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No sex
No Vex.
BEWARE OF HIV/AIDS!
"Scarlet Tears of London" is a memorial tribute to those killed in the terrorists' bomb blasts in London on July 7. 2005.
"Pakistan is not a banana republic," President Musharraf reportedly told the German magazine Focus last week.
"We have an extremely loyal and disciplined army. The secret service is made up mainly of military men."
Independent Online
Robert Kagan
Author, "Dangerous Nation"
Tuesday, October 31, 2006; 3:00 PM
Lagos, Nigeria.: Was America not safer during the Cold War than during this current War on Terror?
-Orikinla Osinachi
Author of the "Scarlet Tears of London".
Robert Kagan: That's an interesting question, and not so easy to answer. Obviously, we did not suffer the kind of attack that we suffered on 9/11. And we certainly seem to be vulnerable to other such attacks in the future, and perhaps on an even more horrific scale. When we look back on the Cold War, it seems to have been safer, but that's partly because we now know that nothing horrendous happened. At the time, however, there were often significant fears of nuclear war. Needless to say, the damage that would have come had there been a nuclear exchange between the US and the Soviet Union would have dwarfed what we have experienced in the 21st century. In the early 1960s, I recall, people were building fall-out shelters in their backyards. It now appears as if, precisely because of the possibility of planet-wide destruction, both sides were deterred from conflict. What is so frightening about our present situation is that those who wish us harm seem to be undeterrable.
Book World On Washington Post
A charity set up to help victims of the 2005 bombings in London has been disbanded after handing out £12 million.
Radio New Zealand, Posted at 3:20pm on 25 Oct 2006
Muslims are the new Jews
By India Knight
Very little makes sense in this business about Jack Straw, Muslim women and veils. Aishah Azmi, a teaching assistant from Dewsbury, Yorks, was last week suspended for refusing to take her veil off in class - she was allowed to wear it everywhere else at school, but, rightly to my mind, was told by her local education authority that her pupils, who are mostly learning English as a second language, needed to see her mouth when she taught. This seems entirely sensible.
Times Online
Later Sunniyah told me that Aishah(ra) disclosed to her what he whispered into her ear.
“No Prophet is taken by death until he has been shown his place in Paradise and then offered the choice to live or to die.”
The Unveiling of Rekiyyah bint Abu bakr (ra)
One cold night, I was sitting alone in front of my tent under the half moon when I saw a hooded figure on the white mule of the prophet (pbuh) that was a precious gift from Muqawqis. I was wondering who could be this strange visitor.
Then as the figure came closer, I recognized that it was a female figure.
Then the unmistakable velvet voice of Rekiyyah bint Abu Bakr (ra) greeted me.
“Salam Alaikum.”
“Wa alaikum salam, sister.”
I was gaping and gasping in awe. Why would I to be honoured by such a highly revered visitor?
“Alhamdulillaah!” I exclaimed inwardly.
I hurriedly took her by her slim hands into my tent. I did not want anyone to see her.
..............
It was Anita. She said she would be waiting for me. And the editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat was already with her.
I had my bath and dressed up in my denim jacket and pants with leather shoes. I brought out the scroll from the chest and pushed the chest back under the bed. I put the scroll in my briefcase and left the house for King's Cross Station.
“Do you think this is the most conducive time to serialize this Islamic love story? With the raging storm over what Jack Straw said about the burqa?” The editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat said.
“Should be. Because, this should clear the doubts of all Muslims who felt offended by the decision of Jack Straw,” Anita said.
She was looking at the manuscript of the scroll as she spoke.
“Babbi, this is a priceless museum piece,” Anita said.
“The Islamic Museum in Jeddah would be interested in this scroll,” the editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat said adjusting her spectacles as she examined it.
“I would prefer the British Museum,” I said.
I sat back and sipped from the cup of hot tea Anita served me.
“Why the British Museum? When this is a special relic of the history of Islam and should be where it belongs. The author was the captain of the bodyguards of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Nothing like this has ever been found in the whole Islamic world,” said the editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
I regarded her as she looked up at me. In her blue hijab and formal black skirt suit and I was wondering what kind of shoes she was wearing. She was a middle-aged woman who still looked attractive.
“I prefer the British Museum for better security,” I said.
“Why?” She asked.
“I am not sure if the sensitive Islamic clerics would appreciate the value of this masterpiece of historical romance during the days of Prophet Muhammad. I don’t want any religious fanatic to vandalize it,” I said.
Anita chuckled.
"Emergency services were last night battling horrific conditions, including temperatures of 60C (140F), in an attempt to recover bodies entombed in a Tube train carriage 30 metres below ground in Thursday's terrorist attack.
Rats, mice, dust, stale air and the stench of decomposing bodies were all contributing to the hellish conditions in the tunnel 500 metres from Russell Square station," police said.
Beyond the Near East, the practice of hiding one's face and largely living in seclusion appeared in classical Greece, in the Byzantine Christian world, in Persia, and in India among upper caste Rajput women. Muslims in their first century at first were relaxed about female dress. When the son of a prominent companion of the Prophet asked his wife Aisha bint Talha to veil her face, she answered, "Since the Almighty hath put on me the stamp of beauty, it is my wish that the public should view the beauty and thereby recognized His grace unto them. On no account, therefore, will I veil myself."
The Source
AMMAN — After bicycling from London, through central Europe and now the Middle East, a group of cyclists arrived in Amman on their way to Jerusalem as part of a campaign to encourage peace between Israel and Palestine.
News Source
The threat of terrorism is one reason why Britain is a worse place to live now compared with 20 years ago, a BBC poll suggests.
Nearly half (47%) of those questioned thought quality of life in Britain had declined, with 47% blaming a "lack of respect" and 46% citing crime.
BBC News, 04/09/2006
"This tragedy will distress the whole country and our thoughts go out immediately to the families of those who have died," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement.
Washington Post, 02/09/2006
It is too soon to say where the growing alienation of American Muslims will lead, but it seems clear that the factors contributing to it will endure. U.S. foreign policy persists in dividing Muslim and Western societies, making it harder still for Americans to realize that there is a difference between their Muslim neighbor and the plotter in London or the kidnapper in Baghdad.
geneive.abdo@geneiveabdo.com
Geneive Abdo is the liaison for the Alliance of Civilizations at the United Nations and author of "Mecca and Main Street: Muslim Life in America After 9/11" (Oxford).
Washington Post, 25/08/2006
When Will This Islamic Madness End?
First Hamas kidnapped an Israeli soldier and asked for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel in exchange. Then Hizbollah killed some Israeli soldiers and abducted two and demanded that Israel must release Hizbollah fighters in Israeli prisons in exchange. And now the Holy Jihad Brigades," kidnapped two Fox News Channel journalists (correspondent Steve Centanni, a 60-year-old American, and New Zealand cameraman Olaf Wiig, 36) in Gaza, also demanding that Muslims in American prisons must be released in exchange for their hostages. When will these lunatic fringe elements of Islam stop their madness? Until they no longer exist?
Nigerian Times
"We hope the kidnappers will release Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig at the earliest opportunity. It is the position of the US government that we do not make concessions to terrorists," Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm said.
The Guardian
Survivors of the bombings are campaigning for a public inquiry similar to the
U.S. commission into the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, claiming
the reports are not likely to address any mistakes made by government officials.
"There are no terrorist-free zones in the United Kingdom.~ Peter Clarke, the national coordinator of terrorism investigations.
The footprint of international terrorism is in every part of the
country."