Islam and Terrorism

Wednesday, December the 21st, 1988, 7.03 pm, Lockerbie, Scotland. 31 000 feet above the Scottish grounds, Pan Am flight 103 was en route from Heathrow, London to New York’s John Fitzgerald Kennedy airport. In it were 259 people who were preparing for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Little did these people know that for them as well as for 11 people on the ground, this would be their final moment. Approximately 38 minutes after take off, a bomb exploded aboard that plane. Sending it crashing down into the Scottish grounds. Killing all 259 on board.

October 23 1983, Beirut. During the Lebanese civil war, two trucks laden with explosives struck buildings in Beirut housing U.S. and French members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon, killing hundreds of soldiers, the majority being U.S. Marines. The blasts led to the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon, where they had been stationed since the Israeli 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Intensifying the Lebanese Civil War.

Ladies and gentlemen, the events which I have just described to you are two examples of infamous terrorist attacks which have happened over the past two decades. This issue of international terrorism still is as troubling now as it has been since a few decades ago. Governments all over the world are issuing orders and directives as to how to solve this problem. Wars both big scale as well as small scale have been initiated to combat this problem. Above all tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives have been lost in this constant squabble between terrorists and government. But the question still remains. Who or what is to blamed for this dramatic rise in terrorism?

World over, Islam has constantly come under attack for promoting terrorism. Proponents argue that oppressive and aggressive teachings of Islam allows for terrorism to prosper. They escalate this argument by claiming that every major terrorist attack in the past two decades has been carried out or at least planned by a Muslim. Therefore claiming that the religion of Islam is responsible for terrorism.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I stand here before you on this morning not to agree with these bizarre claims but to refute them. After conducting research on the links between Islam and terrorism, I stand here before you, based on my conclusions, to persuade you that Islam is not responsible for the rise of terrorism. In my speech, what you can expect to hear is what Islam really stands for and the real causes of terrorism.

In the modern world, Islam is constantly branded as a religion which perpetuates terrorism, aggressive behavior, oppression against women and many more baseless accusations. Islam is in fact a peace loving religion. The word Islam means Salam, which in turn means greetings. The greeting Assalamualaikum which is used by Muslims all over the world means may peace be with you. Apart from that, Islam is a religion which strongly condemns violence of any type. According to the Quran, those who commit acts of violence will never be allowed into heaven. Of course you might ask that if indeed Islam is a religion which promotes peace, why then does it promote Jihad? As a matter of fact Jihad does indeed mean holy war. But there are two types of Jihad. The big jihad and the small jihad. The big jihad explains that one should launch a holy war to combat one’s bad habits such as laziness, bad tempers and addiction to unhealthy activities. The small jihad explains that one should only go to war to defend themselves if they come under attack.

Therefore, now you might ask, if Islam isn’t to be blamed, who or what is to be blamed for all these suicide attacks? Based on the research which I have done, the answer lies not within the deep confines of Islam but within other reasons. The first main reason is the misinterpretation of the religion by radical Islamists and Imams. Over the past three to four decades, the meteoric rise of radical Islamists has indeed proved detrimental to the goodwill of the religion. The reason I say so is because each and every one of these Islamists would come up with their own twisted views and interpretations of the verses from the Quran. According to them Islam is all about violence and every Muslim has a divine responsibility to brandish a weapon to kill all infidels, non believers. They further escalate this argument by saying that the act of killing an infidel would give them more points to go into heaven. And when they do, they would be handsomely rewarded by Allah. According to them, these rewards include 70 virgins for a single man, a free flow of wine and all the luxuries that every man or women would desire. Therefore ladies and gentlemen, from these elaborations we can indeed come to a sound conclusion that it is not Islam which promotes terrorism, but the radical Islamists who actually misuse the banner of Islam for their own sick and twisted purposes. My question to you is, does all of this make sense? If indeed such rewards exist in heaven, why don’t the Islamists who preach them go ahead and sacrifice themselves instead? Furthermore, if your objective is to have everyone accept your religion as a peace loving religion, why launch violent attacks? Won’t these only serve to undermine the credibility of your religion? Think about it.

Apart from the rise of radical Islamists, there is a more sinister reason to the existence to this problem. Imagine this. You live in a rather run down or deplorable town, city or maybe even a country. You are the eldest child in a family of 10. Life has been anything but pleasant. Your father barely makes enough money to put a meal on the table. Your mother on the other hand, has been restricted by certain laws and traditions to go out and look for work. The rest of your siblings are too young to even look for work. Often, your family gets through the day with barely a meal. None of them even receive a proper education. Being the eldest, you may somehow feel a sense of responsibility to cure this problem. But the problem is, in a town where everybody lives in extreme poverty, you just don’t know where to look. Then one fine day, a certain stranger visits your village offering you as well as the other village boys a chance to redeem your family and to live a good life. This stranger persuades you to leave your family and join the terrorist army where you would be handsomely rewarded. With no other choice, you lie to your family, saying that you are going to a foreign land to look for jobs, but in fact you are going to fight and eventually die fighting for a cause which only makes sense to the radical Islamists. This ladies and gentlemen often happen in countries like Iran, Iraq, Syria, Chechnya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan. That’s exactly why terrorism is often blamed on Islam. Their argument is that the majority of the terrorists are young Muslim men. Is this logical?

And as a consequent to this, the religion of Islam is often promoted to be somewhat like the bad people. Hollywood often makes movies which portray the Muslims to be the evil people. Newspaper headline often undermine Islamic practices such as modesty and traditionalistic views to be out of sync with the modern world. Lately, Islam has often become the unwilling scapegoat to the problem of terrorism. Compelling arguments have been made by world leaders all around the world for this. But the problem is, those reasoning often fail to pin point the root causes of terrorism.

So after listening to all of this, I ask you, is it fair to blame Islam for promoting terrorism? In fact we can often counter argue by saying that most of the prolific terror acts have been carried out by non Muslims. For example the IRA or the Irish Republican army which has committed hundreds of terror activities on Irish soil, Timothy McVeigh who was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombings. The deadly Mumbai bombings were done by Hindu fanatics. John Wilkes Booth, the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, Jack the Ripper and the Ku Klux Klan were all Christians. So if we keep blaming Islam for terrorism, wouldn’t it only be fair to blame non Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Jews for being terrorists?

Before I end my speech, allow me to summarize what my main points were. My first point was the elaboration of Islam. My second and third points were the causes of terrorism which is the rise of Islamic radicals as well as the deplorable conditions from which most of these insurgents come from

Mutter

Die Tranen greiser Kinderschar
ich zieh sie auf ein weisses Haar
werf in die Luft die nasse Kette
und wunsch mir, dass ich eine Mutter hatte

Keine Sonne die mir scheint
keine Brust hat Milch geweint
in meiner Kehle steckt ein Schlauch
Hab keinen Nabel auf dem Bauch

Mutter

Ich durfte keine Nippel lecken
und keine Falte zum Verstecken
niemand gab mir einen Namen
gezeugt in Hast und ohne Samen

Der Mutter die mich nie geboren
hab ich heute Nacht geschworen
ich werd ihr eine Krankheit schenken
und sie danach im Fluss versenken

Mutter

In ihren Lungen wohnt ein Aal
auf meiner Stirn ein Muttermal
entferne es mit Messers Kuss
auch wenn ich daran sterben muss

Mutter

In ihren Lungen wohnt ein Aal
auf meiner Stirn ein Muttermal
entferne es mit Messers Kuss
auch wenn ich verbluten muss

Mutter
oh gib mir Kraft

Fall To Pieces

Subject Of Controversy

For this past few weeks, I have been doing alot of research and debate about Islam, and Christianity. It all started about a few days ago, right after SJGC's play at Segi College. After sending Chai off, Ping Fuan and I walked towards my car. As we were walking, we started discussing religion in general and about how wars were and are still being fought just because of religion. Of course, the both of us did have differing viewpoints on the subject and due to that, we ended up debating and trying to persuade each other for quite an amount of time. In fact, as this entry is being written, we are still at it. He is trying to persuade me not to go ahead on my planned speech topic, Islam and Terrorism, stating that I would be walking o very thin and dangerous lines if I do so. But I think that I should do it. The reason is, the more the controversy, the more the disagreement, the more the questioning, the more spicier my presentation becomes. It's just me. I just can't see myself giving a persuasive speech which title is "How Chocolate Milk Helps You Loose Weight", which I expect half or more of the class to be doing so because that would be deemed as "entertaining."

But anyways getting back to the point. I have always been very interested in the study of religion and god. My objective is to understand why religion exists and why have so many issues, in the name of religion, divided the world into so many pieces and fragments? Why debates are still held to argue the existence or in some cases the very necessity of god and religion? Some have even claimed that religion is highly unethical. I want to understand that claim too. Honestly, don't you find it amazing how religion can unite so many of its believers under one roof and make them have similar ideas and beliefs? Don't you find it amazing how some people are willing to die and kill others just to protect the honor of their religion? I don't know about you, but I do find it to be a very interesting topic of study. Mind you, this is a highly controversial study worth over thousands of years of history.

By writing the preceding paragraphs, I do not wish to imply or conclude a disrespect towards any form of religion, as most of you have claimed. All I wish to do is to study it and hopefully come to a solid conclusion. That's all.

Therefore, in my speech about Islam and terrorism, I will indeed do as much research and interviewing as I possibly could. My hypothesis is that Islam does not breed terrorism. Its the radical fanatics who hide behind the banner of Islam who actually promote terrorism. And as a result of that, Islam has indeed received bad press for it.

Of course, there have been highly controversial verses in the Quran about killing the non believers but perhaps that too must have been misinterpreted by those who seek to turn Islam into a scapegoat for all the worlds troubles. But whether or not this is true, will depend on what I will see for myself in the not so distant future. But until then, I do hope to swim in the high seas of controversy. Braving its choppy waves with nothing more than a tiny fishing boat for protection.

Islam is Not To Be Blamed

For my presuasive speech which is due next week, I wish to talk about why Islam is not to be blamed for the increase in terror activities all around the world. Here's a brief outline for my speech. Please let me know what needs developing yea. Thanks a bunch.


Why is it that terrorism is more prominent in Islamic states?

Common belief: The teachings of Islam is to be blamed for terrorism?

My stand : No

Why?
- Elaborate on Islam.
- Cite examples.

Who then, is to be blamed for terrorism?
- Radical Islamic fanatics who misinterpret the religion
- Rundown homes and nations form which most of these terrorists originate from
- Islamic governments who usually oppress their people cause them to rebel and fight amongst themselves

My Philosophy

A couple of weeks ago, two I think, my philosophy lecturer Mr Eddy Lee assigned us an assignment. What the assignment required us to do is to come up with a ten page book on our own philosophies. He explained that we could write about anything and everything under the sun, but just as long as every word of it, save for a few quotes which we may take from arbitrary sources, must be our own. Initially, I decided not to rush it as assignments like these usually required a whole lot of thinking and the examination of our views. So, what I did was,I decides to allow myself to spend some time to think about how I wish to arrange my words and points for this assignment. Two weeks on, and as the July 17Th deadline looms closer, I still haven't got a clue about what to write. Initially, I figured that I might want to write about life, religion, love, and other topics like that but giving second thoughts to those ideas certainly brings upon more questions. For example, even if I do choose to write about those topics, what should I write? What would be a good way to express as well as develop my points without making them sound mundane, cliche-ed or even repetitive? Its a total mystery to me. But then again, like in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, there's always unparalleled fun in solving mysteries. Don't you think so?

But there is one thing which has been bugging me for quite some time now. That is, how do we interpret what is being said to us without misinterpreting the actual message? Or how do we read between the lines when one has said or done things to us? In essence, what is sarcasm? How do we identify it? I do not speak about your everyday sarcasm, but what I speak of is sarcasm of a very deep level. I don't quite know how to put this into words, but I think you get my point. Afterall, we have all been through it at some point in our lives.

The second thought which has been bugging me is that how do we know that we are not being used as a stepping stone toward another person's desire at our own expense? How do we know whether or not someone is or isn't being true to us? When one congratulates the product and not the inventor, how should that be looked upon?
How do we know that by being kind or supportive of someone all the time, our actions are not being viewed as being kind and supportive just because we want something in return?

I ask too many questions and most of the time, I often make the answers up. Answeres which are not very accurate. I know that there are no definite answers to most of these questions. But yet, these are the questions that I most frequently ask when it comes to human relations, regardless of level or intimacy. If I keep asking questions, and don't come up with accurate or understandable answeres, how then am I to write anything about by philosophy?

Not Anymore

There I was, the architect, sitting and watching my idea play itself infront of my eyes. As the music was playing in the background, I sat and watched the idea transform itself into the idea which had once captivated me and took my breath away, leaving me gasping for air. As I stared, I could not help but be amazed at what I saw. I saw the innocence of the idea, the inner layer of the idea, the purity of the idea. But most importantly I saw what I had desired to be my own. But moments later, my desire for it all but crumbled before me. No, not because I had wanted it to, but because the back of my eyes showed me the very reason I choose to give up on my idea.

Sometimes, I get sick and tired of having to pretend to look away when I know I'm not. Most people would say that the only pair of eyes that they have are in the front of their faces. But for me, I have another pair, right behind my head. A pair of eyes which always play tricks on me. No, I will not let them. Sometimes, I get sick and tired of having to be there when my only role is to be buttered up, persuaded, made to believe, then at the 11th hour, be thrown out from the inner circle which I help design. No, I will not play that part anymore. No. Not anymore.

The Smokey Trap

When I first came here, I was very much on my own. No one to hold on to while everything else had stilts or ropes for support. I was left to flail alone in the cold, dark, deep ocean while all the rescue boats had been sent to rescue those whom they deemed "worth it." But somehow, while all the sharks circled me, hoping to make me their next meal, I never felt like a marooned pirate, angry and forsaken. Instead, I felt like a piece of solid ice berg floating over the Caribbean waters. I felt mighty, but I knew that sooner or later, the heat of the Caribbean waters would slowly but surely melt me. Making me a part of its deep blue ocean. But I guess that this is quite common in the world that we live in. We arrive in a place to seek knowledge to better our lives. Before we make that journey, we prepare ourselves with lifelong principles, logical reasoning and steadfast advice to help us endure the challenges that we might face along the way.
During our initial stay at this place, we hold steady all that we have learned. But after some time, we start to to acquaint ourselves with a number of desirable as well as undesirable souls. While the desirable souls extend their arms to help us wade across the difficult waters, the undesirables hand us the anchor. Helping us to sink faster to the depths of the deep blue ocean. At first we reject this anchor, but after some subtle coercion, we reluctantly accept it. Afterall, how deep can we sink? At first, we reluctantly hang on to the anchor. But after some time, the anchor becomes our "reason for living."
Then when we wake up on one fine day, we realise that everything that we have held on to, all that we have been taught to reason against have started to crumble down before our very eyes. Just like the mighty iceberg which was finally melted by the heat of the Caribbean waters. We have become nothing more thatn the followers of a rotten society. A society hell bent on bringing as many people down with them as they can.
Today, I was offered a stick of death. And just like all the previous times, I have rejected it. My principles disallowed me from slipping into that path of disgrace. I am greatful for that. But unfortunately, not all of us were lucky enough. Some of my other friends, winners in their own rights, have fallen into this death trap. A smokey trap I fear would take them enourmous effort to get out of. I can only watch on in horror, as my words all but fall on deaf ears. Ears which I hope will someday start listening and analysing all that is important.

Unfinished

You may remember this from my old blog. Its a work which I have yet to complete. But now hat it has happened, I have the inspiration to continue.


Tonight was the night,
the stars shone bright,
Illuminating the night sky with its magical lights,
Tonight was the night,
an angel from above took me by her wings,
to a far away land,
A land where the things i longed for exist,
Tonight was the night,
she showed me who I really am,
Showed me what my treasures really are,
And what my soul really longed for,
Most of all, Tonight was the night,
she showed me the way,
the night she made me fall to my knees,
And for that I wanna say,
Ich Liebe Dish.
Tonight,
When I am around you,
I always seem to forget who I am,
The moments always seem to pass by so quickly.
Always leave me waking up
With nothing more than thoughts
Thoughts of sounds and images which I find hard to fill.
But nontheless I still do.

Again

Funny Life

The world is indeed a very funny place to live in. For example, just the other day, two weeks ago to be precise, I was walking a friend home after college. Suddenly, while we were talking, she popped this completely unexpected question. "Eh, whats the name of that tall chinese guy who lives behind your house?" At that very moment, I burst my hearts out laughing. I didn't know what to think at that moment. This was the very same girl who was asked out on a date by this tall chinese guy. She kept on trying to remember this guy's name but to my amazement/ horror/ amusement, she couldn't. Yes, I think most of you with the exception of one or two of you know what I'm talking about or who I am referring to. If you were to go deep into the history of this guy, you would come to a solid conclusion that life is indeed rather funny sometimes. Just when someone is about to get serious about something, he gets smacked in the face, which is no fault of his. And when this happens, it somehow turns into the butt of all jokes. Jokes which last for years. I'll give you guys and girls a hint. Bos, bawa Coke panas satu! Ring any bells? I know it did.
Damn, I cn't believe I actually wrote all of this down.

Cats In The Cradle

I first heard this song while I was working at TGI Fridays. Initially, I thought that it was just another one of the 'oldies.' But after listening to it and understanding what it meant, I......

So Cold

Selfish I am,
Self centred I am,
Like a diva I behave,
Sulking my way through.
Doing it not once but many a times.
Regretting not once but many times.
I do wish to turn over a new leaf.
I do wish to learn how to lay back,
Lay back and enjoy while I still can.
A smile is always better than a sulk.
Even under difficult circumstances.
One day I know I will look upon this day,
And remind myself how selfish I was.
How insolent I was,
How insensitve I was.
The look on your face wil forever haunt me,
Will forever throw me into the dungeons of guilt.
But for all I did,
You forgave me.
I just hope that one day karma doesn't hit me back.
Because when it does,
I doubt that I will be able to take it.
At least not in the way you did.
Sometimes I wonder wheter or not I am worthy of your love?
Everytime I think about it,
My heart grows cold.
I realise that I don't.

Dreams

Indeed, alot has passed since that fateful day in May when I choose to go to college. The day I decided that enough was enough and that the time had come for me to show the world what I was capable of.

A couple of hours ago, I was with my parents at the dining table. We were discussing about how to go about completing my University application forms. For the most part of it, we were discussing about how much it would cost to send me on another episode of my already amazing dream and about how best to present our financial capabilities to the university. The plan of attack is to make the documents look bullet proof as well as vulnerable at the same time. Quite a daunting task I can assure you. But enough of that. I'm not here to speak about that, but instead, what I would like to talk about today is dreams.

Every achievement starts with a thought, an idea, a dream. Every thought, every idea starts with a person. But whether or not these ideas take flight, very much depends on not one, but by the concerted efforts of so many different parties. It is like an orchestra. It takes not one, but many talented and skilled musicians under the vigilant guidance of an equally successful conductor to be a success. A note, or even a part played in the wrong way would surely serve to ruin this piece of orchestrated playing. Giving the concert goers a very bad impression about the evening's performance. Similar to that are the success of dreams.

It is frequently said that the impending pleasure out of reaching a certain destination goes only as deep as the amount of experience gained during the journey. I could never agree more with this statement, for my journey to where I stand today has been anything but a bed of roses. But even if it was, I was constantly pricked by its thorns. I remembered a long time ago, back when I was 9 years old to be precise, I had this tuition teacher. I forgot what her name was but all I knew is that she would come to my home, early in the morning to tutor me on subjects such as math and English. She would charge a fee of RM 200 per month. My parents of course paid the fees. After teaching me for some time she came to a conclusion. She told my parents that I would be extremely fortunate even I would manage to make it past the third grade. Yes, she called me stupid. But my mother, being the resilient woman that she is, decided to prove her wrong. And prove her wrong she did. I remember her spending hours upon hours educating me in all the different subjects that was needed to get me through third grade. And when the year ended, I had amassed quite a number of good results.

Then came probably one of the most undesirable parts of my entire life so far. The time when I entered the fourth grade right up to the point when I finished sixth grade. Back when I was in lower elementary, I would take pride in describing myself as a rather energetic young lad who had managed to do not one but many naughty things and still be considered an angel by many. An honor which I am still proud of to say the least.But all that changed during the following three years. Unlike most of my other friends, I had been promoted into a rather good class. A blessing you might say. A blessing I assure you not. It was during these times that I learnt the meaning of racism. I had extremely racist teachers, racist friends and practically everyone on that year had something against me. I admit that I was rather lazy, and I was different from all my other peers. I remember one evening while I was sitting in class, it was a rainy evening, minding my own business, this teacher by the name Jagdish walked into the class. She was standing in as a relief for my absent teacher. At first, she walked around to inspect the class. Little did I realise she was now just behind me. Suddenly, when she saw me, she started to scream. Her words were, "Is this 4 Cempaka? If so, what is this devil doing in Cempaka (second class)!!" All the while pointing at me. Being reserved by nature, all I did was stare. I related the incident to my mother. She, like what Albert Einstein's mother did, advised me to ignore her and that she was wrong. And since that day, I bore a grudge against her. I was to be ridiculed and smacked on countless other occasions throughout this entire three years. I managed to break in half a few meter long wooden rulers while I was being smacked with them. My grade five teacher, Selvi despised me so much that she branded me a monkey. And every time when something went wrong, I would be blamed and then held by the ear and given a good slapping, right in front of the entire class of about 40, while she branded me all kinds of things. Among them were stupid, idiot, dumb, monkey and a whole lot more. I swore that one day, I would pelt a stone into her car's rear windshield. Grade six was alot more like that too. Only this time, my teacher, Masinah, allowed a poem to be published in the class magazine which described me as lazy. I still have that book with me. In that year alone, I was made to stand outside the class on no less than 10 occasions. She predicted that while everybody else would be celebrating with a string of straight A's for UPSR, I was to fail it miserably. And what did I do to prove this people wrong, I went out there and became one of the very few people in my class to receive straight A's for my UPSR. Selvi of course, was shocked beyond words when she learnt from my own mouth that I had gotten 5 A's. I can still remember the look on her face and how she went scurrying back into the staff room.

High school was never really that eventful. But there was this one event which is still etched in my mind. Back when I was in 10th grade or in local terms, form 4, I saw a piece of paper hung behind the class. On that paper was a list of what some predicted others would become when they became professionals. When the list reached my name, guess what was on it? Jobless. I was speechless. I felt as if I was being vilified behind my back all the time. For the next few weeks, I was silently very angry. I never looked at life the same way after that. No one of course noticed the difference in my attitude. I had kept it where it mattered most. Deep in me. Deep, where it would only serve to fuel me to become a whole lot greater than any of those students in my from instead of fuelling me into a needless and wasteful rage. And what did I do to prove them wrong? I am just weeks if not months away form applying to one of the best Aeronautical universities in the world. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. A place which I had dreamt of going to since I was a seventeen year old teenager.

What I wish to impart from this is that no matter what people have to say about you or no matter how much difficulty they put you through, realise that its not over. It will never be not unless you decide to tell yourself that its over. If you have a dream, stick to it. Make sure that that dream belongs to you. Not to your parents, your friends, your relatives, not no one. And no matter what come may, work at it and one fine day, you will reach it. And when you reach it, I can guarantee you that you will feel an unparalleled amount of happiness and satisfaction. And that is something no one can take from you. It will be with you. As for me, the person who was told will never get pass the third grade, being where I currently am, is in itself a huge achievement. An achievement which I wish to build on, and an achievement which began with a dream. A dream which was worked on not by one, but by many individuals whom I could never thank enough. I can now start orchestrating my last laugh. A laugh which will be even harder and louder when my name becomes Dr. Senthil K. S. Doctor of philosophy in Aerodynamics and Jet Propulsion.

Life

Lately, life has given me a few surprises. Some of them pleasant, while some of them rather unpleasant. For the good part, I'm starting to find out many things about people around me. People whom in the past, I wouldn't really bother to think much of or think twice for. This doesn't mean that I have any disrespect for them but what I meant by saying this was that I never really bothered to look deeper than what lies as deep as the skin would go. This of course has somewhat clouded much of my judgements or perhaps even what I engender sometimes. This lack of light has most certainly thrown me into the gallows of darkness. Gallows which has caused others to commit sin, to commit senseless crimes and sometimes even to commit murder. Murders based on motives that are extremely vague at best. As much as these gallows condemn a person's life to a path in which there is no return, it too can condemn a person to a path of enlightenment. Well, at least that's what it did to me.

For the rather unpleasant surprises, I wouldn't want to talk much about it. But there is someone out there whom I know who isn't really in the best of shape. How deep the problem goes, I don't know. But all I know is I didn't really like what I heard. What this person told me too was almost impossible to accept. Imagining it alone is difficult. But life is such. It is filed with many inconvenient truths. We have to accept it, regardless of how severe the truth may be. All I can do is to pray and hope that this dear friend of mine pulls through and comes out of it like a fighter.

Lithium

Side

The Devil

From the dungeons the devil rose and uttered the words to his wardens, "By horn you grab the bull, in its eyes you will see the reflection of courage." He then continued, "From these chains, I have lived. My hands deformed from the constant tugging. From these gallows, I have hung until my neck, twisted like an iron rod under the heat of a furnace. But am I angry? No, I am not. I feel stronger and more aware about what you people are capable of doing to me. I have lived it." Of course, the face of the devil was beaten, scarred by the constant torture by which man humans have put him through. His body, torn and tattered by the constant whipping by the executioners cane. But my question is why? Why torture the devil when it is a part of us? A part of us, without which we can never be complete. None of us are free from evil. If there is yin, there must be yang, if there is good there must be non good. If there is god, there must be the satan.

If Everyone Cared

Tagged

While looking through blogs, out of sheer boredom, I managed to get tagged by noneother than Elena . So, just like in a game of tag, when you're tagged, you really are it. So here goes.

1) Name one person who made you smile last night.
One would be too little. Many people and things made me smile last night.

2)What were you doing at 8:00 this morning?
I was still asleep. I woke up 10 minutes later

3) What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Reading an F1 Racing magazine.

4) What was something that happened to you in 2006?
Too many to mention. Going to college was the most significant event and meeting up with old friends was another.


5)What is the last thing you said aloud?
I don't quite remember. I hardly speak when I am at home.

6) How many different things did you drink today?
Only one. Water.

7) What color is your hairbrush?
I don't possess one.

8) What was the last thing you paid for?
My F1 Racing magazine and a stack of A4 papers.

9) Where were you last night?
At home.

10) What color is your front door?
Brown

11) Where do you keep your change?
I just shove them in my pocket. Why bother?

12) What is the weather like today?
Hot at first, then rainy.

13) What is the best ice cream flavor?
Either coffee filled with nuts or anything that tastes like alcohol...rum n raisins.

14) What is something you are excited about?
Driving really fast cars. Playing in a gig.

15) Do you want to cut your hair?
Yes.

16) Are you over the age of 25?
Psychologically, I'm 26. Physically, I am 19

17) Do you talk a lot?
It depends to who I am with. But usually, I am rather quiet.

18) Do you watch The O.C.?
No.

19) Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes.

20) Do you make up your own words?
Are you really asking me this question?

21) Are you typically a jealous person?
No. I never get jealous. I just get ambitious when someone has something that I don't.

22) Name a friend whose name starts with the letter “A”
Aaron

23) Name a friend whose name starts with the letter “K”
Kazumasa Komatsu

24) Who’s the 1st person on your received calls list?
Nick Win

25) What did the last text message you received say?
Eh bro I really don't know how to do. Can you meet me tomorrow at 8 am?

26) Do you chew on your straws?
On most ocassions yes.

27) Do you have curly hair?
Yes. Thats why I like to cut it.

28) Where is the next place you’re going?
My room.

29) Who is the rudest person in your life?
Who else?

30) What is the last thing you ate?
Medicine.

31) Is marriage in your future?
Yes. But like I said. Not before I own a Lamborghini.

32) What is the best movie you’ve seen in the past two weeks?
I haven't really watched any movies in the past two weeks.

33) Is there anyone you like right now?
It depends on what you mean when you say like. Like is a strong word.

34) When was the last time you did the dishes?
Today. After breakfast.

35) Are you currently depressed?
No.

36) Did you cry today?
I haven't shed a tear in over seven years.

37) Why did you answer and post this?
Because I was tagged by Elena.

38) Tag 5 people who would do this survey
Anybody who even bothered to read this

Live Forever

Global Warming

“So what? It’s only a few degrees centigrade. How much damage can that do to our world? These scientists must be talking nonsense.” This line is most commonly used to belittle the issue of which I am about to bring up. Further evidence in my speech would explain to you how fatal the consequences of these lines are.

The world which we live in today is currently embroiled in one of the most compelling crisis ever to be witnessed by the likes of mankind. This crisis if not stopped in time, will bring about extremely adverse effects not only to mother earth, but to all those who inhabit planet earth. Ladies and gentlemen. Over the past fifty to one hundred years, nations all around the world have been experiencing a rapid rate of increase in industrialization. All these industrialization while bringing economic strength to its respective nations as well as to those around them, has indeed proved detrimental towards the environmental well being of earth. The greenhouse gasses released by industrialization have caused alarming damage to earth. Some of the damage reversible, while some irreversible. The magnitude of these damages has been to such an extent that environmental experts have been prompted into giving out warnings that if the constant scarring of earth is not stopped in time, the world which we live in today would become a very inhospitable place. The name for this phenomenon is Global Warming.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. After conducting extensive research on this topic, I stand before you today to inform you about Global Warming and the dangers which it poses. In my speech I will be talking about the causes of global warming, the effects of global warming as well as methods to stop or at the very least minimize the effects of global warming. It is important for us to know about these things as we, the future generation of this planet must realize the predicament which we are in and we must embrace knowledge on what we can do to combat this problem. After all, it is impossible to go shopping for a new earth. Before I go into all of that, please give me a moment to give all of you a brief definition about global warming.

According to Al Gore, former vice president of the United States and creator of the documentary “The Inconvenient Truth,” Global warming refers to a process where Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. Thus increasing the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.

This of course brings me to my first point, the causes of Global Warming. What causes Global Warming? There are a few factors in general which cause global warming. Among the main factors are the increased levels of release of greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide into our atmosphere. What happens next is that when these greenhouse gasses are released into the earth’s atmosphere, they form a virtual blanket of greenhouse gases on the upper atmosphere. They would then trap whatever heat radiated into or radiated by activities on the surface of the earth. This of course would increase the temperature of the atmosphere.

These greenhouse gasses are usually released into the atmosphere through increased pollution from factory smoke stacks, exhaust fumes from airplanes as well as from cars caught in heavy gridlocks or most commonly referred to as traffic jams. In a study done by traffic engineers at the Texas A&M University, it was found that drivers in Los Angeles and New York City alone wasted 600 million gallons of gas annually while just sitting in traffic. The 600 million gallons of gas translates to about 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide in just those two cities. Imagine the release of carbon dioxide emissions in cities such as New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur where traffic jams are a daily occurrence? Apart from these, an increased rate of deforestation too has contributed greatly towards Global Warming. Deforestation is responsible for about 25% of all carbon emissions entering the atmosphere, due to the burning and cutting of about 34 million acres of trees each year. This, in the end, amounts to a release of hundreds of millions of tones of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.

For my second point, I would like to highlight the effects of Global Warming. According to Al Gore, “We’re already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts are increasing.” For example, over the past thirty years, the increase of the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere has caused an increase in occurrence of category 4 and category 5 hurricanes. Most recently displaying its fury in the form of Hurricane Katrina. The flow of ice from Glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade due to the increased rate of melting due to higher temperatures. As a result, reducing the Arctic Ice fields by vast proportions. Ecosystems all around the world currently are at a precarious imbalance due to global warming.

According to experts, if the warming continues we can expect even more catastrophic problems. Among them would be that heat waves would become more frequent. As a result of that, earth will face severe droughts which will cause frequent wild fires which would damage acres of forest as well as inhabited land. Apart from that, the increase in temperature would cause the Arctic Ocean to be free from ice in a little over five decades, causing a dramatic rise in sea levels all around the world which would devastate coastal areas all around the world, reducing coastlines by about 40%. As a result of all of the mentioned natural disasters, the projected deaths per year due to Global Warming is expected to be around 300 000 humans. The cost of this would run into billions if not trillions of dollars annually. And by 2050, more than one million species of animals would be driven to extinction. Reducing the diversity of earth's natural ecosystem. Any longer, and humans would face extinction.

For my final point, I would like to highlight the measures we as well as international governments can take to ensure that this impending tragedy does not befall earth. On a large scale, instead of using highly polluting conventional power sources such as fossil fuels and coal to power vehicles and electric power stations, governments can instead choose to invest on alternative fuel sources such as Nuclear energy or even invest on harnessing the power of the wind, solar or even the waves to generate electricity. Did you know that the French government managed to reduce its Carbon emission by about 90 % just by using nuclear energy? Apart from that, governments should put a tighter cap on emission standards on both motor vehicles as well as on industrial factories. Furthermore, governments should greatly decrease legal as well as illegal deforestation which objectives are usually to either make way for housing, agricultural or industrial developments. In fact, more greenery should be planted along the city landscape. This, while helping to keep the surrounding areas cool, would also help replenish the carbon dioxide generated by everyday activity. Buildings with too many glass panels should be banned as the glass panels reflect the trapped heat. Thus making the surrounding atmosphere even hotter.

As for steps as to what you can I can do to reduce the effects of global warming, we can start first by reducing our dependency on electricity. Always turn off the power to electrical appliances when they are not in use. Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible. Did you know that a reduction by 10 miles of driving would reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by about 500 pounds? Instead of using dryers to dry our clothes, why not use the clothesline? This would after all benefit us as it would help save our monthly electric and petrol bill by a reasonable margin. We can also plant trees where we live. We should also buy more fresh foods instead of frozen ones.

As I bring my speech to a close, I would like to summarize what I have talked about. I have talked about what causes global warming, the effects of global warming and my final point was what we can do to minimize the effects of global warming. Our relentless quest for a more advanced world has certainly taken us many steps backwards as it has taken us many steps forwards. The question is are we willing to sacrifice the basic essence of life just to make way for more earth polluting advances? Would we be satisfied having our children read about tigers and bears from books instead of studying them in the wild? Would we be satisfied swimming in artificial beaches? Or even worse, would you be satisfied living in a world where sunlight would have to be artificially generated while you would be forced into walking around breathing oxygen from a gas tank hung behind your back as the air around you is too toxic to be inhaled? In this battle of unprecedented magnitude, we stand a chance of winning it as well as loosing it. But whether or not we win or loose, largely depends on every one of you. Think about it.

The Unidentified Flying Object

The date was July the 18th, 1969. 200,000 miles away from the earths surface, three astronauts were ensconced in their spacecraft, making one of the most most significant space flight in the history of aviation. During the flight, one of the astronauts, Mike Collins decided to take a peak out into space from his telescope. What he saw through the telescope in the following moments shocked him as well as his fellow crew members. Travelling alongside their spacecraft, in the vastness of space was a mysterious ring shaped object which had a sizable dimension to it. Initially, they thought that it was one of their booster rockets jettisoned two days earlier. But information from Mission Control suggested that the booster in question lay six thousand nautical miles away from their spacecraft. The puzzling fact was that this mysterious object was not six thousand nautical miles away. It was in fact much closer. Close enough to be seen with the naked eye. It seems that the astronauts were not alone in space.

The bizarre nature of this story may sound like a scene from a science fiction movie. But this is in fact one of a series of bizarre incidents witnessed by astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins who were aboard Apollo 11 on their landmark flight to the moon.

The question is, what did these astronauts witness? What exactly was the the ring shaped object that hounded Apollo 11 during its space flight? Is this an isolated incident?

Good morning everyone. I stand before you today to inform you about a topic that has brought controversy not only to common people, but to the dinner tables of some of the worlds greatest leaders. My topic for today is The Unidentified Flying Object or commonly known as UFO. In my speech, I will speak about what UFOs are and the arguments for and against the existence of these extra terrestrial flying vehicles.

For my first point, I will explain briefly about the definition of an Unidentified Flying Object. According to the Center Of UFO studies, the given definition of an unidentified flying object is an object or light seen in the sky or on land, whose appearance, trajectory, motions, lights and colors do not have an obvious conventional or natural explanation, and which cannot be explained, not only by the original witness, but by scientists or technical experts who try to make a common sense identification after examining the evidence. This of course brings me to my next point. The sightings themselves.

According to UFOlogists, the popular belief is that UFO sightings are only reported by uneducated people living in the most rural areas of the world. But contrary to this popular belief, UFO sightings have been reported but some of the most respected men on the face of this planet. For example, on the night of January the 22nd 1969, Former President of The United States Jimmy Carter who was then governor of Georgia reported witnessing a UFO. Pilots, both commercial and air force have reported seeing unidentified flying objects during their flights. Which brings me to my next point.

If there are, do we have concrete proof of the existence of UFOS?


For example, White House aides suggested that on the evening of February the 20th 1954, President Harry Truman had been escorted into Edwards Air Force Base to make first contact with an Aliens.

I need your help please tell me how to complete this.

200 and All I Got Is A Zombie

This is the 200th post on my blog and I have absolutely nothing to blog about. So, I'll just post another video. A fair request? I thought so too. So here's one of my favorites. Zombie by The Cranberries. Enjoy.

The Day That Changed History

It was on this date, sixty three years ago, that the actions of over 120 000 brave young men led by General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, changed the course of our world. It changed not only the outcome of one of the bloodiest wars in history, but it also changed the fate of the entire free world.
Operation Overlord as they called it was and still remains as the single most audacious of amphibious landings / military operation ever to be performed anywhere on the face of this planet.
The year was 1944. The fate of the free world hung precariously on the edge of a cliff as the armies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini held an iron grip over much of Europe. The armies of Emperor Hirohito were performing atrocities over much of the Asia Pacific region. In the concentration camps in Europe, in the jungle infested battlefields of Asia, thousands of innocent lives were being mercilessly massacred everyday. In the high seas, world economic trade was being impeded by Hitlers hungry Wolf Packs led by Admiral Karl Donitz. Day by day these U-Boats sent tonnes of shipping o the bottom of the ocean. Something had to be done before conditions got worse.
Then after months of arduous planning, Operation Overlord was called into action. The plan was for 120 000 allied soldiers to perform an amphibious landing on the beaches of Normandy and storm Hitler's Atlantic wall. The beaches that the forces were to be landed at were codenamed Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword. The American troops were to land at Omaha and Utah. The British and Canadian forces were to land at beaches Gold, Juno and Sword.
Before the day of the actual landing,the 5th of June 1944, paratrooper squadrons were dispatched to get behind enemy lines and disrupt as much as they could, the German supplies. They were also instructed to capture key bridges to keep German armor and reinforcements from reaching the beachheads on the day of the invasion. This operation, though a mess was a success. Thousands of paratroopers were displaced and lost. Some even ended up miles from their actual landing positions. But nevertheless, these brave souls did their job valiantly.
Then on the morning of June the 6th 1944, the invasion, albeit rough weather, took place. 120 000 Allied soldiers stormed Hitler's Atlantic wall. In the attack, the heaviest casualties were suffered by the American forces on beaches Omaha and Utah. The reason for such a debacle was that the DD tanks had sunk under the English Channel. Therefore leaving the men on those beaches with virtually no armored support at all. This left the men vulnerable to German MG-42s, sniper fire and also attack from heavy gun installations. But despite these adversities these men managed to secure both the beach heads. Alexander the Great once said. The coward tastes death many times before his death. But the valiant only tastes death once. The British and Canadian forces on the other hand faced relatively little opposition at their respective beach heads.
The rest as they said, was history. The freedom that you and I enjoy would not have been possible hadn't these soldiers did what they did 63 years ago. Therefore we should all take a moment to appreciate and think about those who died for us, the heroes who died just so that we can all be free. I know that I am grateful to every single on one of those men an women who selflessly fought for freedom in World War 2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75Tqb1Wp0IM

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

Buzz Aldrin Talks About UFO during Apollo 11.

Don't we all love conspiracies? Especially when it involves NASA and a bunch of Aliens

Loch Ness

Did we finally find Nessie? I'm not too sure about that. But, I sure do hope that this video is authentic and that black thing you see swimming really is Nessie.

Writers Block

Having a writers block is not a very amusing thing to be going through. Like a naval blockade, it blocks my thoughts from flowing smoothly through a certain part of the ocean. And as a result of that, I have managed to churn out many z-grade works.Just look at my previous post. Although the idea behind it was about something in partticular which has been bugging me for quite some time now, and felt so strongly about. I managed to screw the entire thing up. There are so many things which I would like to write about. I would like to write about why Proton lost 591 million bucks. I would like to write about why 50 years of independence was and still is the worst thing ever to happpen to Malaysia. I would like to talk about life and world events in general and I would also like to talk about so many things. But instead of writing them down in a nice way, I seem to screw everything up. I even wanted to write a letter to the Star and New Straits Times to highlight that what Proton needs is more attitude rather than a perfect foreign investment partner, but I just couldn't seem to get the ball rolling.
Perhaps, to cure this problem, I should take a break from writing or blogging for a while and see what happens. Blogging continuously for quite a period of time has certainly induced me into producing works of very low quality. They say that a person is judged by their actions rather than their words. But when it comes to writing, by the content of their words. Therefore, works of low quality only serve to incriminate rather than uphold the writers creative intelligence.

Hidden Behind A Wall Of Me

Walking down the empty streets one cold night, after a long day of interpreting numbers, bag hanging over my shoulders, I cannot help but to take notice of my surroundings. The streets are empty, save for a a few passing cars that whiz by in a rush. The sound of their motion temporarily drowning out the silence of the streets. The wind, gently blowing past me. Oblivious to the frenzy rush of thoughts going through my mind. The light bulbs on the light posts line the streets in a single file. Some shining their dim light. Barely removing the darkness from the streets. Some flicker. Giving me a sense of insecurity and fear. My mind begins to wonder as to what may lay beyond the next corner. My mind starts to play tricks on me. Gory images of being mugged and being chased by the devil interrupt my trail of thought. But at the same time, the emptiness of the surroundings gives me a sense of peace. It gives me a sense of belonging.
As I continue to walk down these silent streets, I suddenly hear the sound of rustling leaves and cracking twigs. I stop dead in my tracks with the feeling of fear making my heart skip a few beats. "Who on earth could be walking these streets at such an unearthly hour?" I turn around and try to look for the sound. Somehow, I can't seem to find it. After some searching, I decide to continue walking. Shrugging it off as a vermin rummaging through the rubbish bins. My mind back to doing what it likes most. Thinking. Suddenly, I hear the sound again. This time it is louder. I ignore it and continue walking. My eyes silently looking over my shoulders. I can never be too sure. But the more I ignore it, the more vivid the sound becomes. This time I stop and look around. "Who's there?" I ask. "Who's there?" "Hahahah...giggle giggle..hahaha" I hear sounds of laughter filling the air. I start to imagine the worst. It was like a scene from Nightmare On Elm's Street. All it lacked was a Freddy Kruger. My eyes wide with fear, scanning the surrounding area, looking for the source of the sound. Then, as I look around, I see it. There it was, behind the bushes. Two entities wrestling while making passionate sounds. "What on earth could those two things be?" I started to wonder. As much as I was frightened, I was filled with curiosity. Therefore, I decided to find out what exactly were those things. As I inched closer, the sounds became even more vivid. I could hear them breathing. Their forms becoming more obvious. There they were banging each other senseless behind those bushes , all the while not realising my presence in which I was only feet away from them. But instead of staking my claim, all I did was to walk away, deciding that an open confrontation would only bring about a greater disaster. I have come to terms with it.

Walking through a mall, my surroundings are filled with vibrant colors and deafened by the voices of the many people that shop in its premises. Parents taking time off to spend some quality time with their kids. Couples holding hands with their partners. Displaying their affection for each other without a hint of concern for what anybody else thought. The salespeople attending to curious customers. Young children running around in while their parents shop. But all these vibrant sights and sounds are drowned out by the fantasies that are brewing in my mind. The fantasies that I have kept for far too long in my mind. Al these times, I only wished for one thing and one thing only. I wished for......But as always, it never happens.

The next day, while walkind down the same path, I saw a ghost from my past. Something I never expected. Like an old Aston, it never lost its appeal. But like a pauper, I could only have a glimpse. I had not the arsenal to penetrate it.

Home

The very song that got me back to being obsessed with heavily distorted guitars.