Simple Musings

I took an Uber ride today, where the driver took a wrong turn and gave me some twenty extra minutes to go into a historical wormhole It goes somewhat like this The concept of Uber became possible because of Google Maps. Google Maps works because of GPS The GPS that powers Google maps, became available for us civilians, because Ronald Reagan opened it up after the Soviets shot down an off-course Korean Air flight 1983, killing 269 people. But GPS as a concept traces its origins to John Hopkins institute where two bored researchers built something to track the Sputnik satellite. While doing that, they accidentally stumbled onto the concept that evolved into what we call, the GPS. And the Sputnik that they were tracking in Space? Well, it was able to go into Space because of the efforts of many Nazi German Rocket Engineers, who were kidnapped by the Soviets, post Nazi German defeat in WW2. They were the ones who built the rockets which launched the Sputnik into orbit. And how did the Nazis know so much about rockets? That happened because Nazis and Hitler went all in on rocket technology, when they realized that they couldn't win WW2 conventionally and they needed some extraordinary weapons to win the war. But why did they go to war in the first place? Because the Nazis and Hitler, wanted to avenge their humiliation in WW1. And Why did WW1 Start? It started because a Serb decided to assassinate the Crown Prince of Austria, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which precipitated the entire conflict. Hope you realize, how so many things had to come together, so that in 2026, we can hail a cab to our doorstep thru a mobile phone.

To Muslims moving to Japan: Japan is not an Islamic country. 🐷Pork is normal. 🍺Alcohol is normal. 🔥Cremation is normal. ⛩️Shrines, temples, Buddhist statues, and Shinto traditions are everywhere. Japan has a deeply polytheistic culture, often described as having “eight million gods.” Men and women work together. Marriage is monogamous. LGBT acceptance is growing. In other words, many normal parts of Japanese life may be considered haram under Islamic rules. But Japan is not the one that needs to change. You are free to practice your religion. But Japan is also free to remain Japan. When you move to another country, you respect its culture. You do not demand that country become yours.