Logging life

I wish to travel all-over the world but for one reason or the another I have not been able to do that but I have kept my hope and interest alive by watching travel channel and recently used my soon-to-expire airline miles to subscribe to a new travel magazine "Afar." I have never heard of this magazine before so was not sure what to expect. It is not exactly National Geographic but tries its best to be a travel magazine that looks for heart of the places that its writers go, I believe they fail to capture the soul but able to capture the heart. I would also say that writers have pretty clear Western slant meaning they are there as travelers and looking everything through a Westerner's eyes. Still, writing is engaging and photographs are great. I Look forward to the next issue. http://www.afar.com/

Notes from Tariq Ramadan talk in Boston in May 2010 Muslims are only reacting. More emotional you are weaker your position becomes. First attack is on the confidence of the people to make them scared. The word “sabireen” in quran is translated as perseverance which is a combination of patience and being active. [He meant that being patient doesn’t mean that we have to be passive] Islam is a commitment. Muslims should be more spiritual and less emotional. We should strive for justice but justice for all not just for Muslims. Justice for all. To be just is to forgive. Muslims should join universal struggle for equal rights. System and structure in the world are promoting injustice. Framework is good but enforcement is not. Challenge the media discourse. For Muslims minority: speak the local language, be loyal to the country, and abide by the laws. We can face some of the challenges by being more confident and being more assertive. C

Shadow war Originally uploaded by TwoCircles.net Shadow War: The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir by Pakistani journalist Arif Jamal. I was expecting this book to be a justification for "jihad" or militancy in Kashmir and also provide more information about strategy and thinking of the militants as supposedly the author had talked to hundreds of militants. The book provides sequence of events that led to militancy in Kashmir but much of it is already public knowledge and there is not much new information in there except it gives time, names, and places of people involved. Syed Ali Shah Gilani of All Party Hurriyat Conference and Syed Salahuddin of United Jihad Council appear in really bad light accused of attacking and killing their adversaries. Interesting thing is that this book is not at all favourable to Pakistani position or takes the side of militants in fact at several points it shows that Indians were willing to go to any length to talk but either Pakistanis