The Florida "Muslim Free" Gun Store Ruling

A Florida gun store owner made headlines a while ago for declaring his store to be a "Muslim Free"

The gun store owner in all his confederate glory.
Image from nydailynews.com

 zone and refusing to sell guns to Muslims unless they took some kind of oath; something that the other, non-Muslim, patrons didn't have to go through. In doing so the gun store owner appears to be clearly violating Title II of the Civil Rights act, specifically by denying Muslims "full and equal enjoyment of goods, services" on the basis of religion. 

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim civil rights/advocacy group that does many things, including providing legal assistance to victims of discrimination. CAIR's Florida office filed suit against the gun store on the basis of violating the Civil Rights act. 

On November 24th U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom dismissed the case. 

As people are getting wind of the decision people are reading headlines and making assumptions, the key one being that a judge has ruled discrimination against Muslims is now legal. That's why I'm writing this piece. 

I'm not a legal scholar, I have never been to law school and I have no legal expertise whatsoever. With that being said I read Judge Bloom's 12 page ruling in it's entirety and those click-bait scare headlines could not be more false. Yes, Judge Bloom dismissed the case and the Florida gun store owner "won" and won't face any repercussions from this suit. And that's the key thing, this lawsuit was dismissed. 

There's an issue of standing in this case. In a nutshell, standing is what justifies you to bring the suit to court. If Mike gets into a car accident and destroys John's car in New York without having any insurance a guy named Chuck in Alaska can't sue Mike because Mike didn't do anything to him. CAIR filed this suit as an organization which means it falls under the rules of organizational standing. Which means an organization can sue if one of two things happens:

1. The organization itself is harmed.
2. The organization isn't harmed but is solely representing a member that was harmed.

Therein lies the reason for the dismissed claim. Because neither CAIR nor any of it's members (Muslims in general who would have tried to buy from the gun store) suffered actual harm. The definition Bloom cites as harm is that it must be "actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical." Because no Muslims actually tried to buy a gun and actually suffered discrimination Bloom says the harm in this case would be hypothetical and since that doesn't qualify, CAIR loses their standing to sue. Case dismissed. 

It makes sense if you think about it. If this case had gone trial the lack of actual facts would make a proper ruling extremely difficult. Clearly it wouldn't actually be this simple but the trial would go something like: 

 

"Your sign says you have a Muslim free gun store."

"So? That's just a joke, I've never denied any Muslims guns."

"But your policy and you yourself have said you will." 

"So? I didn't actually do anything...yet."

If there's one thing I'm trying to convey it's that this isn't a radical anti-Muslims ruling. It's well within the confines of the law. It isn't a damning precedent for all potential anti-Muslim establishments. All this case needs to actually go to trial would be for someone to actually try to buy a gun from the store and suffer the harm mentioned above. That would cement the issue of standing and the merits of the case could actually be discussed, which by all accounts looks like a slam dunk against the gun store. 

TLDR (Too long didn't read version): No one was actually discriminated against so they dismissed the case. If someone actually tried to buy a gun and was denied or made to do anything more than a non-Muslim then the case could actually be tried on it's merits. 

Disclaimer:

I had the pleasure of interning at CAIR's National Headquarters in DC a few a years ago and would like to make clear that the thoughts and opinions expressed in this article and mine and do not necessarily represent those of CAIR Florida or CAIR National. 

Judge Bloom's ruling can be read in it's entirety here: http://www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Order-Granting-Motion-to-Dismiss.pdf

Why We Need to Shut-Up About the Riots

I will not get into the gritty details of the protests that have been taking place in Baltimore over the past few days, however anyone who doesn't live under a rock knows of what's going on. Freddie Gray, a 25 year old black man, died on April 19th. He died from injuries he suffered while in police custody on April 12th. On the 19th he died from a variety of "mysterious" injuries, chiefly to his spine. A simple summary would be that Gray was another victim in a long line of police brutality killing innocent people without any sort of due process. Videos of Gray show him being dragged, unable to properly walk. He also suffered from asthma and was denied an inhaler when he was struggling to breathe. Despite all this it was his broken spine that killed him seven days later.

I'm not qualified to go into detail about the oppression and racism but many feel qualified to share their views on social media, condemning the violence caused by the protests. I implore these people to answer the question: "Why?"

What pent up oppression have these people been going through, for how long, that they erupt in anger like this? What kind of actions have muzzled a group's voice, and for how long, that rioting is only way they can be heard? What must it feel like to turn on the news everyday and think another person just like me got murdered by the people who are supposed to protect me? What must it feel like to try all the "acceptable" mediums of change and get absolutely nowhere near where you should've been in fifty years? What must it feel like to read of people like me in the 1800's being lynched, and then see it happen on the news 200 years later? What must it feel like to think that you or someone you love can easily be next?

I don't know.

Which is why I'm not going to sit on my couch, safe from all the above, and tell black people how they should go about making change. And while we're on the subject let's make some straw men very clear. Nobody is saying "all policemen" are bad or engage in police brutality. However the percentage of those who do is absolutely way too high and nothing is being done to combat this. Eric Garner was killed by police over an accusation of selling single cigarettes. The officer was cleared by a grand jury. Officer Darren Wilson shot Mike Brown SIX times and wasn't indicted. Until the structures that allow murderers of innocent black men to walk free the riots won't stop. Not sure if these men were innocent? Innocent until proven guilty and unfortunately they were never given the chance to be declared anything except dead. Baltimore will die down eventually only to crop up wherever the next instance happens. Until the root of the problem is treated the riots won't stop.

The internet tells me JFK said "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Baltimore hasn't been living in a vacuum. This extreme reaction has been brewing and brewing from decades of systematic oppression. If you can't see that, you really should do the world a favor and stick to posting about sports. Which, by the way, have caused way more violent riots recently than racism has. 

Understanding The Ferguson Decision

Darren Wilson wasn't indicted in the shooting of Mike Brown, a 17 year old unarmed black teenager. Unless you literally live under you rock you've seen the public outrage over the decision, be it the riots in Ferguson, or public rants on social media. Before anybody tries to justify the ruling by the grand jury in the case I want explain the legal aspect of it. Once you understand you simply cannot justify not indicting Officer Wilson.

An indictment is not a trial, an indictment is formally charging someone with a crime. It's a standard procedure before every criminal trial to make sure that the court system doesn't waste its time with a case that doesn't have any backing. How does the jury make this determination? They weigh the evidence presented against a standard of proof.

In a criminal trial, the standard of proof is "beyond a reasonable doubt." It is by far the most difficult standard of proof to meet. Basically, if after hearing all the testimony and evidence, a reasonable person would doubt that the defendant committed the crime then the defendant should be exonerated. A more lax standard is the "preponderance of the evidence." This is used in civil trials and means that the evidence must be more likely than not, a far cry from beyond a reasonable doubt. To put it another way if 51% of the evidence says you're guilty, then you're guilty. Now ladies and gentlemen there is an even lower standard of proof that I'm sure you've heard before: probable cause.

Probable cause is one of the lowest standards of proof, second only to reasonable suspicion. All you need is a reasonable basis to believe a crime MAY have been committed. So to give you an idea, an empty beer can in the passenger seat of a car, is probable cause for an officer to search you on suspicions of a DUI. It is NOT enough to convict you of the crime, but enough to meet probable cause.

Can you guess which standard of proof is required to issue an indictment? Yup, it's probable cause. Now let's apply that to the Brown case. Let's look at the facts for a minute and see if we have probable cause, not to convict Wilson, but simply to see if we should bother finding out what happened that day.

• Brown was unarmed
• Brown was shot six times
• Brown was 17 years old
• Brown is dead
• Officer Wilson suffered no serious injuries

Do these facts make you believe that maybe, just maybe, Mike Brown's killing wasn't justified self-defense? If so then we have met the burden of probable cause, Wilson should have been indicted and the trial should have moved forward. Ask any attorney how blatantly absurd it is for a person not be indicted after putting 6 bullets into a kid and you'll see why everybody is so outraged.

It would be one thing if Wilson wasn't convicted after a trial, then you could make the argument that the evidence wasn't there for a conviction under "beyond a reasonable doubt" but that didn't happen. He was let off scott-free without any effort to find out what happened, and that's the worst part of this. The system proves time and time again that black people's lives are worth less than a white person's. No supposed petty-crime deserves being executed without a trial, yet Darren Wilson is free, and a lot richer because he killed a young black boy.

I'm not even going to get into riot aspect of it except by saying all my Maryland readers should remember in 2002 when Maryland won the national championship how much destruction was caused by drunk rioters over a college basketball game. And yet people want to complain about rioting when the justice system let's a murderer walk free without a trial? If you're complaining about the riots then you just don't get it. There's no other way to put it. Maybe it'll take another 50-100 years but right now, post-racial America is nothing but a child's fantasy.

Football, Sportswriters and The Stock Market

Stop me if you've heard this one before. X player plays well. Y analyst writes how he's the next incarnation of Jesus. Next week X player doesn't play well. Y analyst writes about how he's worse than Ryan Leaf.

The NFL is unique in terms of sports leagues. If a team loses a game in the NBA, NHL or MLB it's not the end of time. They still have a bagillion more games to play and fluke wins and losses don't usually play a huge factor in their final regular season record. There's only 16 weeks of football and every single game counts. That's why football fans go nuts on Sundays and sports media have so much to say after every single game.

We've seen the Kirk Cousins hype. He played two good games early on in the season and people we're quick to say he's a better quarterback than RG3, that the Redskins are saved and that RG3's career is over. He's now sitting behind RG3 and Colt McCoy on the depth chart.

More recently, as I spend most of football season in Pennsylvania, I saw last week's Eagles game. Quarterback Nick Foles, who led Philadelphia to a solid 5-2 record this year after finishing last season with 27 TDs and only 2 interceptions. Foles has been getting beaten up in recent weeks and went out of the game with a broken clavicle in the first quarter after throwing a touchdown and a pick-6 to keep the score even at 7-7. Enter disgraced ex-Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. He comes and throws a slighty underthrown bomb to Jeremy Maclin for a 74 yard gain on his first play. He finished with two touchdown passes and two interceptions and, more importantly, an Eagles win.

"Sports analysts", even the "good" ones on NFL.com started writing about how Mark Sanchez is reviving his career and how the Jets ruined him. Some say that he's the replacement for Nick Foles and that he's going to lead the Eagles even after Foles is healthy. After 3 quarters of football people want to dethrone the most consistent quarterback Philadelphia has had since Donovan McNabb for a proven turnover machine that even the New York Jets didn't want. For those who forget, Geno Smith has a better career completion percentage than Sanchez, add-in the facts that Sanchez left New York with more turnovers than scores and the fact that he's from USC and you see why these so-called analysts are really quick to jump the gun.

Let's turn now to the news. You ever hear people freaking out on the news because the Dow fell by 7 points or the S&P 500 is down 5 points? Do you know why most investors don't really care? Because they aren't in the stock market for a single day. Regardless of any single day's gains and losses (even the 08 crash took more than an single day) investors are pretty sure that over the long run they will end up with some positive growth. The smart people realize that anything can happen in a single sitting and that they need to observe a stock or fund for an extended period of time before making extreme judgments on it.

Sportswriters and fans are like the people who get extremely upset or happy after watching the day's stock market activity. Too reactive and too stupid to see the big picture. Is anyone questioning Tom Brady's job security now? No. And someone call in me in about 5 weeks after we see what Mark Sanchez's career renaissance looks like. I'm betting nobody will want to see him under-center next season.

The NFL is an extremely complicated sport. Game-planning and learning offenses and defenses are so much more complicated than any other sport. Players need time to develop their mental abilities to catch up to their physical capabilities. Receivers need to know when to break-off their routes and sit in a zone and what their quarterback is expecting of them on every route. The quarterback needs to be able to the read the defense pre-snap, make adjustments and then see what his options are when the play starts. This isn't something that happens overnight. Experience is necessary to become a solid NFL player. Russell Wilson & Andrew Luck are exceptions to the rule but their play is getting even better than their phenomenal rookie seasons with some NFL experience under their belt. Teams, coaches and players take time to develop and a smart fan never reads too much into any single game or even a single season. 

The Fallacy of The Human Mind

There are many insurmountable hurdles in achieving a perfectly rational mind. Human beings are a mish-mosh of emotions and rationality. Raymond Tusk from House of Cards put it best when he said: "the rational and irrational complement each other. Individually, they're far less powerful." And the guy's a fictitious billionaire energy mogul so I'd take his word on this one.

 Now I'm the type that seriously favors my left brain; logic and rationality are useful, emotions aren't and I have no patience for useless things. But the irrational side is what makes us human. Engineers can program computers and robots to follow a logical set of code. Logic can be replicated, but human emotion can't and it has it's own value. Irrational thinking is what saved a ton of peoples' lives in The Dark Knight. In case you don't remember the Joker had two ferries rigged with bombs. One ferry was filled to the brim with innocent civilians, the other with Gotham's worst thieves and murders. Both were rigged with explosives and each ferry was given the detonator to the OTHER ferry. If one ferry blew the other up then that ferry would be saved, if neither did it by midnight then the Joker would blow them both up. 

Think about your two options in this scenario:

1. You blow up the other boat and live. 

2. You don't and get blown up, either by the other boat or by the joker. 

So your two options are literally live or die. It's a simple choice, a rational mind would have blown up the other boat in a heartbeat. One such "rational" mind on the civilian boat points this out and notes that the criminals deserved to die more than the civilians did. Eventually he takes the detonator but doesn't pull the trigger. Faced with the choice of life and death both boats chose death rather than kill the other boat. An amazingly irrational decision that bought just enough time for Batman to swoop in and save them both. 

Emotions and the irrational have their value, but are also the source of the biggest flaw in human thinking. Most people let their desires cloud rationality, causing them to ignore consequences that aren't immediate. Think about all the people who believe in a religion that holds that you will be punished for sins. Not a single one of those people, myself included, has completely avoided those sins. Often times we knowingly do these things for no other reason than the pleasure from said sin is immediate and the consequences are far off. But this is expected, believing in an afterlife is one thing, visualizing it happening is another. Plus there's the rather moronic expectation that you'll live a long enough life to be "good later" so we tend to ignore the consequences right now. 

Now let's look at the shorter term; it doesn't take a lifetime for us to ignore non-immediate consequences. A kid enters the workplace at 23 years old and gets a decent job. He saves up $10000 in two years and is wondering what to do with the money. He could lock that money up in a Roth IRA, earn 11% a year and turn that ten grand into more than half a million by the time he can collect on the IRA, that's $580,000 tax-free. But no one does that at 25, instead they buy a motorcycle, a new car, or a 65' T.V. Choosing the sexy option that provides enjoyment now is usually more preferable than waiting for the better prize. 

Even shorter term now: grades in school. There's two ways to look at this one. For some white folk the need to graduate high school in four years is overshadowed by the current need to party, have fun, and not focus on schoolwork when your future depends on it. For some people of any other race the need to avoid the can of whoop-ass for getting bad grades at the end of the semester is overshadowed by those same reasons. Think about the bums you remember from high school, the ones who wouldn't even try or show up to class. It's so stupid looking back, to not graduate or not get into college because you were skipping school to get high or even just sleep and play video games instead of going to class. 

Moving on to my favorite example, this one takes place in a matter of minutes. The last few examples have been over the course of months, years and decades. Keep in mind this doesn't apply if your parents wake you up or if your parents are home when you're supposed to be at school. During my last semester I had to wake up at 7:30 every morning to get to my 8:30 classes on time. These classes were ones where I needed to be in class to understand the material properly. Every so often I'd wake up to the sound of my alarm and just feel so tired that I'd go back to sleep, knowing full well that after I wake up I'll spend an extra 5 hours trying to understand material and copy notes for a 50 minute class. 

After the consequences eventually come into the picture all those immediate but fleeting pleasures that we enjoyed at some cost in the future seem so horribly trivial that we marvel at our stupidity back then. Think about the few kids who took those 15 A.P.s in high school and put in work while everyone else was living it up. They were the ones that got those ivy-league acceptances in April. I'm not saying that these kids were all work and no play but that they had the foresight to budget their time and energy responsibly. The retirees who invested when they were young are counting their millions now. The kid who woke up for his 8:30 class is able to enjoy a stress free nap later in the day instead of copying notes. The religious person is able to enjoy a clean and healthy conscious. This trait is naturally ingrained in our psyche and it takes serious strength to overcome. Most people realize this over a grueling period of mistake after mistake and only fix it after an extraordinary period of time. The people who realize this earlier on and overcome it in their everyday decision making are the ones who end up being successful in life, especially those who start from a young age.

Three Problems With Congress

It's funny how putting 435 "leaders" in a room together and telling them to fix ONE problem by October 1st doesn't seem to work. I mean come on, isn't that why we're herded into groups of four and told to make a poster in high school? That's what they told us, no matter what job you get when you're older you need to learn how to work with people; you have to compromise, communicate and get stuff done. So you'd think 435 ivy league educated smarties would be well suited to the task, because to get into those ivy leagues you need to be a 'leader' and such. Apparently not, as even Miley Cyrus's infamous wrecking ball videos have a higher approval rating than congress' lowly 10%.

So what's the problem? Well three things are really holding up the operations on Capitol Hill, not counting the whole government shutdown deal: political parties, riders and a metaphorical rod up everyone's behind. 

Political parties are the bane of an efficient political system. The most basic tenet of democracy is voting. You vote for what you believe in and the majority wins. In a representative democracy you vote for people who best represent you. Political parties seemingly streamline that last part. Democrat or republican; you're one or the other. Does anyone else see the problem with trying to compartmentalize 300 million peoples' political views into two groups? It's like telling the world to pick one type of pizza: meat-lovers or veggie supreme. Everyone decides to pick one or the other even though most would enjoy some banana peppers with their chicken pizza. It's stupid beyond reason and exactly why George Washington didn't want our government to form said political parties. People are forced to side with democrats or republicans if they want to have a say. Since 1776 there have ZERO independent presidents. As of today there are ZERO independent representatives in the house and a whopping two in the senate. If you want your vote to count you better vote democrat or republican. Most often it comes down to picking the lesser of two evils. How do we fix this problem? Dissolve all political parties and make voting anonymous. No more house and senate whips, no more log rolling, no more trading favors, and no more filibusters. Let each individual vote on the merits of the bill instead of voting for or against the party that proposed it. And once a bill passes you deal with the result. My dad is currently sitting on the couch watching T.V. instead of working because republicans are upset Obamacare passed and can't deal with it, which transitions nicely into my next point about riders.

So what's a rider? It's an attachment to a bill that literally has nothing to do with the bill. Let's say I draft a bill

"NO I WONT PASS A BUDGET,
NO NO NO NO!"

saying that gambling is illegal for people under 18. I send it to the house and I get it back approved, but all of the sudden the bill says "gambling is illegal for people under 18...AND we're going to raise taxes by 2% to help fund a bridge in Montana." That last part of the bill is called a rider and it happens all the time. More recently there was a budget proposed in the house that would have stopped any thought of a government shutdown. Why didn't it pass through the senate? Because house republicans put a rider on the bill to handicap Obamacare. The democratic senate didn't like that and sent the bill back and here we are today. You see the two problems? One is the rider on the bill and the second is a republican house and a democratic senate. This 5 star recipe for not getting shit done has proven to be one of the best as Congress suffers its lowest approval ratings...ever. It should be common sense that when you vote on a budget bill it should only be about the budget, nothing else. But these "leaders" must know what they're doing, since they're so educated and such right?

Now for the metaphorical rod, it seems like the mentality isn't even to form a solution but rather to "win." Instead, congress is yapping away at the taxpayers' expense, blaming one another for the budget crisis while families on WIC don't get a check because nobody is getting paid to send them out. The debate over Obamacare is simple: Republicans are arguing that Obamacare is evil and will destroy small businesses, while democrats say this makes healthcare more affordable and gives more Americans access to a necessity. Yes, taxes don't help the economy, but the majority of taxes are coming from the wealthiest Americans and large corporations. Instead of solving the budget issue and keeping $200 million from going down the toilet everyday the government is shutdown because republicans decide they don't want Obamacare to take effect even though the majority voted for it. It's like a whiny 5 year old who can't figure out how to beat a game at the arcade, and instead of trying to figure it out just smashes the game to bits so no one else can play either. It's so miserably sad, to have that one job, to be in session and working and failing to accomplish it. Now instead of working together with all the brilliant minds on capitol hill congress has shut the damn government down. I have a solution, fill any budget deficits with a percentage of congressional pay. Each day those bumbling morons fail to pass a budget increase that percentage by 10%. If they go over 10 days make them sell their summer homes and keep paying. Bet you the government will be open for business bright and early tomorrow.

In conclusion there are a couple of things to get from this article. My sarcasm with the word leader which all the more increases my distaste of why it's so favorable on college applications, and my constant repetition of the phrase common sense, which is something all these people, in the most powerful government in the world, lack. The refusal of congress and government to follow basic LOGIC is beyond me and really frustrating. All I ask of you people who supposedly "represent" the citizens of this country is to stop your little teenage girl hissy-fits for two minutes so my dad can go back to work. Thanks.

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What Ramadan & Fasting are All About

Many of us know that this is the month of Ramadan, a holy month for Muslims where they fast from dawn to sunset everyday. Recently I've come across some interesting comments on various internet sites, mostly non-Muslims having an incomplete idea of why Muslims like me fast, but also with other Muslims not correcting them. Without a correct understanding of everything that goes into Ramadan, fasting for a month probably won't make much sense to you. Before I begin let me preface this by saying I'm probably the furthest thing from an Islamic scholar, what I'm writing is what I've been taught and my understanding of Ramadan, if something I say is incorrect I encourage some to comment or email me so I can correct it.

Ramadan is celebrated as the month in which the Qur'an, the holy book of Muslims, was revealed. In it, Muslims are required to fast from sunset to sundown, abstaining from all food and drink. Health exceptions are made for people who can't and/or if fasting jeopardizes their health. These people have alternate ways of fulfilling this obligation. Before dawn hits, Muslims wake up to eat a pre-fast meal, called Suhoor. Some people just treat it like breakfast while others, like myself, treat it more like dinner and eat leftovers from last night. After suhoor we pray the morning prayer called Fajr, and most of us go to back to sleep. Then at sunset, the time for fasting has ended and we break our fast with dates or water if possible.

There are numerous health benefits to fasting which I'm not going to bother touching but I found a good summary here for anyone who's curious.

The obvious aspect to fasting is the abstinence from food and drink, things that are otherwise lawful for Muslims. Fasting however, is so much more than that. It a nutshell, it is learning to restrain ourselves from the lawful things in order to develop better self control and restrain ourselves from sins we commit. When we fast we make an extra effort to curb our bad habits. We all sin, no one is perfect, but fasting gives us the extra push we need to stop. In Islam, the reward for fasting is enormous, but is totally lost when we don't stop doing the other sins in our lives. We are taught that one who fasts but doesn't abstain from his sins such as cursing, gossiping and such has gained nothing from his fast but hunger and thirst. Additionally, the reward for someone who goes the month of Ramadan fasting and praying out of righteousness is that their sins will be "like when they were born." In other words their record will be wiped clean; it will be as if they never sinned.

The second aspect to both fasting and Ramadan is the increased desire to do good and increase one's faith. During Ramadan and while we're fasting, the good deeds we do are accounted for and multiplied by factor of 70, 700 or more. So we are encouraged to give more to charity and help others and not waste our fasting time just waiting for sunset to come. We are also encouraged to pray more, read more of the Quran and try to understand it more, increase our knowledge of Islam. The big incentive is that any reward we would get from doing these actions is multiplied tremendously. This, combined with the incentive to abstain from sinning, is a big part of what makes Ramadan so sacred to Muslims.

Before I continue I think I should clarify this reward system I'm talking about. We believe that a metaphorical ledger is kept of our actions. Both good and bad, to the point where not even an atom's weight of good or wrong is left unaccounted for. And one day we will be held accountable for what is in both books. When we do something good, be it give charity or hold a door open or pray it is written in our books as good. Likewise, when we do something wrong it is also written. Fasting gives us the opportunity to multiply the deeds in our good books and erase the deeds in our "bad" books. So when I say reward I pretty much mean good deeds being written in our ledger.

Another aspect emphasized during Ramadan and through fasting is charity. Before the month is over Muslims are required to pay a percentage of their wealth as charity. People who have a certain amount of wealth/possessions or less are exempt from this. Additionally, part of the spirit of fasting is realizing what people in poverty stricken areas around the world go through on a daily basis. Some of that spirit is lost with the lavish meals many Muslims have afterwards, but even then fasting serves to remind us that not only are there people who go through this every day, but many don't have the light at the end of the tunnel that is iftar (the breaking fast meal). They aren't guaranteed a healthy meal come 8:30, they can't waltz into their local mosque and get a nice meal, they aren't even guaranteed any food or even clean water! This humbling reminder serves to encourage us to give a little more than we otherwise would to the poor/homeless/hungry.

The final thing I want to touch on is that Ramadan gives everyone a chance to start over. I have the privilege of living two minutes away from my masjid and I happen to go a couple of times a week. At any other time of the year there may be 2 or 3 lines of people praying the night prayer called Ishaa. During Ramadan, the masjid overflows with people to the point that there isn't anymore room for cars to park on site and people are praying in the hallways. Many of these people don't go to the masjid otherwise, be it for whatever reason. Yet, during Ramadan all these people come out to try and better themselves a little bit and do things that they wouldn't under normal circumstances. The person who doesn't pray prays,. The person who doesn't read Quran reads. The person who rarely gives charity gives. The person who curses stops. The person who gossips stops. Ramadan gives everyone the motivation and the environment to try to and start fresh, and give them a taste of the sweetness of worship and try to finally put a stop to the bad habits they/we/I 've been doing for many years.

In summary, the ultimate goal for Muslims during Ramadan is to reap the benefits of the month: the increased rewards for good and increased mercy for our sins and to come out of the month a better Muslim than when it started. It can be something as small as not dropping the f-bomb anymore or something as large as making sure they pray every prayer, every day. There is no limit on how much one can improve or a restriction on who can improve. This is the month to assess how one's lived throughout the year and how they can become better people and better Muslims. 

A Reflection on 4 Years of MIST

My friends and I are huddled in a group of seats in the Masonic Temple Theater in Detroit, Michigan. My head was down as I heard them announce the third place award for debate. I couldn't make out a name amidst all the cheering but I didn't really care who got third. I was dying to hear the second place award, praying my name wouldn't be called. I had already won a first place trophy today, for extemporaneous speech, but the last time I won that award I lost debate, and I wasn't looking for a repeat of last year. The announcer calmly announced that second place was "from New York..." and, to be honest, I never heard the rest of it,as the entire section around me starting cheering and I walked up knowing that I had won my final Mist debate tournament.

Throughout my four years of regional and national tournaments I've had a roller coaster experience with winning. Before my first competition in 2010 my coach told me "a white guy always wins debate, goodluck" and left. I walked in unprepared for some of the topics and to top it all off my first debate ended with the judge telling me that I completely skipped the cross examination portion of the debate. Despite this I somehow managed to reach the final round and, with a lot of help from an experienced lawyer, managed to take home 1st place. The sweet taste of victory was short lived however, as my next two tournaments both ended in the semi-finals rounds. I took 3rd in Nationals 2010, and a dismal 4th in the following year's regional tournament. Then I picked it up in what was probably the best tournament I've competed in, and won 1st Place at Mist Nationals in Atlanta. The following year I redeemed myself and reclaimed first place at  Regionals (2012) only to lose in the final round of the national tournament. Every year something went wrong, either in Regionals or Nationals, but finally, it all came together this year and I ended my time as a competitor by winning both Regionals and Nationals. I've also dabbled in some another competitions such as extemp. speaking (2 consecutive first place nationals finishes), improv, short film and community service but debate has always been my forte. So is this my reflection? The master debater completes his legacy in Detroit and then lavishes to the interwebs about it? No, this part was just to make me feel good and to give a little background to the level of competition at Mist.

In these competitions I've seen so many different people doing so many different things. Some were masters of quranic recitation and memorization, others were extremely retentive readers, some poets here, spoken word and nasheed artists there, some athletic basketball players who on the side are experts of tafseer, some artists who can draw and paint to the point you forget you're looking at a drawing...I could go on endlessly. The thing I'm trying to get at is that everyone has something. Did I win debate because I practiced day-in and day-out? I'd like to say that I worked hard and diligently prepared with the work ethic of a champion but I didn't. I was lazy and researched my topics always at the last minute and never did anything to hone my skills outside of the competition. Despite this I still managed to win, because I'm great? No. Because I have a God-given talent. I can speak, I can think logically and quickly (most of the time) and I can articulate the thoughts in my head. I didn't "earn" this, I just got it, it's nothing to be proud of.

 Everyone has something, that kid who can't catch a football and holds a baseball bat the wrong way is the smartest kid in the classroom. The kid who fails his science classes in school is an amazing artist. The kid who's failing his structured business class has the street smarts to out-earn Bill Gates. The thing I learned from Mist is that everyone has some talent. Just because your trophy case sits in your room, empty and collecting dust because you never won a debate tournament doesn't mean you're a bad debater. (You know who you are. #Shots) The talent we have isn't what makes us great. It's not even honing that talent that makes us great. It's how we use it that defines who we are and defines our legacy. Sounds a bit extreme for some high school kids but that's just it, we're high school kids. The fact is most of us haven't had the chance to actually do anything significant yet, winning a competition is nothing. Going out and using my speaking talents to change the world for the better, making someone's life better be it through giving a speech, or convincing a judge that the Patriot Act is unconstitutional is an actual accomplishment. It sounds a bit extreme and very idealistic or what have you, but using your talents for 'good' doesn't have to mean changing the world. You see a sad child on the street and draw him a small picture and make his day, doesn't sound like much but you're literally making the world a happier place by doing so.

In short, through all the fun, excitement, sadness, joy, camaraderie, brotherhood, sisterhood, work, sleeplessness, chanting and intermingling (just kidding of course) I've set some pretty lofty expectations to the all my fellow seniors who's last Mist was two days ago: "Step up and stay humble". You have talents, you are all blessed in many ways, shapes and forms; use your talents to make your life better, to make the people around you better, to make the image of Islam and Muslims around the world better. And at the same time remember where your gift came from, self-confidence is great, arrogance is not. To all competitors who still have more Mists ahead, work hard and enjoy them! It's up to you guys to carry the team now, New York should have nothing to smile about next year!

I also just wanted to acknowledge all the organizers and coaches at D.C. Mist for all the hard work they've put into organizing both the regional tournament and all the logistics for the tournament. Special shout outs to my boy Ehson Kashfipour for getting team D.C. three gorgeous Maryland motor coaches, to ex-Regional Director Adam Kareem for helping elevate D.C. Mist to what it is today, to current Regional Director Tara Mohammed for carrying the torch without missing a beat finally to ER's fantastic coach and D.C. Coach of the year Rashad Mulla for being the most supportive, helpful and chill coach there is. Thank you coaches, thank you organizers, thank you competitors, it's been a fun ride. 

College Isn't For Everyone

With all the horror stories about college graduates having their lives ruined over student loan debt I felt like chiming in my opinion on traditional 4 year colleges/universities.

Conventional wisdom states high school + college degree = well paying job. Some have added grad

school to the equation. High schools across the country tout how a large percentage of their graduating seniors are going off to college. Society has tricked us teenagers and our families into believing that college is the only way to be successful. We are asked the question "Where are you applying to college?" rather than "Are you going to colleges?"

If higher education costs as much as it does in India then sure, everyone should go off to college. But in this great country of 'Murica, where tuition, fees, room and board hover around 50-60 grand a year, we need to consider the costs and benefits more closely.

Unless you're in the top 1%, affording four years of college is a daunting task for most families. Yes, for most there are financial aid and scholarships and such but the financial aid process isn't perfect. A middle class family who works hard and saves up to pay for college gets penalized with less aid while a family with the same income and nothing saved up gets more free money. And most financial aid packages (aside from a few top tier schools) include student loans as a part of the package, so some of the aid the student receives isn't really aid at all. The bottom line is that for the majority of America, affording to go to college requires saving, scrimping, and more often than not, borrowing.

Most justify this cost as an investment. You shell out $250k now, and use the degree you gained to earn $1 million over 15 years. The problem is that people call a college education an investment without treating it like one. Investing that kind of money requires knowledge, research, understanding and most importantly, direction. If you have the market acumen to invest this money properly, you could see it double, triple, and provide a steady source of income for years. However, if you just throw it all one number on a roulette in Vegas and call it an "investment", chances are you'll never see that money again.

Likewise you need to do your homework before making this financial commitment. Do you know what you want to do in life? Did you get into a higher ranked college? Does that college rank well in your specific field? How strong is their alumni network? What are possible jobs you can earn with your degree? What are the job outlooks in the next four years for those degrees? What are employment statistics from your college and major?

People go into college with no direction other the fact they "have to". They spend a year taking electives, then changing majors, filling more requirements before changing their major again. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you go into college thinking you know exactly what you want to do and find out that it's actually not, in which case go ahead and change your major. But going to college without knowing what you want to accomplish is a big no-no and waste of your parents money. You are not guaranteed a job because you have a degree. A college degree is a tool. A wrench in the hands of a mechanic is worth thousands of dollars in repairs and work. A wrench in the hands of a gender studies major is a worthless paper weight that perpetuates some harmful anti-feminist stereotype. Point being that if you don't have the communication skills, problem solving and learning abilities and other intangibles that a college doesn't teach you, a degree isn't going to magically cover up those flaws. A degree opens doors, a degree from an elite college opens more, but they're both useless if you don't get up and make the effort to walk through them.

At the same time, job potential shouldn't be the ONLY concern. You should try to find an environment you like and something you enjoy doing. You don't want to get a job but be miserable from 9-5 every day because you don't like what you do. Find the balance of job outlook, college environment, and personal enjoyment if you decide to go to college, and if you can't it may be a sign college isn't for you.

Figuring out what you want to spend the rest of your life doing is a tall order for a 17 year kid. So if you don't have an idea or direction and can't' seem to figure it out with your parents, teachers, counselors and such don't go to college. Take a year off, get a job and if you can afford to, travel around, and try new things and get a taste of what you can see yourself doing in and after college.

What people don't realize is there are many career paths that require much less expensive education. Community colleges dramatically reduce the overall 4 year cost of college and generally allow you to graduate with the same University degree that other kids have paid an extra $100,000 for. Vocational schools cost less, keep in you school less, train and certify you to perform well in in-demand career fields. Many of them even have helpful job placement services. An electrician works with something we can't live out, has good pay, and generally no to minimal student loan debt. An ASE certified mechanic spends a year, maybe two getting his certification and can now work on the 62 million passenger cars in the U.S. while a french literature and art double major with two degrees and $100k in student loan debt is working at McDonalds and living out of his parent's basement.

In the end, its not so much the degree but what you can do with that education and skills you already have. Bill Gates gave up a sure fire, well paying career when he dropped out of Harvard. College wasn't for him; he realized that and is now one of the richest men in the world. Sure you probably aren't going to be the next Bill Gates, but to have a job with the same pay as a college grad struggling to stay afloat because of debt without paying the $250,000 fee doesn't sound that bad to me. If you have direction, a sensible way to afford your education, and are a conventional classroom learner, then by all means go to college. If it works out then you probably will be better off than someone who didn't go at all. If you aren't sure, can't afford it, or didn't get into any higher ranked colleges, look at your other options and remember that a college degree is in no way a requirement to live a successful and fulfilling life.

EDIT: Shafee doesn't get bitches. Shafee is an ass.

How to Not Die!

So you're driving Dad's car, and you see Megan Fox on the side of the road. You can either:

• Continue driving normally
• Stop driving and talk to her
• Floor it so she thinks you're a reckless bad boy, looks up the license plate of the car, and then finds your number to call you for dinner. 

Being a sensible human being you obviously floored it. Megan Fox saw you and memorized your plates and you calmly take the foot off the gas only to find the car isn't slowing down. The tach is still accelerating and your engine is groaning away, trying to reach top speed. You panic, hit a tree, die and miss your date with Megan Fox. 

The end. 

Okay, not really. But I was faced with a similar albeit more realistic scenario a while ago. After dropping my Dad off at the train station one morning I decided I wanted hear the purr of the 3 liter lexus engine that resides under the hood. I floored it through the intersection, only to find the the purr turned into a roar, and didn't stop when I took my foot off the gas. 

Unlike you, who hit a tree and died I am still here typing up this post today. Thankfully, I was able to keep calm, realize what was happening and take appropriate action to survive. So in the event your gas pedal gets stuck and you can't stop accelerating this is what you do. 

1. Keep calm! Realize that the gas pedal is stuck and that The Master Debater told you what to do in this situation.
2. See if you have space to safely pullover. 
3. If you don't, gain some speed and, as safely as possible, merge over to lanes where you can safely pullover. 
4. Shift into NEUTRAL. If you are in an automatic car just move the gear level up one space to the "N." You won't need to push the brake to change gear and you won't be able to shift into reverse because of your car's safety features. (You will shift into reverse if you put your foot on the brake and shift too far so shift without touching the brake!) If you are driving a standard transmission then you should already know how to shift into neutral, but pressing the clutch pedal all the way down has the same effect as being in neutral so you could also do that.
5. Once the car is in neutral steadily apply the brakes and pull over. The car will be making a huge racket as it's probably red lining but don't worry, nothing will explode.
6. Once you have come to a complete stop shut-off the car as fast as you can to prevent further damage to the engine. (Don't shut-off the car before you have stopped! The engine powers the steering and the brakes so if you do you won't be able to steer or stop!) 
7. Get a tow truck! Don't try to drive again until a mechanic looks at your car.

Alternate scenario, you were trying to stop with the brakes but they aren't doing anything. Chances are your brakes have overheated and lost their stopping power. In this you want to lift the hand brake with your hand and slowly apply pressure so the car slows down, but not too much pressure so that the rear wheels don't lock up and make you slide. 

Anyways I just wanted to share a little tip I learned the hard way, hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions leave them in the comments.

Can't Stand Foams

Nike Foamposites. For those who don't know, Nike, one the world's most popular shoe makers, released a shoe for NBA star Penny Hardaway back in 1997. These were basketball shoes made for basketball players. Fifteen years later they still a smashing hit with teenage males in the United States.

These shoes are not ugly. They are beyond ugly. They look like Sarah Jessica Parker after a train ran over her face. But seriously, they look like pieces of plastic with curvy lines going through it. No symmetry at all and looks as though the designers puked on the drawing board and then sent it to the production lines.

They are staple in every PG County teen's closet. Why? They're completely hideous, make you look like a tool for wearing ugly shoes, and make you like an even bigger tool when people realize how much they cost. I've worn some ugly shoes in my day, that's because they were cheap. I was a Payless man all the way until the 9th grade at which point I got a pair of classic Chuck Taylor high tops (for only $30 at that). These shoes are EXPENSIVE. Here are some prices I found.


1. Pink Foamposite Ones: $400
These cost more than the laptop I'm typing this article on. My laptop cost me $250. (2nd Gen Series 5 Chromebook, a review will be up soon!) $400 dollars for shoes!? My parents haven't spent that much on shoes since they came to America! Ridiculous.

2. 2003 Blue/White Foamposite Pros: $1000
I pray I get to the point where I can afford $1000 shoes. And when I do have $1000 shoes they better come equipped with wheels and rocket boosters. And they better make me a sandwich too. Until shoes do that I will never spend this much on them. And even if they do end up with those features my cheap self will probably still go to Payless.

3. Galaxy Foamposites: $2500
Really? $2500 dollars? I'm just going to give a list of things you could do with the cost of those utterly repulsive shoes. 100 Movies with a large popcorn and drink at theatre prices. 5000 Spicy chicken wings from 7-11. 65 tanks of Gas for my Civic. A 95' Jeep Grand Cherokee, My Honda Civic (only paid $600 for it), 2000 Dodge Durango, 1997 Audi Convertible, two and half hours with a quality prostitute, the most expensive and latest iMac computer, 5 Dell Laptops, food for 6 months and the list goes on. All I'm saying is that an Audi > Shoes

4. Nike Air Foamposite Paranorman: $4500
Kill yourself.

I don't hate all expensive shoes. Like any other item there is some innate desire to possess nice clothing. And the nicer the clothing the more expensive it is. I can see myself buying expensive-ish suits once I'm older while hopefully making an income to afford such suits. I can understand when people spend their hard earned money on expensive clothes that look good and are well made, but spending $4500 bucks when 5 year olds in China and Vietnam make them for $2? No thanks.

It's one thing to waste your (or your parent's) hard earned money on this crap, that is simply your prerogative and while I encourage everyone to buy something else, it is your call. And if that were the end of it I wouldn't have that strong of a case, but not only are you wasting Dad's paycheck on shoes but you can also end up like Montre Bradley.

Montre Bradley, a 19 year old, was camping out with others hoping to snag a pair of the Foams at $220.  I'd camp out to buy foams with that ridiculous resale value. Except Montre Bradley didn't get a nice pair of Foams to take home to his parents. They got a body bag instead. You see, Montre Bradley was shot and killed by others who wanted the shoes. Beyond poor Montre there are many others who have gotten into fights and been hospitalized over these Foamposites.

Most teens my age don't have a proper sense of priorities. I don't either, it's just a part of growing up; regardless at some point you have to realize that the only one looking at your $500 shoes and thinking "Wow those were worth it" is you. There are better things to splurge on and an ugly pair of Foams isn't worth a dime.

Science and God Complement, Rather Than Contradict

So yesterday I was bored out of my mind and ventured over to the wonderful writers on yahoo.com. (For those who don't know thats an example of the literary device known as sarcasm.)  My mouse soon clicked over a headline called "Will Science Someday Rule Our the Possibility of God?". For those interested the full article is available here. To summarize it briefly, the article discusses various leaps in science and how those leaps can further rule out the "need" for a God to answer what scientists cannot. My answer to the question posed in the title is flat out no.

If I created a coffee maker that grew its own beans, started the coffee whenever you woke up, added the right amount of cream and sugar depending on your mood, gave you a massage and a kiss to start your day, all without electricity or input form you I'd be considered a genius. Now, lets say scientists spent a good 25 years trying to analyze every aspect of my coffee maker and find out how every atom works. If they figure it out completely does that mean I no longer I exist? That just because the intricacies of my wonder can finally be explained I vanish and the coffee maker is just a by product of natural selection of previous coffee makers? Obviously not, but that is the point Ms. Natalie Wolchover is getting at.

She finishes off her introduction by asking "if science could really explain everything?". The answer to that question is no. People who truly understand the nature of this great universe and science in general know that with every discovery theres a thousand more things to learn about, new theories to test and many more to disprove. In essence, the more we learn, the more we realize we don't know.

Wolchover's first point is that scientists have pin pointed the Big Bang so thoroughly that they know what happened "10^-43 seconds" after the Big Bang until now. (For those unfamiliar with scientific notation 10^-43 is 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000001.) But also mentioned that the split second BEFORE that is still "murky" and cosmologists still haven't figured it out. She quotes a cosmologist from Cal Tech who says progress will eventually figure it out. And that an idea of a model that supports this theory is that the universe is like a big balloon that naturally deflates and inflates itself as time goes on. Even if this were true who put the universe here? Where did all the energy in the big bang come from? Basic physics states the matter and energy cannot be created, much less spontaneously appear from nothing. Its clear that there had to be an initial input at first, a creator, if you will.

She then mentions the point that "physical constants that define our universe" are so exact that modifying them "by a hair" essentially ruins the entire universe. But instead of saying that this is by design and God had a purpose in making the universe she argues the point of parallel universes; stating that there are endless universes in one complete multiverse, where every physical constant is represented, ones where electrons weigh a kilogram instead of 10^-31 grams. And thus, because all of them are represented we just got lucky by being in the perfect one. The problems with this are clear, where are all these multiverses and how in the grand scheme of things has not one been able to create a transportation method between all of them? And second even if this hail mary theory were true, it still requires a creator, a beginning. Universes don't just pop out of nowhere, life doesn't magically sprout from a lucky bacteria and turn into 1.7 million different species of animals. They are put here by design. There is a reason why no historical evidence exists of life spontaneously forming, because that isn't how it works and it never happened.

Science is breaking down and analyze the world around us. If belief in God meant no science then we would still be in our neanderthal days, playing with fire and finding berries for dinner. God created this world with a design, which why science works. Every electron is the same mass, gravity is equal throughout Earth, the Earth is the perfect distance from the sun to not burn or freeze us, the water cycle is a perfect way to replenish a finite water supply, there are simply too many phenomena to be explained by science. Laws of science simply state that things occur, they can't explain why my heart beats perfectly even when I'm not not awake, or how it happens to adjust to my needs when I'm exercising. "Oh but thats the sub-conscience of your brain!" Okay, care to explain how THAT works? How does my brain know what electrical impulses to send and when?

Any stat major will love to tell you how low the odds our of the right combinations of mutations to create a new living thing, which is yet another reason why it didn't happen like that.

Realizing that God explains what science cannot is key to understand the world around us. And Ms. Wolchover, whenever science does explain the entire universe it will confirm the existence of a deity, not disprove it.

Why A.P. Lit Sucks

Romeo and Juliet, Candide, Death of a Salesman, Hamlet. These are excellent literary works by respected authors throughout the history of the English language, how can I, a 16 year old high school scrub, even attempt to battle this army of literary generals?

I can't.

Literature is an important field of study, I mean I'm sure Bill Gate's hours of high school reading cliff notes or whatever existed back then to translate Shakespeare easily catapulted him into his success in the job market. While this probably isn't true there are people who go to college and pay their hard earned money to study something with no job potential other than teaching that subject, Art History, Philosophy and the like. I have the utmost respect for these people as they are spending their (or their parents') hard earned money to study something they enjoy and that is absolutely fine. What I personally don't like about A.P. Lit is the structure of the test and the reading material itself.

Literature is not a definite science. Teacher and students alike spend many a class period wondering what the man in the yellow hat symbolized. Or what the theme of a novel is. There are in these instances more than one right answer, not always but it is a strong possibility. And don't get me started on poetry. Forty five percent of your score on the AP Lit exam is multiple choice, where you analyze passages and poems to see if you can think the same way the test-maker does. While it isn't an every question epidemic its more common than not that a wrong answer has proper justification based on your analysis of the literary piece, but since you didn't think like the test-maker you got that question wrong. Aw, there goes your 5 on the test, poor you. This type of error shouldn't be on a test where the sole purpose is grasp your understand of the class material as, in those instances, selecting the wrong answer still demonstrates a proper mastery of literary devices and the ability to read closely and analyze.

The essays I have no problems with, as you have a chance to support your justification in answer to these prompts, and while the grading may not be perfect it is on the same par as that of your English class and not subjective enough to cause concern.

I hate serial killers. My feelings toward complex writing and poetry are much worse. Today in my AP Lit class we were taking a diagnostic test and I had just finished the multiple choice (and got a respectable score of 47% right) and had moved onto the essay questions. Number one was some poppy-cock about how an author gives insight to a character. I read the passage. I read it again. Then a third, fourth and fifth time and still didn't get it. I'm not stupid either...well not in terms of school work anyways. I read books by David Baldacci, James, Patterson, Dan Brown, Khaled Hosseini regularly and hell for what its worth I got a 5 on the A.P. Lang test while maintaining an A test average. The style these "classics" were written in is simply an anachronism in today's literary world. The diction is old and outdated but the meaning to be conveyed is not told or shown but left for the reader to infer after reading a seemingly unrelated passage. All I got from the passage was that Gabriel's (the character in the passage) wife is ugly as dog but was attractive before he married her. How I was supposed to write an essay on that I don't know.

Considering my AP Lit teacher hasn't even had the chance to teach us anything I'm sure I'll be better off once  I actually get some instruction but my distaste here is writing shouldn't be complex. I blame not Shakespeare for writing in a manner that requires sparknotes to have translation for every page, as that was probably considered normal in the 1500's, but for me to have to sit here and make sense of 500 year old work is ridiculous. The great authors to me have books that are simple to read yet have a subtle complexity that keeps from being boring writers. Vivid images, strong adjectives, intense plots and strong characters are keys to a good story. If the goal is to inform then the information should be easy to understand. Learning a new subject is difficult enough without having to sift through the carnage of metaphors to understand something.

A good piece of writing is one that a common man can read but a sophisticated and educated man can appreciate.

The same thing doesn't apply to poetry though as the objective there is indeed to convey a meaning with a subtlety through various poetic devices I have yet to learn. Poetry is a skill few can master and I respect it tremendously. Shakespeare wrote BOOKS in iambic pentameter. Hundreds of pages, thousands of words all in the same meter takes skill. But I strongly favor my brain's left hemisphere and simply have trouble understand the confusing style poems are written in, and then seeing what that represents. If I want to get meaning from something Ill find something that tells me without all the red-tape in between. I might not get it in such a "Aha!" way but in the end I have the meaning don't I? If poetry's your thing then by all means keep writing and keep reading but I prefer writing that makes me want to turn the page, not crumple it up and practice my jump shot with it

All in all I think I'm going to have a tough time as AP Lit is different in the sense that English 9 and English 10 both prepared me for AP Lang and now I sort of have to adapt of a different style of writing, different from the past 3 years of English classes so this learning curve combined with all these college applications this should be an exciting senior year. As always thanks for reading!

How Cars Work

I've been working on cars for almost a year now and I've learned a ton along the way. Cars aren't as complicated as most people (and mechanics) make them out to be. In this article I will attempt to break down the vital systems of the car and explain their functions.

1. Engine

The V shape is formed from the bottom
of the engine to the red covers

Everyone knows an engine powers a car. You can have a four cylinder a V8 or, if you have 1.2 million dollars, a W16. Lets start by seeing what these numbers and letters mean. If there isn't a letter before the number of cylinders (4 cylinder or straight six cylinder) it means that the engine is one big rectangle with all the cylinders next to each other. If there is a letter, the letter is the shape of the engine. A V8 engine has a V shape to it, hence V8. Same for the W16 in the Bugatti Veyron, W16, therefore, a W shaped engine. So how does it work? I won't go into specifics of the 4 stroke engine cycle but I'll make it so the average joe can understand what I mean. Each cylinder has: 1 or multiple intake valves, 1 fuel injector, 1 or more exhaust valves, 1 piston and 1 spark plug. The engine works by combining air from the intake valves and fuel from the fuel injector in the cylinder and then igniting the mixture with a spark from the spark plug. This results in a highly exothermic reaction which forces the piston downwards and turns the crankshaft. Then the exhaust valves open to release the by-products of combustion and the cycle repeats. A crankshaft is basically a hunk of metal at the bottom on the engine that is attached to the bottom of all the pistons which converts the up and down motion of the pistons to circular motion (the kind the wheels make when you drive). The combined force of all the pistons working in a perfectly timed fashion provides a tremendous amount of power that enables you to move with speed. Here is video with animation of how an engine works in more detail. It also explains the 4 stroke engine cycle quite well.

2. Transmission

Despite the fact the crankshaft turns in a circular motion the engine doesn't send its raw power to the wheels, it sends it to the transmission to manage it more effectively. There are two main types of transmissions. Automatics and manuals. I will discuss automatics as manuals work the same way except the driver manually changes the gears instead of a computer doing so. The spinning crankshaft is attached to what is a really big gear called a flex plate (flywheel on manual transmissions) pictured on the right. This gear is attached to the transmission which adjusts the gear ratios of the engine to the gear of the transmission. It then sends the power from the transmission gear to the axle which in turn moves the wheels. First gear has a high gear ratio to allow the driver to accelerate from a stop. It tends to be around a 3 to 1 ratio, meaning that for every 3 turns of the engine 1st gear moves one turn. It works the same way as a bike, when you gear down going up a hill pedaling is easier but you don't move as fast. That's because of the high gear ratio on your bike's first gear. The gear ratios slowly get lower and lower to around 0.7 to 1. So for every 7 tenths of a turn of the engine the wheels move one full turn, this allows cars to go at high speeds of around 70 miles an hour without wasting a lot of gas and revving the engine too high. Gearing up on your bike makes pedaling tougher but allows you to go faster and the same concept is applied when a car is in a high gear. So how does the car shift gears? The cars on-board computer detects the engine's speed along with the position of the throttle (how hard you're stepping on the gas) and based on that either allows the car to stay in gear for more acceleration or gears up to get a high speed without quick acceleration (to save gas).

3. Battery and Electrical Stuff

Alternator

Your car has a battery but how come it never runs out like your phone battery does? How come you never have to charge it? Whats the battery for? The battery powers all electrical components of the car, cabin lights, headlights, taillights, dashboard lights, radio, clock, the fan (NOT the a/c but just the fan) and the starter. The starter is a simple motor attached to the battery and the flex plate we discussed earlier. When you turn the key the starter physically turns the engine over a few times while the spark plugs and fuel injector fires fuel into the engine to get the whole cycle going, once that starts you let go of the key and your car is on. Now how does the battery stay charged? Remember our lovely crankshaft? One end was bolted to the flex plate but what about the other end? The other end is attached to a pulley which has a belt on it which turns accessories. One of this accessories is called an alternator. If you remember how a motor works from physics class an alternator is simply a reverse motor, you spin the coils of wire around the magnetic to generate electricity instead of vice-versa. The belt on the crankshaft is attached to a pulley on the alternator and when the car is on and the crankshaft is spinning the alternator is also spinning, generating electricity for the battery and keeping it fresh for the next time you want to start your car.

Shock and spring assembly

4. Suspension 
How come some cars can hit a pothole and feel nothing but others bounce up and down miles after the pothole was hit? There are three main parts of your suspension: shocks, springs and joints. Shocks are cylindrical with gas in them and and a rod that the spring sits over. This combination is behind each wheel of the car and is bolted to the frame. Basically when the road surface isn't smooth the spring expands or compresses depending on the type of deformity you hit; if its a bump it compresses if its a pothole it expands. In physics we learn that when springs are stretched, compressed and released the spring oscillates back and forth until it runs out of energy. (Simple harmonic motion at work!) This is where the shock comes into play, the shock expands/compresses with the spring but the gas and the rod work to stop the back and forth movement of the spring when the spring returns to its original position, this keeps your car from bouncing every time you hit a bump. A good test to see if your shocks are good is by going to each corner/wheel of your car and pushing down hard on the body so the car goes down and watch it come up. If it comes up once and stops your shocks are good, if it bounces a  bit, the shocks are wearing out, and if they bounce like a monkey on a pogo stick then you need new shocks. Then come the joints. Joints hold various suspension parts together while allowing them to move when needed. When the bearings inside the joints wear out the joints move when they're not supposed to, this is known as play. Bad joints can be deadly as they can break and separate car from the wheel resulting in a nasty accident. A good way to check for play is to jack up the car, inspect the wheel and shake it by hand. If it moves and wiggles, you have some bad joints. Also a car shaking at highway speeds could also be indicative of bad joints.

There are plenty of joints to worry about in a
suspension system

5. Cooling System

Burning all that fuel in the engine causes a lot of heat and as such the engine must be properly cooled. The 4 parts of the cooling system are the coolant, heater core, water pump and radiator. Inside the engine there are passages for coolant to travel through and holes for them enter and exit out of. Coolant is nothing more than enhanced water. Ethylene glycol is added to water to increase the boiling point and lower the freezing point of the water. The cooling system works by taking heat from the engine, transferring it through the coolant, and running it through the radiator to dissipate the heat with fans and the aluminum fins of the radiator. The cooled coolant goes back into the engine and the cycle repeats. The water-pump is driven by the timing belt and simply pumps coolant through the system. The heater core is another stop along the engine - radiator trail and is another mini radiator that draws heat from the coolant and allow the heat to be blown into the cabin. This is how the heater in your car works. Cooling systems are easy to maintain but failures can catastrophic to the engine so its maintenance is vital.

Large racing rotor with a 4 piston caliper,
overkill for most drivers but looks cool

6. Brakes

This is the last topic I'll cover for today. Stopping a car is just as important as making it move. Brakes are actually really simple devices. The parts of a brake system are the brake fluid, hydraulic hoses, calipers, rotors, and pads. The rotor is a shiny disk the is attached right behind the wheel. It is the part the brakes push on to create friction to stop the car. The caliper sits on the rotor as shown in the image and its bolted on by a bracket and houses the two brake pads (friction material to rub against the rotor), one for each side of the rotor, and has 1 or multiple pistons. When you push on the brake pedal you are pushing a large diameter piston which forces brake fluid through the hoses and into the smaller diameter end of the piston. This difference between diameters multiples the force tremendously and allows the small force of your foot on the pedal to translate to a large force of the brake piston(s) pushing the pads against the rotor until the car stops. During races this can cause a tremendous amount of heat and make the rotors look really cool. And being the awesome blogger I am I shall upload a picture for you guys to see it. Enjoy!

That is an actual rotor doing some hard core
braking. 

So I hope you guys enjoyed or at least learned something you didn't know before. A car is a lovely example of the wonders of applied physics and chemistry, and the fact prototypes were made in the late 1800's is astonishing as well. Or maybe it isn't and I'm just either a nerd, either way I love it. As always thanks for reading and if you have any car questions feel free to drop a comment! 

P.S. My next article will be in two days following the Redskins - Bears preseason match up.   

If I didn't Get Into College

In most households in America the recipe for success is quite simple and formulaic: high school followed by college followed by a decent paying job. Maybe a little big of grad school to spice things up. But what if there were no college? What if every college sent me that dreaded "thin envelope" that starts off with "We regret to inform you..."? Being an Indian student with less than a 4.0 gpa this is a real possibility. As Murphy's law states: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong", therefore I need to prepare for the worst. Here is what I would do.

1. Save up some money

I work weekends making $250 a month along with my cell phone bill getting paid. So for starters I would keep this job and save up all the money I could while continuing to mooch off my parents (a very acceptable custom in India until one gets married....so in my case I'll never have to work a day again!). Using this money I would invest in cars, old and cheap junkers that need a ton of work. And as my weekdays are free I'd fix these cars up and resell them for a decent profit. I am mechanically inclined so in addition to this I would also  offer to fix cars for a lower price than any shop around. After all if you let a 16 year old fix your car why pay him like a 35 year old? With a little bit of street cred and low prices I could attract a decent clientele. I would continue this cycle until I saved up a good amount of money.

2. Start a business

Image from: cartoonstock.com

Everyone has some type of skill they have that an employer wants. Despite this many employers refuse to hire potential employees due to the lack of a diploma. In this case I would decide to cut out the middle man and offer my services directly to clients by starting my own automotive repair shop. A little bit of research shows that a 3 car garage can be rented for between three to four thousand a month. Let's take the higher number to play it safe. Four grand a month just to rent for an empty space with 3 hydraulic lifts and a tiny office. So that's four grand a month. Next would be to stock up each bay (each individual garage with a lift) with tools. Each bay would need an air compressor and a good set of air tools such as a cut off wheel, impact wrench, ratchet, rivet driver, air hammer all that good stuff. So here's a list for all the tools from harborfreight.com and their cost.

1. 29 Gallon 150 PSI Air Compressor: $350
2. 50 Ft. air hose: $90
3. 3/8ths Air Ratchet: $19
4. 1/2 Impact Wrench: $27
5. Air Impact Screwdriver: $20
6. Air Hammer: $15
7. Air Cut Off Wheel: $10
8. Air Riveter: $35
9. Metric Impact Socket Set: $11
10. SAE Impact Socket Set: $11
11. Metric Deep Impact Socket Set: $22
12. SAE Deep Impact Socket Set: $22
13. Total: $632

That about covers the air tools which make life a thousand times easier for mechanics. Next up are the hand tools. You simply cannot survive without a good set of hand tools. Lets run down the list shall we?

1. 301 Piece Mechanics Tool Set: $190. (Includes every SAE and Metric sizes imaginable. A good variety of Allen heads / hex keys. A breaker bar, 3 ratchets and good set of open ended wrenches in both SAE and metric. A decent assortment of screwdrivers and pliers and some socket extensions and adapters.) 
2. 14 Piece Metric and SAE Ratcheting Box End Wrenches: $54
3. 5 Piece Hammer Set: $16
4. 4 Piece Pry Bar Set: $10
5. Total: $270

That about covers the hand-tools. There might be some I'm missing but we'll cover that later. So these tools will need to be in every bay so I'll add up the totals and multiply by three. That comes out to $2706 if my math is right. Next we'll add in about $500 for specialty tools for specific jobs such as a ball joint press or an inner tie rod tool. That brings the total to  $3206. Now let's add the various bolt in shop tools. This is where the money adds up. 

1.     11 Drawer Tool Cabinet. $200 (Times 3 for each bay) 

2.     Workbench with lighting: $100

3.     4' Swivel Vise: $45

4.     6' Bench Grinder: $45

5.     20 Ton Shop Press: $200

6.     5 Speed Drill Press: $70

7.     Tire Changer: $40

8.     2.5 Ton Floor Jack: $80

9.     2 Sets of 3 Ton Jack Stands: $50

10. Engine Hoist with Leveler: $258

11. 800lb Transmission Jack: $140

12. 20 Gallon Parts Washer: $100

13. Total: $1728

And finally we have all the tools to surround our shop.  Total comes out to $4934. Lets add in disposable gloves, shop towels and hand cleaner and round it off to an even $5000. So at $9000 we have our first month's expenses. Lets add in a $1000 for electricity and water and $1000 to set up the office with a decent computer, a desk, chairs, file cabinet and bunch of files for customer records. Now let's see how much we can make with this 11 grand investment. I'll hire 3 ASE Mechanics to work in each bay and pay them $25 per hour they work. I realize that business might be slow for a while so I'll have to pay expenses with a loan and the capital I have accumulated. After a bit of advertising let's say they work half the day each day. While this is a rather low estimate it's a good idea for what happens if business is slow. So four hours a day times 3 mechanics equals 12 worked and billable hours per day. I charge $60 an hour to the customer for labor and they handle the cost of the parts. That makes a gross income of $21600 a month. Minus $5000 for utilities and $1890 for Maryland business tax we arrive at $14710. Then subtract $9000 for the total salary of all three mechanics and we have $5710 left over for me to take home. Not bad considering all I do is background office work. Keeping track of customers, ordering parts, handling tax forms, basic managerial task. All of which do not require a full 8 hour day allowing me to work at $60 an hour when there are an excess of customers. Subtract income tax and that leaves me with a good $5000 a month working 4-5 hour days. Not bad for a guy that got rejected from Harvard right? 

Image from: webmoneymaker.net

3. Expand The Business  

Now that I'm making a decent monthly salary and know the workings of running a business through my own trial and error (personally my favorite way to learn albeit I have many trials and tons more errors) I can now expand my business. I already know the costs of starting up another shop so I'll look for a garage in an area that won't take away business from my current store and open up a second shop. If my expenses stay the same and I manage both garages from one office I make around $10000 a month. Working basic 8 hour days. Or I could hire a separate manager for the second shop and make a net of maybe $1500. But at that point my pay is 6500 per month still working these half days. An above average salary with minimal work and no college degree, and no college debt for that matter, is a situation most wouldn't hesitate to be in.

So what have we learned here? College isn't everything. While most of us, myself included, do plan on going to college we shouldn't go with the hopes of just landing a job. The objective should to be put our parents hard earned money into learning something we can not only make a living out of but one that we enjoy learning and doing. After all who would you rather be? A tight business executive working wall street doing a job he hates making 150k a year or a nurse making 65k a year doing a job that makes him happy? Money can't buy happiness but happiness can buy money.......Okay that was a load of bull but the point is money shouldn't be your primary objective, doing what you enjoy should be your number one goal. Agree? Disagree? Post in the comments! And as always thanks for reading!