Myrtus

Meet my new friend Fabio

I just met him yesterday and fell in love with him instantly.  I wish he was mine, but he belongs to my friend Connie.

Isn't he adorable?

Moro Women

How many of you have heard of the Moro community in the Philippines?

Here's a fascinating account of how Filipino Muslim women are tirelessly working for social change and making democracy work.

The Manila Times Internet Edition | Moro Times

As people celebrate Women’s Month, Moro Times honors the struggle of Muslim women to right wrongs, fight poverty, injustice and discrimination, and find peace and development for their homeland.

 

Following are stories of outstanding Moro women who have broken the so-called glass ceiling in various fields.

Second to none, veiled or not, these Muslim women have gained the respect and following of their people proving that in Islam, men and women are equal not only in rights but also in shouldering responsibility to the ummah. They are mothers and daughters, peace advocate and mujahideen, educator and politician, aleema and labor leader, journalist and community worker. Most of all, they are exemplars of the Muslimah, proof that Islam supports the leadership of women, not subjugate them.

Wilders Movie and Masturbation Time

Drima has an open letter to the dude, read it, it's funny as hell: Open Letter to ‘Fitna’ Maker : The Sudanese Thinker

Russian police tells priests to carry guns

Somehow I can't picture a priest armed and ready to blast some bad-ass into the next world.  I can think of a whole bunch of better alternatives.

Russia's priests told to carry guns to foil armed icon-raiders | World news | The Guardian

It was the middle of the day, and in the village of Sidorovoskaya four visitors turned up unannounced at the church. Armed with automatic weapons, the men broke into the orthodox building and made off with the church's prized medieval icon.

When the priest arrived at the scene the robbers stuck a gun in his chest. "Go home, leave peacefully and forget about us," they said, before escaping in a 4x4.

The robbery last year was the latest in a series of attacks on churches inside Russia's Golden ring - the ancient towns close to Moscow where orthodox Christianity first took root in the 10th century.

Now police in the region have come up with a novel solution to the problem of icon raids: they have advised priests to apply for firearms licences and carry guns.

Earth Hour

Hi everyone!

Please take a few moments to go to this website and consider signing up and taking part on March 29, 2008.  I know I will.   

http://www.earthhour.org/

Please pass this on to your family and friends too. Together, we can make a difference!

Wilders movie "Fitna" is finally out

What a joke!

Mr. Wilders, you are a clown.

I waited five months to see your Fitna, expecting something worthwhile, with a little bit of wisdom perhaps, something original with at least some artistic value that would qualify it as a movie, but all I got is a lousy Alqaeda scrapbook that would make militant Islamists proud and Islamophobes slightly more paranoid.

Go ahead folks, watch it if you have 15 minutes to waste.

This one's in English:

This one's in Dutch:

Oh boy, I suspect Mr. Wilders can expect yet another court date sometime soon....he mistakenly used the picture of Moroccan rapper Salah Edin in his movie instead of Mohammed Bouyeri, Theo van Gogh's murderer. 

Salah Edin says Mr. Wilders should have asked him for permission before using his picture. 

Oh well.  I guess it's his own fault for not letting anybody see Fitna beforehand. :::chuckles:::

AD.nl - Binnenland - 'Mohammed B.' in Fitna is rapper

Update 3/28/08

Live Leak was forced to shut down Fitna and copies of the movie are popping up all over the net:

Hot Air: LiveLeak pulls “Fitna” after receiving “very serious” threats

Update 3/29/08

Video: Fitna the Movie - vkmag.com

The Daily Star - Dutch Muslims shrug as anti-Islam video goes public on Web

AMSTERDAM: Muslim leaders in the Netherlands on Friday urged Muslims abroad to stay calm and be responsible after the release of a controversial anti-Islam film by Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders. "We want to let our Muslim brothers abroad know that we are in the best position to analyze the situation in the Netherlands and Wilders and to how to react," said the head of the Dutch Moroccan National Council, Mohammad Rabbea.

"We call on them to follow our strategy and not react with attacks on Dutch embassies or tourists," he added, speaking at a joint news conference of Muslim community leaders at an Amsterdam mosque.

 

Is Barack Obama related to George Bush?

Well, according to a genealogical study by NEHGS the answer is yes.

Did somebody pay them to do it?

Umm...probably.

And does this have anything to do with politics? 

Yes, of course it does.  My social studies teacher taught me way back when I was in high school that "everything is politics".  So with that in mind, I think that if anything, this genealogical report may at least encourage those voters who know or care little about politics (and are perhaps more interested in mindless entertainment), to cast their votes. 

Study finds Clinton related to Jolie and Obama to Pitt

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The presidential candidates may have star qualities -- and they also have stars in their families, according to a genealogical study linking Hillary Clinton to Angelina Jolie and Barack Obama to Brad Pitt.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston on Wednesday released a study in which it traced the family trees of all three presidential candidates to find they all had famous relatives, both dead and alive.

It found Illinois Senator Barack Obama, whose mother is from Kansas, can claim at least six U.S. presidents as distant cousins, including George W. Bush and his father, Gerald R. Ford, Lyndon B. Johnson, Harry S. Truman, and James Madison.

In terms of politics, I consider myself as independent, but if I were allowed to vote in the presidential elections, I'd vote for Hillary for one reason: health care reform, the one key issue that affects us all the same.  Let's face it folks, the health care insurance situation in the US is atrocious and desperately in need of reform!  And if the situation is ever going to change, I believe there is only one politician in this country who could possibly pull it off:  Hillary Clinton.

And besides, she may be a democrat, but as far as I'm concerned, she's the only presidential candidate who has taken a more center position on key issues in recent months, while Obama has always been dancing all over the left field.  And McCain, who has always been more of a centrist, has lately been doing a one-legged Mr righty jig to win a couple more votes, and I'm personally not sure how long he can keep up with this silly act.

Geert Wilders on Myspace

In one of his latest blog entries he makes a plea for financial support, claiming that the making of his "Fitna" movie is depleting his financial resources, while he continues to fight against the Islamization of The Netherlands and mass-immigration.

MySpace.com - Geert Wilders - 43 - Male - NL - www.myspace.com/wilderspvv

Faith Without Fear

Irshad Manji saying it like it is...

Pig farming boom in Morocco

Who would have thought...

Middle East Online

Shunned by most Muslim countries where pork consumption is a religious taboo, pig farming is blooming in Morocco thanks to a growing tourist industry and pragmatic breeders like 39-year-old Said Samouk.

"If there's tourism, it would be better to have pigs," said Samouk, who raises 250 pigs at his farm 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the seaside town of Agadir.

After being battered by a wave of bird flu, the Moroccan farmer launched a pig operation 20 years ago in partnership with an elderly French man.

Today, Samouk spins dreams of doubling his production within three years to help meet the demands of some 10 million tourists expected to visit Morocco in 2010 - up from 7.5 million who flocked to the north African country in 2007.

"I'm a practising Muslim. I don't eat pork and I don't drink alcohol but it's just a breeding operation like any other and no Imam has ever reprimanded me for it," he said of raising pigs - whose consumption is prohibited in both Islam and Judaism.

Outlawed in Algeria, Mauritania and Libya, pig farming is nonetheless authorised in Tunisia as in Morocco, to cater to the flocks of European and other non-Muslim tourists who head to north Africa's spectacular beaches and deserts.

"Our clientele is 98 percent European. They want bacon for breakfast, ham for lunch and pork chops for dinner," said Ahmad Bartoul, a buyer for a large Agadir hotel. Signs are posted on buffet tables to avoid any confusion about the meat's origin.

Morocco's swine industry comprises some 5,000 pigs raised on seven farms located near Agadir, Casablanca and the north-central city of Taza. The breeders include a Christian, two Jews and four Muslims.

In contrast, take a look at the latest news from Algeria......who would have thought...

Middle East Online

ALGIERS - Algeria has ordered the closure of 13 Protestant churches, the head of the denomination said Monday, amid anger over allegations that Evangelist Christians are trying to convert Muslims.

The churches have been told to close their doors until they are issued the permit which non-Muslim groups in theory must have if they want to pursue organised worship, Pastor Mustapha Krim said.

"Thirteen chapels, including 11 in Tizi Ouzou, one in Bejaia and one in Bouira have been closed on the orders of local officials," said Krim, who is the leader of the Protestant Church in Algeria.

"No reason has been given for this decision," he said, adding that he had made a formal request for explanation from the Algerian state's representative in the Tizi Ouzou region.