Ishraq Fataftah

A must listen to speeches.

Revisado: 04-16-16

If you could sum up Malcolm X: The Last Speeches in three words, what would they be?

Motivating, Inspiring and hopeful.

What does Malcolm X bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice and the way he speaks is extremely motivating and makes you enthusiastic and feel hope.

Any additional comments?

Dear brother Malcolm,

I'm known for writing to the dead so don't panic, as they say, always trust the dead as they will never change their minds! You see, I've been listening to your speeches before I sleep, and the excitement and thriller from listening to these prevented me from sleeping, thank you O_o, and actually listening to you with this enthusiasm has just brought lots of thoughts and memories to what is happening to the black community yet again in the US.

Lets catch up a little, I went to Harlem last year, had dinner in a fancy Swedish restaurant in central Harlem and listened to a Jazz band all night long. It was really nice, surrounded with people from all colors, enjoying a late night breeze in your neighborhood, it didn't bring back any memories of you! people are not the same anymore and despite that I could see the old poor buildings surrounding the place, yet it just felt that these building are the ones out of place not us!

Years had passed by and I don't think much have changed my brother, in Ferguson Missouri 2014, they - and I mean the police - killed young Michael Brown - yup a teenage black fella - claiming that he resisted his arrest and was shot 12 times! 12 times bro! and boom, riots have erupted all over the place. Later on, Black Lives Matter, a social movement calling for freedom and justice for all black lives has born to fight all kinds of racism and misconduct against black people specially at the police force.

"Hands up, don't shoot" was the motto used, I was blessed to attend a session on this movement last year at Philadelphia university, and to tell you this, same discrimination and false accusation and racism is still performed on us Muslims as well. You see, when the riots in Ferguson erupted and the police fired eye-tearing gas, people of Gaza and Palestine tweeted to the young people how to fight and protect themselves against these tears :) same mentality bro, they kill you first then they question your body!

I used to hang out with some friends at the "Broadway district" after class. It is full of young blacks (I don't like to say black or people of color and so forth, we all are the same but I'm using this just to demonstrate how racism is rooted in the American culture). I guess there were certain neighborhoods that were very poor looking but I was walking with no fear, didn't hear a single word from these guys. However, an old white guy walking in this neighborhood once he saw me, he called me "F**King Muslim"! I laughed! and they wonder why people of different race and color do not feel safe around them, not the other way around actually! even at the airport, I was subjected to extra checking procedures just for wearing a hijab, and my other Arab companions passed smoothly!

Nevertheless bro, your words are still echoing, "I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against." and "I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don't believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn't want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn't know how to return the treatment."! Amen to that my brother, May your soul rest in peace Shaikh Malek, the real Shaikh of Harlem!

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An important Topic to address

Revisado: 04-13-16

Any additional comments?

This was one of the controversial books that I read/listened recently. For starter, the topic is really important where public shaming, online trolling and cyberbullying became very ingrained in today's internet culture.

Through different stories of online shamed people, Jon Ronson brought back to the surface shame, despair, remorse and crushed lives of those who have been publicly shamed over twitter tweets and how their lives went through a twist (to the worse/indifference).

Now, what was the message delivered through this book? was it raising awareness towards this phenomenon and how it affects people's lives? Was it shaming these people again by digging the dirt and bringing these stories back to the first pages of Google search? was it yet a paid job to disgrace the disgraced? was it an alarm ringing in your head to be careful (self-censor) your activities online or have some moralities when you respond to un-sense/stupid/petty tweets that are only calling for attention/drama? you see, it's your call to pick and choose any of the above messages, however, it is a phenomenon worth studying and commenting on.

Whether it is on twitter or any social media platform, trolling and cyberbullying are dangerous activities that must be condemned and fought. Yes, the internet is a free space, we do fight for freedom of expression, free and open internet and even for net-neutrality, however, when people's fates and lives are at stake, you should think twice before you hit the reply button. I have noticed this a lot here at Goodreads when reviewers review books. I have stopped reading many of my friends' reviews to books they disliked as those were a pure attack on writers without any respect or sense of responsibility. Crushing anyone's dreams are made easy and possible more than ever!

There is a big difference between criticism and critique, criticism is intended to express disapproval of someone's mistakes where critique is an assessment of something and that's what we are looking for. Everyone makes mistakes but we are turning into creatures incapable of forgiving or letting go. Racism and expressing arrogance and superiority based on race/gender/religion/beliefs are not acceptable. However, behaviors and actions are what should be shamed not people. Yes trolling and bullying is never a shining rainbow, however, you should not let go your morals and ethics as a response or reaction to some tweet.

The book has a bit of excessed profanity and cursing. Yes, Jon Ronson wanted to share stories and conversations as is, however, listening to this continuous cursing and profanity distracted me a lot and I ended up skipping some stories that have no impact on the morale of these stories.

Also, Ronson played on the borders between empathy and sympathy, morality and the right to respond, jumping between the extreme right and left that left me with unease during/after reading this book. Repeating certain stories and trying to deliver some messages was something I didn't like (being influenced by some of his own views regarding certain people), however, it was an effort that worth noting and reflecting on.

"The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings" says Albert Schweitzer. One day, if we didn't fight this, you will be the subject of public shaming and be portrayed as a MEME on the internet!

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Sir Alex: Impressive as usual

Revisado: 04-10-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If high standards, accomplishment and excellence are your goals, Sir Alex then is the man to give you the tips out of his 26 years experience leading Manchester United from one victory to another. He actually validated lots of practices I do myself, I have some developers joining my team because they heard of high standards and excellence I look for. However, he also have been firm giving advises that I myself hesitated to take in order to not loose the structure of the team I have spent time building and investing in.

On the contrary, he challenged norms and didn't hesitate to fire a high profile player when he felt that they are compromising the morale of the team (something I have been struggling with for some time just because I didn't have the support I needed!).

Moreover, he didn't fear to take risks, he believed in his team as he himself believed that he and his team worked hard to reach where they have reached now (not remarking to our loss to Tottenham just tonight!).

Also, he invested in the least expected to have value from (the youth) and that turned to be a game (life) changer practice shaping the way modern clubs are. His focus was not building a team but rather "I thought of only one thing: building a football club". And that's how things should work, you do not build small successful teams in your company but rather a company that is successful.

As always, THANK YOU SIR ALEX.

A long-living Red Devils Fan.

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Great narrative and story

Revisado: 03-29-16

Loved the accent and the way it was narrated. Interesting story snippets and memories selected.

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Good hanging out inside House's head!

Revisado: 03-26-16

Any additional comments?

House M.D is one of my favorite shows that I've never felt bored watching it over and over again. The main theme of having a "hero" or a main character that is not perfect/mental/truthful and in fact an addicted Dr. on pain killers that walks using a cane and not afraid to be different or deviate from the main stream is very compelling!

This is my first experience with Audio books, I got it from audible.com and I was hesitant before joining it as I'm a booknerd that "paper_book_everything!" kinda mentality. I'm not new to listening or watching audio/video lectures, however, what I'm used to is that kind of interactive or storytelling approach that makes me interact with it on different mental levels. While audio books narrative is based on a single-theme or one-level monotone, it was a bit hard to relate at the beginning and accept until I was way through the book. Also, I found myself focusing on the content the most whenever I listened to it before sleeping where I'm not multi-tasking anymore!

Back to the book! It contains around 17 essays that was written from different researchers trying to analyze the psychological aspects of this series. It varied from very well-written and interesting articles to OK ones that discussed the ABC of psychology, addiction, manners, arrogance, brilliance, mockery, humor and how a single character/person demolish your pre-judgmental image of professionals who works under pressure or being scrutinized on a daily basis.

The interesting part from this whole book is that this is a light read that helps non-specialized interested people in psychology to read and relate to examples from their favorite TV shows. From House to Wilson to Cuddy to Chase and Cameron and Forman, it is very easy to relate to these topics while remembering events and scenes from the show.

The editors advised us at the very first page, "Take caution: you're about to enter the extraordinary mental universe of the brilliant, bombastic, bile-belching doctor of medicine referred to simply as House. How's that for a hook? No good? Okay, scratch that."

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