A Happy Eid to you, dear readers. Today is Eid-ul-Fitr here in Atlanta, the day celebrating the end of Ramazan, the month of fasting. So I have Eid here today, while my wife in New Jersey will have hers tomorrow. What’s the deal with that? I have no idea. Eid is celebrated on the new… Continue reading Eid Mubarak
Redux: The Non-Taxpaying Class
I am getting a lot of hits (my definition of “lot” may differ from yours) for searching on this WSJ editorial. I am #11 (yes, that’s near the end) on Google. I thought I should point my readers to my posts as well as others. My original post My post about Neal Boortz beating WSJ… Continue reading Redux: The Non-Taxpaying Class
History of Abrahamic Religions
I am interested in finding out more about the history of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Not from the point of view of their followers, but from good scholarly sources which discuss independent sources for the history of the early periods of these religions as well as the history of the Bible and the Quran (based… Continue reading History of Abrahamic Religions
Atlanta Weather
So it seems we might have freezing rain here. Freezing rain or a trace of snowfall can be a disaster here. Everything closes down. We did get an email yesterday about the procedures for closing the school due to inclement weather. I found it funny. Though I could not survive living in Maine, Vermont or… Continue reading Atlanta Weather
My Advisor
I just learned that my advisor is having minor heart surgery tomorrow. Fortunately, the problem was diagnosed at an early stage at a regular medical exam. He’ll be out until January. Hope he gets well soon.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
We watched Harry Potter over the weekend. It’s a good movie, but I am not the target audience. Even though it runs to 2 hours and 40 minutes, it doesn’t feel overly long. This one also has more plot twists than the first Harry Potter movie. However, we liked the first one better.
What Sort of Muslim Are You?
I decided to ignore the results of my last beliefnet quiz and took the “What sort of a Muslim are you?” quiz. Here are the results: You are a secular Muslim. You are a cultural or secular Muslim. You might identify yourself with the Muslim community, but like Kareem Abdul Jabbar, you have no problems… Continue reading What Sort of Muslim Are You?
Muslims, the West and Media
Aziz Poonawalla has a series (1, 2, 3) of posts on the silence of the media in showing the non-extremist Muslim majority. First, some quotes from Aziz: Let me assure him [Steven Den Beste] and you that as a Muslim, I don’t really CARE how Islam is perceived by non-Muslims. I care how Islam is… Continue reading Muslims, the West and Media
Gujrat Riots
Aziz Poonawalla (yes, him again) has the best collection of links to stories about the Hindu-Muslim riots in the Indian province of Gujrat earlier in the year. Suman Palit responds to Aziz with the “root causes” of the hatred of the Hindu fundamentalists for their local Muslims. I don’t agree with his interpretation though. He… Continue reading Gujrat Riots
Long Distance Relationships
Don’t do them. Seriously, they are tough. It takes a lot of committment and very good communication to sustain a relationship long distance. So why am I talking about long distance relationships today? Because I just returned to Atlanta from New Jersey. My wife lives and work there while I am finishing my degree. We… Continue reading Long Distance Relationships