Hasta La Gadget!

Get ready for a lot more texts about nothing.

The group behind the Seinfeld2000 Twitter and Instagram accounts, which explore what it would be like if “Seinfeld” had never been cancelled, is creating a new set of emojis inspired by the show, according to Uproxx. The 42 emojis include memorable characters, images from classic episodes and, yada yada yada, they’re probably the best thing ever.

The emojis are supposedly “coming soon,” which we can only hope means “five … 10 minutes” because these are gold, Jerry. Gold!

[h/t Uproxx]

Imam Khalid Latif is blogging his reflections during the month of Ramadan for the fourth year in a row, featured daily on HuffPost Religion. For a complete record of his previous posts, visit his author page, and to follow along with the rest of his reflections, sign up for an author email alert above, visit his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

My friend Shyema Azam reached out to me late last night after having a real tough experience at a local NYC masjid. I am a firm believer in the power of personal narrative and story-telling and rather than hearing her story and offering my insight, I felt it was important for us to hear her own words about her experiences as a Muslim woman trying to connect with her Creator and the frustrating obstacles that were keeping her from doing so. I am not a woman. As a community leader and as a man, I have much to learn from the experience of women from women themselves. I would encourage everyone to put aside assumptions and try as best as you can to read through Shyema’s story objectively and with a sense of compassion and empathy that validates and acknowledges her experience. If you catch yourself being anything other than that, then take a moment to really reflect on the person you are and if that’s really the person you want to be. There doesn’t always have to be judgment attached – sometimes its just about listening.

Says Shyema:

“It was already a long day. The night before I only got a few hours of sleep. Most nights in Ramadan end up that way for many Muslims because of the short period between our nightly prayers and waking up to eat before dawn. Whereas my fasts were going by with surprising ease the days before, yesterday I found myself terribly sluggish and fighting an unusually pronounced headache, while simultaneously hoping my colleagues at work would ignore the loud conversations my stomach was having with itself. The humidity didn’t help on the way back home, and if matters couldn’t have gotten worse, the subway got stuck right before my stop. With the crowd and heat, I was almost certain I would pass out (I didn’t). When I finally made it out, I rushed home to cook for my roommates and finished just in time for prayer. After we broke fast together, I promptly passed out on the couch. Not even an hour later at 10pm, my roommate, Shazia, woke me up to go for the nightly prayer. I contemplated skipping out and just praying at our apartment, considering how little energy I had, but I also didn’t want her to go alone. I forced myself up and got ready while my other roommate, Amina, made me a cup of coffee to go. This is what Ramadan is all about, I thought. It’s about denying the self, sharing these moments in worship with the community, and strengthening your personal bond with your Lord. The fatigue swiftly turned into excitement as we made our way to the mosque.

Unfortunately, that feeling quickly faded.

As soon as we began heading upstairs where we had normally prayed in the past, a man called after us, redirecting us back to pray in a dark corner on the first floor instead. We followed his gestures towards the area and quickly realized it had no air conditioning. We finished our first prayer and found ourselves wiping away beads of sweat from the extreme humidity and heat.

“Let’s go to the third floor,” Shazia suggested. “It’s empty and has air conditioning.” The other two ladies sitting with us overheard and told us that women were actually told to pray in the basement next to the bathroom. However, because of the recent unbearable heat, they were given the current space on the first floor, which was just barely more tolerable. Shazia was determined though, and to her credit, it was really hard to focus with drops of perspiration rolling down our backs. We attempted to make our way back up and this time, another gentleman in a white thobe shot up, wagging his finger. “No! Women are not allowed up there,” he said in an all too condescending tone that made everyone around look our way. Shazia tried to explain to him that it was too hot where we were…and then came the cherry on top: “Sisters, your place is here,” he said pointing to the first floor oven, “or the basement–not anywhere else.” And just like that, he killed my Ramadan spirit.

We returned to our spot, feeling equal parts humiliated and defeated. Whereas I began on a spiritual high, I quickly lost my focus after that. Instead of concentrating on the beautiful recitation, it made me think: Why are there still mosques where there are incidents of women feeling so unwelcomed? Why does it feel like at some point or another, we’re fighting for space? And why is this still an issue? Imam Khalid wrote about this same concern two years ago and it made me wonder if we’re really minding masjid etiquette the way it was practiced in the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

In one hadith, Imam Bukhari wrote that the Prophet (pbuh) said: Do not forbid the mosques of Allah to the women of Allah.” And from the hadith of `Aisha in al- Muwatta’, it’s said that the women would pray Fajr [the dawn prayer] with the Prophet. The men and women at the time were not separated completely in the mosque. The women prayed in rows behind the men.

But my point isn’t to prove that we belong there (at least, I hope I don’t have to). In this case it’s not just about space, but the manner in which we interact in God’s house.

When I threw out the question to my girl friends if they ever had a moment where they felt uncomfortable in a mosque, the resounding answer is always yes–whether it’s a man wagging his finger, or a woman they’ve never met sharing her thoughts about their clothing. This, by the way, also happened to me in a previous Ramadan when a woman interrupted my prayer to tell me it’s not going to count because I was wearing pants (this notion isn’t true, but it seemed like that woman was talking from a cultural standpoint). “I’m just here to pray,” I quietly responded, and never went back to that mosque again. It’s episodes like these that make me wonder how different our experiences are from men, and generally, why some people feel it’s OK to treat each with such insensitivity, especially in a place and a month that should be utilized for heightened spiritual awareness. Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying, “Fasting will bring spiritual rebirth to those of you who cleanse and purify your bodies. The light of the world will illuminate within you when you fast and purify yourself.” If we’re fasting during the day to cleanse our spirit, but otherwise treat each other with disregard, what is the worth of our hunger?

I’m not trying to make a blanket statement about every mosque – I’ve been to plenty where the women enjoy way more benefits and space. When I go to the Islamic Center at NYU, I’ve always feel welcomed especially being that I live in a city almost 800 miles away from my home in Chicago. The community feels like family to me. But it’s alarming that I personally only found one mosque in all my years here where I truly feel at ease.

We need to keep in mind that we don’t always know what brings someone to a place of worship. It could be a place one frequents or it could be that he or she is searching for something, within themselves or otherwise, and the way we interact with each other could make or break this experience. While we can’t control the actions of others, we can at least be mindful of how we conduct ourselves. Even something as little as a smile may make all the difference in someone feeling comfortable enough to come back. Treating each other with respect and compassion are cornerstones of our faith. In one hadith, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “Keep to gentleness and avoid harshness and coarseness. Gentleness is not found in anything without adorning it, and is not withdrawn from anything without shaming it.”

In the Qur’an, it also says, “And the mosques are for Allah (Alone), so invoke not anyone along with Allah. “(72:18). These places are considered the house of God and a trust to us. Let’s honor them and be more mindful of making it feel more inviting for all.

Back at the mosque, praying in our shadowy corner, I tried to subdue my thoughts. As if on cue–and I’m not making this up for cinematic effect–a cool breeze began making its way to us from the window, relieving our discomfort and staying with us for the rest of our prayers. It sounds crazy, but I felt like we were being taken care of at that moment. It was just what I needed to slip back into focus, and let myself once again get immersed in the beauty of the recitation. I thought again, this right here really is what Ramadan is all about. At least all was not lost this time.

BEIJING (AP) — China and the United States took small steps toward their shared goal of fighting climate change on Wednesday, but the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon emitters remain significantly apart over a wider global plan to cut emissions.

China’s chief climate official Xie Zhenhua said China should not be subject to the same rules for greenhouse gas emissions as the United States and other rich countries, signaling that Beijing will oppose any attempt to impose them at next year’s world climate conference. “We are in different development stages, we have different historical responsibilities and we have different capacities,” Xie told reporters.

The U.S. special envoy Todd Stern said Washington favors every country deciding what it is capable of doing, instead of being categorized either as a developed country or a developing country in deciding how much a country should contribute to reduce climate change.

Asked how receptive the Chinese were to this idea, Stern said: “It’s one of those conversations that just goes on and on, doesn’t stop.”

For years, the United States and China have been at odds over how much each country should contribute to reducing climate change. China insists as a developing country it shouldn’t be held to the same stringent emissions caps as the rich world. The U.S. says that means failing to sufficiently address the problem given that China has significantly surpassed the U.S. as the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the heat-trapping gas that is a byproduct of burning coal, oil and gas.

Climate change activists complain that both countries have failed to take adequate steps to curb emissions. President Barack Obama recently announced a plan to cut by 30 percent greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, but set a deadline of 2030, by which time researchers say the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will already have caused drastic changes to the planet.

Xie and Stern made their remarks as Chinese and American officials — led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew — are meeting in Beijing for annual strategic and economic talks that aim to forge a more cooperative relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

The difference on the global plan aside, the two countries announced Wednesday eight joint projects aimed at capturing and storing carbon, and setting up more efficient energy grids.

They also agreed to stronger fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks and to study gas use in industrial boilers.

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AP writer Bradley Klapper contributed to this report.

A recent breakthrough study done at the University of Southern California (USC) found fasting for just three days could reboot your entire immune system.

Add that to the numerous potential benefits of intermittent fasting (IF), a wildly popular alternating eat-and-feast plan that varies wildly according to practitioner.

“Basically, it’s a technique that incorporates a weekly fast into your routine,” says Yuri Elkaim. “This method is great because it allows you to reap the benefits of fasting without leaving you feeling weak or deprived.”

A simple online search will yield numerous bloggers emphatically singing intermittent fasting’s praises for fat loss, increased stamina and vigor, improved focus at the gym and at work, breaking plateaus and, with this latest study, immune health.

Many studies do indeed show benefits. One in the Nutrition Journal concluded IF combined with calorie restriction and liquid meals helped obese women lose more fat and improve their cardiovascular disease risk.

Yet not all studies have concluded so convincingly. One in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found for women, alternate-day fasting could actually lower glucose tolerance and potentially crash your metabolism.

Women in another study published in that same journal experienced some benefits when they ate just one meal a day, yet they also had significantly increased hunger, blood pressure, and total, LDL-, and HDL-cholesterol concentrations.

Those and other problems coupled with some of my own clients gaining weight doing alternate-day fasting led me to conclude that, far from being a panacea, IF could potentially create these five detrimental consequences.

You can create or exacerbate eating disorders.

People rarely discuss this, but at its most extreme, intermittent fasting’s binge-and-purge mentality could trigger or exacerbate bulimia and other eating disorders. The “anything goes” mentality some experts permit during the feeding state could lead someone to overeat, creating guilt, shame, and other problems that only become worse over time. For someone with emotional or psychological eating disorders, IF could become a convenient crutch to amplify these issues.

You might chronically elevate cortisol levels.

“Skipping meals ramps up your stress hormone cortisol, which I consider a dark lord of metabolism,” Sara Gottfried, M.D., author of The Hormone Cure, told me. “From an evolutionary perspective, that short-term elevation was a win because it got the body to release fat as energy. Women seem particularly vulnerable to the dangers of intermittent fasting, which can keep cortisol elevated when it should be tapering down and create the an undesired effect of storing fat and breaking down muscle. Have you been around intermittent fasters? Not fun to be around!”

You can create an unhealthy obsession with food.

You’ve been fasting all morning, your coworker opens her broccoli chicken Chinese takeout at lunch, and suddenly all you can think about is what you’ll eat to break your fast at dinner.

Hunger proves a powerful evolutionary mechanism that kept us alive back in the day. With our modern ubiquitous bodegas and snack machines, hunger isn’t normally a problem and we rarely confront it. The problem is, when you’re starving everything else takes a backseat to eating.

With IF, that could become an obsession with mentally planning your next meal. Everything becomes about food.

You might over-rely on coffee.

Most IF plans allow caffeine, a stimulant that can keep you going for hours when you’re not eating. When you’re fasting, you might find yourself gravitating to coffee shops more often to get your fix that keeps you going without food. Especially for slow metabolizers, that third cup of dark roast could cut into your sleep cycle. “It is a vicious cycle, as caffeine can disrupt sleep and promote anxiety and depression,” writes Mark Hyman, M.D.

Coffee also amps up your stress hormone cortisol. “Cortisol’s main job is to raise glucose levels,” writes Gottfried in The Hormone Cure. “Even small increases in cortisol, such as those experienced when drinking caffeine, can raise blood sugar and increase insulin resistance.”

You could increase food intolerances and inflammation.

Fasting leaves you famished, creating a free-for-all dive into deep-dish pizza and a hot-fudge sundae when you actually eat. Never mind that a major caloric overload and blood sugar spike and crash that ultimately lead to more cravings. Your “break the fast” meal will likely contain gluten, dairy, and other potential reactive foods — perhaps in massive amounts — that contribute to leaky gut, paving the way for food intolerances, Candida and other gut issues, and increased inflammation.

One study in the journal Immunology found eating gluten increased inflammation in mice and increased their risk for Type 1 diabetes. (The gluten-free diet showed anti-inflammatory here.) “Inflammation is one of the biggest drivers of weight gain and disease in America,” says Hyman.

If you’ve ever attempted intermittent fasting, have you encountered any of these or other roadblocks? Do you think IF makes an optimal strategy for fast, lasting fat loss? Share your thoughts below.

Additional References

Sara Gottfried, The Hormone Cure (New York: Scribner, 2013).

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