Tsk Tsk Tsk..

blog slackerrr!!!! bloggg blogggg blogggggggggggggggggggg!!!!

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The passing of a friend

It's really really sad when shit happens to old friends... A few days ago, a friend of mine from 6 years ago took his life when it all became too much for him to take. The time when i really knew him, he was always pleasant to me, and to all my other friends. He was a little on the quieter side in class, his closest friends being the noisiest. Those closest to him would understand what the world has lost with his departure from out midst.

I acknowledge what Alvin tried to do in his blog, but i feel that respecting his memory would be to recognise the intent with which he left us. I'm not gonna touch on how he took his life; all i'm gonna say is that he was frustrated with his condition, and with his last words he expressed that he didn't wish to burden is parents with his problems anymore.

When i Alt-Tab to my friendster bulletin board, all the posts have the same title : In Loving Memory : TWL(i'm not divulging his name). Many of us you've left behind, TWL, all of us wishing you were still here. May we all meet again some time in another time and place. Till then, rest in peace.

I've been attacked!! By Microsoft!!!

Another interesting article (considerably shorter)

Plucked this one from stephenpollard.net


I suppose this sort of thing (via Norm) will be illegal soon:

Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserve it.
Judaism: Why does this shit always happen to us?

Calvinism: Shit happens because you don't work.

Secular Humanism: Shit evolves.

Christian Science: When shit happens, don't call a doctor - pray!

Capitalism: That's MY shit.

Communism: It's everybody's shit.

Feminism: Men are shit.

Jehovah's Witnesses #2: May we have a moment of your time to show you some of our shit?

What if all Muslims weren't terrorists?

An interesting article i found on the Guardian web site... gotta love that last paragraph :)


What if all Muslims weren't terrorists?

Sarfraz Manzoor
Wednesday March 2, 2005
The Guardian

If there is one thing that Muslims excel at, it is producing some truly terrifying villains. From the cave-dwelling Bin Laden to the one-eyed hook-handed Abu Hamza, Muslim bogeymen have a comic-book badness. This week another name was added to the roll call of the Muslim Hall of Shame. Saajid Badat is not in the same league as Bin Laden; what makes him so scary is his apparent normality. This was someone with a Gloucester childhood and Church of England grammar school education who looked for all the world like he was perfectly integrated into society. And yet, despite those outward appearances, Badat was harbouring murderous intentions and, before his last-minute change of heart, was planning to blow up a passenger plane. Badat chillingly embodies everything that others - OK, whites - fear about British Muslims. And the most depressing aspect to his story? That these days it is no longer surprising: the wellspoken, well-adjusted terrorist has, in the course of a few years, become distressingly familiar.
In the same week that Badat - the son of Pakistani immigrants - became the first British-born Muslim to be convicted of plotting a terror attack, the BBC, with exquisite timing, is broadcasting a series of programmes examining British Pakistanis. The stated reason for the series is to focus attention on an ethnic group under-represented by the media. That is true, but an unacknowledged motive for throwing the spotlight on British Pakistanis has to be that, for many people, the only time they hear about them is when they read about unsavoury characters such as Badat. With his bespectacled and bearded face glaring out from this week's newspapers a more rounded depiction of the community has to be a good thing.

Every time we hear of a British Muslim arrested on terror charges a familiar debate begins on how someone with such a normal background could have become seduced into the cause of extreme Islam. Those questions are valid and appropriate; what I have less time for are the inevitable demands, usually from the right, that other Muslims disassociate themselves from the actions of such extremists. It happened again yesterday with a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain saying that Badat could expect "no sympathy" from British Muslims. Each time there is an atrocity or outrage, Muslims are expected to apologise as if each and every one is somehow complicit. Given this it is not surprising that Muslims are lumped together in the public consciousness with illegal immigrants and asylum seekers to create one blurry unwelcome mass of people whose values are antithetical to mainstream liberal democracy.

What I find most curious is that it is only Islam which tends to be criticised and condemned for being outdated and incompatible with modern society.

I was asked to make a documentary for the Pakistani Actually season and gained the distinct impression that the programme was intended to uncover the rise of Islamic fundamentalism among young British Pakistanis. Once I actually started talking to some of these young men it became pretty clear that, as I had suspected, most simply do not recognise their portrayal in the media as terrorists-in-waiting. The vast majority are merely trying to do the best for themselves and their families and struggling with the same challenges as everyone else. The perceived clash between Islam and modern society is, I think, hugely overstated. However, I am not sure that the same can be said for all religions.

"Of all religions, the Christian is undoubtedly that which should instil the greatest toleration, although so far the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men." That was Voltaire in 1763, and I'm not sure how much has changed. It is Muslims who are condemned as book-burning bigots whose religion poses a challenge to freedom of speech. But which religion bombarded the BBC in an orchestrated display of outrage about a television programme? It is Muslims who are accused of mistreating their women and refuse to allow them true equality. But which religion's representatives would rather bomb abortion clinics than tolerate the idea of a woman's right to choose? And while it is Muslims who are criticised for their intolerant attitudes to homosexuality would anyone like to hazard a guess at which religion is convulsed in arguments about gay marriage? If I really wanted to ram home the point I could also mention that while it was a Sikh play which grabbed headlines for tackling child abuse, by far the most widespread occurrences of child abuse have not been in mosques or gurdwaras, but in churches.

While everyone else is in fear of extreme Islam there seems to be little sign of moral panic over extreme Christianity. And yet, with its intolerant and illiberal views, I am beginning to suspect that it might just not be compatible with a modern liberal society. Before the 47,000 emails start flooding in I know, I know: the Christians I am referring to are just a lunatic fringe and not representative of the wider religion. Most Christians are decent law-abiding people and I should not think that these few extremists are in any way representative of the wider community. Which is something to recall the next time a young grammar-educated British Pakistani appears on the front page of your newspaper.

Fed up with speed dating? Try an arranged marriage!

I am travelling to Pakistan later this month. There is some disagreement as to the reasons for my trip: I think I am going to collect my mother who has been there for the past five months. My mother thinks I am going to find a potential bride. Apparently she has lined up a number of girls who will be introduced to me. When I warned her that there was a possibility that my ideal woman may not come from a Pakistani village she reminded me that it would be considered impolite to refuse all the girls. I gently explained that being considered impolite was a risk that I was prepared to take. Having spent my life in Britain I am slightly alarmed by the idea of such induced introductions and find the rituals that go with it rather alien. While I would not try to defend any of it I do find the reaction of my white friends rather amusing. Where is the romance in such a contrived scenario they ask, what about serendipity and spontaneity and that crazy little thing called love? They say these things as they race to their next speed-dating night or while busy finding the love of their life on some random internet site.

MSN?!?!?!?

What the muck is wrong with MSN?!?!?