Saturday, August 23, 2014

All is fair in Jihad?-2

A fair and even handed discussion which is the very important is missing in the Islamic world right now as it seems that the current extremist version of Jihad is silently being supported by the majority of Muslims. I know that it is not true but secretly the Muslims are very vocal about Palestinian cause but not vocal or even deaf when the minorities whether they are Muslims or other non Muslims they choose to ignore. There has been no universal law that defines the rule of Jihad and it seems that anybody who has some following stands up with the slogan of Jihad and then everybody else fall into place and becomes romanticized with that notion or version of Jihad which may or may not be true in the strictest sense of the word. It seems like any sect of religion that does not agree with the prevalent notion of Jihad is a fair game for extermination since the Muslims fail to condemn or resist the temptation to find another more acceptable version of Jihad. Let the Muslims start to have discussion of what is Jihad and who can declare it since the word Jihad has become synonymous with terrorism around the world even with Muslim minorities it is a dangerous word since it means they are not part of the ''in crowd'' of the so called mainstream Islam. Unless the Muslims start to have a real discussion about Jihad, they will continue to be the laughing stock of the world no matter what they say. It is the action that will count in the end.

All is fair in Jihad?

The word Jihad has been thrown around so much lately that the true meaning of it has been blurred as Jihad has come to symbolize anything that relates to killing another human being. It has been used so much by the Muslims that the non Muslims just believe that anybody can stand up and declare Jihad without any basis or reasons behind the claim. And I am angry and getting tired by the utter silence of the Muslim religious cleric who have failed to define the meaning of the Jihad to the world and what is the right and the wrong kind of interpretation for it. Although I will not explain the whole essence of Jihad in this article as you read it on the internet in various forms but I will only discuss some of the forms of Jihad and not everybody can claim Jihad and fight for it. Nowadays the only kind of Jihad that has gained wide spread popularity (or notoriety whichever you want to see it ) is about killing human beings. But there is another form of Jihad that is internal and for which hundreds of Millions of Muslims do it every day silently. This they do when they try to do good deeds, help other people and raise their voice against oppression and other injustices and also when they try to suppress their arrogance and ego and pride and face down temptation of the world. Also the type of prevalent Jihad does not discriminate against children and women which is totally against the tenets of Islam. There are certain rules to combat and despite some mute voices heard in the Muslim world, most of the Muslims just keep on going on with their lives and don’t care or are ignorant about the laws governing combat and war.

My literal nightmarish experience at a valet parking-3

Although the valet people lost the keys to the car but in addition to that we had the house keys attached to it. The valet people kept saying that they have never encountered such a situation before but there is always a first and this was it. We negotiated with the manager that not only the keys to the car be made right there but also when we reach home, some locksmith should be there to break the lock and install a new one for the house door. After waiting for more than half an hour the locksmith came. He had a fully equipped car with him and he immediately started to work on making a new one for the car. My uncle and my family were so tired by that time that the passing of time was a non issue at that time. The locksmith finished making the key by 2.35 a.m. and then he said that the programming of the key would take another half an hour. We asked him if we can use the duplicate keys that we have in the house and he said that since he has reprogrammed the keys, those duplicate keys were useless. Well after the reprogramming was done and the key tested, we let the lot at around 3.30 a.m and dropped my father in laws younger brother to his house and then went home exhausted and when we reached there the locksmith was already there, he broke open the door and installed new locks as the manager of the valet parking has agreed to it. After the locksmith left at around 5.15 a.m, we entered the house and went to sleep exhausted at around 6.00 a.m. Lesson learnt in all this situation, never will I ever trust valet parking and if there is one I will either ride with them to get the keys back or wait for them to bring me the keys so that the keys are always with me. Although I am sure many people have good memories of valet parking but for me it is once bitten twice shy kind of situation and one of thing as I was so much pissed off at the valet guys, there was no use giving them any tip since I essentially was doing their job. So no service no tip.

My literal nightmarish experience at a valet parking-2

We and the valet guys started to look for the keys in the dark of night and although there are lights throughout the lot but it could not compensate for the sun light. We kept on searching and in the meanwhile one of the valet guys told us that one of the employees had to go early and catch the train and he could have possibly inadvertently kept the keys with him so he was contacted by to no avail as he was not to pick up his cell phone. As time was passing fast without any luck, the valet guys contacted the manager for further advice and he suggested that we should leave the car there and when the key is found in a day or two, he will send the car to our place. I was not taking any of that as we live in New Jersey and we told the manager that we will want the car right now and he should make arrangements with a lock smith to come and make us a new key. After a bickering for a few minutes he agreed to it and in the meanwhile we contacted the police to report the lost keys. Luckily the police was just making the rounds on that road where the lot was located and he got the call from the dispatch to see to it. After getting all the information including my license number and registration, he told us that is as far as he can do to help us as the case number will help in case we were going to the insurance company for the claim.

My literal nightmarish experience at a valet parking

Recently I happen to attend one of my in laws wedding event in Long Island, New York. As we arrived at the hall, I handed over my keys to the valet parking guys who gave me a ticket to show to them on the way out when I have attended the event. The event was fanciful with good food and dancing but I will not be explaining the whole event in here as the actual nightmare literally started out when we exited the event. When I exited with my family I handed over my ticket to one of the valet guys as there were numerous running and fetching the cars for the customers in the hopes of getting a tip. I had also made my tip ready so that I can also get my car and hand him over the tip, After a while the guy came back and said that did I ever hand him over the keys and I said yes. Slowly the lot was starting to look deserted and the guy came back and said that he could not locate the car and if I would also look for the car. I started to panic but went to the back lot of the hall which was not that highly lit at around 1.00 A.m in the morning. After a thorough search I found my car in another dim area of the lot without lock and then I went to the valet guy to tell him that I found the car and amusingly he said the same thing, Then another issue came up that they were unable to find the keys and I was highly pissed but kept my patience with them as I wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible.

On the lighter side-Movies-The Amazing Spider-man 2 (2014)-Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone

The ongoing adventures of Spider-man with him being conflicted between his super hero life and his normal love life and battling different man made monsters in his exciting entry to the Spider-man saga. Look for further adventures in the future. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The cemetery (2013)

A reality show crew ventures into a cemetery to find out if it was really haunted by ghosts and spirits and end up fighting for their lives in this very bloody and gory horror movie which I enjoyed it. Recommended for horror fans.

On the lighter side-Movies- Rage (A.K.A.-Tokarev) (2013)-Nicolas Cage

When a reformed criminal's daughter is kidnapped, he rounds up his old gang and goes after the abductors in this violent crime thriller which was not popular on the box office. Not Recommended

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

On the lighter side-Movies-Crawl or die (2014)

In the future a virus kills all the fertile women on the planet except one so the government tasks a group of soldiers to bring her to safety in this horror and super claustrophobic movie. The title says it all. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-The Flu (2013-Korean)

A flu epidemic break out in a Korean city brings the city to a chaos standstill. Good story line although you may have seen similar American disasters movies. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Killer Toon (2013-Korean)

A series of murders are committed mimicking a web toon and the police pin points the murders under suspicion to the artist of the web toon. A good and different horror movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Muppets most wanted (2014)-Ricky Gervais

Another way of milking this dying breed of muppets comes in the form of Kermit the frog being kidnapped and replaced by his exact evil duplicate that plans to commit the perfect robbery with the help of the original kermit’s friends. It is a hit or miss movie with funny moments few and far apart. Skip this one for the maybe a better one next time. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2 (2013-Animated)

Flint from the first movie tries to save his town when his machine starts to churn out food like animals in this unnecessary remake of the first one which is more fun than this. Not Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-A haunted house 2 (2014)-Marlon Wayans

Unnecessary sequel to the first hilarious movie about a man whose first girlfriend dies in a supposedly haunted house and this time, he is with a blond girlfriend and the same thing goes again in this unhilarious and unfunny mess of a movie does not deserve even the first watch. Not Recommended

Saturday, August 9, 2014

On the lighter side-Movies-Transcendence (2014)-Johnny Depp

A scientist quest for artificial intelligence becomes an obsession as he is killed and has his conscious loaded to a computer with dangerous implications. This movie bombed at the box office and I can see why as the complicated and improbable script and story weighs it down. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Noah (2014)-Russell Crowe

Suspend your believe about Noah the Prophet and just enjoy this movie which is the Hollywood version of what happened as it is far from reality but good on special effects as Prophet Noah builds an ark to survive the devastating floods. Recommended for movie fans not history fans

On the lighter side-Movies-Need for speed (2014)

A cross country race car driver battles a rival driver who is responsible for his friend’s death in this high speed chase movie. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Divergent (2014)

In a futuristic society divided into factions, a group of people who don’t fit into any one of the factions are hunted down by the authorities who feel threatened by them in this teen science fiction movie. Keeps your interest throughout. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The other woman (2014)-Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann

A woman finds out that her husband has been cheating on here with other women and she befriends them in order to take him down in this comedy movie with high power cast and charm. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Tom Yum Goong 2 (The Protector 2) (2013-Thai)-Tony Jaa

Thailand martial arts sequel to the Protector movie about a man who is suspected in the killing of an elephant camp retreat owner and fights off hordes of assassins and other killers. Usual martial arts mayhem with no redeeming value. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Wer (2013)

A defense attorney finds out too late that the client he is representing is really a werewolf. Brutal and bloody as you might expect. Recommended with caution

On the lighter side-Movies-Oculus (2013)

A woman tries to blame the guilt of her brother to a super natural phenomenon which has been plaguing centuries to a mirror in this low budget but successful horror movies. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Heaven is for real (2014)-Greg Kinnear

A small boy in a small town have an near death experience in which he narrates how he has gone to heaven as his family, especially his priest father comes to grip whether to accept this new event or not. Great movie especially by the child. Highly recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-All Cheerleaders Die (2013)

Stupid movie about a group of cheerleaders who get killed in a car crash caused by football players but they come back from the dead to kill them one by one.Another gory entry in the horror/stupidity genre. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Savaged (2013)

A deaf mute girl is brutally killed by some local creeps but gets resurrected by a shaman who inadvertently raises a vengeful soul bent on killing all the people involved in the killing of the soul’s ancestors in this bloody and gory movie. Recommended for horror fans, all others stay away.

On the lighter side-Movies-Heavy Duty (2012)

Another British about a traumatized ex-soldier who along with this wife witness a brutal killing and try to escape the killers in this sorry excuse for a movie. Thank fully it is over before you go into deep sleep. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-He who dares (2014)

British movie about a team of criminals who kidnap the Prime Minister’s daughter and barricade themselves in a building rigged with explosives. A crack team of police force tries to rescue an attempt. Poorly executed and waste of time. If you want to see this kind of movie, you better watch Who dares win (U.S. title: The final option) (not reviewed). Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Sabotage (2014)-Arnold Schwarzenegger

An elite team of DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration of the U.S.) is hunted down one by one by someone who is killing them after the team stole some Cartel money. Bloody and gory and action packed but typical action movie. Recommended with caution

Saturday, August 2, 2014

On the lighter side-Movies-Open Grave (2013)

A man wakes up in a pit full of dead bodies with no memory of how he got there and then tries to find the mystery behind his memory loss and all the dead bodies.

On the lighter side-Movies-Rio 2 (2014-Animated)

Blu and his family goes to Amazon and finds his father in law and goes ahead to head with his foe Nigel in this fun filled family entertainment animated sequel. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-The raid 2 (2013-Indonesian)

Two hours after the end of the first movie, a police officer who have come out of criminals' building is hired by a shadowy wing of the police department to infiltrate a crime syndicate and expose police corruption in this high octane, martial arts thriller from Indonesia. It is two and a half hours long and filled with fantastic fight scenes. Highly recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Los Ultimos Dias (The last days-Spanish) (2013)

A guy tries to find his pregnant girlfriend in a futuristic Spain where the fear of going outside their houses and offices forces him to go through different underground passages without going outside to reach his girlfriend. A different kind of movie and well done in a limited budget. Recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-Under the Skin (2013)-Scarlett Johansson

An alien female predators lands in Ireland and lures lonely people to her liar to harvest their flesh in this slow moving science fiction movie. Not for all tastes. Slow and atmospheric. Not recommended

On the lighter side-Movies-We’re going to eat you (1980-Hong Kong)

I looked for this movie for a long time and I recently found it. It seems controversial for that time but now it is tame with a mix of Martial arts, comedy, horror and cannibalism all thrown in together. It is about a Police agent goes to an island to find his suspect only to encounter inhabitants with a taste for human flesh. Comic fights and escapes ensues. All in all a good movie. Recommended with caution.

Soccer World Cup-2014

I did not watch any of the world cup games but was keeping up to date on the scores as the tournament went along. It has been an up and down game as the world's favorite team Brazil did not play up to par with its talent and was completely annihilated by Germany 7-1 in a game that was way too one sided to even think that Brazil was even playing. And the next thing happen was Brazil got demolished again for the third place by the Belgians by 3 goals to zero. And the final was a beauty as a world class German team battled it out with the Argentineans' who wanted so badly to win the world after waiting for a long time but were humbled in extra time by the substitute German player and the game ended with the world champions Germany finally getting their due and respect of playing a world class tournament. All in a good tournament with the only exception that Brazil disappointed a lot of people around the world. So a big congratulations to the German team and German nation.