Shama Khan

http://www.truthout.org
http://www.wbai.org
Somehow, it's unbelievable that after 9 days of war in which more bombs than ever have been used, so few casualties of our troops and the iraqi civilians have been reported by our popular corporate media.
Let's be responsible citizens and search for the missing parts of the picture.
Praying for the safety of our troops and the civilians in the faraway land.

What an interesting topic. And I have a lot to say about this.
I think it's a scientific fact that there are chemicals released from pores of our fingers into our mouths when we lick our fingers after/during?? eating - the chemicals aid in digestion (and may put maalox and tums out of business .) One should always eat with right hands using a minimus of 3 fingers and the thumb and being sure not to get food on the palm or the top/outer part of the hand or fingers.
Now, about that table manners, each culture have their set of table manners. I don't eat with my hands in front of my American friends unless I am in an indian restaurant eating bread. Some of them actually have caught on how to use pieces of bread to scoop up vegetables and stuff.
When I am in the presence of Desis, I make a special attempt to eat with my hands to show that I am proud of my traditions (even after growing up away from my birthland) and am not some british chamcha (spoon) who rate my traditions below of those of our former friends - the colonialists.
It's really not the non-desis whose balking bothers me - after all, it's not fair to shock someone by showing off the major differences in each others table manners (eating chinese with hands would be strange anyway .)
But it's those desis that act like there is no other good way but to eat (and do everything else)the western way. I say to those, get rid of your inferiority complex and feel proud of the good aspects of your heritage.
Of course, making noises while eating is not appropriate and it's not only desis whom I have witnessed doing that.
In my view, one of the worst table manners I have witnessed here is food fights - to have food thrown around and in the face (as in pie in the face.) And another one is who can eat how many of whatever competitions - what is that anyway!
If there is so much food, maybe we should send some of it to the homeless shelters located throughout metropolitan cities of USA. The winner could be the one who feeds the most people.
I really agree with being clean in the kitchen which means no shoes (better left at the doorstep but try getting the repair man to agree to that
.)

Left hand is only good for cleaning our private parts with water when we visit the bathroom. Of course, wash hands with soap after visit to bathroom, before eating and after eating.
I am surprised that in U.S., hand held bidets are marketed only toward Hemorrhoid suffering patients and the sanitary benefits are not mentioned at all
Believe me, In the shopping malls of 3 different states I have lived in, I have passed by too many smelly kids and elderly who don't have the manual dexterity to correctly use toilet paper and can really use that bidet. Not to mention the saving of so much paper and money! After all toilet paper must be an industry worth millions of dollars - how about pissing off the corporate paper giants by starting to use those bidets. I can't even imagine the faces of those Proctor&Gamble executives
Now, it has been a great release to talk about stuff with the fellow ranchers - stuff that I would feel uncomfortable talking about with my friends. This has reminded me of the days when I worked in marketing research and the quarterly surveys that would be returned from respondents stating that only 99% of Americans use toilet paper. My co-workers would laugh about how unsanitary 1% of our population must be. Except the joke was on them because water is definitely more sanitary than paper. I would always hold out my tongue not wanting to offend or embarass them.
Maybe one day, those toilet paper companies would be forced to ask those 1% about specific substitutes being used (let's hope there is one. )

I want people to know we have tromendus amout of Capibility ...Just need right Direction ,

I think there's ample research that's been done to prove that improving the IT knowledge/infrastructure and so on doesn't necessarily directly affect the move of a 3rd world nation to a developed nation status. Like some of the above posters mentioned, it is the basics that we've got to work on. For example, a 100% literacy rate, economical stability in the country by applying simple economics and eliminating fraud and corruption, and better security in the country.
You are right that there is a lot of talent in Pakistan but as far as I know most of it is leaving the country to make a buck and be able to enjoy the buck - meaning Pakistan is being brain drained.
I would love to go back and help out but have heard many sad stories of people who went and came back within 5 years because they had a hard time dealing with corrupt government officials when just trying to set up a legit business or even file a report on a stolen car.
Of course, most of the source of my news is from Karachi. And it's also understood that many countries in the world suffer from similar circumstances and I am not singling pakistan out.
I replied only because when I went to Pakistan about 10 years ago, it broke my heart to see 8 and 10 year olds selling junk in the markets. It broke my heart further to realize that educated and well-placed people accept this fact and take advantages of it so calmly.
I think the Operation Badr is badly misled in that it fails to realize that first you got to get all the kids in school and teach them their reading, writing, and math.
[ May 19, 2002: Message edited by: Shama Khan ]

Originally posted by Nanhesru Ningyake:
[B]Shama Khan has often been a poster-child for moderation and rational thinking among the Muslims here, compared to some of the radicals we've seen. So I am trying hard to understand what she is saying... is she really supporting Osama bin Laden? She just seems convinced that there's no real proof that Osama was the mastermind behind the attacks on America. If that can be interpreted as "support" for Osama, it can then be extrapolated as "support" for his ideology, which among other grand plans, includes harming America. So the point here is: does an American citizen have a right to support an ideology promoting harm to his/her own country?
I may have gone off on a tangent here; so perhaps Shama can explain this better.

Nanhesru,
I haven't been here in awhile after being accused of being a muslim extremist. Anyway, as you can see in the following thread, http://www.javaranch.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/001337.html
Andrew Shafer does back me up in my statement that Tony Blair did say so and so. I had read it as a headline which may have kept me from the details that another posted later explained.
I didn't say I was convinced of anything. I said only what I had heard about Blair's statement. As you may have realized that muslims all over the world have had to deal with the challenge of the current events.
You may not believe it but when the collapse of WTC occurred, my first thoughts were that the religious leaders in the muslim world (ie. the local mosque) do not speak out enough against terrorism and if they had done so then muslims wouldn't have to become as nervous whenever the terrorist acts took place. My thoughts were later represented in muslim and non-muslim media alike. I think they are learning fast now this major atrocity of WTC collapse has been committed.
As to supporting, Usama Bin Laden. No, I don't support him because he is misusing Islam to gain his personal objectives. Then why would I ask for proof! well, because there are bombs being dropped in Afghanistan because of the allegations made against him. As I have made clear in previous emails - no one wins in a war - only innocents die. Violence never helps any situation - it only exacerbates and prolongs the problems.
I can't possibly support his idealogy because I believe life is sacred (suicide is a sin), jihaad (as in fight against an oppressor) is declared by heads of state only, fatwas can be decreed only by religious leaders - Usama Bin Laden does not fit into any of what I stated above so I don't support him.
However, I will say that we in U.S. get a lot of propoganda about the Muslim world in much the same way as the Muslim world gets a whole lot of propaganda about the U.S.
Another reason I believe this strongly is because I still remember all the hogwash we were fed in school about the Russians. Now that Russia is no longer seen as a major competitor in the bid to rule the world, there are many Russian immigrants here. After all the hogwash we were taught, I have come to learn otherwise about my Russian-American friends.
I have learned it the hard way that we can not believe all of what we hear or say because I have come to know through reading (again on the guardian) that when U.S. started bombing Afghanistan, the Pentagon soon afterwards bought all the rights to pictures taken by the only civilian satellite out there. They bought the rights rather than ban the showing of the pictures because they may have been challenged in the courts by the media. They did this so that the American population will not find out about the real extent of civilian casualties that occur and therefore will not rescind the support of war against Afghanistan. By the way, there are also more casualties among the U.S. force than has been reported.
When we know this kind of atmosphere exists, why can I not question it. I don't think it makes me un-American!
I hope I have explained some of what you asked.
Shama
[This message has been edited by Shama Khan (edited November 13, 2001).]

While I disagree with Shama Khan's thinly veiled support for the fundamentalist cause I must say
she has a point here.

You are wrong. I don't support fundamentalists. But I do understand some of how they came to be. Your accusation sounds like like Bush's speech -" if you are not with us - you are with the terrorists" what is that anyway! Read the article I mention below to get the doublespeak.
By the way fundamentalists is the wrong term for the violent extremists who smear the name of a Islam
.
Fundamentalism just mean following the foundation/basis of ... so Islamic fundamentalism means following the 5 pillars of Islam - 5 times prayer, fasting, giving to charity, once in a life time pilgrimmage to Mecca, and belief in unity of God and prophet Muhammad being last messenger.
Nowhere in the 5 pillars is the mention of allowing violence to get what you don't have. Therefore, I don't support the violence. To me a human killed is a human killed - it doesn't matter what his/her ethnicity or religion was - and killing is something against everyone's beliefs including mine. Bombing a country for weeks to catch one person is beyond my understanding.
In my posts however, I try to show that there are always 2 sides to a coin - I am only trying to show the other side.
For example, if one watched BBC last night at 7pm E.T then one would know that the Phillipines' President made a speech at the South East Asia Economic summit and blamed poverty for terrorism.
She requested all to help eradicate poverty to be able to eradicate terrorism.
I watched CNN to see if they would cover that. They didn't.
You also wouldn't find the following article here:
Backyard terrorism
The US has been training terrorists at a camp in Georgia for years - and it's still at it http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,583254,00.html
I think after the 'not so well thought out' accusation, I better stop posting here.
Shama

Originally posted by Jason Menard:
Blatantly, patently, unequivicably [b]false. The statement was that there is enough evidence to hold up in a court of law. [/B]

I know what I read and it was in a western media website.

Originally posted by Jason Menard:
[B] As a great nation, our general responsibility is to look out for our interests. It is only natural that what is in our interests sometimes runs counter to sombody else. So the fact that we may support a regime in the Middle East without a positive human rights record, will certainly offend some. On the other hand not supporting that country may have other consequences that will offend others.

But I thought we were supposed to be a moral nation too. What happened to morality. If Egypt goes out, searches and hangs muslim bearded men on a weekly basis without any proof of their guilt of anything then it's alright as long as Egypt is taking the U.S. dollars to support the policies of U.S. and Israel.
But in the great nation of U.S., we have freedom so we won't take all bearded muslim men and execute them.
I can't imagine what kind of morals would a person/government has when it allows its (so-called friends) to kill but says it will never do such thing on its land.
By the way in relation to being American or Anti American, I strongly reject the suggestion that opposing a certain policy of our government is tantamount to disloyalty.

[This message has been edited by Shama Khan (edited October 29, 2001).]

Originally posted by Cindy Glass:
Duh! The Taliban. Have they been sleeping through this whole thing. The Taliban is backing and authorizing bin Ladens activities. That classifies them as terrorists also. The Taliban is curently in power in Afghanistan. Therefore we are striking at Afghanistan.
As well as working on finding the onesies and twosies like bin Laden himself and gang.

Cindy,
Taliban are guilty of taking an extreme view of Islam and especially in their treatment of women. But when Afghani women are asked about their needs they have consistently requested an end to sanctions first. I can't imagine they wanted their men and kids to die for abuses against women.
In America, a woman is abused every 7 minutes. I don't think those women would want bombs to be dropped on U.S.
Usama Bin Ladin is guilty of not wanting U.S. forces in his birth country. The case against him in terms of being a terrorist has not been proven nor ever will be as Tony Blair has already stated that the evidence against him will not stand in the court of law.

The U.S. public is just content that someone is paying for the WTC tragedy.
Read the following 2 articles:
U.S. willing to blow up its own cities to be able to ... http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/jointchiefs_010501.html
U.S. had planned strikes before the WTC tragedy: http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/Story/0,2763,556281,00.html

[This message has been edited by Shama Khan (edited October 29, 2001).]

Originally posted by Andy Ceponis:
Bombs go BOOM! I like watching the bombing on tv, it gives me a nice warm feeling inside.

Yeah I can see what you mean. Maybe after reading the following you can go have a beer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,582573,00.html
But Revenge is evil and evil is all around us. Read this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,582639,00.html
I wonder how long the warm feeling will last?

[This message has been edited by Shama Khan (edited October 29, 2001).]

Randall,
Don't be depressed. I would also take some business courses if you're willing to take any kind of jobs. Business courses are really helpful no matter what your major is. Good Luck.

Cobol is not going away. I was shocked to realize that EJB can't really be implemented in my company as all the business logic is on the mainframes.
But one sad fact remains, entry level Cobol programmers tend to get paid less than entry level Java or C/C++ Programmers.
So beware!

Umm! that sounds delicious. Can you name a restaurant in the New York City Area that would serve it.

Come on guys. I was expecting some debate on the topic of
the defense and oil industry.
I was expecting some debate about our government being in bed with the corporations. I don't know why a tax payer shouldn't be bothered about that.
Ok, following is not from Guardian but from NY Times:
Ban The Bonds by PAUL KRUGMAN
When the patriotic fervor abates a bit � which it will; even the most justified war is inevitably followed by disillusionment � the war-bonds proposal will probably be regarded as a prime example of post-Sept. 11 hypocrisy, of politicians' belief that as long as they vigorously wave the flag nobody will notice that they are busy catering to special interests.
.....
Which brings us back to those war bonds. The government not only isn't calling for shared sacrifice; it is "very pleased" with a proposal to give billions in handouts to corporations. And in that case, what is someone who buys a war bond really helping to finance? Put it this way: If the House has its way, the government will give far more in tax breaks to corporations over the next year than it will spend fighting terrorism. Yet somehow one suspects that people would not rush to buy "corporate tax-cut bonds."
In an ideal world Congress and the White House would stand up to the special interests, and give us no reason to be cynical. Oh, never mind. But at least let's not add insult to injury. Ban those bonds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/24/opinion/24KRUG.html
(provided text because they have a silly registration policy)
Final point:
Can you imagine the "women beating" Talebans were brought into U.S. to make oil deals.
Americans who believe that U.S. is bombing Afghanistan to avenge the deaths of WTC tragedy or to bring justice to the terrorists can not be more wrong. It is never about people it's always about policies. People always lose - whether by dying in a falling building or by falling bombs and stepping on mines.

'Brutality smeared in peanut butter'
Why America must stop the war now. By Arundhati Roy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,579196,00.html
Dare to read this long essay. It is full of research that would take me years to accumulate.

I have learnt that Love is what happens when one is at peace with him/herself.
If one has experienced hot burning flame of Love, it was not love but an infatuation.
Love is a likable image of oneself that one sees in somebody else.
Therefore, it is very hard to maintain love
(which would explain why people fall out of love.)
Marriage and Love mix rather strangely as we tend to change in the worst fashion after the ceremony.
Marriage is a lot easier if it's based on a contract - when one party goes against the contract - the contract is void and null.
Love is a constant visitor and sometimes a long term guest in the House of Marriage.
Content Long Lasting Marriages are More Possible Than Long Lasting Loving Relationships.