Interest Rates in One Lesson by Gary North

Interest Rates in One Lesson by Gary North

The Wanna-Be State by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

This is an interesting set of views and opinions about the current state of affairs.

The Wanna-Be State by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Here are a couple of quotes from the article:

Even the most cynical among us have been astounded at what the public has put up with since 9-11: a brazen attempt to seize control of the entire economy and culture in the name of protecting us, even though the main lesson of 9-11 is that the government cannot protect us but rather invites act of vengeance
through its imperial foreign policies.

There is such a thing as acculturation that tolerates no attempts to rob people of the right to self-government. It is on display in Najaf and in other parts of Iraq where people are giving their lives to throw out the invaders. But instead of recognizing this as bravery, the US government says that the resistance is showing itself unwilling to accept "freedom" because it represents a people predisposed to live under tyranny. How to respond to such nonsense? Observe their dedication and sacrifices for the sake of the land, family, tribe, and religion: this is a predisposition to tolerate no rule by conquerors. What's more, this tendency has completely shocked the US civilian political elite, who have been uncomprehending as to why foreign peoples are so unwilling to be ruled by tanks and guns.

The Wanna-Be State by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Hijacking Catastrophe--Fear and the Selling of American Empire by Karen Kwiatkowski

Here is a link to a DVD that is better than the movie Fahrenheit 9/11. At least this one sticks to the facts and does not waste time on making people look ridiculous. Still very critical but focuses discussing the situation not picking on people's inane and disgusting peculiarities.

Hijacking Catastrophe: Fear and the Selling of American Empire by Karen Kwiatkowski

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Resources for IT Professionals

Windows XP Service Pack 2 Resources for IT Professionals

Hey you can download the new XP from here. A large download but then you can burn it on a CD and have at it.

The Muslim Roots of European Medicine

Interesting article

Reflections on my daughter's graduation

Yesterday my daughter graduated from High School. It was a wonderful event with lots of her friends and classmates. This is the second of my children graduating High School. My brother, mother, wife and two other children were there.

I could not help reflect and think back on my High School granduation in 1971. Only my parents and brother attended with me. Certainly all my classmates were there and friends. But, there was not the strong sense of friendship and closeness that both of my children's graduations evoked. I am speaking here about the strong familial and Islamic influence I saw yesterday. Scarves were all over the place and one of the main speakers was a Muslim and clearly made reference to her scarf.

Why is this so important? Well in today's Islamophobic atmosphere and Islam bashing politics, the Muslims are showing a strong positive presence in the schools. The school principal on several occasions has told the Granada parents (my kids private elementary and middle school) that their kids are a good influence on the school. They run a lot of the activities and are not involved in the negative peer pressure situations. [Not to say that all muslim kids are angels, but the majority of those whose parents are serious about Islam are positive role models, whether they know it now or not]

It is a pleasure to see the Muslim boys and girls so confident of themselves and their identity. They exude strength and show influence over the others. They speak freely of Islam and are not ashamed of it.

Contrast this to when I graduated. We had only one other Muslim family in town whose children were not in my class (so did not attend the graduation). Our parents did not get along for one reason or another. We saw the mosque (in NYC 30 miles away) twice a year. We were trying to blend in and not really stand out in any way.

Today our youth look vibrant and involved with their friends and in their environment. Some are outstanding and very engaging to the society at large. Others are more introverted, but still work with the youth as a whole to positively support others.

The Muslim parents I saw yesterday were also very supportive of their children and each other. There was definitely a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment with the results they were seeing in their children. Also a grateful thanks to Allah for blessing them with these wonderful progeny.

I am sure not every one of our children will become a super educated genius. But I can sense that they will have a strong community presence and unity. They will influence positively, plainly, by action and quietly.

It is time that we all step up to the plate and encourage the best in our fellow human beings, both for the benefit of the society at large and the benefit of our children, older ones, younger ones and those yet to be born.

Quran and the associative mind

This past week has been an eye opener for me. I am glad that I still find wonder in my mind at the creations of Allah, even as we pass through these bleak times of injustice and pain in the world. This past week Reagan died. That brought back a flood of memories for me of the first few years of my marriage. That's when he was president.

But what is more important in my thinking this past week has been the Memory Optimizer course that I started listening to in the car. This is absolutely fascinating course that triggers the memories and the creative thinking processes. According to this course and the more recent scientific studies upon which it is based, the mind is an incredible constructive and associative machine. All activities of the brain tend to trigger associative thoughts and ideas to other experiences in life. The richer and more actively we push our minds, in a very brain friendly way, the more creative we are and the easier recall we will have.

Among the tools that the course teaches is the Knowledge ABCs. In the process of learning about them I was struck by the beauty of the Quran and its construction and how the human mind is made to understand it. When you read through the Quran there are a lot of associative threads all over that you can refer from one section to the next. It helps in the recall of the Quran, since the human mind is constructed in a fashion to trigger this associative thinking.

What's more, is that when we strengthen our associative thinking and building of our biographical history, we will tend to have stronger minds into our old age. How many times have each of us heard that staunch readers and memorizers of the Quran possess very active minds into their advanced years?

Allah is merciful and forgiving. I thank Him for the bounties that abound in our lives, as grateful or not as we are. I thank Him for giving us these minds that wonder in amazement at His creations and for giving us the beautiful revelation of the Quran that encourages us to do precisely that, wonder in amazement and in the process build up our associative thinking skills. Even more, that we may want to use these skills for worldly gain, when He gives us these powerful capabilities for the gain of His pleasure and the attainment of Paradise.

لك الحمد يا الله على ما انعمت به علينا واوليت انت الغني ونحن الفقراء اليك

Started today 2004-05-24

It is time that I seriously started writing and publishing some thoughts. It has been a very chaotic time period that we are living through and thoughts need to be documented to share with others and to make available for critique and elaboration. I will be posting when I can on this site and see how well I can keep this effort up.