Hot Property!

Corporate espionage, secret agents, and conspiracy schemes are all part of Pat Choate’s book “Hot Property, The Stealing of Ideas in an Age of Globalization”. In his Hollywood-movie-like account, he talks about what he sees as the main challenges facing intellectual property (to be more specific American intellectual property) at a time when other nations are “secretly conspiring in the dark to snatch those brilliant ideas while smoking on their thick fat cigars in the backroom of some family-owned restaurant”. Ok, he doesn’t literally say that. It’s just the mental image he gives you. Of course, piracy and counterfeiting are serious problems that pretty much every country suffers from. But Choate jumps to conclusions on how “evil” Germany, Japan, and China resorted to tactics aimed at strengthening their economies using American patented innovations. He recounts one example after another of how countries have stolen one brilliant idea after another from naïve American inventors earlier in the 20th century. However, he conveniently neglects to mention that the budding American nation in its early years chose no to respect foreign intellectual property and continuously infringed it until its national economy and industry were strong enough. This seems to be the case with many emerging economies. You can’t just single out Germany, Japan, or China, who are today among the main contributors to innovation patents. In general, Choate fails to make a solid case as he seems to have sacrificed depth and quality for the sake of quantity.

Final verdict: Not Hot.

Open Doors

Panting heavily and almost choking on his suppressed tears, Safi repeatedly banged on the recently-painted wooden door with convulsive angry fists. BANG! BANG! BANG...Pause for a breath…Banging resumes. It wasn’t until the woman in the neighboring apartment opened her door that Safi realized he had been knocking too loud for too long. Through the cracked door, a sweet aroma of freshly baked bread escaped and filled the air. She looked at the shaken boy with a sweet inquisitive smile.
“Hey you’re the son of Abu Safi, right? I saw your dad and his wife leave earlier this morning and I don’t think they’re back yet.”
“I’m…I’m sorry to bother you…I…Do you know when they’ll be back?…I really need to talk to him”
“I’m afraid I don’t know, dear.”
Hala saw that the boy was clearly troubled. Her maternal instinct simply could not shut him down, not another one.
“You can wait for them inside if you want. I was just about to boil some cinnamon tea. C’mon in”
“Really?…I mean are you sure you don’t mind?”
One smile was all the assurance he needed.

The furniture in the living room was simple, yet comfortable. An over-sized portrait of a young man hung on the central wall immediately stood out.
“That is my darling son, Fouad. He works in Kuwait.”
“I’m sorry but I don’t recall seeing him around before.”
Hala sensed that a light conversation could help ease down the boy’s nerves, so she continued.
“He has been working there since he was eighteen…I haven’t seen him since then, either.”
“How old is he now?”
“Next month he will turn 24. I was only 16 when I had him, but even at that age I knew he would be all the pride in my life. I still remember how I did everything I could so that he would become a great doctor, just like I and his late father always wanted him to be”. She added with a nostalgic guilty smile “I even threatened him if he doesn‘t go to medicine school I would deprive him of my blessings forever. See, I just wanted the best for him.”
After a sorrowful pause, she added “but he left at eighteen...just before he could go to university”
“I’m sorry to hear that Um Fouad…”
“Oh just call me Hala. So how‘s your mom doing? I only met her a couple of times before it happened… I mean the divorce. She always seemed very sweet.”
“Yeah…I really need to talk to dad about her before it’s too late…can you believe her? she’s completely gone out of her mind.”
“Kher, what is it?”
“Somebody must stop her. She wants to get remarried! At her age! Am I not enough for her? He must stop her!”
“But you‘re parents are divorced, so really…”
“She cannot do this. She cannot just abandon me…Next year I will turn eighteen so maybe I should also…”
Safi could feel the tears growing in his throat and threatening to drown his whole entity.
“Oh dear, my dear, come here. Don’t be cruel like that…Don‘t leave your mama.”
Hala impulsively engulfed him with her arms. Even as alien as Safi was to the concept of hugging, he felt found by her warmth.
“Stay…Just stay a while.”
Safi held her back as tight as he could.

Painting by Mario Mously

The Reader

Brilliant! That’s how I would describe “The Reader” in one word. The novel written by Bernhard Schlink is one of the deepest most moving books I have read in a while. It’s one of those stories that don’t just end after you turn the last page. But the disturbing events and questions haunt you and keep you thinking.
The story starts with the relationship between a fifteen-year old teenager, Michael, with an older Hanna (who in today’s Hollywood flashy terms would be called a cougar). The relationship is further complicated by power struggles, crippling dependence, and betrayals. However, their relationship is beyond naïve distinctions of right and wrong. In a sense, it transcends the average mundane love story in a tradition that is reminiscent of Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being".
Throughout the next chapter we learn about Hanna’s past work in a concentration camp. Ironically, Michael is involved in the court that is supposed to condemn Hanna. The story audaciously humanizes those who have been readily labeled as “villains”. But at the same time, it does not fully exempt Hanna of the guilt and responsibility of what she had committed. Every detail about her character adds complexity and depth. For example, her passion for fine literature in the midst of the horrors of the concentration camp gives her both a humane and a villainous dimension. While the Holocaust is at the center of the novel, it doesn’t stop at that. The questions raised are universal questions on morality, love, and perceptions. The main characters are confused and complex. They are struggling to understand others and themselves, which makes any reader relate to them even if they haven’t been through the horrors, suffering, guilt and shame associated with the Holocaust. Simply put, this is not your average mopey Holocaust story as I first thought. It is deeper. It is more comprehensive. It is brilliant!

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Ah, finally I’m done with the longest short novel ever! For some reason the 200-page novel entitled “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” seemed to infinitely drag on. Even though, Hamid has a good story to tell, something about a “conversation” in a monologue style seriously turned me off.
The story starts when Changez, a Pakistani from Lahore who studied and worked in the US, presumably accidentally meets a presumably American “tourist”. Changez invites the man for a cup of tea, and almost immediately spills his story about his experience in the US including some really personal details. Although grabbing random tourists and rambling on about my life, isn’t exactly my style, I continued reading the story hoping that something will actually happen. I was disappointed. All the main events happen in retrospect. Their truth and accuracy are even questioned at one point in the story. So, instead of traveling back in time with Changez and feeling involved in the story, I found myself sitting in a café with a chatty Pakistani and a suspiciously anxious American. Although, logically I should identify with Changez, I really felt more for the poor trapped “tourist” who had to sit for the whole evening listening to some guy ramble about a girl he almost had and a brilliant future he almost had. Sorry, but this one-sided conversation only reminded me of those abhorred Eid visits I had to sit through as a child to greet the older members of our extended family.
To be fair, Hamid raises some very good points about alienation, not just post 9/11, but about life in general. Most characters of the novel seemed to me like individual islands, each floating in his/her own direction. Of course, there is also the brilliant comparison between the harsh world of business and that of religious extremists. My guess is that the novel was short-listed for a Booker Prize for the ideas it raises. But apart from that, neither technique nor language really grabbed me.
Anyway, I see that Hamid has another novel entitled “Moth Smoke” about a fallen man from Lahore in an impossible relationship . Mmm, sounds a little familiar. Should I give it a try? Nope. Next, please.

Kissing Hank's Ass

I stumbled upon this piece of “literature” a couple of years ago. Till today, this simple yet witty conversation between 3 people still amuses me. I have to warn you, though, if you are the kind of person who cringes at the very thought of upsetting "Hank", then do not read on. All others, enjoy!

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Kissing Hank's Ass

by Rev. James Huber

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This morning there was a knock at my door. When I answered the door I found a well groomed, nicely dressed couple. The man spoke first:

John: "Hi! I'm John, and this is Mary."

Mary: "Hi! We're here to invite you to come kiss Hank's ass with us."

Me: "Pardon me?! What are you talking about? Who's Hank, and why would I want to kiss His ass?"

John: "If you kiss Hank's ass, He'll give you a million dollars; and if you don't, He'll kick the shit out of you." ........read more

An Ancient Solution to a Modern Dilemma?

There isn’t much argument about the fact that globalization and economic challenges are swiftly changing traditional roles in households all around the world. These changes often mean that women end up juggling full-time jobs, house chores, child care, and marital commitments, leaving them with hardly any personal time at all. Faced with such burdens, women who want to preserve some kind of sanity often resort to one of two options. The first is to give up their ambitions and dreams to remain home and watch life pass them by. The second is divorce. Neither is the lesser of two evils.
So what is the solution? How can a “modern” woman pursue her dreams without breaking her family? Well, actually there is a third option. Polygamy.
I know that the word itself carries a heavy connotation of some sort of backward tribal practice. But the idea of taking more than one wife is something that has been practiced throughout history and is absolutely legal today across many Muslim and non-Muslim countries.
Personally, I never thought that I, a hard-core feminist, would live to say this, but the truth is this middle-ground solution allows women to enjoy the best of both worlds. Not just that, but the whole concept is also economical and environment-friendly. Studies have shown that the recent economic crisis has forced more couples to live together to cut costs. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering how much is saved from sharing the same rooftop, energy sources, transportation means, etc. The same idea could be applied here, but just a little more broadly.
Anyways, my first and foremost interest is what works best for hard-working professional moms. After all, who has time nowadays for a full-time marital commitment?
But to be fair, I have to suggest that the same option of polygamy be made available for women who wait endlessly for partners who have fully-loaded schedules.

Painting by Adeline McCarter

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

It seems like ages since I have last posted a new entry (well, about a couple months is more like it). Anyways I’m putting my rusty keyboard back to work as the deadline for a paper on public relations and blogs is approaching. And what is more appropriate to explore the subject than blogging about it, right? Here, though, I’ll try exploring it from a political point of view since I’d better not be controversial or sarcastic in my research paper.
Had Shakespeare lived in our public-oriented, technology-laden, twenty-first century, he might have been quoted as writing “to blog or not to blog: that is the question”. Indeed, blogging has become synonymous with many individuals’ existence. Almost like an avatar that reflects your moods, interests, opinions, etc. And since corporations and governments have been showing growing interest in public-anything, such as public relations and public opinion, these virtual podiums readily find an eager audience. A daily dose of democracy, you can call it. But then what does that say about governments that block access to popular weblog sites after detaining a number of bloggers? Stories of particular Syrian and Iranian bloggers come to mind here. Does that mean that these governments are uninterested in practicing democracy, God forbid?
Purely for the sake of maintaining some kind of faith in our leaders, I’m going to revert to optimistic romanticism. So I’m going to go ahead and assume that those governments and leaders are taking the advice of Newsweek columnist Fareed Zakaria in his book “The Future of Freedom, Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad”, where he argues that the proper way for developing countries to eventually enjoy the fruits of liberal democracy is for their governments to rule with an iron fist in the initial phase until capital markets are strong enough to eventually demand democracy.
Alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.