My Memorial Day

It was good visiting Dadski Everett Blauvelt’s spot at the Dallas Forth Worth National cemetery in Grand Prairie located at Barium D71.  This morning widow Lili Blauvelt, daughter and son in law Mary and Mike Keifer and I made the trip to the National Cemetery at Grand Prairie.

It was a peaceful place! I needed to visit him, he was the one who got me here in the United States and I owe him gratitude and I wanted to say thank you to him every time. The Mike part of my name was his choice. He was a great fatherly figure to me for 35 years, i.e., more than half of my life.  He is no more but I hear his voice and his smile.  

Indeed, one of the greatest things about American Culture is the amount of reverence given to the final resting place, particularly the veterans. The Veterans cemeteries I have been to are in hills and valleys – it’s a place of serenity, heaven on the earth for our veterans.


We shared a short prayer together, and I felt a sense completing the life transaction,  and it was a closure for Mary and Lili, I am glad we went, and it was the same with me. Michael (Mary’s husband, he is also Mike, but to differentiate I will refer to him as Michael, that’s how Sean Hannity does to me to differentiate from his son) is a good support to Mary, and a good husband through the period Dadski was in Nursing home and finally through the hospice care.

I believe I am blessed with similar sensitivity as Michael. We both are quite and sensitive to the needs of the loved ones, today he was quite and supportive of Mary, he let Mary be Mary and attended to her when needed. I admire that quality in a man.

 I had my own quite Muslim prayers for Dadski ( Link). After the visit, we went to witness the commemoration for the next two and half hours. It was a good relief after the prayers at Dadski’s spot. I guess the Veterans have a way to make life easy for the loved ones.

I ran into Larry Duncan, President of the Dallas County. He and I have been together in many places, he has attended several of the events I organize.  It was a joy to see the dedication of the Boy Scouts – they were everywhere on the grounds passing water bottles. It was really a good thing to see those kids. I know it when my kids were in boy and girl scouts. It was good to see a Sikh child as a part of the boy scouts as well.

My next stop was the Muslim Cemetery in Denton to pray for my late wife Najma and her father. Most Muslims visit cemeteries at least twice a year on two festivals, and pray for every one, the living and the dead. There is nothing special about the cemetery, but just a peaceful thoughtful place I choose to visit, it could be any place and from anywhere.

I prayed for my father and mother, my grandparents, uncles and aunts, my sister in law Tahseen, my nephew Ahmed and my friend Sharif's parents and Bhabi Sudesh Sharma, (wife of my brotherly friend - Kundan Sharma), DJ Sharma, Siraj Ahmed, and my first real friend Jameel Ahmed. Prayer is indeed good for the soul, and good way to connect with yourselves through your loved ones.

It is an all inclusive universal Muslim prayer that runs something like this, “Dear God, forgive me and my parents and my teachers and all the believing men and women, the living and the dead with your mercy. Amen."

 Dear God, I thank you for the life and the freedom you have given me and my fellow humans and I thank for all those who have sacrificed their lives for me to have this freedom to stand freely and pray here today, I salute our men and women in the uniforms for protecting and defending our freedom. Amen.

More Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157633743868273/Show

Memorial Day - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/05/memorial-day-reflections-by-pluralist.html

This URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-memorial-day.html

Mike Ghouse

Israel ranks low in global popularity

This is indeed a wake call for the people of Israel and the Jewry around the world. The people of Israel need to recognize that the real enemies of Israel are men like Netanyahu and his cronies who have frightened the day lights out of the Jews to buy their their reluctant support, just in case the fears are real.

A poll released Tuesday by the BBC confirms Israel remains one of the world’s least popular countries, with more than half of those surveyed identifying its influence as “mainly negative.” Only North Korea, Pakistan and Iran fared worse. Fifty-two percent of respondents view Israel in a negative light; 21% rated it in positive terms, placing it far behind China’s 42% and Russia’s 30%.

I am a supporter of Israel's right to exist and have written nearly 50 articles to that effect, talked about it and speak endlessly. The Jewish people have suffered the most in the community of nations, and I was hoping the creation of Israel would have taken them out of the 3000 year old insecurity, apprehensions and discomfort and bring them genuine liberation, where they can drop all their guards and enjoy the sense of freedom and security.

Guess who is holding them hostage, it is the right wing politics of Israel and the right wing Christians and Jews of  America, and they simply cannot see people living in peace and cook up enemies and keep the Israelis under control.  The moderate majority of Israelis and Jews in America are accustomed to the bullying from the few, they need to have the guts to speak up and take back their nations and drive it into security.


The American right wingers are the 2nd most enemies of Israel, their mouths tell one thing, and their actions do the opposite. These men want Israel to remain in eternal wars so they can make their good. You can see how Israeli government has been a bad boy in the community of nations, and it appears that US is the only ally of Israel when you look up the UN votes on issues. Except the ones we throw money at like UK, Spain, Italy and a few others beggars, most of the free world is not with us, we are wrong in not getting Israel and Palestine to the table and God only can help our arrogance which refuses to see our ills.


The actions of Israeli government, just about every action is isolating Israel, the people are sick of Israel getting away with murders. And as long as Israel is seen as the bully who does not care about the world opinion, it accelerates Antisemitism.  Israeli public needs to wake up and remove the military dependency on the United States and be a proud free people who can chart their own destiny. The right wingers in the US will not let Israel have peace and security.


As a Moderate Muslim I understand the plight of moderate Jews - we are the majorities, and we are used to taking abuse from the "few" bullies, they frighten the crap out of us. The least we can do is to speak up and see things will change for the good of all people. I like to see security for Israelis and Justice for the Palestinians, neither will get what they want, if they don't respect the other's needs and take over the power from the right wing extremists of Israel and America, who don't give a flip about Israel. 


Its time for Israelis to wake up, it’s time for the right wing Jews to wake up and sincerely seek peace, through peace and not the military might, it is strong and no one can touch it. Peace is always made by the powerful and by the majority, the burden for peace falls squarely on Israel. 

url - http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2013/05/israel-low-in-global-popularity-ranking.html

Author's note: Who am I to worry about Israelis and Palestinians? What inspires me to be involved in the Israel Palestine conflict? The following is the story of my struggle to see a cohesive world, the story will take you through different emotions but at the end, I hope you feel a sense of completeness of the story. Due to its length, it is in three parts - its in the ABOUT us at My blog www.IsraelPalestineDialogue.com

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam,Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building aCohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day atwww.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.

Memorial Day Reflections by Pluralist Mike Ghouse

Please do not wish a “Happy Memorial Day” on this day; it is not a celebration to be happy about, it is rather an observance to commemorate and ponder. We observe the Memorial Day on the last Monday of May every year; remembering and honoring the men and women who died while protecting and serving our country.

Why does it matter to you? The freedoms that you and I cherish or take it for granted, did not come to us on a platter and was not a given thing either, it was earned for us through the sacrifice of men and women who fought for it. It is particularly important day for all the immigrants who enjoy full civil rights and equal opportunity in America.

I am pleased to share my thoughts, hoping you would find it to be a meaningful day for you. What will I do and what can you do is as follows.

The tradition of Memorial Day observance began after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and confederate soldiers who died in the civil war. Indeed, it was the civil war that abolished slavery ( it is time to watch the movie Lincoln)  which was the stepping stone for passing the Civil rights Act of 1964 and the very cause for the immigrants to make it to America.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 states (wiki) that is “a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (known as "public accommodations").”

By the way I am related to General Robert E. Lee through my son and daughter’s family on their mother’s side.

Had it not for the Civil Rights Act (thanksgiving link honoring MLK), we the immigrants, from some 200 nations would not have come to the United States; we would not have been allowed either. Up until 1910, no one but a white person could own the property here in Dallas. Heck getting a decent job was out of question; my Jewish friends tell stories of not getting a decent job up until 1960. The immigrants were not allowed to marry either; the first such case happened in the last century when an Indian man married a white woman and their troubles began, and thank God, they endured the struggles, and seeded reforms in the immigration law.

Every one of us is designed to pursue happiness. Of the many things that bring serene happiness to the soul is the expression of gratitude. It is thanking the creator for the life we have, (Appaiah story) and thanking those who have laid the foundation for our happiness and freedom that we take it for granted. Thanks to our soldiers who fought in the civil war to preserve that freedom for us, and the least we can do is honor them. If you see the men and women in the uniform, tell them that you appreciate them. They deserve to hear the appreciation.

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and reflection, it is time to pray for those have passed away, whether they are related to us or not and whether they have served in the military, police and fire or not. Please take a few moments to remember all those who have influenced, affected and cared for us, and those who cared for others whether we know them or not. It is not necessarily a noble thing or a religious thing, it is the rigth thing to do.  Indeed, it is the thing that enriches our souls and brings humility and connects us back with ourselves.

 On the Memorial Day in 2010, I drove from Louisville to Dallas, an 840 miles journey and stopped at every cemetery that was visible on the road side. I said a short prayer asking the creator to restore the balance on the earth though forgiveness to those who have sinned and bring completeness to those who left incomplete transactions in life.  I particularly remember stopping at 4 national cemeteries, and there was one near Nashville on I-40 for the veterans, which was off the road, and I drove through a creek to get there and paid my homage to the men and women who died for my country's freedom. It just feels good to be a part of the whole.

There is a beautiful Islamic supplication that asks God to forgive the ones who are alive and the ones who are gone, parents, family, friends, believers and strangers.

This year, my Dadski (father figure link) passed away. I am grateful to him for being the catalyst for me to be here in America, he has been a good friend and a father figure to me. I will be visiting the National Cemetery in Grand Prairie and place a US Flag for him.

Every cemetery I spot on the memorial day, either I will pull over on the road side or walk to the gate of the cemetery, or silently pray for them. Praying for the unknown connects you with the unselfish-self in you, giving a sense of joy that is hard to explain. Try it and see how good you feel about yourselves - visit a cemetery, eventually we all have to go there.

I will be visiting the Islamic Cemetery in Denton to pray for my late wife and through the cemetery pray for my parents, my grandparents, uncles and aunts, and my sister in law, and the known and unknown.

The Muslim prayers run something like this, “Dear God, forgive me and my parents and my teachers and all the believing men and women, the living and the dead with your mercy. Amen."

 Dear God, I thank you for the life and the freedom you have given me and my fellow humans and I thank for all those who have sacrificed their lives for me to have this freedom to stand freely and pray here today, I salute our men and women in the uniforms for protecting and defending our freedom. Amen.

(This is my draft, disturbed by a phone call – I will fix this later today and add more soul searching items to it).


URL -  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/05/memorial-day-reflections-by-pluralist.html

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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links. 

Congratulations to the Dallas Fashions for Charity Team

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

What a team, a great team!

The team led by Henny Hughes with John Krieger, Kennedy Gbenedio, Teresa Marvon, Jesse Velaquesz, Jessie Anton, Nick Lupo, John Marvon, Sonia Perez, Linda Lemmond, and Omar Marin.

It was such a joy to see the event come through successfully. Indeed everything went as planned with near perfect execution. Our volunteerism is helping the needy children and we all can take pride of our event, as it helps us achieve our goals.

Everyone has done a fabulous job. Drew and LeeAnne were graceful and were great team players. LeeAnne and Drew asked me to sit by them and keep them up with the flow and sequence.  They were truly gracious!

I have to quote the following from Goethe, to describe every one of you,  and your commitment to this event. You were awesome!

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy... Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.… Whatever you can do or dream that you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

Here is another quote from Dr. Abdul Hamid Abusulayman, "There is a clear distinction between doubts and problems. Doubts provoke obstruction, frustration and discouragement, where as problems inspire motivation, action and diligence.”

That’s what I saw in our team, inspiration, motivation, action and diligence. 

Henny, I was floored with your designs; you are just one hell of a great designer! I just could believe the uniqueness of each dress, and each dress was greater than the other.  I hope it was a dream come true event for you last night. --- The dream to help the disadvantaged children to uplift themselves on  to a level playing field.

Linda, I love your passion and perfectionism, you are a rare gem of a person. Goethe was right about your commitment to work.  You are one of the most organized cool headed persons I have seen.  The problems we encountered inspired you to move on and get the job done, and you always had alternatives.

 I woke up early at 4:00 AM as I have to prepare the script for a radio show in New York over the phone… and wrote this note, half sleep, and I meant to appreciate every one fully even though my words may not justify it.

Kennedy, you managed the registration desk very well. It was a smooth well run operation.

John and Teresa, you guys were so focused on work – to the last minute you were working non-stop, I have a picture of you John with a shirt showing your work – you were graceful to manage the last minute changes – like the food from al-Amir.

Jesse, your passion for photography is incredible, I was watching you run all over and get the best shots of the people, and you were goading everyone to be in the pictures… you did not skip any one, and I liked that. You even went and took pictures of Bobby Young Band. You dived into you work. You were magical with your time,  and hell a great dancer too!

Jessie, you took care of a lot of behind the scene work, the power point, the programming flow and of course the modeling. Sonya you are a quite worker and got the job done.  You two are awesome and your work is appreciated in making this event successful.

Omar, you were there, whereever you were needed; you are a volunteer par-excellence. Nick I missed seeing your work, but appreciate the team spirit.

John, it was great working with you on the stage, and off the stage. You took care of logistics, particularly with the band. The Bobby young band was simply great, and stepped in to make the necessary announcements and helped in managing the schedule. Your mere presence was motivational.

As an appreciation, I would like to invite the team to lunch in an Indian restaurant, if we have difficulty with the time; we can meet next Wednesday evening at 7:00, just as a capstone meeting, sort of the goodbye meeting for the year, in a restaurant in Carrollton – there is a little private room in the back that we all can sit by ourselves. The food is hot and spicy, but good authentic food. They don’t serve alcohol if that is okay with ya’ll.

How to get along with everyone is the need of the day, and with our continued volunteerism,  we will be able to teach the disadvantaged children how to cope with people of different races, cultures and ethnicities, so we can be a small part in raising a generation of responsible citizens.

PICS- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeghouse/sets/72157633618329771/show

Texas Faith : Should Americans boycott sweatshops in places like Bangladesh?

We can demand graduated improvements in working conditions, but must be willing to pay a few pennies more for the same goods and services, if not we would be contributing to those conditions to maximize the returns on our Dollar. 

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/05/texas-faith-should-americans-boycott.html

Texas Faith : Should Americans boycott sweatshops in places like Bangladesh?

  

By Bill McKenzie /

| Dallas Morning News | Published on May 23, 2013 

That’s the question many people are facing after a horrific fire in a Bangladesh sweatshop recently killed more than 1,100 workers. But it isn’t always an easy one to answer.

As New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof explains in this link, workers in some underdeveloped nations see a sweatshop as preferable to conditions they otherwise might work in. Here’s how Kristof put it in a 2009 column:

“I’m glad that many Americans are repulsed by the idea of importing products made by barely paid, barely legal workers in dangerous factories. Yet sweatshops are only a symptom of poverty, not a cause, and banning them closes off one route out of poverty. At a time of tremendous economic distress and protectionist pressures, there’s a special danger that tighter labor standards will be used as an excuse to curb trade.”

In essence, sweatshop employees may be making a rational decision to work in places most Americans would not set foot in. The demand for their goods leads to jobs that pay better than in other parts of a developing nation’s economy. And in better conditions, as hard as that might be to imagine

On the other hand, our demand for their goods is why sweatshops exist. And while those facilities may be better than others in a country, they also can be exploitative and even deadly.

I am also including a link to an interview that ran in The Dallas Morning News Points section. The Q&A is with Texas Tech professor Benjamin Powell, author of the forthcoming Sweatshops: Improving Lives and Economic Growth. He explains why he thinks Americans should not boycott sweatshops.

What do you think?

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas, and Speaker on interfaith matters, diversity and pluralism

There is always a balance we need to seek, between the disgusting working conditions of the sweatshops, and the jobs they provide to those who need to sustain the basics of their families.

As an individual born and raised in India, I have seen utter poverty. It was humiliating to see people beg for food, just food, not the steak, and receive the left-overs to sustain themselves and their children. For nearly forty years, I gave up eating cake, as it reminded me of a kid who stretched his hand for it when I was eating. The looks on his face made me sad, very sad – he probably never had a piece of cake. I gave him what I had in my hand and did not eat another piece for a long time. However, it was a joy to see him share that piece with his brothers scrambling for food in the pile of trash at the corner of the street.

When I went to see the Taj Mahal, I saw what Nick Kristof saw. It was deeply troubling to see the conditions of the sweatshops there, particularly the child labor and the inhuman conditions they worked under to make a buck, the buck that puts food on their plate for the whole day.

My late wife and I decided to visit a famous restaurant to eat one of the Indian delicacies that we wanted to eat all our lives.. But what we saw on the way in turned us off and we chose to go back without eating. We endlessly debated about supporting a place where they did not treat their employees well, particularly the children, and denying them a buck and their livelihood.

We were glad to be Americans to have been blessed with the opportunities, and also glad to have the mindset to feel guilty for the living conditions of those who provide our goods and services.

As Americans, we can positively encourage competition by giving business to those sweat shops who treat their employees better, and who do not employ child labor and or offer education opportunities for the same children.

We can demand graduated improvements in working conditions, but must be willing to pay a few pennies more for the same goods and services, if not we would be contributing to those conditions to maximize the returns on our Dollar.

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To see all the other responses, at Dallas Morning News at:http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/2013/05/texas-faith-should-americans-boycott-sweatshops-in-places-like-bangladesh.html/

....Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel,India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.

Interfaith Speaker Mike Ghouse - Ultimate religious wisdom

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.

Interfaith Speaker Mike Ghouse - the ultimate in pluralism

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes his work through many links.