The Unwanted Minority

Below is a repost of my recent Facebook 'status update'.

'Three of our children were burned to death in Burma,' said the female refugee, 'another two died in the boat getting here...'

Another refugee said:

'They slashed our children, and put a sharp sword on the ground. They held infants above the sword and let the infants fall on it...they killed the babies that way...'

Aung San Suu Kyi chose NOT to speak up for these people...she said she didn't know if they were Burmese...(is that REALLY supposed to make a difference?!)

NGOs have pulled their people out on the basis of the situation being too dangerous, and the Burmese government won't let outsiders in.

Usually my 'status updates' are jokey, or refer to movies or superheroes...

Now I'd like YOU (whoever's reading this and is moved by what they see and hear) to be 'a hero/heroine' and do what you can to bring this to the attention of those who can make a difference. It is said that there's strength in numbers...perhaps we can pull ourselves together enough to put an end to the waves of genocide and hatred...and bloodlust...that keeps erupting across our world...

http://www.vidjin.com/burman-muslims-being-burned-killed-slugged-where-is-un-recent-video.html

Go beyond the physical

Ramadan’s almost here!

 

Alhumdulillah.

 

One of the beautiful gifts bestowed on mankind is the art of cooking (some call it a science, but, whatever ;) ).  It’s something which, generally speaking, is often overlooked.  Yes, we have dozens of cooking shows, celebrity chefs, awesome parents etc, but the blessing we’ve been given in being able to do the things with food, spices and so forth, is…well…beautiful.

 

Those of us who will be fasting for the month ahead should bear in mind (and spare a thought for, at the very least) those of the Family of Man whose stomachs stay empty for days on end.

 

All of us (and you can choose not to believe if you so wish, that’s up to you) will be brought to account on a number of things (including, but not limited to):

 

-         how we spent our time

-         how we spent our wealth

-         how we shared our knowledge

-         how we helped others

-         how we used our bodies

 

For Muslims, this month brings with it so many blessings that, for those of us who take the time to ponder, it’s awe-inspiring.  We can agree to disagree, but life in general is full of blessings (seen and unseen) that are, themselves, awesome when pondered, that the fact that Allah (swt) has magnified all that in the Blessed Month is just…breathtaking.

 

I know, I know – some will say I’m speaking in hyperbole.  Like I said earlier, you can choose not to believe if you so wish.

 

Hand in hand with belief, though, is action.  To take steps to promote positive change; to do things which enhance the lives of those around you; to be a good neighbour, friend, sibling, relative and so on.  Time and time again, Allah (swt) says: ‘Those who believe and do good deeds’…they go hand in hand.

 

I raise my hand and admit that I don’t do anywhere near as much as I should do – but I hope and pray that (Insha’Allah) I’ll be able to do more and, Insha’Allah, be able to encourage others.

 

Please try to make a difference for those around us who are in need.

 

Remember, ‘fasting is bestowed on us…that we may attain taqwa (God Consciousness/Awareness), so go beyond the physical.

Likes and Dislikes about 'The Amazing Spider-Man' movie

Likes

- Gwen being intelligent

- Gwen not being a damsel in distress

- Gwen and the ‘flamethrower’!

- Spidey’s combat acrobatics – especially in the school

- Flash’s growth

- Flaming car (a little like the cable car scene but with a very simple choice – and important here as it served to show Peter that there is more he can do with the abilities he now has)

- Vigilante Peter

- SWAT team taking Peter down

- The interactions between Gwen and Peter

- The girl who has a bit of a thing for Peter (silent crush)

- Peter standing up to Flash (prior to The Bite) was good to see

Dislikes

- Scenes from the trailers and teasers being cut from the movie (although the ‘doorman scene’ was too much like the Raimi stuff so that being cut is fine)

- The fight on the train was a tad messy (granted, it’s instinct kicking in, but the frame cuts, etc, were too jerky and some of the moves just didn’t ‘fit’)

- What happened to the ‘secret of his parents’ stuff?

- Vigilante Peter (yes, it falls in both categories)

- Captain Stacy dying

- Lizard’s uber-enhanced regeneration abilities – seemed better than Wolverine’s!

- Some of the ‘first person’ view CGI effects were…poor.

- No JJJ

Asides:

- There’s, potentially, a lizard-rat roaming around out there…

- I doubt the ‘guy in the shadows’ is Norman (it’s could be Professor Miles Warren)

- Peter (in the movie) designed the web shooters, not the actual webbing (with the amount of webbing out there, it would have been pretty straight forward for the police to trace it back to him)

- Although I don’t think it was their intent, Peter being unable to help Ben (for fear of compounding things and killing him) can be construed (yes, yes, he was dying/dead from the gunshot wound, but Peter tore a tap off without trying, administering some form of CPR on his uncle would have been wrong on his part)

- Why was Peter not as pro-active about his education and science future as Gwen?

Movie Talk (July 4 2012)

Finally got around to seeing Men in Black 3 on Saturday (and bought my advance ticket for Tuesday’s ‘late’ showing of The Amazing Spider-Man).

MiB3 was quite enjoyable, had a touch of Back to the Future in there and a nice way of by-passing the paradox.  I felt it was better than the second one, and provided an aspect of closure and understanding to the relationship between J and K.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World was enjoyable, too (saw it on Monday).  Generally ignoring the impact on the rest of the world and focussing on Dodge and Penny, it was well done.  The brief highlights on how different people were reacting to/dealing with/accepting ‘the end of the world’ was interesting – ranging from ‘keeping things normal’ through to riots and ‘who cares, let’s just sleep with someone’, whilst keeping far away from any religious aspects.  To a certain degree, those things are 'standard', but it was nice seeing them, anyway.

And now, The Amazing Spider-Man...

Although a ‘retread’ of the one from a decade ago, I felt this one worked out a lot better – it still had the ‘bad guy talking to himself’ scene, but it was a lot briefer than the first time around.

Some of the action sequences came off a little awkward, but Flash (Eugene) had a lot of growth in the short time he was in the movie.   

Other thoughts:

- Gwen often looked a lot older than her 17 years;

- the killer of Uncle Ben currently has a ‘Joe Chill’ aspect going for him;

- I’m not sure why Oscorp would sell the bio-cable to someone like Peter;

- I know there’s a lot of construction work going on in Manhattan, but is there really that much along that stretch of the city?

- The discovery of the powers was reasonably well done (especially in the bathroom) – alas, the Dick Grayson handstand-to-dive has now probably been denied us forever :( 

- The banter between Gwen and Peter worked really well and it was good to see that he got her attention before getting the powers;

- Peter was still a stalking photographer, though (first time round it was MJ, now it’s Gwen);

- The Lizard was variable; and

- I prefer Captain Stacy approving of Spider-Man, and of Gwen's relationship with Peter, and I think he should have lived through this movie (and the sequel, and died in the third).

I guess that's enough for now ;)