Re-thinking Life !

This account was posted on Russell Chapman's blog https://russellchapman.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/escape-to-freedom-bringing-a-syrian-family-to-safety/ at The events in this article took place in the first two weeks of August 2015 This is the story of a Syrian family’s journey to freedom in Europe and the small part I played in helping them. Along the way I saw and learnt a lot about what refugees face as they escape from war-torn countries and political oppression. Fadl and his family were introduced to me through Muhannad, a mutual friend. He asked me if I would be prepared to help Fadl and his family get from Greece to a particular European country. After some consideration, I decided to try and help them. The family is from the Aleppo region of Syria and before the war they had their own restaurant, they were a middle class family. His wife Majelina, who had to stay behind to look after ageing grandparents, was a university professor of English literature. Then, because of ...

  In broad daylight last week in one of the most consumerist neighborhoods in Lebanon, he incessantly called for help, he pleaded, he begged, he screamed “Somebody get him off me”. “Somebody please!! hold him off”, but none of the 15 grown-up male bystanders next to the victim did a thing. Some kept watching as George al-Reef was brutally beaten and stabbed to death by a vicious manslayer whose only motive for this hideous murder is a dispute over a car path. George al-Reef died in the hospital due to internal bleeding caused by vicious beating. Social media has all sorts of tweet and posts depicting disgust at the crime and blame at the cowardice of the bystanders.This was amplified by the online videos  However, the bystander effect , or bystander apathy, is well-documented in social psychology. However, in Lebanon, it happens that this murder has become a two-tier bystander effect. Frist, let’s start by defining what bystander effect is and if it applies to this murder. T...

Welcome to the first post of Unschooling the Mind series of posts . The notion of publishing a series of posts to share with you my experience in a world where education and schooling  has been lingering in my mind for a long time, but I was hindered by two main factors. The first is that my thinking and convictions, as with all people who reflect, are in a ceaseless development, so what I thought of last year and believed in might differ from what I believe now, as I gain more knowledge and endeavor to unravel truth. As Emerson once said, " Speak what you think today in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said today".  Therefore, this makes it hard for me to share one thing that I might contradict in a year. I soon, however, realized that such development of the intellect is natural, and all I can do is write what I believe now in "hard words", and reflect on what I believed back then. I hope...

  We live in a the heightened world of consumer economics where the consumer is the center of attention for corporations and media. If you search the origin of the word “consumer” you will be stunned to find out that it means “squanderer”. And this is what we are now, mere prodigals, squanderers. We have changed the world into an unbearable “hollow place” where we roam like shadows of men. And that is why we do not realize it. We are but “reminiscence of men”, only memories of men who do not reflect and rethink to make the world a better place. Men should live to serve others, not to consume and exhaust the planet with all its abundant resources. And so, now we are to pay for our mischiefs. The repercussions are great, and they will haunt us for the years to come. Let’s start with the term consumer economy , and how we have affected ourselves and the world due to the doings of the corporations and media (that is to say that we are partially responsible for  what is happeni...

Every Friday Prayer I am used to go to two Masjids where I feel comfortable in terms of Khotba (Oration) and Salah. What I usually seek for in a Friday Prayer is a lesson that “sticks in my mind” and that I can reflect upon as I connect it to life . At least this is one of the intended learning outcomes of Friday Prayers, to strengthen Muslims’ faith by offering advice, casting a new knowledge about Islam that many would otherwise would be oblivious, or reminding Muslims of issues that they might have forgotten due to their daily work and commitments. Last Friday however, I went to a new Masjid upon my friend’s suggestion. Regrettably, I went out of that Friday Prayer with only one lesson: In a learning setting, human capacity is enormously superior to the the institutional facility. As I stepped into Masjid Al Rahma, I felt a sudden but salient surge of wholeness due to the magnificent structure and only honed by the great scent. As I was early for the Friday Prayer time, I had ...

                                                                Source: http://goo.gl/XxTui9 In February 2010, on the Andaman’s Islands of India, Boa died at the age of 85 … and with her died an ancient language the Bo language. The extinction of Indigenous languages like Bo language are exponentially increasing in an age that relies heavily on globalization. There are currently 6,000 to 7, 000 spoken language around the world, and it is reported that more than half are in danger of extinction .  Some languages disappear in an instant with the dying of the lone speaker, like Boa or die gradually in a bilingual society where the prevalent language overtakes and thrives...

Two indicators that can be used to measure a nation’s ability not only to survive but also to thrive are the nation’s top interests and the nation’s literacy rate . This does not preclude that there are other indicators as well, but in an age where knowledge is king, a nation will be definitely doomed if its people lack knowledge or are not interested in obtaining knowledge. Our Arab nations in particular have been underdeveloped although they have the top oil and energy reserves in the world. But, why is that the case? Internet Search Trends To explore what issues Arabs are interested in, what better way than to look at top search internet trends data. Google Trends in particular track the “key word” search that every country has used for the whole year. Google Trends however does not include all countries in its tracking. Nonetheless, for the sake of comparison, I have explored what people in United States of Emirate, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon have search for the whole ye...