Change your Password regularly

I hope you do that regularly, if not, it is a good practice to change your password at least once a month, if you are super active on face book and emails.   Keep different password for face book and your main email account.

Create your own code to remember the password and keep it handy, it’s miserable to forget the password.  Remember to change it on your desktop, laptop, ipad and cell phone.

Ask the people who have lost a whole lot of data, they will tell you the misery of someone messing with your email and face book.  I have not had any trouble with them in the last six months, thank God.

Please do not open any email links you receive, even from your friends, unless they write a note about it, and you know it is them.

Don't give your password to any soul, no matter what tricks they employ in your email.

Just don't give it.

Have a safe internet experience. 

Mike Ghouse,

Motivational Speaker 

(214) 325-1916

Mike is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist and a human rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. A Tv and a radio commentator. Complete Info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at TheGhouseDiary.com 

Hail to Facebook and the Twitter; the instruments of freedom.

This note is in support of the Turkish people protesting against the freedom of speech, and the men and women who are taking the beating to stand up for their freedom. Hail to the Facebook and Twitter for becoming the medium for the ordinary to communicate freely.

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/06/hail-to-facebook-and-twitter.html

FB&T has placed the power in the hands of the people to monitor the rule of law and injustice everywhere on the earth. Eventually this power will pounce the dictators and abusers of power even in democracies, it was proven in Tahrir square (Egypt) and now it's proving it in Taksim square (Turkey).

FB&T is good for the world and is good for America, empowering the power to everyone. It’s a form of people power and its democracy in action. FB&T empowers you and I.

The following three pictures are shameful, a man is on the ground face-up, and the policeman is stamping his boot on his face while another one pointing the bayonet towards the man. The other picture has a woman daring the water hose, reminds me of Selma where the police did the same thing with African Americans, the third picture is a woman daring the police might.

Shame on the police to resort to violence against demonstrators, it happens in democracies too. There are two difficult pictures from India and Chile in the last few months – where the women demonstrators were mercilessly beaten by the police brutes. I hope they have found the men and punished them accordingly.

 Army brutalities are all over the world in the communist as well as the democratic systems. No nation can cast the first stone including our own US of A.  The only grace with democracies is that the guilty will be eventually punished and even fellow men in service will resist joining the bullies and do resist in muffed voices– as they did in Abughraib in Iraq and other places in Afghanistan. Unless the rule of law prevails, and everyone is accountable, the world continues to rot, and affects the psyche of the entire society.

However, the FB&T and the cell phones in the hands of the powerless have given them power to stop the injustices and brutalities. 

There is always that chance; the bad guys can use FBT as their propaganda as well. But their view is so narrow in the larger Facebook, that it does not grow exponentially. I have seen those views emerge here on my wall, but disappeared when three or four good men and women questioned them. Truth ultimately triumphs!

I have seen the extremists in my (Republican) party resort to false propaganda against Obama, they have failed miserably. The idiots need to focus on nation building and not waste public funds on harassing the do gooders. Here is a warning to my Republican friends, unless the moderate majority among us speaks up, we all will fall in 2014 with them, the bad boys among us.

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. 

Surreal Dreams turned out to be real

There is a world out there that is not physical; it is imaginary but real at times. Inspired by my facebook friends Joyi, Kush, Cathie and my two Nephews Tanveer and Zeeshan, I embarked on sharing some of the unreal dreams, and I am sure each one of you had such a dream. It took me a good one hour of writing - from 2:32 through 3:30 PM on February 6, 2013 . When I get a chance, I will fine tune it and add details; right now it is merely skeletal and dates are approximate. I am sure I can find the closest dates.

1995 - Kundan Sharma, my friend who is like an older brother to me was hurt in my dream; I called him up in the morning to find if everything was alright. He asked me to tell him what I saw, and I told him that there was some stupid accident.  He said he was flying to India that day, and decided to cancel it. That evening he totaled his Cadillac but thank God nothing happened, he called me to thank me.

2004 - Again Kundan Sharma and I were driving a car somewhere in Florida, the causeway just broke off, and our car hung in the middle, half dangling over the ocean below and the other half on the raised up road, either way it would be a steep fall.  I woke up restless, called him up the next morning, he said, he was going through some difficult times at that time and appreciated the dream, so he can take an alternative.

2007 - Sudesh bhabi (Kundan's wife) was in pain, I called her up. She was in the hospital, the previous evening her car had rolled over her from the garage drive way when she went to pick up the mail. She had a severe fractured leg.

Kundan and I shared offices in the same building and we became good friends, he is more like a big brother to me. Both of us have gotten busy and have not seen each other for a while, we saw each other frequently when DJ Sharma, my office partner was alive. I always wondered what was the connection? We both ended up with the song - Tera Mujh say hai pehle ka naata kahin.

By the way, I sang that song when Mina was born, and that's how her Middle name was named Dilshad, I saw my sister Dilshad in her and felt the connection was there from an earlier life, like in previous birth ( I don't believe in it though). Years later I had a conversation with Alka Yagnik, singer of the original song,  and in the middle of lobby of the auditorium with hundreds of people around,  she sang that song for Mina on my little tape recorder. Lala Laala, lalla la..lalla la la lalaa. Mina this is for you. I never saw the movie but the song had grown on me. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO35DVm_5ts ) 

2008 - Arun Vittala and I had not seen each other for nearly 5 years, he was standing in the middle of the street, all worried. That was not him, a positive man, so I called him up - his brother had passed away in India and he was figuring how to get there and he was surprised too that I called and I was amazed with that connection. 

Arun and I became friends through Cricket, when I organized a major cricket tournament in Dallas in 1996; he was a key partner in organizing the game, and for many years after that. He organized the North Texas Cricket Association and became its first president. I remained involved for many years and was a president for two terms.

0000 - Phillip Ramsaroop looked tensed up to me in pain, so I called Vidya his wife. Phillip was undergoing surgery on his leg in the hospital in Arlington. Phillip has since moved to Florida. He was instrumental in explaining the difference between acceptance and tolerance while defining Pluralism years ago. He was President of the D/FW Hindu temple and considered honoring me a title of "Honorary Hindu" as I spoke up for Hinduism where ever it was misunderstood. FYI, I do that with faiths and cultures including Atheistic tradition. He is a great singer of Hindu devotional songs and I have played some of his songs on my Religious radio shows way back in 2003.

1971 - Dr. Narsimaiah, The Vice Chancellor of Bangalore University, Mahatma Gandhi and I were sitting around a dining table. Gandhi put his hand on my back, and said "Son, you have a lot of work to do" I understood, it was the work around building communal harmony in India at that time.

2003 - Mahatma Gandhi was in a halo, and did the same thing again, patted on my back and said, "Son, you continue the work" and I must say that I found myself deeply committed to the Pluralism work, the closet events were death of my mother and the Gujarat Genocides that had  deeply affected me.

1970's - Whenever my sister Dilshad was hurt, I felt the pain and I would see her in my dream. Damn me, I am feeling tender now. At that time, she was in Rai Bareilly,  India with Noorda, her husband. Invariably I would see her in my dreams.

60's - When we were kids, it was a routine for me and my brothers and sister to pile up on our father, first thing in the morning, and we all used to share our little dreams and he would his. They were some of the most beautiful moments of my life. One Sunday morning, my father told us that he saw his Uncle dying and had summoned him to appraise him about the situation, and he told my father where he wanted to be buried, after all it was a dream he shared.

Tuesday morning rolls, and around 11:00 AM, we got a telegram (those days, no cell phones, no faxes, not even a phone in our neighborhood) that my grandfather (great uncle in American terms) had passed away. My father rushed and got him buried on the same spot where he had told him in his dream. The man was considered a holy man and every year the townspeople celebrate and visit his grave, of course, I did not subscribe to such celebrations.

 2004 - This is unreal, but real, I saw winning 6.4 Million dollars in lottery, told my wife and kids about the dream, she asked if I had actually purchased the ticket, and I pulled the ticket and checked. I won $64.00; we ate a lot of doughnuts that day.

One of the ugliest dreams that I have not seen in a few years was my inability to put breaks on the vehicle I was driving, I could not lift my foot, like my foot was bolted the floor...and it would not reach the break pad..and before I hit something, I would wake up panting and puffing. Thank God, I have not seen that again in the last four years, I must have seen that at least once year for nearly twenty years.

One of the most consistent dreams that I have seen for years was flying. I would just lean forward and lift off like the Harriett jet and go everywhere. One time, I actually got up and made an attempt to fly to found out that I was out of the dream. A few years ago, a gentleman from UK sent a note on the face book, that he had the same precise dream, since then, a few others have mentioned having similar dreams. It is the most beautiful dream and I would love a repeat.

.......
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place and standing up for others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong 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 everything you want to know about him.

TEXAS FAITH: Will Facebook kill the church?

In a new book, How Facebook Killed the Church, author Richard Beck argues that our new connectivity online is not necessarily a good thing for organized religion - at least in one respect. He says it offers a replacement for the important social function that houses of worship have long provided. One reason that millennials are leaving, he says, is because the digital world is providing a sense of community that has been an aspect of churches and other communities of faith.

Wayne Slater of Dallas Morning News asks “.. is the broader digital world is providing something our places of faith once did - a center of social networking? Is that a problem? And if so, what do we do about it? Here is one of the five responses:

 

MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for Pluralism, Dallas

Substitution plays a key role in the social game of demand and supply of satisfaction. Indeed, the satisfaction is measured in terms of a sense of community and coherence offered by the religion to draw the congregants to its sanctuaries, when there is an alternate source of satisfaction that is easy to be had, people will switch.

Historically Religion had the monopoly in offering a sense of community, where people gathered to hear stories of the prophets and God, of evil and good as that was an affordable communal entertainment in those days. Perhaps that was the only dominating topic of humanity some 2000 years ago, subsequently topics like Astronomy, Mathematics and Medicine started chipping into that monopoly.

Fast forward to 21st century; Religion gets relegated to the weekend activity and as Richard Beck argues in "How Facebook Killed the Church," religion further loses its traditional share in capturing the congregants to an alternate source of satisfaction; the facebook. There is an element in all of us that seeks freedom through alternatives.

To millions out there, facebook is home! Where one feels completely at ease, you can browse through it at your leisure with no tension, you don't have to answer to any one and you will always find some one whom you can chat with any time of the day un-intrusively. What cave was to the saints in the past, facebook is to the people today; a safe haven.

Questions about Religion that people were afraid to ask, and expression of dissension cannot be easier than at facebook, indeed no one will be called on the carpet. It is also increasing one's ability to interact with each other and a new language of refinement is emerging and new communities are forming based on shared interests.

However, facebook will never be a full blown competition to the sense of community one finds in a Church. All systems will have their share of the communities but there is nothing like being with people and with the family, Church will continue to be a major player in our lives and will maintain its own, but dwindling market share. 

For all the five responses, please visit:  http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/texas-faith-will-facebook-kill.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the Media and the public. http://www.mikeghouse.net/  

PATRIOTISM

It is unpatriotic if one does not have the courage to acknowledge and criticize one's own nation, and it is a gross disloyalty to let the nation morally degenerate itself. My heroes are those who criticize my nation and prevent it from moral decay, my heroes are those who keep the government rascals on the...ir toes, and my heros are those who are committed to working for security of every one.The truth is that no individual or a nation can be secure when others who surround them aren't. It behooves us to make friends but not frigthen and harass others, if we threaten even the weakling will develop the energy to cause insecurity to us.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&&suggest&note_id=442293172773#!/album.php?aid=448259&id=851280248&ref=mf

June 10 at 6:07pm - 51 Comments on Facebook

Facebook and Religion

Face book is a market place which is open and free to individuals who want to be a part of it. I have friends who have no more than 10 friends and they are content with it, and some of them are fully into with over 5000 friends.

It is like a clothing store, a grocery store, or a book store where you can choose to buy a book about sex or Bible or chance on meeting a person of opposite gender who may become a life partner or a killer. The choice is yours.

You tell your friends to abstain from going to prostitutes, drinking Alcohol or smoking.... as they all have health hazards or social, cultural or religious bans. Some do it regardless and most don't.

Let the Imams discuss the possible temptations and good things of being on the face book or being on the street open to good, bad or ugly. You cannot ban some thing that also produces good. There is no compulsion in the matters of faith, as they don't work. Ultimately individuals are responsible for what they do; No Imam, Rabbi, Pundit or Pastor is responsible for individual’s action.

Mike Ghouse
# # #

Imams OK Facebook, but no flirting!
22 May, 2009, 1729 hrs IST,AP

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SURABAYA: Muslim clerics debating the exploding popularity of Facebook in Indonesia said Friday that followers could use the networking site to co nnect with friends or for work — but not to gossip or flirt.

The nonbinding ruling followed a two-day meeting of clerics in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Around 700 clerics, or imams, agreed to draft up guidelines on surfing the Web after receiving complaints about Facebook and other sites, including concerns they encourage illicit sex, said Nabil Haroen, a spokesman for the organizers.

They decided "Facebook is haram (or forbidden) if it is used for gossiping and spreading lies," he said, and that users also could not ask overtly intimate questions or in anyway encourage "vulgar behavior." But the clerics noted, too, there were many upsides to Facebook and other trendy, new forms of communication, from mobile phone text messaging to video conferencing.

It has become easier today for the young to connect, the imams' 300-word edict said, "erasing space and time constraints" and making it possible for couples to get to know — before they get married — if they really are well-suited.

Facebook had no immediate comment Friday, but said ahead of the ruling that people typically use the site to connect with their friends, family or learn about local and world issues and events.
"We have seen many people and organizations use Facebook to advance a positive agenda," said Debbie Frost, a Facebook spokeswoman.

Indonesia is a secular nation of 235 million people, 90 percent of whom are Muslim, and Facebook is the top-ranked site in the country, beating out even search engines Yahoo and Google.

Though an edict by the clerics does not carry any legal weight, it could be endorsed by the influential Ulema Council, which recently issued rulings against smoking and yoga. Some devout Muslims adhere to the council's rulings because ignoring a fatwa, or religious decree, is considered a sin.

Facebook poem

I have always wanted to write poetry,
and I do that to an extent in Urdu language,
and I could not resist writing about face book in English


Getting away from the routines of life for a moment,
everyone ought to live in illusory maya for a moment,

Face book has become a source of solace,
with no obligation and no pressure,
we open the book, and then close it with peace

Every one of us has a moment with each other's face,
It is one of the best things we have seen in years.

Mike Ghouse