When times are tough most of us would yield to visceral fears,rather than move to dispel them by sensible and compassionate behavior. I was just perusing my Facebook connections and I found that several of my friends had changed their middle names to Hussein, just to chide some of us who find significance in such baseless and tribal identities.

I admire such people and feel that by such a small act, they have made a significant gesture towards denting the "us" and "them" game that is being played in some Republican circles. I have read some ghastly, stupid, and downright racist viral mail coming out of that camp.

It is a reminder to us all of how much decency exists even in such troubled times. To talk of such decency, please see this endorsement of Mr. Obama by Gen. Colin Powell.

It is quite ironic that the word "Hussein" is derived from "husn" meaning beauty. This word literally means "beautiful little one".

It is amazing how we can trace the history of this bird through the myths of various religions and ideologies. It catches the fancy in mysterious ways for such an unassuming bird.

It is considered to be the bird that was the special messenger from King Solomon to the Queen of Sheba in Jewish/Muslim folklore. Ustad Fariduddin Attar in his famous "Conference of the Birds" , names it the wisest of birds and all the other birds regard it as the carrier of Solomon's wisdom.

This little creature with just a crest to its name has lots of fame. It is revered in Chinese poetry as a celestial messenger often bearing news of the spring and features in Aristophanes work too.

One could argue that Aristophanes work and Ustad Attar works draws from similiar sources as both regard the Hoopoe as the King of Birds. How did these legends and fables from far away sources get so mixed together?

This little bird has a connection to ancient Egypt too. It is depicted as a spectre of Horus that indicates joy and affection. There are friezes of the bird in delightful color in some of the ancient tombs too.

What is the story of Oz but a stylized description in the modern literary way, an adaptation of both these works. I do doubt that the Wizard of Oz was ever penned in the knowledge of this tale of a group of radically different but very similar characters searching for a King's/Wizard's healing touch.

All this about a little innocuous bird....