From Wikipedia: A Sudanese refugee enslaved at the age of nine. He was enslaved when his neighbor asked Simon to accompany him on a trip. Simon was given as a gift to the neighbor's family. Having escaped slavery and emigrated to the United States, he travels the country addressing audiences which range from the United Nations to middle school students. His speeches focus on education and the anti-slavery movement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Deng I don't want to write a lot ...
Since we have nothing else to do at the moment, I thought I'd give a quick overview of population groups in Iraq and their politics, from what I have seen and read and heard. Overview: 80% of Iraqis are Arabs, the rest are mostly Kurds. The remaining 5% are Aramaeans/Chaldaeans, Turkmen and Mandaeans. Kurds are an Iranian people. Aramaeans, Arabs, and Mandaeans are Semitic peoples. There used to be a huge Jewish minority in Iraq but the Jews fled starting in the 1930s (when Iraq ...
Khaleel Mohammed, Associate Professor of Religion at San Diego State University Born in Guyana, he moved to Canada as a teenager in 1974. He studied in Mexico, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Syria, and Yemen. He has a B.A. in Religion and Psychology, an M.A. in Religion (Judaism and Islam), and a Ph.D. in Islamic Law. He received scholarships from Saudi Arabia and Quebec. Dr. Mohammed argues that western countries should not "import" imams (Muslim clerics) from foreign countries beca...
"We Arabs look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. Our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist Organisation to the Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate and proper. We will do our best, in so far as we are concerned, to help them through; we will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home. I look forward, and my people with me look forward, to a future in which we will help you and you will help us, so that the c...
Sheikh Palazzi is the co-chair of Islam-Israel Fellowship, secretary general of the Italian Muslim association, and an Imam in Italy. He is of Syrian Muslim descent. His work includes interfaith discussions with Jews, Christians, and Buddhists. He has a tendency to quote from the Quran and say few things that he cannot back up. Far from arguing that G-d changed His mind after granting the Land of Israel to the Children of Israel he insists that G-d's law be followed and that changes can only ...
As I have said often, Israel's enemy is not Islam and the anti-Jewish cause is not Islamic. Over the next few weeks I hope I'll be able to post regular updates on Muslim support for Israel and a two-state solution. http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1796.htm This video shows an interview of an Arab television station with Dr. Halil Ibrahim, leader of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (one of Sudan's rebel groups). Dr. Ibrahim argues that since Muhammed had good relations with ...
May 14 2008 Religion Theories and Fairy Tales As was mentioned many times before, the evolution of one species into two can be observed in the lab. I believe they usually use fruitflies. The theory of evolution says that what works in the lab explains what happened in the real world as well. There is no reason to assume that fruitflies (or any animal) stop reproducing just before two populations stop being compatible enough to interbreed (definition of species). Read more...
...
Evangelicals have no monopoly on the use of the word “Christian”. That’s the first thing that should be clear. However, George Bush didn’t really follow the “Christians” too much. Neo-conservative policies were not about banning abortion, making homosexuality illegal, or teaching religion in science class. Those are the key positions of the Evangelicals and George Bush didn’t pay much attention to any of them. Sarah Palin is a different animal ...
"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." -- Martin Luther King With the election of Barack Obama we have witnessed history in the making. The first man of different character was just elected President of the USA. Or, if we ignore Martin Luther King's dream and pay attention to skin colour instead, the first black man has just been elected President ...
Translations of Iraqis commenting on the Arabic BBC forum about the war between Hamas and Israel in July 2006: "Hamas with their radical false-heroic speech opened the door for extremists in Gaza and Damascus to open a battlefront that will harm the innocent Palestinian citizen and destroy the peace process. Hamas has long been against the peace process and has long worked on halting it" Ahmed Talib al-Taii: Baghdad/Iraq. "There are trends that still live by the pas...
Here's a list of American politicians I support and American politicians I don't support. See if you can make out what the common denominators are: SUPPORT George W. Bush Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Condi Rice Colin Powell Joe Liebermann John McCain Al Gore (until 2002) Ronald Reagan NO SUPPORT John Kerry Al Gore (since 2002) Barack Obama Nancy Pelosi Ron Paul David Duke Robert Byrd Jimmy Carter (double) N...
t takes a few hours to get to Sulaimaniya from Arbil. Streets in Iraq are excellent if a little unsafe (there are no fences separating the streets from the desert or quick death in the mountains). The road to Sulaimaniya leads through the desert and through Kirkuk. Continue on my personal blog .
The group of 17 refugees Bar works with has recently grown to 170 people. Most came to Eilot days after infiltrating into Israel from Egypt. They were sent to the kibbutz by the IDF or the border guards after they were caught crossing the border. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3413031,00.html "Other refugees have told us about abuse and violence by Egyptian citizens, not just by the regime, including beatings and the use of clubs and knives. The re...
Hi, Can anybody recommend any turn-based strategy games? Mostly when I find a "strategy" game it really turns out to be city-building or tactics ("real-time strategy"). I am looking for something like Civilisation, Colonisation, or Alpha Centauri. I tried Civilisation 4, but it is horribly over-graphiced and required the DVD to be in the drive. Also, it only runs in fullscreen mode. I want something I can play in a window while watching DVDs or listening to podcasts for a few hours. Doe...
" JUNAID PRISON, NABLUS - "For five years, I was a wanted man, but we had enough," says Sufian Qandil of the Tigers, an organization associated with Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. It's noon, and Qandil woke up only a few minutes ago in the prison cell where according to an agreement with Israel he must now spend his nights. "We keep our agreements, even those signed with the Jews," he says, placing his hand on his pillow with a Mickey Mouse pillowcase. The Al-Aqsa brigades were dissolve...