Hypnotic

Using our minds to help others...

Considering that several people I know have lost their jobs due to the recession, I recently started a mailing list to send out job postings. I figure that it’s the least that I can do to help those who are in need of a job. Furthermore, it all leads to my idea of a social information group that provides people with a bit of an inside edge towards the better life.

Some people love the list while some don’t want to be on it and want nothing of it. Fair enough. I didn’t expect everyone to find it relevant to them. After all, some people are quite content with their jobs or don’t feel that it’s of any benefit to forward these postings around to others. Oh well.

However, this has me thinking – what is the logical next step in being able to help others? I’ve been thinking for the longest time of creating an information group that provides relevant social information and assistance to others who are in need of it. The end goal is to help improve the quality of life for others – especially those who want and need assistance – but there’s only so much one can do for another. I need some suggestions on how I can help others achieve more in life…

“I believe in what I see in and also what I hear…”
- Oakenfold (Hypnotised)

Piety in Clothing

Every culture has its good and bad...

Many Muslims, specifically those of Indo-Pak background or those who follow certain ideologies prominent in the Indo-Pak region, feel that one must wear cultural clothes to feel like they’re following the example of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). However, I find this reasoning flawed as Muslims come from every culture and walk of life and the expectation that Muslims conform to what was worn over 1,400 years ago takes away from the tapestry of cultures that make up the global Muslim community.

In the Indo-Pak culture, some believe that wearing a shalwaar-kameez on a day-to-day basis indicates humility and follows the examples of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). However, he never wore a shalwaar-kameez so how is one following his example? Thus, why would clothing that comes from the Indo-Pak culture be expected of other cultures? Furthermore, when did adopting cultural clothes from one’s background amount to following the example of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him)?

The same can be said about the Arab culture and the expectation that a pious Muslim is one who wears a thobe or abaya. Seeing as how Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and his companions were Arabs, the thinking here is that they wore thobes and abayas and that all Muslims should wear those too. However, Islam is a religion that looks past cultural aspects towards a more global visage of unity. How would that be demonstrated or accomplished if we all looked like Arabs? Furthermore, prophets came to people of all nations and I’m sure they wore the cultural clothes of their nations too during that time. Prophet Isa (also known as Jesus – Peace Be Upon Him), one of the most acclaimed prophets in Islam, wore something similar to a thobe yet there aren’t legions of people trying to emulate that.

As far as my interpretation of Islamic clothing goes, anything that covers your body’s private parts and displays modesty and humility is acceptable. It makes no difference what culture the clothes come from – whether they’re of your own cultures or of another’s – so as long as it meets that basic requirement. Piety comes from your behaviour and actions, not by simply donning a piece of cloth.

“I walk by the old lady selling coconuts under the tree, life is cheap here but wisdom is free…”
- K’Naan (What’s Hardcore?)

A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

Watching the light and hoping for warmth...

From people who struck it rich and figured they should go into politics to those who come from a wealthy family and figured that it was their divine right to lead their nations, every country has them and every country is full of idiots who call themselves “politicians”.

However, as annoying and fake as politicians come across as, it’s the populace that bothers me more because they’re the ones responsible for putting these people into positions of power unfortunately. Thanks to the wonderful concept of democracy, people “vote” politicians into leadership positions. For every politician that shouldn’t have been selected, it’s the people that are really at fault for this for exercising poor judgement.

Making it even worse, it’s the people who seem to forget the platforms of political groups for which these politicians belong to. Even when a political party seems to be doing a horrible job of running a nation, the people are the ones who have short memories and select that party back into power after a term of mismanagement. For example, Canadians widely regard Brian Mulroney and his Conservative Party’s government as being among the worst governments in recent history. However, after several successful years of Liberal government leadership where the country prospered and grew, Canadians appeared to forget how poorly a job the Conservatives did and elected them back into power.

Out goes the successful Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and subsequently Paul Martin to a government led by Stephen “I don’t look like a wolf in sheep’s clothing” Harper. Now we’re stuck with a leader who is widely disliked and responsible for a nation that’s losing its lustre internationally. Canada has dropped in terms of international prestige and reputation and our humanitarian aid to developing and poor nations has dropped though official numbers are unavailable on the matter.

Out goes our wonderful reputation as peacekeepers and humanitarians to being transgressors in nations such as Afghanistan. Canada has not actively participated in a combat role since World War II and chose to take part only in peacekeeping efforts previously. This has changed under Harper and the Conservatives who immediately thrust Canada into a ravaged Afghanistan where we’re losing our young soldiers needlessly.

Out goes our strong economy to one that’s falling apart with no real plan to help it. The Conservative government hasn’t come up with any real idea on how to combat the growing recession and instead waits for its “orders” to come from its neighbours down south. This leaves Canada at the mercy of a crippled American economy and puts us in a reactive position rather than a proactive position.

Out goes our hopes of being a leader of environmentally-sound principles and conduct to being a major polluter and backing out of the Kyoto Accord. The Athabasca Oil Sands project has environmentalists up in arms with Canadian politicians shrugging it off. The Kyoto Accord is basically meaningless and Harper and the Conservatives have yet to commit to any real action plan on becoming environmentally-sound.

It’s things like this that leave me scratching my head wondering why the populace propelled this government into power through two separate elections. That’s not to say that the other parties presented anything significantly better but one thing is for sure – a wolf will always be a wolf even when dressed in sheep’s clothing.

“But lately I’m beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel…”
- Incubus (Drive)

The Center of The Universe

At the pinnacle of life...

It could be argued that the Eastern Time Zone (EST) is probably the most centric timezone in the world. American television and media centers have a significant influence on when media events happen and obviously the priority will go to the timezone that represents major cities like New York, Washington, Boston, Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia and Miami. Other countries such as the Bahamas, Ecuador, Haiti and Panama also fall in under this timezone.

Here in Canada, three of the most important cities operate in the Eastern Time Zone – Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. This makes the timezone probably one of the largest by population in the world too with approximately 250 million people.

Amazingly, the timezone, as populous and centric as it is, lags behind much of the rest of the world, literally. It’s five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is the timezone in the United Kingdom and Portugal and six hours behind Central European Time (CET) which covers pretty much the rest of Europe.

What’s impressive about this is that for as centric as EST, the rest of the world, though ahead of it in terms of physical time, must rely on events in EST to help dictate the pace of the world. It doesn’t matter that life is lagging behind in EST than it is in other parts of the world when life itself is seemingly at the forefront of time. It’s rather amazing that as the world turns, we’re still fixated on really one point for direction and sadly, it’s the EST. The moment when another point in the world defines itself as the place to be will be when the center of the universe shifts…

“It seems I’ve gained the world but have nothing… to keep tabs upon this loss isn’t wasted time…”
- Chevelle (Point #1)