Thomas Friedman, in his recent New York Times Op-ed entitled, “Jihad” [1] states that Muslims lack the moral courage to condemn the murderous outrages of “Jihadi” extremists. Part of the reason for this moral failure, in his view, is because the West has not demanded that Muslims take responsibility for their societies, beginning with a strong condemnation of their violent extremists. Without such a condemnation, coupled with concerted action, America’s efforts to rebuild the Muslim world in her image will prove a futile endeavor.

Mr. Friedman posits that very few Muslim political or religious leaders are willing to challenge the violent ideology of Islamic extremists. Mr. Friedman apparently fails to realize is that there is an intense ideological struggle underway in the Muslim world, and at the heart of that struggle is the effort of orthodox scholars to delegitimize the arguments of those who would use Islamic teachings to justify wanton violence and destruction. Furthermore, contrary to his assessment, orthodoxy is gaining the upper hand.

In making his argument, Friedman quotes Mamoun Fandy, an analyst at London’s Institute of Strategic Studies, as saying: “What Muslims were talking about last week were the minarets of Switzerland, not the killings of people in Iraq or Pakistan.” Indeed, there are Muslims who are concerned about the fate of their coreligionists in the West, and are quick to comment on the real or perceived injustices involving Muslims in western lands. However, most of those commentators condemn the violence of the modern-day Khawarij [2] with far more words, passion and fervor.

For most women and many men, styling our hair after a shower has become a daily ritual. Either as a necessity to dry or tame fly-away hair, or as part of a regimen to sculpt a “perfect look” – and styling tools have become part of the styling inventory.

Though styling tools and appliances come in a just a few “categories”, their effect on hair styles is pretty substantial…short, long, medium, straight, curly, ethnic, thick or thin hair styles all benefit from styling with the right products for the job. Let’s take a closer look…

Hair Brushes

Ah, the most common, yet most overlooked of the styling tools. Though some may not consider the brush – or comb – as a styling aid, it generally has the greatest impact on the style outcome. The type brush you select – round, paddle, flat – and its bristles can have a measurable impact on your hair.

A couple of considerations: Look for brushes with ceramic coating on the barrel and bristles. Ceramic coating holds up longer to heat, humidity and wear and tear. As bristles lose their coating, they create friction with follicles and tend to tear, strip or frizz hair. As we age, hair becomes more dry and brittle and brushes without adequate coating aggravate damage.

Bristles are usually stiff, soft, plastic or boar’s hair. Though the stiffness and density of the brush is a matter of personal taste, staggered, stiff bristles work better with long and thick hair, whereas boar’s hair provides increased manageability to fine or thin hair style. If possible, look for barrels with ceramic coating for heat distribution with thermal venting for faster drying (of your hair and the brush).

As a note, short hair styles work best with smaller barrels if you are using a round brush and narrower widths if using a paddle. Many stylists prefer small-width paddle designs for their increased flexibility and ease of use for short hair.

Hair Dryers

Probably the more critical, most often used, and easiest to operate, blow dryers & hair dryers have come a long way in the past few years. Many – at least the mores expensive ones – incorporate Tourmaline, ceramic and ionic drying technology to allow for smoother hair without threat of damage. Newest models offer “cold shot” switches that allow you to quickly blast cooler hair assisting setting your style. Separate heat and speed controls allow you to find an ideal setting for your style, thickness and hair type.

The biggest villain in drying is the most obvious – killing moisture in the follicles. Using the lowest setting possible helps reduce damage and ionic and tourmaline technology help infuse moisture into the cortex while eliminating static electricity. Today’s hair dryer’s are no longer only meant to dry wet hair, but are now used to add the requisite volume to the hair and the also control the frizz.

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