History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity -Cicero
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Accessible history
The Small Things, V
In keeping with the theme of previous posts, I bring you yet another nature-inspired post! Nothing really profound to share about this one.
His name is Ruediger, he's about 72 grams, was found in a dung pile :-( and makes his home in a German zoo.
Cue the coo-ing...
His name is Ruediger, he's about 72 grams, was found in a dung pile :-( and makes his home in a German zoo.
Cue the coo-ing...
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
On the moral imperative to donate blood
About 2 months ago, I made the decision to visit the blood donor clinic with my sister, who has been donating blood for a number of years.
I had tried in vain a year ago, to donate blood- but my iron levels were not high enough to do so. I was quite disappointed. However, I was determined to avoid a similar fate the next time around. I hit the red meat, spinach & OJ hard for a few days in a row, and it paid off! My iron levels were really high/at a safe level to donate. Needless to say, I felt quite accomplished upon learning I would be eligible to donate blood for the very first time...in my life.
I thought I'd dedicate a post on my blog to the importance of blood donation as I feel quite strongly about the need for us to do so on a regular basis (if we can).
Speaking as someone who considers themselves to be religious/spiritual, who practices a form of meditation daily, I can say that donating blood felt like a deeply spiritual activity. Nothing has quite made me feel as alive. And this is probably an understatement.
I had tried in vain a year ago, to donate blood- but my iron levels were not high enough to do so. I was quite disappointed. However, I was determined to avoid a similar fate the next time around. I hit the red meat, spinach & OJ hard for a few days in a row, and it paid off! My iron levels were really high/at a safe level to donate. Needless to say, I felt quite accomplished upon learning I would be eligible to donate blood for the very first time...in my life.
I thought I'd dedicate a post on my blog to the importance of blood donation as I feel quite strongly about the need for us to do so on a regular basis (if we can).
Speaking as someone who considers themselves to be religious/spiritual, who practices a form of meditation daily, I can say that donating blood felt like a deeply spiritual activity. Nothing has quite made me feel as alive. And this is probably an understatement.
According to Canadian Blood Services,
Approximately every minute of every day, someone in Canada needs blood.
According to a recent poll, 52 per cent of Canadians say they, or a
family member, have needed blood or blood products for surgery or for
medical treatment.
According to the American Red Cross,
One donation can save up to three lives.
If you began donating blood at age 17 and donated every 56 days until
you reached 76, you would have donated 48 gallons of blood, potentially
helping save more than 1,000 lives!
Silly for us all to have the expectation that should we be unfortunate enough to find ourselves in a situation where we require blood, that it will just be available, no questions asked. Shockingly, this is not enough to propel more of us to contribute something that our body can easily replace. bloody hell.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Small Things, IV
 |
| "Japanese Macaques have found a clever way of beating the winter chill; they bathe in Japan's hot springs. Here a macaque relaxes in Jigokudani." |
I am only now realizing my fascination with nature.
I'm not too sure how anyone can look at some of these creatures and draw the conclusion that we are so very different from them. We have so many limitations and yet we have notions of grandeur relating to our superiority as a species.
Tragedy in Toulouse
By this point, many of you may already have heard about the murders in France. With everything going on in the world, its almost as if we have become accustomed to sick tragedies like this one...or maybe we haven't, when it happens in our own backyards. I don't really know. There just doesn't seem to be anything shocking about people losing their lives in very sad sad ways, nowadays. This certainly can't be a good sign :-(
Before getting up to speed on the specifics of this heinous occurrence, I read an excellent piece by Professor Tariq Ramadan as he attempted to offer some perspective on some of the relevant issues at play.
I wanted to add a few simple thoughts to the discussion, if I may...
My heartfelt condolences go out to all the French families affected by this man's vicious actions. Whether we have become accustomed to senseless violence or not, the loss of any human life is something that should always be considered tragic regardless of who the victims are and reflected upon thoroughly.
France's 'integration' issues are well-known around the world, I think. From my own personal experience, I have met a few young French people who have felt let down in their own society, the lack of opportunity and racism they experience for being ethnically, racially or religiously 'different'. The trend towards conformity and uniformity, in the name of secularism may have isolated people even further I'm afraid. The fiery rhetoric around this faux 'integration' debate (not just in France, but elsewhere) seems to be driving people further apart.
Not just in France alone, but elsewhere, the true promise of equality has failed to materialize. And there are unfortunate consequences to this reality, which makes it all the more important that we all engage civilly with one another and do our part to make our communities more inclusive.
We can sidestep the real issues at play here (exclusionary policies, disenfranchised youth, racism, etc) and focus on hot-button issues that really just serve to distract us from what is seriously wrong in our communities. Opportunistic politicians can blame 'high' immigration, a supposed failure of immigrants and coloured folk to integrate properly, etc etc, but that ends up leaving us nowhere. We don't end up having the right conversations about how to fix some of these problems.
Prof. Ramadan provides some useful insight in this regard.
"Mohamed—how typical the name is!—was a French citizen of immigrant background before becoming a terrorist of immigrant origin. Early on his destiny became tied to the surrounding perceptions of that origin. Now, in a final act of provocation, he has come full circle, has vanished into this constructed and distorted image to become the definitive “other.” For the French of France, there is no longer anything French about Mohamed the Muslim Arab."
"The overwhelming majority of the Mohameds, the Fatimas or the Ahmeds of the suburbs and the banlieues are French; what they seek is equality, dignity, security, a decent job and a place to live. They are culturally and religiously integrated; their problem is overwhelmingly a socio-economic one. The story of Mohamed Merah today holds up to France a mirror in which it sees its face: he ends up a Jihadi without real conviction, after having been a citizen deprived of true dignity."
And then appropriately follows with,
"Once more, this excuses nothing. But therein lies a crucial lesson for us all."
Before getting up to speed on the specifics of this heinous occurrence, I read an excellent piece by Professor Tariq Ramadan as he attempted to offer some perspective on some of the relevant issues at play.
I wanted to add a few simple thoughts to the discussion, if I may...
My heartfelt condolences go out to all the French families affected by this man's vicious actions. Whether we have become accustomed to senseless violence or not, the loss of any human life is something that should always be considered tragic regardless of who the victims are and reflected upon thoroughly.
France's 'integration' issues are well-known around the world, I think. From my own personal experience, I have met a few young French people who have felt let down in their own society, the lack of opportunity and racism they experience for being ethnically, racially or religiously 'different'. The trend towards conformity and uniformity, in the name of secularism may have isolated people even further I'm afraid. The fiery rhetoric around this faux 'integration' debate (not just in France, but elsewhere) seems to be driving people further apart.
Not just in France alone, but elsewhere, the true promise of equality has failed to materialize. And there are unfortunate consequences to this reality, which makes it all the more important that we all engage civilly with one another and do our part to make our communities more inclusive.
We can sidestep the real issues at play here (exclusionary policies, disenfranchised youth, racism, etc) and focus on hot-button issues that really just serve to distract us from what is seriously wrong in our communities. Opportunistic politicians can blame 'high' immigration, a supposed failure of immigrants and coloured folk to integrate properly, etc etc, but that ends up leaving us nowhere. We don't end up having the right conversations about how to fix some of these problems.
Prof. Ramadan provides some useful insight in this regard.
"Mohamed—how typical the name is!—was a French citizen of immigrant background before becoming a terrorist of immigrant origin. Early on his destiny became tied to the surrounding perceptions of that origin. Now, in a final act of provocation, he has come full circle, has vanished into this constructed and distorted image to become the definitive “other.” For the French of France, there is no longer anything French about Mohamed the Muslim Arab."
"The overwhelming majority of the Mohameds, the Fatimas or the Ahmeds of the suburbs and the banlieues are French; what they seek is equality, dignity, security, a decent job and a place to live. They are culturally and religiously integrated; their problem is overwhelmingly a socio-economic one. The story of Mohamed Merah today holds up to France a mirror in which it sees its face: he ends up a Jihadi without real conviction, after having been a citizen deprived of true dignity."
And then appropriately follows with,
"Once more, this excuses nothing. But therein lies a crucial lesson for us all."
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Small Things, III
This recurring blogpost is adopting a theme as I present the third installment...The common thread between the posts being that they all relate to nature and creation! Thinking back to my university days, as a social science and humanities student, one of the most fascinating courses I had the pleasure of taking was a course on plant life. So the direction these postings has taken isn't all that surprising I suppose.
I think the photos below speak for them self. I showed these pictures to my brother, and he didn't find them all that fascinating...
What I find so extraordinary is that yes, there exist insects, beatles and marine life that are tiny, but a reptile- which to me seems to be a more complicated creature anatomically (just an impression, not based in fact!!)- that it exists in a miniature version...I just can't get over it!
So, enjoy and marvel at the beauty of the Brokesia Micra chameleon from Madagascar!
 |
| http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/15/tiniest-chameleon-madagascar-brookesia-micra_n_1280151.html?ref=canada&ir=Canada |
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Small Things, II
Just a few posts ago, I shared the very first installment of what I hoped would be a recurring blog post! I am happy to be making an addition to The Small Things with this post!
I came across the photograph below in a local daily, I was struck by the juxtaposition of the living and vibrant flowers against the dearth of the desert. I wondered, can life spring in an environment as uninviting as a dry desert?
There is definitely a lesson to be learned from these purple Scorpian weed: Two seeming opposites, coexisting unexpectedly when the conditions are just right...
#Peaceonearth
I came across the photograph below in a local daily, I was struck by the juxtaposition of the living and vibrant flowers against the dearth of the desert. I wondered, can life spring in an environment as uninviting as a dry desert?
 |
| Scorpian weed in the Mojave desert. |
There is definitely a lesson to be learned from these purple Scorpian weed: Two seeming opposites, coexisting unexpectedly when the conditions are just right...
#Peaceonearth
Monday, January 23, 2012
RECIPE: Baklava
I've always wanted to try my hand at homemade baklava and I finally made it happen this past weekend. Much like the Scottish Shortbread cookies, this recipe is pretty foolproof. There isn't much room to go wrong, even for the novice baker! So don't be afraid if this is your first or second foray into baking.
I basically followed DedeMed's recipe, with a few minor alterations. Her recipes and videos can be found here and here. There are only a few items that you will need to pick up from your local Middle Eastern/South Asian/etc grocery store: Rose water, Orange Blossom Water, Phyllo pastry & nuts of your choice.
Here are the ingredients you will need:
Simple Syrup/Atyr
I basically followed DedeMed's recipe, with a few minor alterations. Her recipes and videos can be found here and here. There are only a few items that you will need to pick up from your local Middle Eastern/South Asian/etc grocery store: Rose water, Orange Blossom Water, Phyllo pastry & nuts of your choice.
Here are the ingredients you will need:
Simple Syrup/Atyr
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water
So now that you have all of the ingredients...you're probably wondering what to do with them!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Reviving my Spirit, 2011
Christmas weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the 10th Annual Reviving the Islamic Spirit Convention in downtown Toronto. For the first time in ten years, the conference sold out with an estimated 20 000 participants. Last year, it seems they were somewhere between 17 and 20 000. Attracting scholars from near and far, one great addition this year was Professor Seyyid Hossein Nasr, whom I'll discuss a little later.
The subject of this year's conference was "Control, Chaos or Community: Three Ways, One World, Our Choice." A very fitting title, considering the socio-political/economic/popular worldwide turmoil. I think in all this 'chaos', it was beneficial to get some religious/spiritual perspective on what role/responsibility we have as human beings and western Muslims.
As with previous years, a number of scholars attended, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson (U.S), Professor Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland), Professor Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (U.S), Imam Zaid Shakir (U.S.), Shaykh Abdalla Idris Ali (CAN), Dr. Jamal Badawi (CAN), Attallah Shabazz (U.S.), Habib Ali Al-Jifri (Yemen), Dr. Abdal Hakim Jackson (U.S.), Imam Yassir Fazaga (U.S.), with other guests including Shaykh Mishary Alafasy, Dr. Seyyid Hossein Nasr, Shaykh Sulaiman Mulla, Dr. Tawfique Chowdhury and Toronto's own- Sister Tayyibah Taylor.
I thought I would run through a few highlights from a few speakers. My words won't do justice to the emotion and passion behind some of their words, but I will try my best.
As with previous years, a number of scholars attended, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson (U.S), Professor Tariq Ramadan (Switzerland), Professor Umar Faruq Abd-Allah (U.S), Imam Zaid Shakir (U.S.), Shaykh Abdalla Idris Ali (CAN), Dr. Jamal Badawi (CAN), Attallah Shabazz (U.S.), Habib Ali Al-Jifri (Yemen), Dr. Abdal Hakim Jackson (U.S.), Imam Yassir Fazaga (U.S.), with other guests including Shaykh Mishary Alafasy, Dr. Seyyid Hossein Nasr, Shaykh Sulaiman Mulla, Dr. Tawfique Chowdhury and Toronto's own- Sister Tayyibah Taylor.
I thought I would run through a few highlights from a few speakers. My words won't do justice to the emotion and passion behind some of their words, but I will try my best.
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