, but they can't clean up the hatred of the hearts.
August 09, 2005
No thank you
I had just come back from a restaurant with my cousin when I witnessed another case of the racism that still unfortunately exists in this great country.
I was on my way back to my apartment building. I reached in my pocket to get my keys to open the front door, but this man got to his keys first and so he opened it instead. So me and my cousin walked through the door. The man then yells at us, "YOU'RE WELCOME."
I looked back at him, and he looked angry, presumably because I didn't thank him for unlocking the door.
"Haven't you f**king ever heard of manners?", he asked me. I smiled as I found that comment deliciously ironic.
I apologized for not thanking him for getting to the door first, and we all got in the elevator.
"You guys better f'in learn some manners," he reminded us in the elevator.
"Alright sir, I'll keep that in mind," I told him.
"That's right, f**k. SIR. Especially I'm a white-anglo in this country, so you f**kin' better be calling me sir. It's all going to hell, just like Nostradamus said. It's gonna end where it began."
After some more incoherent muttering and expletives, he reached his floor.
"Have a nice night, sir!", I called out.
"F**k off."
I was on my way back to my apartment building. I reached in my pocket to get my keys to open the front door, but this man got to his keys first and so he opened it instead. So me and my cousin walked through the door. The man then yells at us, "YOU'RE WELCOME."
I looked back at him, and he looked angry, presumably because I didn't thank him for unlocking the door.
"Haven't you f**king ever heard of manners?", he asked me. I smiled as I found that comment deliciously ironic.
I apologized for not thanking him for getting to the door first, and we all got in the elevator.
"You guys better f'in learn some manners," he reminded us in the elevator.
"Alright sir, I'll keep that in mind," I told him.
"That's right, f**k. SIR. Especially I'm a white-anglo in this country, so you f**kin' better be calling me sir. It's all going to hell, just like Nostradamus said. It's gonna end where it began."
After some more incoherent muttering and expletives, he reached his floor.
"Have a nice night, sir!", I called out.
"F**k off."
Man dies after marathon video game session | CBC News
He quit his job for this!
When 'Izraeel comes to take your soul, there's really nothing you can do at that point. May we all be saved from leaving the world in such a state.
When 'Izraeel comes to take your soul, there's really nothing you can do at that point. May we all be saved from leaving the world in such a state.
August 08, 2005
August 07, 2005
Isti-car-a
I have recently been in the market for a car. While I'm not too knowledgeable about cars, I have been thinking for some time about what a car means to someone and how it defines a person. There are so many factors to consider, but perhaps the first thing that I began thinking about was deciding between an import or a local model. They both have their pros and cons.
I find these days that a lot of my friends have decided to go with imports. Most of the people I know who imported were highly pragmatic people, with no intention of portraying a certain image with their car. They just wanted to have a car to go from one place to another, and not have their lives defined by it. Many of them have been with their cars for some time now, and while there are the occasional problems (often because foreign cars may not be well accustomed to local roads and weather conditions), they have never complained. The cars are reliable, safe, and have their own inner beauty.
At the same time, the foreign car has certain limitations. Often, they tend to be more expensive. While the cost of materials may be cheaper, when you add in the freight and other charges, it adds up. Whenever anything goes wrong with the car, it can often be a very expensive task to get things back in shape. Also, they often have certain quirks that cannot be dealt with appropriately in North America. Sometimes the part you need can only be found back at the manufacturer abroad; that makes maintenance quite expensive. Granted, they generally need less maintenance overall.
As for North American cars, the options are much more limited. To find a good domestic car is not an easy endeavour, but it may be worth the effort in the long run. Domestic models tend to be built for the surrounding environment, thus often making them more suitable for many people. The initial purchase of these cars tend to be cheaper, informed advice is more readily available regarding their particularities, and parts are generally cheaper. If anything goes considerably wrong, you would not need to go far for service.
While the cost of parts may be cheaper, these cars tend to need maintenance more often. In many ways, they tend to be more expensive even though the initial purchase cost may be less. Sometimes these machines are built more for style and image than performance, which becomes noticeable after some time. Even then, people I know with these cars end up spending even more money on maintaining the style than on ensuring decent performance.
One friend of mine frequently urges me to go with a North American car in order to support the local market. Too often, he says, people go out and buy foreign cars and then the North American market suffers. He reminds me that people living abroad don't buy North American cars much, so if we don't support our own local economy, the entire system will suffer as a whole.
I've also received advice going the other way, that a foreign car is the best option. One friend keeps on telling me that if I went ahead and settled with a foreign car, I'd be much happier for it. He reminded me that owning a North American car would make it difficult to spend my money on things important to me, since so much would end up going into maintaining the car. I recently even visited a foreign dealership where salespeople worked very hard on convincing me of the benefits of their machines, though nothing I saw then interested me.
In my family, I've seen both. My eldest brother has settled comfortably with a North American Cavalier, while my two other brothers have foreign cars. Overall, they all seem really happy with their cars, so I guess it really just depends on one's own personality. At this point, I have no idea which option would be better for me.
I find these days that a lot of my friends have decided to go with imports. Most of the people I know who imported were highly pragmatic people, with no intention of portraying a certain image with their car. They just wanted to have a car to go from one place to another, and not have their lives defined by it. Many of them have been with their cars for some time now, and while there are the occasional problems (often because foreign cars may not be well accustomed to local roads and weather conditions), they have never complained. The cars are reliable, safe, and have their own inner beauty.
At the same time, the foreign car has certain limitations. Often, they tend to be more expensive. While the cost of materials may be cheaper, when you add in the freight and other charges, it adds up. Whenever anything goes wrong with the car, it can often be a very expensive task to get things back in shape. Also, they often have certain quirks that cannot be dealt with appropriately in North America. Sometimes the part you need can only be found back at the manufacturer abroad; that makes maintenance quite expensive. Granted, they generally need less maintenance overall.
As for North American cars, the options are much more limited. To find a good domestic car is not an easy endeavour, but it may be worth the effort in the long run. Domestic models tend to be built for the surrounding environment, thus often making them more suitable for many people. The initial purchase of these cars tend to be cheaper, informed advice is more readily available regarding their particularities, and parts are generally cheaper. If anything goes considerably wrong, you would not need to go far for service.
While the cost of parts may be cheaper, these cars tend to need maintenance more often. In many ways, they tend to be more expensive even though the initial purchase cost may be less. Sometimes these machines are built more for style and image than performance, which becomes noticeable after some time. Even then, people I know with these cars end up spending even more money on maintaining the style than on ensuring decent performance.
One friend of mine frequently urges me to go with a North American car in order to support the local market. Too often, he says, people go out and buy foreign cars and then the North American market suffers. He reminds me that people living abroad don't buy North American cars much, so if we don't support our own local economy, the entire system will suffer as a whole.
I've also received advice going the other way, that a foreign car is the best option. One friend keeps on telling me that if I went ahead and settled with a foreign car, I'd be much happier for it. He reminded me that owning a North American car would make it difficult to spend my money on things important to me, since so much would end up going into maintaining the car. I recently even visited a foreign dealership where salespeople worked very hard on convincing me of the benefits of their machines, though nothing I saw then interested me.
In my family, I've seen both. My eldest brother has settled comfortably with a North American Cavalier, while my two other brothers have foreign cars. Overall, they all seem really happy with their cars, so I guess it really just depends on one's own personality. At this point, I have no idea which option would be better for me.
August 02, 2005
'A miracle' no deaths as Air France flight skids off runway, burns in Toronto | CBC News
No deaths on Air France 358
Amid all the chaos and tragedy in the world today, good things still happen once in a while. I was at work when this first happened, and initially we were told that few were likely to survive. The fact that no one died at all is truly a blessing and a miracle.
May Allah SWT continue to protect Canada and it's people from harm and calamity.
Amid all the chaos and tragedy in the world today, good things still happen once in a while. I was at work when this first happened, and initially we were told that few were likely to survive. The fact that no one died at all is truly a blessing and a miracle.
May Allah SWT continue to protect Canada and it's people from harm and calamity.
July 29, 2005
U.S. Muslim Scholars Issue Edict Against Terrorism | NPR
U.S. Muslim Scholars Issue Edict Against Terrorism
Taking a page from CAIR-CAN and Jamiyatul-Ulama Canada.
Taking a page from CAIR-CAN and Jamiyatul-Ulama Canada.
Pakistan to expel foreign students | Aljazeera
Aljazeera.Net - Pakistan to expel foreign students
"I have never done anything not seriously. I don't bluff. I do act with realism. I am realistic, not idealistic. I am very, extremely, serious."
Seriously?
"I have never done anything not seriously. I don't bluff. I do act with realism. I am realistic, not idealistic. I am very, extremely, serious."
Seriously?
July 28, 2005
July 22, 2005
London II
More bombs were planted yesterday in the London transit system, as everyone must know by now. So we've heard the usual condemnations and editorializing and all that talk. It's a blessing that no one got hurt, but one thing we must always remember is that some communities go through that every single day. While war in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be considered an excuse for these attacks, we should not sympathize and condemn these attacks while forgetting about the murderous ideologies that are victimizing our brothers and sisters.
Whether you drop the bombs from a fighter jet or explode them out of a schoolbag, it's still a bomb, and it's still murder.
Whether you drop the bombs from a fighter jet or explode them out of a schoolbag, it's still a bomb, and it's still murder.
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