Who is Osama Bin Ladin?

He was born in 1957 to a Syrian mother, and was the seventh son among fifty brothers and sisters. His father was Mohammed Awad bin Laden, who was the owner of the biggest construction company during the reign of King Saud. Bin Laden's father became very close to the royal family when he took the risk of building King Saud's palaces much cheaper than the cheapest bid. He was very much liked by the king's family. The father was fairly devoted Moslem, very humble and generous. He lost his father when he was 13, and married at the age of 17 to a Syrian girl who was a relative. Osama had his primary, secondary and even university education in Jeddah.He had a degree in public administration 1981 from King Abdul-Aziz university in Jeddah. Countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Sudan are the only countries he has been to.
It's very interesting to know that such a man was very educated and came from a rich family. After he began his transformation into an extremist his family disowned him. However, he still did not change his ways.

R.I.P. Bijan Pakzad

Last Saturday April 16, 2011 at 8:05 a.m. Bijan Pakzad past away from a stroke in Los Angeles, CA. He was world famous men's clothing designer. His store is located in Rodeo Drive, Los Angeles, CA. His store is known as the most expensive store in the world. A pair of Bijan Socks is $50. It is known that most customers spend at least $100,000 in one visit. If you still do not who this is, that's because his store is by appointment only and he is very exclusive. He has designed suits for Bush, Obama, Arnold Shwartzinger, Tony Blair, Tom Cruise, Vladmir Putin and many more. He was born in Tehran, Iran on April 14, 1944. He died at the age of 67. He had two sons and one daughter from two different marriages. He designed and owned his own Roys Rolls. He will be buried in a private ceremony this friday in Newport, CA. On April 30, 2011 there will be a public memorial service in UCLA in his honor. He will be greatly missed.
An interesting note is that last Saturday my family and I were in Rodeo Drive and were looking for his store when we saw a huge group of paparazzi and people gathered around the store. There were so many flowers inside and outside the store. It was a very interesting and sad sight to be at.

Tongue Tattoos

Tattoos are getting very popular these days, on both girls and boys. There are hundreds and thousands of different designs and styles of tattoos to choose from, which gives one the chance to express themselves. A new tattoo that is becoming very popular is tongue tattoos. Although your tongue is not the first place you think of tattooing, it is still a very unique place for a tattoo. There are tattoos that cover the entire tongue, or just a single area. There are many colors to choose from such as purple, orange, black, or blue etc. Some popular designs include: stars, tribal work, and other shapes and designs that cover a part of the tongue. Stars are popular with the lower area of the tongue, near the tip.

The procedure is very similar to getting a tattoo on any other part of your body. A tattoo involves needles puncturing the skin, depositing ink into the epidermis. The needles move extremely fast, breaking the skin and leaving the pigments of ink. The tongue, just like the skin, will swallow the pigments once the surface has been punctured by the needle. Once the pigments of ink are absorbed by the tongue, the color will remain there forever (www.tattooingtips.com/tongue-tattoos.html ).
A tattoo on the tongue is often described as a tickling sensation or the feeling of numbness in your mouth. When the tattoo artist does the tattoo, he will normally use a tool to hold the tongue out. Once the tongue is out, the artist will begin work. The process normally does take very long, as long you hold still and don’t move around (www.tattooingtips.com/tongue-tattoos.html ).
I thought this was an interesting topic to blog about. I have always like tattoos and would like to get a small one later on in life.

Persian New Year

 
Persian New Year 
Tik Tok, Tik Tok, Tik Tok and then Boooooooom. This starts the beiginning of the new year. Now you might be thinking of the ball drop in Times Square, New York. However, this is a different New Year , it's the Persian New Year which happens on March 20th. Every year, the time of the new year is different unlike the American New year being at 12a.m. This year the exact time the earth finishes it's rotation and the start of spring is 4:20 p.m. My favorite time that it could be is after midnight. When I was younger in Iran, one year the new year was at 3:00 a.m. My sister and I stayed up all night waiting for the new year. I was so excited about all the presents that I was going to get. Similar to Christmas we set a table with seven basic items. Each of these items symbolize different things such as fertility, life, peace, money, health, happiness. The interesting part is that all these seven basic items start with a "s" in Farsi. Under the table we put all of our presents. We have to wait until the new year to open them. This new year also originates from the religion Zorastrinism. It is now celebrated by all Persians, and most of the middle east. 

Religion: Zoroastrianism

“Taking the first footstep with a good thought the second with a good word and the third with a good deed I entered Paradise”, (Zoroaster). This quote is by the prophet and philosopher Zoroaster. The religion, Zoroastrianism, was founded by Zarathustra in Persia -- modern-day Iran. It may have been the world's first monotheistic faith. It was once the religion of the Persian Empire, but has since been reduced in numbers to fewer than 200,000 today. Most religious historians, “believe the Jewish, Christian and Muslim beliefs concerning God and Satan, the soul, heaven and hell, the virgin birth of the savior, slaughter of the innocents, resurrection, the final judgment, etc. were all derived from Zoroastrianism” (Avesta)."Zoroastrianism is the oldest of the revealed world-religions, and it has probably had more influence on mankind, directly and indirectly, than any other single faith" (Mary, Boyce). This is a little background on Zoroastrianism, which is my religion. The main quote that one hears about this religion is, “Good Words, Good Deeds, and Good Thoughts” (Zoroaster). As mentioned before the Zoroastrian population has decreased because of the Arabians taking over the Persian Empire. However, there is a Zoroastrian community right here in San Jose. Our temple is located in the Alum Rock Mountains and we hold many Zoroastrian camps, parties, gatherings, religious classes and other fun stuff. After reading Black Boy by Richard Wright, I started thinking more and more about religion and God. Since I was born I have been brought up to think of God as a power who created the world, who looks after mankind, and who’s deeds are always for a reason no matter if they seem good or bad to us. However, in Black Boy his family makes him think of God as “the white man” and someone to be afraid of. As we talked more about it in class, this is because his family does not know any better and are teaching him what they have been thought.

Protesters in Egypt

Since the dawn of time there have been issues and decisions that the government makes without the consent of the people. Some people do not take action and some do. The ones who do may go out in the streets and organize themselves or just protest against the injustice. Today the people of Egypt have shed blood and tears against their unjust government and ruler. However, these protests have become very violent and been deadly. Arrests have been made and many have been beaten badly. I believe that protesting is the right action to take, however it should be more organized and nonviolent. When the police take action to break up the protesters they usually use a lot of force and inhumane actions. My belief has been that the police are supposed to protect and defend us and our rights not crush and take away our rights. Whenever a government becomes this way the people need to do whatever it takes to achieve liberty and freedom. My heart goes out to the peaceful protesters in Egypt and hope that one day the world would stop taking our rights and going against their promises.

Saturday Night Live: Our Savior from Ignorance

“Ignorance is bliss” is an expression which means if you don't know something, it can't hurt you. However, this expression is not always true. It is in one’s best interest to be informed about present situations and not be ignorant. The diction ignorance or ignorant has more of a negative and gullible connotation. It refers to a person who does not care or of less intelligence. Therefore, we should always try to be informed about present situations and not be ignorant. On the other hand, an average person has too many daily responsibilities to try to keep informed. For example, a full time high school student does not have much free time to research current issues and keep informed. In addition, most of their free time is spent spending time with family and friends, sports and finally watching television. However, this student is still not ignorant because watching television helps keep us informed; depending on the television show. The popular T.V. show Saturday Night Live is a great source for both entertainment and current issues. This show is appealing to all ages, is a great mix of serious news and humor and finally is a great conversation starter. The humor helps us remember the issues and connect them to our daily lives. In addition, most teenagers are not very enthusiastic about watching the news but we all love comedy. Therefore, Saturday Night Live is the show to watch; it’s both entertaining and informative. The segments that are most informative are the weekend update segments which include many important pieces of the news plus humor and a special guest. In addition, in the beginning of each show there’s always a presidential address. These funny and short segments will make you want to research the topics and find out more about it. Some of the recent issues that have been covered are wiki leaks, state of the union, propositions, different disasters around the world and the Iraq Afghanistan wars. In conclusion, watching television will make you more informed and more intelligent; depending on the television shows.
For a quick example check out the video on the right or visit this link: (http://www.hulu.com/watch/200102/saturday-night-live-barack-obama-address-cold-open) . This video is a recent opening for the show which is an address from Barack Obama (comedian Fred Armisen plays Obama) about health care reform and the opinions of both democrats and republicans. The second you tube video on the right is another address from president Obama about financial reform.