Just thought it was interesting, you could check the calculation on the food labels....
written by:
S. Connery
Friday Harbor, Wa.
Jim Painter, an assistant professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois, explains.
In order to answer this question, it helps to define a calorie. A calorie is a unit that is used to measure energy. The Calorie you see on a food package is actually a kilocalorie, or 1,000 calories. A Calorie (kcal) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. Sometimes the energy content of food is expressed in kilojoules (kj), a metric unit. One kcal equals 4.184 kj. So the Calorie on a food package is 1,000 times larger than the calorie used in chemistry and physics.
The original method used to determine the number of kcals in a given food directly measured the energy it produced.The food was placed in a sealed container surrounded by water--an apparatus known as a bomb calorimeter. The food was completely burned and the resulting rise in water temperature was measured. This method is not frequently used today.
The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA) currently dictates what information is presented on food labels. The NLEA requires that the Calorie level placed on a packaged food be calculated from food components. According to the National Data Lab (NDL), most of the calorie values in the USDA and industry food tables are based on an indirect calorie estimation made using the so-called Atwater system. In this system, calories are not determined directly by burning the foods. Instead, the total caloric value is calculated by adding up the calories provided by the energy-containing nutrients: protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol. Because carbohydrates contain some fiber that is not digested and utilized by the body, the fiber component is usually subtracted from the total carbohydrate before calculating the calories.
The Atwater system uses the average values of 4 Kcal/g for protein, 4 Kcal/g for carbohydrate, and 9 Kcal/g for fat. Alcohol is calculated at 7 Kcal/g. (These numbers were originally determined by burning and then averaging.) Thus the label on an energy bar that contains 10 g of protein, 20 g of carbohydrate and 9 g of fat would read 201 kcals or Calories. A complete discussion of this subject and the calories contained in more than 6,000 foods may be found on the National Data Lab web site at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/. At this site you can also download the food database to a handheld computer. Another online tool that allows the user to total the calorie content of several foods is the Nutrition Analysis Tool at http://www.nat.uiuc.edu.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Psalm 84
Interesting: Baca is old name of Mecca. And Hajar discovered the well (wife of Abraham), and AbdulMuttalib rediscovered it (the well of Zam Zam, which remains to this day and hajj pilgrims often bring back water from), and the psalm could fit either of them......
(From National Geographic RSS)
It's not the end of the world, experts announced today. The opening passage of a thousand-year-old Christian prayer book discovered in Ireland does not say that doomsday is near.
When the medieval text—a Book of Psalms dated to about A.D.1000—was unearthed by a construction worker in a bog last week, archaeologists described the find as a miracle.
But the discovery has since met with some nervous speculation about its possible religious significance.
Doomsayers have focused on the passage that the 20-page text, written in Latin, was opened to when it was first uncovered: Psalm 83.
In the King James Bible, the psalm is a lament to God describing the attempts of nations to wipe out the name of Israel.
"Thine enemies … have said, Come, and let us cut [thy people] off from being a nation," the psalm reads, "that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.'"
Given the current conflict in Lebanon between Israeli troops and Islamic Hezbollah guerrillas, this detail struck some observers as particularly ominous.
"Mention of Psalm 83 has led to misconceptions about the revealed wording and may be a source of concern for people who believe Psalm 83 deals with 'the wiping out of Israel,'" officials at the National Museum of Ireland, where the manuscript is being kept, said in a statement today.
The true meaning of what the text reveals, they say, has been quite literally lost in translation.
"[We] would like to highlight that the text visible on the manuscript does NOT refer to wiping out Israel but to the 'vale of tears,'" the officials said.
The newfound prayer book, they explain, is an ancient Latin translation from the Greek known as the Vulgate. But the King James Bible, which was translated from Hebrew to English more than a thousand years later, assigns different numbers to the psalms.
So the Psalm 83 found in the Irish book, they say, appears in King James as Psalm 84, which is a song of praise and longing for godliness.
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee," the passage reads, "… who passing through the valley of Baca [the vale of tears] make[s] it a well."
The museum officials say they expect the difference speaks for itself.
"It is hoped that this clarification will serve comfort to anyone worried by earlier reports of the content of the text," they said.
(From National Geographic RSS)
It's not the end of the world, experts announced today. The opening passage of a thousand-year-old Christian prayer book discovered in Ireland does not say that doomsday is near.
When the medieval text—a Book of Psalms dated to about A.D.1000—was unearthed by a construction worker in a bog last week, archaeologists described the find as a miracle.
But the discovery has since met with some nervous speculation about its possible religious significance.
Doomsayers have focused on the passage that the 20-page text, written in Latin, was opened to when it was first uncovered: Psalm 83.
In the King James Bible, the psalm is a lament to God describing the attempts of nations to wipe out the name of Israel.
"Thine enemies … have said, Come, and let us cut [thy people] off from being a nation," the psalm reads, "that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.'"
Given the current conflict in Lebanon between Israeli troops and Islamic Hezbollah guerrillas, this detail struck some observers as particularly ominous.
"Mention of Psalm 83 has led to misconceptions about the revealed wording and may be a source of concern for people who believe Psalm 83 deals with 'the wiping out of Israel,'" officials at the National Museum of Ireland, where the manuscript is being kept, said in a statement today.
The true meaning of what the text reveals, they say, has been quite literally lost in translation.
"[We] would like to highlight that the text visible on the manuscript does NOT refer to wiping out Israel but to the 'vale of tears,'" the officials said.
The newfound prayer book, they explain, is an ancient Latin translation from the Greek known as the Vulgate. But the King James Bible, which was translated from Hebrew to English more than a thousand years later, assigns different numbers to the psalms.
So the Psalm 83 found in the Irish book, they say, appears in King James as Psalm 84, which is a song of praise and longing for godliness.
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee," the passage reads, "… who passing through the valley of Baca [the vale of tears] make[s] it a well."
The museum officials say they expect the difference speaks for itself.
"It is hoped that this clarification will serve comfort to anyone worried by earlier reports of the content of the text," they said.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Tiling
Well the past few days I've been learning something new. My parents are putting new tile in the third level and I'm working to help them. It is hard work and it is important to have the right tools, but it is pretty neat.
Leaving Saturday for Orange County, due back next Thursday. Will try to check in.
Leaving Saturday for Orange County, due back next Thursday. Will try to check in.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
My Kellogg Reflector Travel Bug reached its goal!
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=126924
Woo hoo!
Incidentally, at the dollar store today I found a bit of cool nostalgia - neon bicycle spoke pegs that dress up your bike and clank - so I got some for Sammy for her upcoming b-day - she just got my old banana seat bike a few weeks ago - with the bell still on it (ding ding!), but no longer with the cool handlebar streamers or basket that both passed away at some point long ago...
Woo hoo!
Incidentally, at the dollar store today I found a bit of cool nostalgia - neon bicycle spoke pegs that dress up your bike and clank - so I got some for Sammy for her upcoming b-day - she just got my old banana seat bike a few weeks ago - with the bell still on it (ding ding!), but no longer with the cool handlebar streamers or basket that both passed away at some point long ago...
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Elitch's
Jeff's kids stayed over Sunday night so we could get up early and catch the Fun Bus to Elitch's (Six Flags) up in Denver. We played there all day, getting back home close to 10p.m. Sammy is tall enough for most of the rides now. Our favorite is the Twister, a wooden roller coaster. Yesterday was the annual 4th barbecue at aunt Susie's house for the Anderson and Wichman families (my mom's family is the Anderson family). So we met there for three or four hours. Today mom had off and was watching Sammy so we went to see Nacho Libre (really silly/dumb, kind of in the same genre as Napoleon Dynamite). ran errands and went to the funeral of aunt Susie's sister-in-law.
We got a nice rain yesterday hoping for more today insha'allah.
We got a nice rain yesterday hoping for more today insha'allah.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Languages shape our World View
This is so true....
John Roach
for National Geographic News
June 29, 2006
For the Raramuri people of the northern Mexico region of Chihuahua, conservation is a family affair
The Raramuri (also known as the Tarahumara) speak a language that has no concept of—and thus no word for—wilderness, says ethno-ecologist Enrique Salmón.
Wilderness is a European word that connotes a separation of the land from humans, said Salmón, who is Raramuri.
Instead the Raramuri relate to the land with the same energy and affection as they do their own human family members and neighbors.
Salmón calls the concept kincentric ecology.
"[We] are immersed in an environment where we are at equal standing with the rest of the natural world," he said.
"They're all kindred relations: The trees and rocks and bugs and everything is in equal standing with the rest. We are caretakers, stewards, of all this around us."
Thinking What You Speak
Salmón is a program manager at the Christensen Fund, a grant-making organization in Palo Alto, California, that supports biological and cultural diversity projects.
He says that language is the foundation of cultural identity, giving shape to the way people think and act.
"Language and thoughts work together. They can't be separated," he said.
"So when [a people's] language includes words like 'wilderness,' that shapes their thoughts about their relationship to the natural world.
The notion of wilderness, he adds, carries the connotation that "humans are bad for the environment."
"If the language doesn't include that connotation, then again it shapes that kind of thinking," he continued.
But the ethno-ecologist predicts that within a generation or two, the Raramuri language will disappear, and with it their kincentric land ethic.
More than a decade of drought and the pressures of globalization are pushing Raramuri youth from their traditional lands in the remote mountains of Sierra Tarahumara.
The youth are moving to the cities, adopting a different language and a new frame of mind, Salmón says.
"Those choices are affecting this next generation of speakers and potential land managers," he said.
Lost Archives
The scenario of indigenous languages and beliefs fading away is being seen throughout the world.
Salmón cites the work of anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis, a National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence, who has documented this decline. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)
In a 2003 essay for National Geographic News, Davis wrote that there are roughly 6,000 languages spoken today, but half are not being taught to the speakers' children.
"Unless something changes, effectively [those languages] are already dead," he wrote.
According to Davis, losing languages and cultures also means the loss of a "vast archive of knowledge and expertise" of the human experience.
"Every view of the world that fades away, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life and reduces the human repertoire of adaptive responses to the common problems that confront us all," he wrote.
John Roach
for National Geographic News
June 29, 2006
For the Raramuri people of the northern Mexico region of Chihuahua, conservation is a family affair
The Raramuri (also known as the Tarahumara) speak a language that has no concept of—and thus no word for—wilderness, says ethno-ecologist Enrique Salmón.
Wilderness is a European word that connotes a separation of the land from humans, said Salmón, who is Raramuri.
Instead the Raramuri relate to the land with the same energy and affection as they do their own human family members and neighbors.
Salmón calls the concept kincentric ecology.
"[We] are immersed in an environment where we are at equal standing with the rest of the natural world," he said.
"They're all kindred relations: The trees and rocks and bugs and everything is in equal standing with the rest. We are caretakers, stewards, of all this around us."
Thinking What You Speak
Salmón is a program manager at the Christensen Fund, a grant-making organization in Palo Alto, California, that supports biological and cultural diversity projects.
He says that language is the foundation of cultural identity, giving shape to the way people think and act.
"Language and thoughts work together. They can't be separated," he said.
"So when [a people's] language includes words like 'wilderness,' that shapes their thoughts about their relationship to the natural world.
The notion of wilderness, he adds, carries the connotation that "humans are bad for the environment."
"If the language doesn't include that connotation, then again it shapes that kind of thinking," he continued.
But the ethno-ecologist predicts that within a generation or two, the Raramuri language will disappear, and with it their kincentric land ethic.
More than a decade of drought and the pressures of globalization are pushing Raramuri youth from their traditional lands in the remote mountains of Sierra Tarahumara.
The youth are moving to the cities, adopting a different language and a new frame of mind, Salmón says.
"Those choices are affecting this next generation of speakers and potential land managers," he said.
Lost Archives
The scenario of indigenous languages and beliefs fading away is being seen throughout the world.
Salmón cites the work of anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis, a National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence, who has documented this decline. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society.)
In a 2003 essay for National Geographic News, Davis wrote that there are roughly 6,000 languages spoken today, but half are not being taught to the speakers' children.
"Unless something changes, effectively [those languages] are already dead," he wrote.
According to Davis, losing languages and cultures also means the loss of a "vast archive of knowledge and expertise" of the human experience.
"Every view of the world that fades away, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life and reduces the human repertoire of adaptive responses to the common problems that confront us all," he wrote.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
What I did today- BodyWorlds 2
http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/home.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Worlds
I went to see this exhibit with mom and dad up in Denver. The organ displays including some common diseases in some of them was really interesting. Some of the full-body plastinates, while interesting, were also rather creepy. And the ones with babies was somewhat disturbing also.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_Worlds
I went to see this exhibit with mom and dad up in Denver. The organ displays including some common diseases in some of them was really interesting. Some of the full-body plastinates, while interesting, were also rather creepy. And the ones with babies was somewhat disturbing also.
Jack the cat chases black bear up tree
The Associated Press
WEST MILFORD, N.J. - A black bear picked the wrong yard for a jaunt, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree - twice.
Jack, a 15-pound orange and white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, often chasing small animals, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's editions.
Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey property on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.
After about 15 minutes, the bear descended and tried to run away, but Jack chased it up another tree.
Dickey, who feared for her cat, then called Jack home and the bear scurried back to the woods.
"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," Dickey said.
Bear sightings are not unusual in West Milford, which experts consider one of the state's most bear-populated areas.
WEST MILFORD, N.J. - A black bear picked the wrong yard for a jaunt, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree - twice.
Jack, a 15-pound orange and white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, often chasing small animals, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's editions.
Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey property on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.
After about 15 minutes, the bear descended and tried to run away, but Jack chased it up another tree.
Dickey, who feared for her cat, then called Jack home and the bear scurried back to the woods.
"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," Dickey said.
Bear sightings are not unusual in West Milford, which experts consider one of the state's most bear-populated areas.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Coyotes Trade U.S. Western Plains for East's Urban Jungle
Maryann Mott
for National Geographic News
June 8, 2006
On a September night in 2004 Ken Ferebee trudged through Rock Creek Park, a nearly 2,000-acre (810-hectare) expanse of meadows and woodlands in the heart of Washington, D.C.
Armed with a spotlight, the National Park Service biologist and his colleagues had set out to count deer. Instead they stumbled across an animal never before seen in the city.
"That's when we saw the first coyote," he recalled.
The nation's capital joins a growing list of cities—including Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; and New York, NewYork—that these highly adaptable canine predators now call home.
The urbanization of coyotes in the East and Midwest is a phenomenon that started in the 1990s, says Stan Gehrt. The wildlife biologist studies coyotes in the Chicago, Illinois, area, where some 2,000 of the animals are thought to live.
"The amount of coexistence between coyotes and people is much, much, much greater than we ever thought," he said. "People are literally walking by coyotes every day, and they don't know it."
Going East
Historically found in the Great Plains of North America, coyotes started to expand their range eastward about 70 years ago when wolves, their main competitors, were eradicated in the eastern United States.
Deforestation along the East Coast also opened up large tracts of land filled with small prey, making the area even more inviting.
Today the slender doglike creatures with pointy ears and bushy tails can be found in every state except Hawaii.
One of the keys to the coyote's long-term success is its ability to eat just about anything.
But contrary to popular belief, Gehrt said, the canines don't devour large amounts of garbage or vast numbers of family pets.
Gehrt analyzed 1,500 scats, or droppings, from Chicago area coyotes that showed the bulk of the animals' diet consists of small mammals, such as rodents and rabbits, white tail deer, and fruit.
Today coyotes live in every park across the Chicago region, Gehrt says, even in the downtown area.
When he first started radio collaring and tracking the animals six years ago, he thought they'd avoid busy city streets and stay within park boundaries—they didn't.
A young female coyote once led Gehrt 20 miles (32 kilometers) through five different cities within a six-hour period.
"This was over by O'Hare [International Airport]," he said. "It was extremely developed and [there was] tons of traffic. She was crossing roads. I realized that night I had underestimated their ability to move across that."
As part of an agreement with Chicago city government, Gehrt puts tracking collars on captured "nuisance" coyotes and then releases them on the very edge of the urban sprawl.
"Basically they have a choice," he said of the coyotes. "If they take a left, they can go out into rural areas. If they take a right, they're going to head back into the city.
"In every single case they've always chosen to go back into the city, so those particular coyotes view this urban area as a favorable kind of habitat."
Gehrt's research has shown the survival rate of urban coyotes is twice that of their rural counterparts.
Coyote-Wolf Hybrids?
Already the relatively recent eastern coyote population is showing signs of genetic divergence from their cousins that stayed out West.
In 2001 DNA samples from a hundred coyotes killed by hunters in Maine showed only four had ancestry similar to western coyotes.
"What that indicates is a degree of isolation between the two populations," said the study's co-author, Walter Jakubas with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
"Our eastern coyotes are kind of becoming their own distinct population, if you will."
What's more, 22 of the 100 coyotes had more than 5 percent wolf ancestry, and 5 had more than 30 percent wolf genes.
Jakubas believes the hybridization occurred when western coyotes began migrating east but took a detour into Canada, where they mated with wolves.
These hybrids now live in Maine, New York, and New Jersey.
Mating between eastern Canadian wolves, red wolves, and coyotes is possible, he said, because they share a common ancestor.
While coyotes help control populations of geese, rodents, and white tail deer, in many parts of the country they're still considered pests.
"For better or worse, most people view coyotes as trouble makers," said Jakubas. "Some of your western states do not even protect them as a wildlife species. They're just considered vermin. You can do anything you want to them."
Coyotes have been hunted and trapped for more than 200 years, and the largest killer is the U.S. government.
Through its Wildlife Services program, the federal government kills hundreds of thousands of coyotes that are deemed a risk to people and livestock (related news: "Coyote-Kill Programs Don't Protect U.S. Farms, Study Finds").
Attacks on humans have been reported in Arizona, California, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.
Last month five people, including two young boys, were reportedly bitten by coyotes in Bellevue, Washington.
But even as coyotes move into more cities and suburbs throughout the country, experts say attacks on humans are fairly rare.
"You're not about to be jogging through [New York's] Central Park and be attacked by a coyote. It's not very likely," John Shivik, a biologist with the National Wildlife Research Center.
"But they are wild animals, and we should respect them as wild animals."
for National Geographic News
June 8, 2006
On a September night in 2004 Ken Ferebee trudged through Rock Creek Park, a nearly 2,000-acre (810-hectare) expanse of meadows and woodlands in the heart of Washington, D.C.
Armed with a spotlight, the National Park Service biologist and his colleagues had set out to count deer. Instead they stumbled across an animal never before seen in the city.
"That's when we saw the first coyote," he recalled.
The nation's capital joins a growing list of cities—including Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; and New York, NewYork—that these highly adaptable canine predators now call home.
The urbanization of coyotes in the East and Midwest is a phenomenon that started in the 1990s, says Stan Gehrt. The wildlife biologist studies coyotes in the Chicago, Illinois, area, where some 2,000 of the animals are thought to live.
"The amount of coexistence between coyotes and people is much, much, much greater than we ever thought," he said. "People are literally walking by coyotes every day, and they don't know it."
Going East
Historically found in the Great Plains of North America, coyotes started to expand their range eastward about 70 years ago when wolves, their main competitors, were eradicated in the eastern United States.
Deforestation along the East Coast also opened up large tracts of land filled with small prey, making the area even more inviting.
Today the slender doglike creatures with pointy ears and bushy tails can be found in every state except Hawaii.
One of the keys to the coyote's long-term success is its ability to eat just about anything.
But contrary to popular belief, Gehrt said, the canines don't devour large amounts of garbage or vast numbers of family pets.
Gehrt analyzed 1,500 scats, or droppings, from Chicago area coyotes that showed the bulk of the animals' diet consists of small mammals, such as rodents and rabbits, white tail deer, and fruit.
Today coyotes live in every park across the Chicago region, Gehrt says, even in the downtown area.
When he first started radio collaring and tracking the animals six years ago, he thought they'd avoid busy city streets and stay within park boundaries—they didn't.
A young female coyote once led Gehrt 20 miles (32 kilometers) through five different cities within a six-hour period.
"This was over by O'Hare [International Airport]," he said. "It was extremely developed and [there was] tons of traffic. She was crossing roads. I realized that night I had underestimated their ability to move across that."
As part of an agreement with Chicago city government, Gehrt puts tracking collars on captured "nuisance" coyotes and then releases them on the very edge of the urban sprawl.
"Basically they have a choice," he said of the coyotes. "If they take a left, they can go out into rural areas. If they take a right, they're going to head back into the city.
"In every single case they've always chosen to go back into the city, so those particular coyotes view this urban area as a favorable kind of habitat."
Gehrt's research has shown the survival rate of urban coyotes is twice that of their rural counterparts.
Coyote-Wolf Hybrids?
Already the relatively recent eastern coyote population is showing signs of genetic divergence from their cousins that stayed out West.
In 2001 DNA samples from a hundred coyotes killed by hunters in Maine showed only four had ancestry similar to western coyotes.
"What that indicates is a degree of isolation between the two populations," said the study's co-author, Walter Jakubas with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
"Our eastern coyotes are kind of becoming their own distinct population, if you will."
What's more, 22 of the 100 coyotes had more than 5 percent wolf ancestry, and 5 had more than 30 percent wolf genes.
Jakubas believes the hybridization occurred when western coyotes began migrating east but took a detour into Canada, where they mated with wolves.
These hybrids now live in Maine, New York, and New Jersey.
Mating between eastern Canadian wolves, red wolves, and coyotes is possible, he said, because they share a common ancestor.
While coyotes help control populations of geese, rodents, and white tail deer, in many parts of the country they're still considered pests.
"For better or worse, most people view coyotes as trouble makers," said Jakubas. "Some of your western states do not even protect them as a wildlife species. They're just considered vermin. You can do anything you want to them."
Coyotes have been hunted and trapped for more than 200 years, and the largest killer is the U.S. government.
Through its Wildlife Services program, the federal government kills hundreds of thousands of coyotes that are deemed a risk to people and livestock (related news: "Coyote-Kill Programs Don't Protect U.S. Farms, Study Finds").
Attacks on humans have been reported in Arizona, California, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.
Last month five people, including two young boys, were reportedly bitten by coyotes in Bellevue, Washington.
But even as coyotes move into more cities and suburbs throughout the country, experts say attacks on humans are fairly rare.
"You're not about to be jogging through [New York's] Central Park and be attacked by a coyote. It's not very likely," John Shivik, a biologist with the National Wildlife Research Center.
"But they are wild animals, and we should respect them as wild animals."
Thursday, May 25, 2006
from a graduation speech today....
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
-Jack London
-Jack London
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Ah, so it may not be as simple as Punnet Squares after all...
May 25, 2006
Mouse Finding Violates Laws of Heredity (from scientific american blog)
DNA has long been considered the sole arbiter of heredity. New research seems to show, however, that its lesser known cousin, RNA--previously thought only to facilitate the creation of proteins as dictated by the genetic code--may itself pass traits down through the generations.
Fifty years ago, researchers observed that the genetics controlling the amount of purple coloring in certain corn kernels deviated from the accepted laws of genetics. Genetic variants that should have been bred out could sometimes exert their empurpling effect in subsequent generations. Dubbed paramutation, the phenomenon remained unexplained.
In experiments with mutant mice, Minoo Rassoulzadegan of Inserm in France and his colleagues observed a similar phenomenon. A mutation in the Kit gene is known to produce white patches of fur on the toes and tails of brown mice. The researchers bred together mice that each carried one normal copy of the gene and one aberrant copy--that is, they were heterozygous. Mice that inherit two normal copies of the gene should not exhibit this coloring. But oddly enough, the team found that a large percentage of the resulting mice in their study that inherited only normal copies of the gene from their heterozygous parents did in fact have the white spots.
Searching for an explanation, the scientists found that the mutant mice bore unusually low levels of regular RNA interspersed with unusually large versions of the messenger molecule. Further, they found that this RNA found its way into mouse sperm. And when they injected the RNA into developing embryos it produced the tell-tale patches in nearly 50 percent of the offspring, who in turn passed the trait along to their offspring. Control mice occasionally exhibited white spots as well, though they rarely passed the trait to subsequent generations
The exact mechanism by which the RNA transmits the spotting trait to the progeny in the absence of the gene that causes the spotting in the parent remains mysterious. But the finding does challenge the existing understanding of genetics and it may have implications for humans. In a commentary accompanying the report, Paul Soloway of Cornell University remarks: "A particularly intriguing possibility is that such RNAs regulate other non-genetic modes of inheritance, such as metabolic or behavioral imprinting." The research and commentary appear in today's Nature.
Mouse Finding Violates Laws of Heredity (from scientific american blog)
DNA has long been considered the sole arbiter of heredity. New research seems to show, however, that its lesser known cousin, RNA--previously thought only to facilitate the creation of proteins as dictated by the genetic code--may itself pass traits down through the generations.
Fifty years ago, researchers observed that the genetics controlling the amount of purple coloring in certain corn kernels deviated from the accepted laws of genetics. Genetic variants that should have been bred out could sometimes exert their empurpling effect in subsequent generations. Dubbed paramutation, the phenomenon remained unexplained.
In experiments with mutant mice, Minoo Rassoulzadegan of Inserm in France and his colleagues observed a similar phenomenon. A mutation in the Kit gene is known to produce white patches of fur on the toes and tails of brown mice. The researchers bred together mice that each carried one normal copy of the gene and one aberrant copy--that is, they were heterozygous. Mice that inherit two normal copies of the gene should not exhibit this coloring. But oddly enough, the team found that a large percentage of the resulting mice in their study that inherited only normal copies of the gene from their heterozygous parents did in fact have the white spots.
Searching for an explanation, the scientists found that the mutant mice bore unusually low levels of regular RNA interspersed with unusually large versions of the messenger molecule. Further, they found that this RNA found its way into mouse sperm. And when they injected the RNA into developing embryos it produced the tell-tale patches in nearly 50 percent of the offspring, who in turn passed the trait along to their offspring. Control mice occasionally exhibited white spots as well, though they rarely passed the trait to subsequent generations
The exact mechanism by which the RNA transmits the spotting trait to the progeny in the absence of the gene that causes the spotting in the parent remains mysterious. But the finding does challenge the existing understanding of genetics and it may have implications for humans. In a commentary accompanying the report, Paul Soloway of Cornell University remarks: "A particularly intriguing possibility is that such RNAs regulate other non-genetic modes of inheritance, such as metabolic or behavioral imprinting." The research and commentary appear in today's Nature.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
television meme, can't remember where from...
television meme…
Name of the Game: Following the alphabet, name a television show (or shows) you watch at least occasionally, or would if still on air.
This is about all I can think of for now, maybe you'll jog my memory....
A - Antiques Roadshow
B
C - CSI, Cold Case, CleanSweep, Crossing Jordan
D - Doctor Who, Decoding the Past, Digging for the Truth
F
G - Gilligan's Island, Ghost Hunters
H - House, Highlander
I - I Shouldn't Be Alive, Intervention
J - John Doe
K
L
M - MacGyver, Miami Vice
N - Numbers, Nova, Nightcourt
O
P - Pretender, Project Runway
Q - Quantum Leap
R
S - Star Trek
T - That 70's Show, The First 48, The 4800
U
V
W - Without a Trace
X - X-Files
Y
Z
Name of the Game: Following the alphabet, name a television show (or shows) you watch at least occasionally, or would if still on air.
This is about all I can think of for now, maybe you'll jog my memory....
A - Antiques Roadshow
B
C - CSI, Cold Case, CleanSweep, Crossing Jordan
D - Doctor Who, Decoding the Past, Digging for the Truth
F
G - Gilligan's Island, Ghost Hunters
H - House, Highlander
I - I Shouldn't Be Alive, Intervention
J - John Doe
K
L
M - MacGyver, Miami Vice
N - Numbers, Nova, Nightcourt
O
P - Pretender, Project Runway
Q - Quantum Leap
R
S - Star Trek
T - That 70's Show, The First 48, The 4800
U
V
W - Without a Trace
X - X-Files
Y
Z
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
recent reading, very important and powerful stuff (for me anyway)
Kumail said, ‘I will share the wil that Ali bin Abi Taleb (as) left for me with you, which is better than the entire world and everything that is in it.
Ali bin Abi Talib (as) told me:
O Kumail! Start your day with the name of Allah, “Bismillah,” and with “La Howla wa la qowwata illa billah” (There is no strength or power but with Allah), and entrust your soul to Allah. mention us with our names and send blessings on us (Salawat), and seek refuge with Allah. This will protect you and everything around you from evil on that day.
O Kumail! Allah disciplined the Prophet (saw) and the Prophet (saw) disciplined me, and I discipline the believers and teach manners to the honorable ones.
O Kumail! I am the founder of every field of knowledge and every secret will be revealed by the Qaem (12th Imam) (as). O Kumail! ‘Offspring, one from the other, and Allah is hearing, knowing.” (3:34)
O Kumail! As long as you do not listen to anything except that which comes from us, you will be part of us.
O Kumail! You (people) need help in learning about everything that exists.
O Kumail! When you want to start eating, start with the name of Allah. Nothing can hurt you with His name; it is a cure from illness.
O Kumail! Always have someone eat with you and do not be stingy with your food. Understand that you do not provide sustenance and that Allah will reward you for sharing your food.
O Kumail! Have akhlaaq, make your companions’ lives easier and do not be harsh with your servants.
O Kumail! Take your time when you eat so that those with whom you are eating finish their food and receive their rizq.
O Kumail! When you are finished eating, thank Allah for the sustenance, and thank Him loudly so that others hear you and thank Him too, because this will increase your reward.
O Kumail! Do not keep eating until you are full; leave room for water and air.
O Kumail! Do not eat all the available food because the Prophet (saw) never did so. Stop eating while you are still a little hungry because that is healthy eating.
O Kumail! Health is in eating little and drinking little.
O Kumail! Prosperity in fortune comes with almsgiving, consolation of the believers, and visiting your relatives. Your relatives are those who are close to us.
O Kumail! Be more generous, more kind, and more charitable to the believers from your family than to other believers.
O Kumail! Do not turn away the poor even if you can only give them a date or a grape!
O Kumail! Charity grows in Allah’s eyes.
O Kumail! The akhlaaq of a believer is beautified through his humility, made complete through his kindness, honored through his compassion, and glorified through not participating in hearsay.
O Kumail! Do not ever be self-righteous because you will seduce only the foolish and you will lose your real friends.
O Kumail! Only argue about Allah (with disbelievers) who look like they are intelligent, because they are all foolish anyway as Allah says, ‘Verily they themselves are the fools, but they do not know.’ (2:13)
O Kumail! Every nation has good and bad people. So do not get in a heated argument with those who are ignorant. And if they insult you, be patient amongst them for Allah says, ‘When the ignorant address them, they say: Peace.’ (25:63)
O Kumail! Always tell the truth. Surround yourself with those who are pious and abandon those who are immoral.
O Kumail! Stay away from the hypocrites and do not befriend those who will betray you.
O Kumail! Never knock on the door of the unjust, mingle with them, or earn from them. Do not every obey them and do not speak in their gatherings about that which will make Allah angry with you. O Kumail! If you have to attend gatherings (of the unjust) praise the Lord continuously, entrust your soul to Allah, and seek refuge with Allah from their evil. Say nothing to them, but deny their actions in your heart and glorify the Lord loudly so that they can hear you. Consequently, they will fear you and you will be protected from their evil.
O Kumail! The best thing that Allah loves from His slaves, after testifying in Him and His vicegerents, is beautifying the soul through compassion and patience.
O Kumail! There is nothing wrong with people not knowing your secrets. O Kumail! Do not show people your needs and be patient while anticipating Allah’s reward and you will thereby earn peoples’ trust.
O Kumail! Who is your brother? Your brother is he who does not let you down in times of difficulty, does not keep quiet when you do something wrong, does not lie to you when you ask him a question, and does not wait to offer his help until he learns that the problem has already been solved.
O Kumail! A believer is the mirror of his fellow believer. A believer will help identify a fellow believer’s weaknesses and he will help him rectify them.
O Kumail! Believers are brothers and nothing should come between brothers.
O Kumail! If you do not love your brother then you are not his brother.
O Kumail! A believer is one who follows us. Those who do not follow us, neglect us and will not be with us. And those who are not with us will be in the lowest levels of Hell.
O Kumail! Our secret matters are to be kept secret. If someone discloses them to you and orders you to keep it confidential, do not disclose it. If you disclose it, your repentance will not be accepted, and if that happens your destination will be Hell.
O Kumail! Allah does not allow the secrets of the family of the Prophet (saw) to be made public because not everyone’s heart has the capacity to bear it.
O Kumail! Do not teach that which the family of the Prophet (saw) tells you except to a believer who is worthy of such information.
O Kumail! Do not teach the disbelievers anything about us because they will change it and use it against you.
O Kumail! The believers who have died will come back and will achieve victory with the believers yet to come. O Kumail! Allah will give these believers good in this life and in the Hereafter.
O Kumail! You are surrounded by your enemies. You have to live with them, eat with them, and drink with them. It is possible that you may be wealthier than they are, to their utter disappointment, but Allah will help you and fail them.
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that when your leader (the 12th Imam (as)) appears, your enemies will not eat with you, live near you, or knock on your door. They will not receive any blessings; they will be the dishonored and the despised ones. They will be captured wherever they go and they will be killed. O Kumail! Praise the Lord and the Imams for this and for every other blessing.
O Kumail! For any difficulty say “La howla wa la qowwata illa billah’ (there is no strength or power but with Allah) and the difficulty will be removed.
For any blessing say, ‘Alhumdulillah’ (All Praise Belongs to Allah) and We will increase the blessing.
If your sustenance is delayed, seek forgiveness and it will come to you.
O Kumail! If Shaytan whispers in your heart, say:
‘A’ouzo billah al-qawi min al-Shaitan al-ghawi wa a’ouzo bi Mohammaden al-radhi min sharre ma qoddera wa qadhi wa a’ouzo bi illahennas min sharre al-jinnate wa nnase ajmaeen wa sallam.’
(I seek refuge with the strong Allah from the deviating Shaytan, and I seek refuge with the tactful Mohammad from the worst fate and destiny, and I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind from the jinn and human beings.)
This prayer will keep you safe from the evil plotting of Shaytan and the devil with him, who are all devils like him. O Kumail! They use deception, conflict, vanity, devilish insinuations, and pride according to the level of the person’s obedience and disobedience. Therefore, if one is not fully aware of these satanic strategies, they will seize him.
O Kumail! There is no enemy worse than Shaytan and the devils with him, and nothing can hurt you more than they can. Their wish is for you to be with them tomorrow in Hell when they are being tortured, and they will be in Hell eternally and the flames of Hell will never be reduced.
O Kumail! Allah is angry with those who do not guard themselves from Shaytan and the devils with him by using His name and the name of His Prophet and the Imams. Allah is angry with those who do not seek refuge with Him and with those who do not send Allah’s blessings on His Prophet and his family.
O Kumail! The devils will deceive you with themselves, and if that does not work they will deceive you with you They will beautify your desires to you and they will grant your wishes and desires. They will seduce you and make you forget. And then they will order you to commit sins; they will prevent you from performing good deeds; and they will lie to you about Allah. They will make you believe that you are on the right path and you will be seduced. You will commit sins and the punishment for the sinner is Hell.
O Kumail! Memorize these words of Allah, ‘Shaytan has beguiled them and given them false hopes’ (47:25). Shaytan is a deceiver, but Allah is the dictator.
O Kumail! Repeat these words that Allah said to the cursed Shaytan, ‘Summon against them your cavalry and infantry, and share their riches and children with them, and make promises to them. But Shaytan promises them nothing but deceit’ (17:64).
O Kumail! Shaytan does not divert you to himself. He makes you deviate from Allah and pushes you to disobey Allah, and then you will be troubled.
O Kumail! Shaytan will come to you gently with the best of his tricks and will order you to perform acts of obedience that you enjoy, so you will think he is an honorable angel, but he is really the accursed Shaytan. And once you trust him, he will order you to commit the greatest of sins, the sins from which you cannot be saved.
O Kumail! Shaytan creates traps for you. Be careful not to fall in them. O Kumail! The earth is full of their traps and no one is safe from the traps except those who hold on to us. Allah has said that no one can survive from the traps except His servants, who are our followers, ‘As for my devoted servants, you shall have no power over them’ (15:42) and ‘His authority (that of the Shaytan) is only over those who befriend him and associate others with Allah’ (16:100).
O Kumail! Save yourself with our Wilayat or Shaytan will share your riches and your children with you, as Allah has promised in the Qur’an.
O Kumail! Do not be deceived by those who perform long prayers, fast continuously, or give charity and think that they are successful.
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that I heard the Prophet (saw) say:
When Shaytan orders people to commit great sins like adultery, drinking wine, usury and other similar sins, he also puts the love of extreme worship, submission, ruku’, and sujood in their hearts. And then Shaytan guides them toward those leaders who will lead them to Hell, and there will be no help for them on the Day of Judgment.
O Kumail! People either stay on the right path or deviate from it. You only deserve to stay on the right path if you walk the clear and straight road which will not lead you to corruption, the road which will not lead you away from our instructions and that with which we have blessed you.
O Kumail! There is no concession in your wajibaat (mandatory duties) and there is no need to overly exert yourself with the mostahabaat (optional duties).
O Kumail! Allah will only question you about your mandatory duties; the optional duties are there to help with the great terrors on the Day of Judgment.
O Kumail! Allah is greater than needing your mandatory or optional religious duties or any other good deed or the best of charities; these actions can only benefit you.
O Kumail! Your sins are greater than your good deeds, and your negligence is greater than your glorification of Allah. But Allah’s blessings are greater than that which your actions merit.
O Kumail! Allah’s blessings never leave you so do not turn away from His praise, glorification, sanctification, remembrance, and thankfulness at all times.
O Kumail! Do not be amongst those about whom Allah says, ‘Be not like those who have forsaken Allah’ (59:19) ‘They are the wicked transgressors’ (24:4).
O Kumail! The point of praying, fasting and giving charity is not the physical action; it is to do them with a pure heart and with true sincerity while bearing the rules of Fiqh in mind in such a way that Allah accepts your deeds.
O Kumail! When you are in ruku’, sujood, or performing the rest of the actions required in salaah, not only should your heart be focused and devoted to Allah, but even your joints and your veins need to have the same focus and devotion. And this should apply to all of your prayers.
O Kumail! Pay attention to the clothes in which you pray and the place in which you pray because if they do not meet the conditions (of prayer), your prayer will not be accepted.
O Kumail! The tongue reveals that which is in the heart, and the heart survives on food. So watch what you feed your heart and your body, because if your food is not Halaal Allah will not accept your praise and glorification.
O Kumail! Listen and understand that we do not allow breech of trust. Those who tell you otherwise are not speaking the truth and have committed a sin and deserve Hell for their lie.
I swear that I heard the Prophet (saw) repeat this three times an hour before his death, ‘O Abal-Hasan! Do not breech the trust of the pious nor the immoral in the greatest or the smallest things, even if it is a thread.’
O Kumail! Do not go to war except by the order of the just Imam, and do not perform optional religious duties except by the order of the virtuous Imam. O Kumail! Do you think the prayers of a pious believer would be accepted without the guidance of Allah’s messengers? I swear to allah that they would not be accepted.
O Kumail! Religion belongs to Allah. So do not be deceived by the words of this deluded nation who denied us after they were guided and refused to obey us after they accepted us.
O Kumail! Religion belongs to Allah and He does not allow anyone to announce it except the messengers, the prophets and the Imams.
O Kumail! Positions assigned by Allah are Prophethood and Imamate, and everyone else who claims a position from Allah is an oppressor, invader or one who had gone astray.
O Kumail! Christians did not deny Allah, neither did Jews. They did not even deny Isa or Musa. O Kumail! What they did was they added, removed, and changed things. By doing so, they denied Allah, disbelieved, became accursed, resented, and they did not repent. That is why they are not accepted. O Kumail! Allah accepts only from the pious ones.
O Kumail! Our father, Adam, was not born Jewish or Christian, and his son, Habil, was a righteous Muslim. Allah did not accept the sacrifice of Qabil because he was not a righteous Muslim. So Qabil envied his brother and killed him. Qabil is one of the twelve prisoners in Falaq (lowest place in Hell), six of the prisoners will be from the beginning of time and six are from the end. Falaq is the lowest place in Hell, and the steam of Falaq heats Hell. So avoid those whose steam is the source of the heat of Hell.
O Kumail! We are truly the pious ones and those who do good.
O Kumail! Allah is generous, merciful, great, and patient. He guided us to become His caliphs, ordered us to lead, and ordered people to follow. So we have fulfilled our duty without disobeying Him and we sent His message (to the people) without being hypocrites. We believed in His command and accepted it without any doubt.
I swear to Allah that no devils inspired us and we inspired no devils like the group whose name Allah mentions in the Qur’an, ‘The devils among men and jinn, who inspire one another with tinsel discourses to deceive’ (6:113). O Kumail! Hell will be for them and they will see the delusion.
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that I do not enjoy nor wish to order or stop people, and that I will be despised by the public when I claim the command of the believers and when I am referred to as the Commander of the Believers.
O Kumail! We are the second weight and the Qur’an is the first weight. The Prophet (saw) gathered the people for seven continuous days, ensuring that everyone would hear the following message he gave on the Minbar:
O People! I speak on behalf of Allah; I do not speak of my own inclination. So those who believe me believe Allah, and those who believe Him will be rewarded with Paradise. And those who do not believe me do not believe Allah, and those who do not believe Him will be punished with Hell.
Then the Prophet (saw) called me (Imam ‘Ali (as)) to stand next to him on the Minbar. He placed my head on his chest, and Hasan and Husain were to his right and left.
Then he said:
O people! Jibraeel told me that Allah, who is both your Lord and my Lord, has ordered me to teach you that the Qur’an is the first weight. The second weight is Ali, my successor, and then his sons, and then after them, their sons. The first weight testifies for the second weight, and the second weight testifies for the first weight. They will always be together and will not separate until they meet Allah, and then Allah will judge between them and His slaves.
O Kumail! If this is our status then why did they usurp our rights and precede us? And why did some hold back and not support us?
O Kumail! The Prophet (saw) informed them of the message of Allah and advised them but they do not like the advisors.
O Kumail! The Messenger of Allah (saw) told me something which he announced to the supporters from Medina and to the immigrants from Makkah on the afternoon of the fifteenth day of Ramadhan while he was standing on top of his Minbar.
The Prophet (saw) said:
Ali and my innocent sons, who are his sons, are from me and I am from them. My sons are the best of people after their mother. They are the ark of rescue and those who board it will survive and those who stay behind will drown. The survivors are in Paradise and those who drown are in Hell.
O Kumail! Status is in Allah’s hands, and He will give it to anyone He wants. He is the Lord and owner of all virtues. So why do people envy us for virtues that Allah has bestowed on us? Allah also created us before any other creation. Do they think that they can disconnect us from our Lord with their jealousy?
O Kumail! Let those who are not in Paradise be ready for the extreme torture in Hell: everlasting disgrace, shackles, bridles, long chains, large pieces of fire, neighborhood of every devil, purulent drinks, clothes made of iron, harsh guards, blazing fire, and closed and locked doors. The inmates of Hell will be screaming but will not be answered; they will call for help but there will be no mercy shown to them.
They will say, ‘O Malik, would that your Lord put an end to us.’
Malik will respond, ‘Verily you are to stay. Verily We brought to you the truth, but most of you despised the truth’ (43:77-78).
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that we are the truth to which Allah refers by saying, ‘And were the truth to follow their whims, certainly the heavens and the earth and all those that are in them would have been ruined’ (23:71).
O Kumail! After staying in Hell for a long period, the inmates of Hell will call Allah, the owner of the Holy names, and ask, ‘Is there any hope for us?’
And Allah will reply, ‘Remain condemned in it, and speak not to Me’ (23:108).
O Kumail! Then they will lose hope of ever escaping and their sorrow will increase. At this point they will be sure of their destruction for what they earned with their deeds and they will be tortured.
O Kumail! Say, ‘Praise be to the Lord who saved us from the unjust.’
O Kumail! I think Allah for making the believers and I successful, and I think Him at all times.
O Kumail! Those who win in this life win a passing life, which is temporary, so understand what I have said to you and you will win the Hereafter, which is eternal.
O Kumail! Everyone moves toward the Day of Judgment hoping that Allah is pleased with them and hoping for the highest levels of Paradise, but no one reaches there except those who are pious.
Then the Commander of the Believers (as) said, ‘O Kumail! If you want you can go now.’
(as translated in “The Glad Tidings of mustafa For the Shia of Murtaz’a” published by shiabooks.ca .
--
It is narrated that Imam Ali (as) has said:
Kumayl, those who amass wealth die even as they live
while those who
possess knowledge will continue to exist for as long
as time lasts.
Kitab al-Irshad
Page 169
Shaykh al-Mufid
Translated by I K A Howard
Ali bin Abi Talib (as) told me:
O Kumail! Start your day with the name of Allah, “Bismillah,” and with “La Howla wa la qowwata illa billah” (There is no strength or power but with Allah), and entrust your soul to Allah. mention us with our names and send blessings on us (Salawat), and seek refuge with Allah. This will protect you and everything around you from evil on that day.
O Kumail! Allah disciplined the Prophet (saw) and the Prophet (saw) disciplined me, and I discipline the believers and teach manners to the honorable ones.
O Kumail! I am the founder of every field of knowledge and every secret will be revealed by the Qaem (12th Imam) (as). O Kumail! ‘Offspring, one from the other, and Allah is hearing, knowing.” (3:34)
O Kumail! As long as you do not listen to anything except that which comes from us, you will be part of us.
O Kumail! You (people) need help in learning about everything that exists.
O Kumail! When you want to start eating, start with the name of Allah. Nothing can hurt you with His name; it is a cure from illness.
O Kumail! Always have someone eat with you and do not be stingy with your food. Understand that you do not provide sustenance and that Allah will reward you for sharing your food.
O Kumail! Have akhlaaq, make your companions’ lives easier and do not be harsh with your servants.
O Kumail! Take your time when you eat so that those with whom you are eating finish their food and receive their rizq.
O Kumail! When you are finished eating, thank Allah for the sustenance, and thank Him loudly so that others hear you and thank Him too, because this will increase your reward.
O Kumail! Do not keep eating until you are full; leave room for water and air.
O Kumail! Do not eat all the available food because the Prophet (saw) never did so. Stop eating while you are still a little hungry because that is healthy eating.
O Kumail! Health is in eating little and drinking little.
O Kumail! Prosperity in fortune comes with almsgiving, consolation of the believers, and visiting your relatives. Your relatives are those who are close to us.
O Kumail! Be more generous, more kind, and more charitable to the believers from your family than to other believers.
O Kumail! Do not turn away the poor even if you can only give them a date or a grape!
O Kumail! Charity grows in Allah’s eyes.
O Kumail! The akhlaaq of a believer is beautified through his humility, made complete through his kindness, honored through his compassion, and glorified through not participating in hearsay.
O Kumail! Do not ever be self-righteous because you will seduce only the foolish and you will lose your real friends.
O Kumail! Only argue about Allah (with disbelievers) who look like they are intelligent, because they are all foolish anyway as Allah says, ‘Verily they themselves are the fools, but they do not know.’ (2:13)
O Kumail! Every nation has good and bad people. So do not get in a heated argument with those who are ignorant. And if they insult you, be patient amongst them for Allah says, ‘When the ignorant address them, they say: Peace.’ (25:63)
O Kumail! Always tell the truth. Surround yourself with those who are pious and abandon those who are immoral.
O Kumail! Stay away from the hypocrites and do not befriend those who will betray you.
O Kumail! Never knock on the door of the unjust, mingle with them, or earn from them. Do not every obey them and do not speak in their gatherings about that which will make Allah angry with you. O Kumail! If you have to attend gatherings (of the unjust) praise the Lord continuously, entrust your soul to Allah, and seek refuge with Allah from their evil. Say nothing to them, but deny their actions in your heart and glorify the Lord loudly so that they can hear you. Consequently, they will fear you and you will be protected from their evil.
O Kumail! The best thing that Allah loves from His slaves, after testifying in Him and His vicegerents, is beautifying the soul through compassion and patience.
O Kumail! There is nothing wrong with people not knowing your secrets. O Kumail! Do not show people your needs and be patient while anticipating Allah’s reward and you will thereby earn peoples’ trust.
O Kumail! Who is your brother? Your brother is he who does not let you down in times of difficulty, does not keep quiet when you do something wrong, does not lie to you when you ask him a question, and does not wait to offer his help until he learns that the problem has already been solved.
O Kumail! A believer is the mirror of his fellow believer. A believer will help identify a fellow believer’s weaknesses and he will help him rectify them.
O Kumail! Believers are brothers and nothing should come between brothers.
O Kumail! If you do not love your brother then you are not his brother.
O Kumail! A believer is one who follows us. Those who do not follow us, neglect us and will not be with us. And those who are not with us will be in the lowest levels of Hell.
O Kumail! Our secret matters are to be kept secret. If someone discloses them to you and orders you to keep it confidential, do not disclose it. If you disclose it, your repentance will not be accepted, and if that happens your destination will be Hell.
O Kumail! Allah does not allow the secrets of the family of the Prophet (saw) to be made public because not everyone’s heart has the capacity to bear it.
O Kumail! Do not teach that which the family of the Prophet (saw) tells you except to a believer who is worthy of such information.
O Kumail! Do not teach the disbelievers anything about us because they will change it and use it against you.
O Kumail! The believers who have died will come back and will achieve victory with the believers yet to come. O Kumail! Allah will give these believers good in this life and in the Hereafter.
O Kumail! You are surrounded by your enemies. You have to live with them, eat with them, and drink with them. It is possible that you may be wealthier than they are, to their utter disappointment, but Allah will help you and fail them.
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that when your leader (the 12th Imam (as)) appears, your enemies will not eat with you, live near you, or knock on your door. They will not receive any blessings; they will be the dishonored and the despised ones. They will be captured wherever they go and they will be killed. O Kumail! Praise the Lord and the Imams for this and for every other blessing.
O Kumail! For any difficulty say “La howla wa la qowwata illa billah’ (there is no strength or power but with Allah) and the difficulty will be removed.
For any blessing say, ‘Alhumdulillah’ (All Praise Belongs to Allah) and We will increase the blessing.
If your sustenance is delayed, seek forgiveness and it will come to you.
O Kumail! If Shaytan whispers in your heart, say:
‘A’ouzo billah al-qawi min al-Shaitan al-ghawi wa a’ouzo bi Mohammaden al-radhi min sharre ma qoddera wa qadhi wa a’ouzo bi illahennas min sharre al-jinnate wa nnase ajmaeen wa sallam.’
(I seek refuge with the strong Allah from the deviating Shaytan, and I seek refuge with the tactful Mohammad from the worst fate and destiny, and I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind from the jinn and human beings.)
This prayer will keep you safe from the evil plotting of Shaytan and the devil with him, who are all devils like him. O Kumail! They use deception, conflict, vanity, devilish insinuations, and pride according to the level of the person’s obedience and disobedience. Therefore, if one is not fully aware of these satanic strategies, they will seize him.
O Kumail! There is no enemy worse than Shaytan and the devils with him, and nothing can hurt you more than they can. Their wish is for you to be with them tomorrow in Hell when they are being tortured, and they will be in Hell eternally and the flames of Hell will never be reduced.
O Kumail! Allah is angry with those who do not guard themselves from Shaytan and the devils with him by using His name and the name of His Prophet and the Imams. Allah is angry with those who do not seek refuge with Him and with those who do not send Allah’s blessings on His Prophet and his family.
O Kumail! The devils will deceive you with themselves, and if that does not work they will deceive you with you They will beautify your desires to you and they will grant your wishes and desires. They will seduce you and make you forget. And then they will order you to commit sins; they will prevent you from performing good deeds; and they will lie to you about Allah. They will make you believe that you are on the right path and you will be seduced. You will commit sins and the punishment for the sinner is Hell.
O Kumail! Memorize these words of Allah, ‘Shaytan has beguiled them and given them false hopes’ (47:25). Shaytan is a deceiver, but Allah is the dictator.
O Kumail! Repeat these words that Allah said to the cursed Shaytan, ‘Summon against them your cavalry and infantry, and share their riches and children with them, and make promises to them. But Shaytan promises them nothing but deceit’ (17:64).
O Kumail! Shaytan does not divert you to himself. He makes you deviate from Allah and pushes you to disobey Allah, and then you will be troubled.
O Kumail! Shaytan will come to you gently with the best of his tricks and will order you to perform acts of obedience that you enjoy, so you will think he is an honorable angel, but he is really the accursed Shaytan. And once you trust him, he will order you to commit the greatest of sins, the sins from which you cannot be saved.
O Kumail! Shaytan creates traps for you. Be careful not to fall in them. O Kumail! The earth is full of their traps and no one is safe from the traps except those who hold on to us. Allah has said that no one can survive from the traps except His servants, who are our followers, ‘As for my devoted servants, you shall have no power over them’ (15:42) and ‘His authority (that of the Shaytan) is only over those who befriend him and associate others with Allah’ (16:100).
O Kumail! Save yourself with our Wilayat or Shaytan will share your riches and your children with you, as Allah has promised in the Qur’an.
O Kumail! Do not be deceived by those who perform long prayers, fast continuously, or give charity and think that they are successful.
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that I heard the Prophet (saw) say:
When Shaytan orders people to commit great sins like adultery, drinking wine, usury and other similar sins, he also puts the love of extreme worship, submission, ruku’, and sujood in their hearts. And then Shaytan guides them toward those leaders who will lead them to Hell, and there will be no help for them on the Day of Judgment.
O Kumail! People either stay on the right path or deviate from it. You only deserve to stay on the right path if you walk the clear and straight road which will not lead you to corruption, the road which will not lead you away from our instructions and that with which we have blessed you.
O Kumail! There is no concession in your wajibaat (mandatory duties) and there is no need to overly exert yourself with the mostahabaat (optional duties).
O Kumail! Allah will only question you about your mandatory duties; the optional duties are there to help with the great terrors on the Day of Judgment.
O Kumail! Allah is greater than needing your mandatory or optional religious duties or any other good deed or the best of charities; these actions can only benefit you.
O Kumail! Your sins are greater than your good deeds, and your negligence is greater than your glorification of Allah. But Allah’s blessings are greater than that which your actions merit.
O Kumail! Allah’s blessings never leave you so do not turn away from His praise, glorification, sanctification, remembrance, and thankfulness at all times.
O Kumail! Do not be amongst those about whom Allah says, ‘Be not like those who have forsaken Allah’ (59:19) ‘They are the wicked transgressors’ (24:4).
O Kumail! The point of praying, fasting and giving charity is not the physical action; it is to do them with a pure heart and with true sincerity while bearing the rules of Fiqh in mind in such a way that Allah accepts your deeds.
O Kumail! When you are in ruku’, sujood, or performing the rest of the actions required in salaah, not only should your heart be focused and devoted to Allah, but even your joints and your veins need to have the same focus and devotion. And this should apply to all of your prayers.
O Kumail! Pay attention to the clothes in which you pray and the place in which you pray because if they do not meet the conditions (of prayer), your prayer will not be accepted.
O Kumail! The tongue reveals that which is in the heart, and the heart survives on food. So watch what you feed your heart and your body, because if your food is not Halaal Allah will not accept your praise and glorification.
O Kumail! Listen and understand that we do not allow breech of trust. Those who tell you otherwise are not speaking the truth and have committed a sin and deserve Hell for their lie.
I swear that I heard the Prophet (saw) repeat this three times an hour before his death, ‘O Abal-Hasan! Do not breech the trust of the pious nor the immoral in the greatest or the smallest things, even if it is a thread.’
O Kumail! Do not go to war except by the order of the just Imam, and do not perform optional religious duties except by the order of the virtuous Imam. O Kumail! Do you think the prayers of a pious believer would be accepted without the guidance of Allah’s messengers? I swear to allah that they would not be accepted.
O Kumail! Religion belongs to Allah. So do not be deceived by the words of this deluded nation who denied us after they were guided and refused to obey us after they accepted us.
O Kumail! Religion belongs to Allah and He does not allow anyone to announce it except the messengers, the prophets and the Imams.
O Kumail! Positions assigned by Allah are Prophethood and Imamate, and everyone else who claims a position from Allah is an oppressor, invader or one who had gone astray.
O Kumail! Christians did not deny Allah, neither did Jews. They did not even deny Isa or Musa. O Kumail! What they did was they added, removed, and changed things. By doing so, they denied Allah, disbelieved, became accursed, resented, and they did not repent. That is why they are not accepted. O Kumail! Allah accepts only from the pious ones.
O Kumail! Our father, Adam, was not born Jewish or Christian, and his son, Habil, was a righteous Muslim. Allah did not accept the sacrifice of Qabil because he was not a righteous Muslim. So Qabil envied his brother and killed him. Qabil is one of the twelve prisoners in Falaq (lowest place in Hell), six of the prisoners will be from the beginning of time and six are from the end. Falaq is the lowest place in Hell, and the steam of Falaq heats Hell. So avoid those whose steam is the source of the heat of Hell.
O Kumail! We are truly the pious ones and those who do good.
O Kumail! Allah is generous, merciful, great, and patient. He guided us to become His caliphs, ordered us to lead, and ordered people to follow. So we have fulfilled our duty without disobeying Him and we sent His message (to the people) without being hypocrites. We believed in His command and accepted it without any doubt.
I swear to Allah that no devils inspired us and we inspired no devils like the group whose name Allah mentions in the Qur’an, ‘The devils among men and jinn, who inspire one another with tinsel discourses to deceive’ (6:113). O Kumail! Hell will be for them and they will see the delusion.
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that I do not enjoy nor wish to order or stop people, and that I will be despised by the public when I claim the command of the believers and when I am referred to as the Commander of the Believers.
O Kumail! We are the second weight and the Qur’an is the first weight. The Prophet (saw) gathered the people for seven continuous days, ensuring that everyone would hear the following message he gave on the Minbar:
O People! I speak on behalf of Allah; I do not speak of my own inclination. So those who believe me believe Allah, and those who believe Him will be rewarded with Paradise. And those who do not believe me do not believe Allah, and those who do not believe Him will be punished with Hell.
Then the Prophet (saw) called me (Imam ‘Ali (as)) to stand next to him on the Minbar. He placed my head on his chest, and Hasan and Husain were to his right and left.
Then he said:
O people! Jibraeel told me that Allah, who is both your Lord and my Lord, has ordered me to teach you that the Qur’an is the first weight. The second weight is Ali, my successor, and then his sons, and then after them, their sons. The first weight testifies for the second weight, and the second weight testifies for the first weight. They will always be together and will not separate until they meet Allah, and then Allah will judge between them and His slaves.
O Kumail! If this is our status then why did they usurp our rights and precede us? And why did some hold back and not support us?
O Kumail! The Prophet (saw) informed them of the message of Allah and advised them but they do not like the advisors.
O Kumail! The Messenger of Allah (saw) told me something which he announced to the supporters from Medina and to the immigrants from Makkah on the afternoon of the fifteenth day of Ramadhan while he was standing on top of his Minbar.
The Prophet (saw) said:
Ali and my innocent sons, who are his sons, are from me and I am from them. My sons are the best of people after their mother. They are the ark of rescue and those who board it will survive and those who stay behind will drown. The survivors are in Paradise and those who drown are in Hell.
O Kumail! Status is in Allah’s hands, and He will give it to anyone He wants. He is the Lord and owner of all virtues. So why do people envy us for virtues that Allah has bestowed on us? Allah also created us before any other creation. Do they think that they can disconnect us from our Lord with their jealousy?
O Kumail! Let those who are not in Paradise be ready for the extreme torture in Hell: everlasting disgrace, shackles, bridles, long chains, large pieces of fire, neighborhood of every devil, purulent drinks, clothes made of iron, harsh guards, blazing fire, and closed and locked doors. The inmates of Hell will be screaming but will not be answered; they will call for help but there will be no mercy shown to them.
They will say, ‘O Malik, would that your Lord put an end to us.’
Malik will respond, ‘Verily you are to stay. Verily We brought to you the truth, but most of you despised the truth’ (43:77-78).
O Kumail! I swear to Allah that we are the truth to which Allah refers by saying, ‘And were the truth to follow their whims, certainly the heavens and the earth and all those that are in them would have been ruined’ (23:71).
O Kumail! After staying in Hell for a long period, the inmates of Hell will call Allah, the owner of the Holy names, and ask, ‘Is there any hope for us?’
And Allah will reply, ‘Remain condemned in it, and speak not to Me’ (23:108).
O Kumail! Then they will lose hope of ever escaping and their sorrow will increase. At this point they will be sure of their destruction for what they earned with their deeds and they will be tortured.
O Kumail! Say, ‘Praise be to the Lord who saved us from the unjust.’
O Kumail! I think Allah for making the believers and I successful, and I think Him at all times.
O Kumail! Those who win in this life win a passing life, which is temporary, so understand what I have said to you and you will win the Hereafter, which is eternal.
O Kumail! Everyone moves toward the Day of Judgment hoping that Allah is pleased with them and hoping for the highest levels of Paradise, but no one reaches there except those who are pious.
Then the Commander of the Believers (as) said, ‘O Kumail! If you want you can go now.’
(as translated in “The Glad Tidings of mustafa For the Shia of Murtaz’a” published by shiabooks.ca .
--
It is narrated that Imam Ali (as) has said:
Kumayl, those who amass wealth die even as they live
while those who
possess knowledge will continue to exist for as long
as time lasts.
Kitab al-Irshad
Page 169
Shaykh al-Mufid
Translated by I K A Howard
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Leo
This is a picture of Leo, but it's a bit old. He always stayed small but not quite that small. Leo adopted me. He was a neighborhood cat apparently abandoned by renters. I started putting food out for cats hanging out in my yard (because I had a bird feeder and no gate blocking access) and he was one of them who came by. He had the sweetest personality - he started coming inside the house and taking long naps, or getting protection from weather. He never bothered about my birds. But, he never could stand to stay in for very long. Last spring he got an abscess in his leg from cat fights. He had to have surgery to cut it out and had to take medicine and stay inside for 10 days. He was so miserable once he was feeling better but still having to stay inside. He might go away for a few days and then come back - if the food I had was more to his liking he'd be around several times a day. Sometimes I'd be getting in my car to go to work and he'd come running up from somewhere, his four little feet going as fast as they could while he called to me to wait for him and let him in the house or feed him or whatever he wanted.
Well, Leo is gone now, I think. I haven't seen him in two weeks, which is unprecedented. I didn't see any paw prints in our last snow and I was looking for him to make sure he wasn't out in the weather. I thought maybe he was at someone else's house, but more days passed and there's been no sign of him. I miss him, but as days pass I really don't think I'll be seeing him again.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Movie Reviews by Muslims
Anyone interested in writing movie reviews (as often as you like) for a Movie Reviews by Muslims blog, please send me your e-mail address.
Magma On The Move Beneath Yellowstone
March 02, 2006 scientificamerican.com
Otowi comment: I went there when I was 5 and still remember it - definitely a place worth visiting sometime in your life.
Much of Yellowstone National Park is a giant collapsed volcano, or caldera. In an enormous eruption roughly 640,000 years ago, this volcano spit out around 240 cubic miles of rock, dirt, magma and other material. Around 70,000 years ago, its last eruption filled in that gaping hole with flows of lava. Since then the area has enjoyed an uneasy peace, the land alternately rising and falling with the passing decades. New satellite data indicate that this uplift and subsidence is caused by the movement of magma beneath the surface and may explain why the northern edge of the park continues to rise while the southern part of the caldera is falling.
Charles Wicks, Daniel Dzurisin and their colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey studied radar images of the caldera captured by the European Space Agency's ERS-2 satellite during two passes over the park. Using a technique called interferometry--whereby radar measurements from two different vantage points are combined to give a measure of height--the scientists confirmed measurements on the ground that showed the land rising. But the images also revealed that a roughly 12-mile-wide circle of land centered at the northern rim of the caldera is still rising while land to its south is sinking. The source of that uplift, according to data revealed in today's Nature, lies more than seven miles underground.
Therefore, magma movement must be the cause of the rise and fall, Dzurisin explains. "It's just too deep to be caused by pressurization of the hydrothermal system," he says. "A small amount of magma has either moved up or been intruded to a depth of [seven miles] or perhaps it was already there and it's been pressurized."
Although previous studies had hinted at new magma moving beneath Yellowstone, this represents the first compelling evidence, according to Dzurisin. Such magma movement would also explain recent surface phenomena like new cracksand hot springs, and the more frequent eruption of Steamboat Geyser. "If you do pressurize or increase the volume of a source [seven miles] deep, you put the ground in tension and that would be conducive to new fractures giving access to the surface for hot waters that previously hadn't had that access," he adds.
This new magma does not mean that Yellowstone will erupt again in the near future; much more significant signs such as more earthquakes, more focused ground deformations and the escape of volcanic gases would point to that. But it does point to continued activity at one of the world's largest volcanic systems. "We don't know if the next event will be a continuation of the series of lava flows that filled in the caldera or the beginning of a new cycle that will create a new caldera," Dzurisin says. "Eruptions are far enough apart that there is a very low probability of the next eruption happening in our lifetimes or anytime soon. The flipside is: the system has been active for millions of years and it's going to erupt again sometime."
Otowi comment: I went there when I was 5 and still remember it - definitely a place worth visiting sometime in your life.
Much of Yellowstone National Park is a giant collapsed volcano, or caldera. In an enormous eruption roughly 640,000 years ago, this volcano spit out around 240 cubic miles of rock, dirt, magma and other material. Around 70,000 years ago, its last eruption filled in that gaping hole with flows of lava. Since then the area has enjoyed an uneasy peace, the land alternately rising and falling with the passing decades. New satellite data indicate that this uplift and subsidence is caused by the movement of magma beneath the surface and may explain why the northern edge of the park continues to rise while the southern part of the caldera is falling.
Charles Wicks, Daniel Dzurisin and their colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey studied radar images of the caldera captured by the European Space Agency's ERS-2 satellite during two passes over the park. Using a technique called interferometry--whereby radar measurements from two different vantage points are combined to give a measure of height--the scientists confirmed measurements on the ground that showed the land rising. But the images also revealed that a roughly 12-mile-wide circle of land centered at the northern rim of the caldera is still rising while land to its south is sinking. The source of that uplift, according to data revealed in today's Nature, lies more than seven miles underground.
Therefore, magma movement must be the cause of the rise and fall, Dzurisin explains. "It's just too deep to be caused by pressurization of the hydrothermal system," he says. "A small amount of magma has either moved up or been intruded to a depth of [seven miles] or perhaps it was already there and it's been pressurized."
Although previous studies had hinted at new magma moving beneath Yellowstone, this represents the first compelling evidence, according to Dzurisin. Such magma movement would also explain recent surface phenomena like new cracksand hot springs, and the more frequent eruption of Steamboat Geyser. "If you do pressurize or increase the volume of a source [seven miles] deep, you put the ground in tension and that would be conducive to new fractures giving access to the surface for hot waters that previously hadn't had that access," he adds.
This new magma does not mean that Yellowstone will erupt again in the near future; much more significant signs such as more earthquakes, more focused ground deformations and the escape of volcanic gases would point to that. But it does point to continued activity at one of the world's largest volcanic systems. "We don't know if the next event will be a continuation of the series of lava flows that filled in the caldera or the beginning of a new cycle that will create a new caldera," Dzurisin says. "Eruptions are far enough apart that there is a very low probability of the next eruption happening in our lifetimes or anytime soon. The flipside is: the system has been active for millions of years and it's going to erupt again sometime."
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Langston Hughes
Let America be America Again
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!
(ha, I don't think I am as optimistic as Langston!)
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!
(ha, I don't think I am as optimistic as Langston!)
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
DOING HIS JOB
For a change in pace: This is a student at my school.
Coronado senior wrestler Henry Cejudo hasn’t lost a match since moving to Colorado before his junior year. Cejudo will make a run at another state title this weekend in the 125-pound weight division. The state tournament starts Thursday at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
By BOB STEPHENS THE GAZETTE
A wry smile crossed Henry Cejudo’s face. He started to speak, then abruptly stopped putting on his Team USA sweat pants and exercised a rare moment of caution.
Cejudo didn’t want to appear overly cocky. He does that often enough.
A veteran of five international wrestling tournaments, the unbeaten Coronado High School senior was asked the odds of losing in the state wrestling championships that begin Thursday at Pepsi Center in Denver.
Cejudo is the overwhelming favorite in the 125-pound division and acknowledged as the best wrestler in the state, regardless of weight.
“You’ve got to respect everybody at state,” Cejudo said, measuring every word. “They’re all good. But I still have an edge.”
Cejudo shrugged his shoulders and said matter-of-factly, “Wrestling is my job.”
He’s ranked No. 1 among U.S. juniors, No. 1 among high school wrestlers and No. 6 among U.S. seniors in his weight class.
Since transferring to Coronado as a junior, he’s 44-0, 21-0 this season. His high school record is 114-3 with three state championships, two in Arizona.
He’s twice beaten Jason Powell, the 2004 NCAA champion, and bested Besik Kudukhov, the Russian junior world champion, Nov. 19 in New York. Cejudo lost to Kudukhov on Jan. 28 in Russia.
“Henry is one of the top four high school wrestlers ever,” said Mitch Hull, national teams director for USA Wrestling. “Not everybody has wrestled up (against older competition). Dan Gable didn’t. But I rank Henry with Jimmy Carr (1972 Olympian as a high school senior), Dave Schultz (1984 gold medalist) and Cary Kolat (2000 Olympian).”
Wasson senior Tony George, who won his regional Saturday, could meet Cejudo in the championship match.
“It would take a miracle for somebody to beat him, but miracles do happen,” George said. “I don’t know if people realize how far above everybody else he is. I don’t think anyone will score on him and I don’t think anyone will go three periods.”
Coronado coach Matt Brickell, asked if Cejudo could lose, said, “There’s a chance . . . sickness, injury. I don’t see it happening. He’s a machine.”
After winning the Pueblo Centennial Invitational on Jan. 14, Cejudo said it was “good practice.” Against high school foes, he typically scores a takedown, but lets the opponent up, giving away an “escape” point.
“He doesn’t ‘mat’ wrestle,” said Coronado senior Cole Nash, a title contender at 135. “His only pins are from takedowns. I’ve learned a lot from watching how aggressive he is. He just breaks a person’s morale.”
When asked how many weight classes he could move up and win the state championship, Cejudo didn’t hesitate. “Heavyweight,” he said.
Pete Rose once said superstars must have an “inner conceit.” Cejudo possesses that in abundance.
“I’ve never met anybody as confident,” Brickell said. “He can say something and back it up. There are a lot of tough kids around the country, but I think Henry’s mind — his mental attitude — is what sets him apart.”
Born in south central Los Angeles, Cejudo didn’t really know his father. He grew up in a part of Phoenix he called “little Mexico.” It’s a time and place he was happy to escape.
“Most of my friends were up to no good,” Cejudo said. “Here, I found Disneyland.”
He was invited to wrestle at the Olympic Training Center at a women’s camp in the summer of 2004 to help women develop against fast, strong male competition. His wrestling partner was Patricia Miranda, who won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.
With his brother Angel — who is two years older and ranked No. 9 in the U.S. at 132 — Henry was then invited to move to Colorado Springs and hone his skills at the Olympic Training Center. So the brothers Cejudo moved to Colorado Springs.
At 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds — give or take a big meal or a day of fasting — Cejudo is a small package of tightly wound talent. Quick and strong, he’s a master technician with moves polished from two years of practice at the OTC.
Away from the mat, he’s quick to joke or flash a mis- chievous grin. But when the game is on, so is his attitude.
“If it’s checkers, I’m aggressive,” Cejudo said sharply.
Soccer was his first love but it wasn’t right for the quick-tempered perfectionist.
“There were too many people to get mad at,” Cejudo said. “They didn’t always do what they were supposed to.”
In wrestling, if he loses, Cejudo doesn’t have to look far to find fault. He scowled when asked about his recent loss to Kudukhov, ranked 13th in the world.
“I want to be the best,” Cejudo said. “I want to win the Olympics. I want to win the world championships.”
With those goals in mind, Cejudo might forgo college and continue his development at the OTC. Besides, the classroom isn’t his favorite place.
“I’m a big fan of learning,” Cejudo said. “But I’m not a big fan of school.”
Hull said Cejudo sees the big picture when it comes to chasing his lofty goals.
“He’s beyond the normal scope of what people think of after high school,” Hull said. “He has to figure out which route is best for him.”
Cejudo’s game plan is to make the 2008 Olympic team, when he will be 21.
“You’ve got to think big, and do big,” he said. “If I set a goal, I’ll reach it sooner or later. And it’s usually sooner.”
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0250 or bob.stephens@gazette.com
STATE WRESTLING
Wrestling State tournament at Pepsi Center
Thursday, 2A/3A preliminaries, 3 p.m., 4A/5A preliminaries, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, 2A/3A quarterfinals, 10 a.m.; 4A/5A quarterfinals, 1 p.m.; all semifinals, 7:15 p.m.
Saturday, State tournament at Pepsi Center: consolations, 11 a.m., third- and fifth-place matches, 2:30 p.m., finals, 6:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster, 1-303-830-8497, at TicketMaster outlets or at the Pepsi Center box office. Each session is $8-$12.
Coronado senior wrestler Henry Cejudo hasn’t lost a match since moving to Colorado before his junior year. Cejudo will make a run at another state title this weekend in the 125-pound weight division. The state tournament starts Thursday at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
By BOB STEPHENS THE GAZETTE
A wry smile crossed Henry Cejudo’s face. He started to speak, then abruptly stopped putting on his Team USA sweat pants and exercised a rare moment of caution.
Cejudo didn’t want to appear overly cocky. He does that often enough.
A veteran of five international wrestling tournaments, the unbeaten Coronado High School senior was asked the odds of losing in the state wrestling championships that begin Thursday at Pepsi Center in Denver.
Cejudo is the overwhelming favorite in the 125-pound division and acknowledged as the best wrestler in the state, regardless of weight.
“You’ve got to respect everybody at state,” Cejudo said, measuring every word. “They’re all good. But I still have an edge.”
Cejudo shrugged his shoulders and said matter-of-factly, “Wrestling is my job.”
He’s ranked No. 1 among U.S. juniors, No. 1 among high school wrestlers and No. 6 among U.S. seniors in his weight class.
Since transferring to Coronado as a junior, he’s 44-0, 21-0 this season. His high school record is 114-3 with three state championships, two in Arizona.
He’s twice beaten Jason Powell, the 2004 NCAA champion, and bested Besik Kudukhov, the Russian junior world champion, Nov. 19 in New York. Cejudo lost to Kudukhov on Jan. 28 in Russia.
“Henry is one of the top four high school wrestlers ever,” said Mitch Hull, national teams director for USA Wrestling. “Not everybody has wrestled up (against older competition). Dan Gable didn’t. But I rank Henry with Jimmy Carr (1972 Olympian as a high school senior), Dave Schultz (1984 gold medalist) and Cary Kolat (2000 Olympian).”
Wasson senior Tony George, who won his regional Saturday, could meet Cejudo in the championship match.
“It would take a miracle for somebody to beat him, but miracles do happen,” George said. “I don’t know if people realize how far above everybody else he is. I don’t think anyone will score on him and I don’t think anyone will go three periods.”
Coronado coach Matt Brickell, asked if Cejudo could lose, said, “There’s a chance . . . sickness, injury. I don’t see it happening. He’s a machine.”
After winning the Pueblo Centennial Invitational on Jan. 14, Cejudo said it was “good practice.” Against high school foes, he typically scores a takedown, but lets the opponent up, giving away an “escape” point.
“He doesn’t ‘mat’ wrestle,” said Coronado senior Cole Nash, a title contender at 135. “His only pins are from takedowns. I’ve learned a lot from watching how aggressive he is. He just breaks a person’s morale.”
When asked how many weight classes he could move up and win the state championship, Cejudo didn’t hesitate. “Heavyweight,” he said.
Pete Rose once said superstars must have an “inner conceit.” Cejudo possesses that in abundance.
“I’ve never met anybody as confident,” Brickell said. “He can say something and back it up. There are a lot of tough kids around the country, but I think Henry’s mind — his mental attitude — is what sets him apart.”
Born in south central Los Angeles, Cejudo didn’t really know his father. He grew up in a part of Phoenix he called “little Mexico.” It’s a time and place he was happy to escape.
“Most of my friends were up to no good,” Cejudo said. “Here, I found Disneyland.”
He was invited to wrestle at the Olympic Training Center at a women’s camp in the summer of 2004 to help women develop against fast, strong male competition. His wrestling partner was Patricia Miranda, who won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.
With his brother Angel — who is two years older and ranked No. 9 in the U.S. at 132 — Henry was then invited to move to Colorado Springs and hone his skills at the Olympic Training Center. So the brothers Cejudo moved to Colorado Springs.
At 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds — give or take a big meal or a day of fasting — Cejudo is a small package of tightly wound talent. Quick and strong, he’s a master technician with moves polished from two years of practice at the OTC.
Away from the mat, he’s quick to joke or flash a mis- chievous grin. But when the game is on, so is his attitude.
“If it’s checkers, I’m aggressive,” Cejudo said sharply.
Soccer was his first love but it wasn’t right for the quick-tempered perfectionist.
“There were too many people to get mad at,” Cejudo said. “They didn’t always do what they were supposed to.”
In wrestling, if he loses, Cejudo doesn’t have to look far to find fault. He scowled when asked about his recent loss to Kudukhov, ranked 13th in the world.
“I want to be the best,” Cejudo said. “I want to win the Olympics. I want to win the world championships.”
With those goals in mind, Cejudo might forgo college and continue his development at the OTC. Besides, the classroom isn’t his favorite place.
“I’m a big fan of learning,” Cejudo said. “But I’m not a big fan of school.”
Hull said Cejudo sees the big picture when it comes to chasing his lofty goals.
“He’s beyond the normal scope of what people think of after high school,” Hull said. “He has to figure out which route is best for him.”
Cejudo’s game plan is to make the 2008 Olympic team, when he will be 21.
“You’ve got to think big, and do big,” he said. “If I set a goal, I’ll reach it sooner or later. And it’s usually sooner.”
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0250 or bob.stephens@gazette.com
STATE WRESTLING
Wrestling State tournament at Pepsi Center
Thursday, 2A/3A preliminaries, 3 p.m., 4A/5A preliminaries, 7:15 p.m.
Friday, 2A/3A quarterfinals, 10 a.m.; 4A/5A quarterfinals, 1 p.m.; all semifinals, 7:15 p.m.
Saturday, State tournament at Pepsi Center: consolations, 11 a.m., third- and fifth-place matches, 2:30 p.m., finals, 6:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased through TicketMaster, 1-303-830-8497, at TicketMaster outlets or at the Pepsi Center box office. Each session is $8-$12.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Ashura
As a result of the post "Ritual and Reason" below, which appeared in a few forums, I was accused of being an 'azadari basher', meaning someone against mourning on Ashura, and of basically being arrogant and anti-Shia. The accuser said that no one has the right to question azadari.
First of all, I didn't say anything to question azadari.
But secondly, in Islam anyone has the right and even the responsibility to question, even to question the existence of God, the nature of God. So of course someone has the right to question any practice. If people never question, then the result is that truth is lost over time due to corruptions that are never questioned. A brother mentioned a case in a village where people killed sheep or goats and then put the blood on themselves to commemorate Ashura - he mentioned it as a clear example where a practice becomes unIslamic even if done with apparently an Islamic intention.
And thirdly, so what, i want to know the origins and details of practices. Why should they not be known? Knowing that can only help to strengthen or improve practices. And to make it clear, I never condemned any particular practice or said that it should not be done, etc.
Finally, if you love someone, living or dead, you feel sad at their pains and joy at their joys. Remembering helps to preserve truth. Walayah requires empathy and compassion and walayah is the means to know someone, associate with them, follow them. If you do not have walayah for someone you cannot claim to be his/her follower or friend. Now expressing that walayah for Imam Husain (as) does not necessarily require any particular methods. Whatever those methods are, unless they are wajib (which in this case they are not) the methods are not what makes someone Shia or not or Muslim or not, or lover of Ahlulbayt (as) or not. It is the walayah. Everything should be judged in the context of walayah and shari'ah.
On another note,
for Ashura I went up to Fort Collins, about 150 miles north of here, to attend a small gathering at which Sheikh Idris led ziyarate ashoura and dua alqamah and gave a short, wonderful speech. I am very glad I went. Someone told me about it just the night before, so I consider it a blessing to have heard about it and gone. Further, I got to talk to Sheikh Idris's wife which was also wonderful.
First of all, I didn't say anything to question azadari.
But secondly, in Islam anyone has the right and even the responsibility to question, even to question the existence of God, the nature of God. So of course someone has the right to question any practice. If people never question, then the result is that truth is lost over time due to corruptions that are never questioned. A brother mentioned a case in a village where people killed sheep or goats and then put the blood on themselves to commemorate Ashura - he mentioned it as a clear example where a practice becomes unIslamic even if done with apparently an Islamic intention.
And thirdly, so what, i want to know the origins and details of practices. Why should they not be known? Knowing that can only help to strengthen or improve practices. And to make it clear, I never condemned any particular practice or said that it should not be done, etc.
Finally, if you love someone, living or dead, you feel sad at their pains and joy at their joys. Remembering helps to preserve truth. Walayah requires empathy and compassion and walayah is the means to know someone, associate with them, follow them. If you do not have walayah for someone you cannot claim to be his/her follower or friend. Now expressing that walayah for Imam Husain (as) does not necessarily require any particular methods. Whatever those methods are, unless they are wajib (which in this case they are not) the methods are not what makes someone Shia or not or Muslim or not, or lover of Ahlulbayt (as) or not. It is the walayah. Everything should be judged in the context of walayah and shari'ah.
On another note,
for Ashura I went up to Fort Collins, about 150 miles north of here, to attend a small gathering at which Sheikh Idris led ziyarate ashoura and dua alqamah and gave a short, wonderful speech. I am very glad I went. Someone told me about it just the night before, so I consider it a blessing to have heard about it and gone. Further, I got to talk to Sheikh Idris's wife which was also wonderful.
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