Divorce in the land of puritanist version of Islam

Life is not a bed of roses but thorns too even in Saudi Arabia despite claiming to practise the puritanist version of Islam or as they like to say in the path of salf-i-saleheen...

60% of divorces take place during first year of marriage
RIYADH: DINA FOUAD
23 March 2015

Sixty percent of divorce cases in the Kingdom take place in the first year of marriage, said a judge.
Official data reveals that divorce rates have reached 35 percent “which is considered higher than the global average of between 18 and 22 percent.”
Divorce rate in Jeddah was the highest (60 percent), followed by Riyadh (39 percent), Ahsa (20 percent) and the Eastern Province (18 percent), according to data released by the Family Development Center (FDC), an affiliate of the Al-Bir Charitable Society in Al-Ahsa.
Sheikh Mohammed Al-Jirani, the judge at the endowments and inheritances department in the Ministry of Justice in Qatif, attributed divorce occurrences to many reasons, including the lack of Shariah awareness (25 percent), presence of organic and sexual diseases (5 percent), frequent travel and absence from home (5 percent), financial inadequacy and failure to meet the wife’s needs and leading luxurious life (20 percent), technological progress and social networking issues (20 percent), marital infidelity (15 percent), polygamy (10 percent) and absence of equity and justice between wives.
Last December, the Justice Ministry said it would conduct a study aimed at determining reasons of the spiraling divorce rates in the Kingdom.
A ministry official said they want to gather accurate information on divorce rates and their impact on society and the judiciary. The ministry wants to publish a guidebook to warn couples on potential problems to their marriages, he said.

Lavish ‘divorce parties’, gifts ring alarm bells
ABHA: NADIA AL-FAWAZ
8 March 2015

I’m honored to invite you to my divorce party.” This is the type of invitation now being sent out by increasing numbers of women wanting to celebrate the end of their marriages.
Just like weddings or graduation parties, these events are being held at the fanciest halls, with large amounts of money spent on hosting friends and family. The guests are also obliged to turn up with expensive gifts for the happy woman.
This is a new phenomenon in Saudi society, says Tariq Habib, a professor and psychiatrist, and assistant secretary general of the Union of Arab Psychiatrists.
Divorce clearly results in feelings of sadness and happiness, he said.
Habib, however, said that parents should take their children’s feelings into consideration.
“If these parties negatively influence the children socially and psychologically, then they should be canceled,” he said.
“But if the couple don’t have any children then no one can prevent the woman from expressing her joy or having a celebration.”
He said women may want to celebrate because they have left a failed marriage or show their ex-husbands that they do not care about them.
Suhaila Zain Al-Abideen, a member of the National Society for Human Rights, said celebrations have been triggered by the difficulty women face in getting divorced.
“Women living under injustice, humiliation and misery are the ones who will celebrate. It is not unreasonable that an absolutely happy person celebrates her divorce under these circumstances,” Al-Abideen said.
Al-Abideen does not believe that children would be affected if their mothers are happy.
“Although separations affect children, they would be happy to see their mothers happy, especially if their fathers had abused their mothers,” she said.
Mohammad Al-Saidi, professor of Islamic law at Umm Al-Qura University, said God hates divorce, as confirmed in Hadith, and that people should not celebrate a social tragedy even if they are happy about it.
Al-Saidi urged the media to raise concerns about these parties, and to encourage people not to attend them. “This will cause future tragedies,” he said.
Sahar Rajjab, a certified physiologist and family counselor at the Arab Council, said Saudi nationals should not imitate the West by having these parties, even if they are extremely angry.
“The divorce parties are increasing in an alarming rate,” she said.
“How can guests celebrate women divorcing when they had previously congratulated them on their wedding days?”
Rajab said there is an industry growing around divorce parties, with cake and sweet shops starting to make products for these occasions. This is an unwelcome development, she said.
Social specialist Haifa Safouk said that some women celebrate simply to seek attention.
“There are many reasons for this behavior, but mostly it is because such women are ignorant and not intellectually mature.”
She said some women celebrate because society does not show them any compassion, so it is a way of releasing their frustration and negative feelings.
In addition, the guests invited to these events turn up because they want to support these divorcees. This is not the proper way to show support, she said.

Zaytuna becomes the First Accredited Muslim College in America!

Al-hamdulillah! I wish all the best although the initiative may not be likened by the Wahhabi-Salafist branch who have aversion towards Shaykh Hamza Yusuf for his sufi inclination...

The First Accredited Muslim College in America
March 20, 2015
Amal Al-Sibai
Saudi Gazette

Muslim scholars of the past have been beacons of light, leading the way in medicine, astronomy, algebra, linguistics, and more. In recent years, the light has flickered, but today, with the establishment of the first accredited Muslim college in America, the light of intellectual Muslim visionaries is being revived again.

Zaytuna Institute was founded in 1996 by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf with the mission of reviving the Islamic scholarly tradition, of seeking knowledge for the betterment of the mind, heart, and spirit. Traditionally, the Muslim student gained not only an academic education, but a moral one as well, developing an immense love for the Prophet (peace be upon him), ethics, a moral code, a different perspective, and a whole new way of living.

Hatem Bazian and Imam Zaid Shaker joined forces with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, striving to turn this small seed, the zaytuna or olive seed, into a larger, fruitful tree, to move towards becoming a college. 

Starting out as shabby, cramped classrooms in Hayward, California, filled with students literally sitting on the floor, hungry to learn about Islam and how to purify one’s heart, in a historic moment on March 4th, Zaytuna College became an accredited institute of higher education.

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) which granted Zaytuna College accreditation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. It accredits institutions in several Western states, including colleges, such as Stanford University. No longer Zaytuna Institute, it is now officially Zaytuna College, attracting faculty from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Duke, and others. Now classes are taught in a beautiful, spacious, sunlit building in Berkeley, California and the college even provides housing for students.

The curriculum is a broad, undergraduate liberal arts four-year program, equipping students with the tools of learning, critical thinking, and eloquent expression. It focuses on the Arabic term ‘adab’, which means a number of things: decency, comportment, decorum, etiquette, manners, morals, propriety, and humaneness. Required courses include Arabic language, Islamic sciences, law, history, philosophy, astronomy, literature, ethics, and politics. As the students pursue their studies, they are actively involved with the local Muslim community, delivering lectures, participating in religious gatherings, and leading activities for the youth.

Zaytuna College aims to prepare its graduates for lives of service and leadership. Students grow in intellectual curiosity and are fashioned to become caring, responsible human beings, committed to being stewards of the Earth, as God has intended for us to build and nurture the Earth and humanity, not destroy it. 

At Zaytuna College, the Muslim tradition comes alive, in addition to studying Western philosophies. Students engage in discussions of Aristotle and Avicenna, Galen and Ghazali, side by side.

What does accreditation mean, why is it so important, and why are Muslims across the United States and the entire world so jubilant about this accomplishment?

“Accreditation for us means that we are moving from zaytuna.org to zaytuna.edu. It means Muslims have an academic address in America. For our students, it means that their degree is recognized. It means that they can apply for a Master’s degree and a PhD at other institutions with ease, without worrying that their institution is not accredited. It means that we are able to host conferences that are recognized academically by partner institutions here in the US and across the world. It means that people know where to go if a question about Islam is raised,” said Hatem Bazian, co-founder of Zaytuna.

The accreditation process was a long and arduous one. The college received a visiting team of administrators from other colleges and universities appointed by WASC; it also included a comprehensive self-study to determine if the college is compliant with 39 different evaluation criteria. The road to accreditation culminated in a WASC committee meeting with Zaytuna College leadership, which ended in astounding success, and the accreditation was granted.

In its notification letter to Zaytuna, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges commission commended the college for the creation of “a rigorous and high-quality learning experience, one that… can be viewed as an exemplar in the liberal arts tradition.”

“You do not have to look very far to find out how important Islam has been to science, literature, and the development of law. Education is not something new to Islam; it is woven into its whole heritage, but it is nice to see it surfacing in America in this particular way,” said Riess Potterveld, President of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

Vice-president of Academic Affairs at Zaytuna College, Colleen Keyes, said, “We are aiming to prepare and educate students who are morally committed, who are spiritual, intellectual, and professional leaders, grounded in the Islamic tradition and conversant with the cultural currents and critical ideas shaping modern society.”

As for the purpose of education, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf has said, “Learning is to make a better human being. Learning is not to make more money; it is to make a better human being.”

The reason antiwar.com website keeps getting hacked...

Websites like antiwar.com is part of growing alternative news (& views) media that are in sharp contrast to govt-loyal bootlicking MSM (i.e. Main Stream Media) propaganda mouthpieces like BBC, CNN, VOA, NYT, etc. More about this in a future post. But in order to know why antiwar.com keeps getting hacking, you have to visit this website to find out for yourself...

 

Afghan woman wrongly beaten to death but hardly any condemnation!

Another day, another mob lynching and mob [in]justice perpetrated by some barbarians. These people think that they have been awarded with God-given license to take up law in their own hands and discharge quick & dirty punishment [like those IS-style beheadings after a guilty verdict is read out and no chance given to the accused to defend himself] to any person they think is guilty - judge, jury and executioner all molded into one persona?! Grave injustice is carried out by Muslims on other Muslims, but the clergy and the general mass keep silent; they only roar when the injustice is carried out by the non-Muslims! However, this tragic event was touched by Afghan women so much so that some women from this highly conservative country dared to come out on the street to protest and carry her coffin to the grave.

Woman lynched for burning Qur’an was innocent
Associated Press, 23 March 2015

KABUL: A woman killed by an angry mob in front of police in the Afghan capital last week for allegedly burning a copy of the Holy Qur’an was wrongly accused, Afghanistan’s top criminal investigator said on Sunday.

Mobile phone footage circulating on social media shows police at the scene did not save the 27-year-old woman, Farkhunda, who was beaten with sticks and set on fire by a crowd of men in central Kabul in broad daylight on Thursday.
“Last night I went through all documents and evidence once again, but I couldn’t find any evidence to say Farkhunda burned the Holy Qur’an,” General Mohammad Zahir told reporters at her funeral on Sunday. “Farkhunda was totally innocent.”
The top criminal investigator promised to punish all those involved and said 13 people, including eight police officers, had already been arrested.
The killing was condemned by the Afghan president and other officials, but also drew praise from some quarters, including from a prominent cleric, who asserted the men had a right to defend their Muslim beliefs at all costs.

Farkhunda was a teacher of Islamic studies, according to her brother, who denied media reports that she had been mentally ill. He said this was a made-up defense by their father, who wanted to protect the family after police told them to leave the city for their own safety.
“My father was frightened and made the false statement to calm people down,” said Najibullah, who is changing his second name to Farkhunda in memory of his sister.

==

AFGHAN women’s rights activists dressed head-to-toe in black broke with tradition to carry the coffin of a woman who was beaten to death by a mob in the capital Kabul over allegations she had burned a Koran.

The mob of men beat 27-year-old Farkhunda before throwing her body off a roof, running over it with a car, setting it on fire and throwing it into a river near a well-known mosque.

The attack was apparently sparked by allegations that Farkhunda, who like many Afghans has just one name, had set fire to a Koran. But Afghanistan’s most senior detective said no evidence had been found to support those claims.

Video of the assault taken with cellphones has circulated widely since the attack on Thursday last week. The killing has shocked many Afghans and led to renewed calls for justice and reform.

“We want justice for Farkhunda, we want justice for Afghan women. All these injustices happening to Afghan women are unacceptable,” said a prominent women’s rights activist who goes by the name Dr. Alima.

“In which religion or faith is it acceptable to burn a person to death? Today is a day of national mourning and we will not keep quiet.”

President Ashraf Ghani, now in Washington on his first state visit to the United States since taking office in September, condemned the killing as a “heinous attack” and ordered an investigation.

Following allegations that police stood by and did nothing to stop the killing, Ghani told reporters before leaving for the US that the incident revealed “a fundamental issue” — that security forces are too focused on the fight against the Taliban insurgency to concentrate on community policing.

AFGHAN women’s rights activists dressed head-to-toe in black broke with tradition to carry the coffin of a woman who was beaten to death by a mob in the capital Kabul over allegations she had burned a Koran.

The mob of men beat 27-year-old Farkhunda before throwing her body off a roof, running over it with a car, setting it on fire and throwing it into a river near a well-known mosque.

The attack was apparently sparked by allegations that Farkhunda, who like many Afghans has just one name, had set fire to a Koran. But Afghanistan’s most senior detective said no evidence had been found to support those claims.

Video of the assault taken with cellphones has circulated widely since the attack on Thursday last week. The killing has shocked many Afghans and led to renewed calls for justice and reform.

Breaking with tradition ... independent Afghan civil society activist women carried the coffin of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched by an angry mob in central Kabul. Source: AFP

“We want justice for Farkhunda, we want justice for Afghan women. All these injustices happening to Afghan women are unacceptable,” said a prominent women’s rights activist who goes by the name Dr. Alima.

“In which religion or faith is it acceptable to burn a person to death? Today is a day of national mourning and we will not keep quiet.”

President Ashraf Ghani, now in Washington on his first state visit to the United States since taking office in September, condemned the killing as a “heinous attack” and ordered an investigation.

Following allegations that police stood by and did nothing to stop the killing, Ghani told reporters before leaving for the US that the incident revealed “a fundamental issue” — that security forces are too focused on the fight against the Taliban insurgency to concentrate on community policing.

Lynched woman innocent of Koran-burning

Many rights activists, however, said the killing cut to the core of how women are treated as second-class citizens in Afghan society.

Despite constitutional guarantees of equal rights and advances in access to health and education, for many women in Afghanistan little has changed since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ended the Taliban’s harsh rule. Girls are routinely married off as children, traded as chattels and then rarely permitted to leave their homes without a male relative.

Hundreds of people gathered at a graveyard today in the middle-class suburb near Farkhunda’s home. With the permission of her father, the women in black carried her coffin from an ambulance to an open-air prayer ground, and then to her grave, rituals that are usually attended only by men.

“She is a sister to you all, and it is your duty to bury her,” Farkhunda’s brother Najibullah, standing gravesite, told the crowd.

Several politicians, officials and senior police officers addressed the funeral, which was broadcast live. Men formed a chain around the women pallbearers to offer protection and support.

The attack appeared to have grown out of a dispute between Farkhunda, a veiled woman who had just finished a degree in religious studies and was preparing to take a teaching post, and men who sold amulets at Shah-Do Shamshera shrine, where the killing happened.

She regarded the amulet sellers as parasites and told women not to waste their money on them, friends and family said. Her father, Mohammed Nadir, said the men responded by making false accusations that she had torched a Koran.

“Based on their lies, people decided Farkhunda was not a Muslim and beat her to death,” he said. The Interior Ministry said it was providing extra protection for the family.

The head of the ministry’s criminal investigation directorate, Gen. Mohammad Zahir, said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the killing, including two men who sold amulets. The Interior Ministry said 13 policemen had been suspended pending investigation.

Zahir said authorities were “unable to find any single iota of evidence to support claims that she had burned a Koran.”

“She is completely innocent,” he said.

Indian female student dragged drunk attacker to police

It has been noted in various parts of the world as to how weirdly human psychology works. The same people who voice protests, on seeing horrendous acts, in organised manner did not come to offer help to the girl in the following story...just played the typical bystander role...

Indian student drags drunk attacker to police by his hair
Harriet Alexander, The Telegraph (London)
March 23, 2015

An Indian student has been hailed as a heroine for standing up to a man molesting her at a train station in the middle of the day, and dragging him by the hair to the police – while dozens of people did nothing to help.

Pradnya Mandhare, 20, was travelling home after a day of classes at Sathaye College, in the Mumbai suburb of Vile Parle, when she was approached by an obviously drunken man.

"This visibly drunk person came to me and touched me inappropriately," she said. "When I tried to avoid him, he grabbed me. I was shocked for a couple of seconds, but then I started hitting him with my bag.

"He was trying to hit me, but I could overpower him because he was stinking of alcohol and I could make out that he was drunk."

Kandivli station was crowded with people, but Miss Mandhare's fellow travellers did not move to help her.

"No one came forward to help," said the media student. "People stopped to stare, but no one bothered to even ask what was going on.

"Since the man was filthy, I found it difficult to even touch him. I caught him by his hair and dragged him to the government railway police."

She said that hauling him to the police was difficult, but still no one came to her aid.

"Dragging him by the hair and walking was tough, because he was trying to escape and I was afraid he would attack me.

"He kept telling me not to drag him along and that he would come with me on his own, but I did not let go. I finally managed to hand him over to the police."

She told a local newspaper that most women are scared of approaching the police, because filing a complaint is a lengthy process and the police, she said, can be "uncooperative".

A policeman from the Borivli GRP said: "We have arrested the accused, Chavan (25), who is a drug addict and was also drunk when the incident took place. We conducted a medical test of the accused and he will be produced in court. We are verifying whether he has a previous criminal record."

And Miss Mandhare said that other women should not be afraid to come forward and denounce such attacks.

"Every woman should fight back in such cases and they should not keep quiet. I am grateful that the police also helped me and arrested the accused. I also asked the police officers to teach the accused a lesson so that he would not dare to molest a woman ever again.

"Parents of girls also think that going to a police station would tarnish their daughter's reputation.

"But, women should raise their voice and teach such people a lesson. Women are not objects for anyone to touch at will."

Evolution of Windows - WYSIWYG-speak

You may have guessed it...I am not talking about the windows on your houses...

Micro$oft Windows 1 circa 1985

Windows 2 circa 1987-1990

Windows 3 circa 1990

Windows 95

Windows 98

Windows 2000

Windows XP circa 2001-2005

Windows Vista circa 2006

Windows 7

Windows 8 circa 2012

Windows 10 circa 2015

Coming up next is the amalgamation of Linux + Windows = Lindows ?
Well, this had already been spearheaded by others while Micro$oft starts to play with Linux virtualisation within Windows!

TBA

24 Beautiful one-liner Islamic Quotes

Here are the quotes:

1) Give Allah what’s right, not what’s left.

2) Man’s way leads to a hopeless end; Allah’s way leads to an endless hope.

3) A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.

4) He who kneels before Allah can stand before anyone.

5) In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma, but never let him be the full stop.

6) Don’t put a question mark where Allah puts a full stop.

7) Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the mosque for a face-lift.

8) When praying, don’t give Allah instructions, just report for duty.

9) Don’t wait for six strong men to take you to the mosque. (FOR YOUR JANAZAAH)

10) We don’t change Allah’s message; His message changes us.

11) The mosque is prayer-conditioned.

12) When Allah ordains, He sustains.

13) Plan ahead; It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.

14) Most people want to serve Allah, but only in an advisory position.

15) Suffering from truth decay? Brush up on your Qur’an.

16) Exercise daily; Walk with Allah.

17) Never give the devil a ride; He will always want to drive.

18) Nothing else ruins the truth like stretching it.

19) Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.

20) He, who angers you, controls you.

21) Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed.

22) Give Shaytaan an inch and he will be a ruler.

23) Allah doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.

24) Read the Qur’an It will show u how simple life can be.

"green" (i.e. sustainable) living using "green" (i.e. eco-friendly) sandals

 

The New World Order “Grand Design”

Many people wonder if two Malaysian Airlines passenger planes (MH370 & MH17) were targeted for the bold stance of Malaysian govt on matters (such as incriminating accusations over 9/11 incident and indiscriminate bombing of Gaza by Israel) that irked Israel and USA. In the following article, Dr Mahathir takes a bold step to expose the New World Order that is being nurtured by the West in a very subtle manner.

What Kind of World, What Kind of Future? The New World Order “Grand Design”
International Conference hosted by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF), The New World Order – A Recipe For War or Peace
By Perdana Global Peace Foundation
Global Research, March 12, 2015
Perdana Global Peace Foundation

Mahathir warns warmongers over Iran

What kind of world would one choose to live in? If you have the choice, you could decide on a host of ideal situations, environment, income and quality of life. That is provided there is free choice. But what happens if there is no such freedom where every aspect of life is controlled and predetermined by an all powerful albeit unknown group?

That is perhaps what could happen in the New World Order (NWO). As part of their Grand Design, these powerful political and economic leaders could determine even the number of people on Earth, who lives or who dies! That is a thought that instills fear.

This was the subject of an International Conference hosted by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) with the theme The New World Order – A Recipe For War or Peace, at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre on 9th March 2015.

Both the President of PGPF, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Chairman of PGPF Tan Sri Norian Mai took pains to provide explanations – that NWO could be an attempt by a rich and very powerful group of people bent on total domination of the world. That a group with vested interest and with links to the rich and powerful and perhaps even a Royal Family, are seeking to exert total domination over all aspects of life on this Earth.

It was indeed an impressive panel of academics, thinkers and social activists who were assembled to provide a captive audience at the PICC with their understanding of what the NWO is or what it could be, and why certain events have taken place.

In his Keynote address, Tun Dr Mahathir termed the NWO as nothing but an Old Order, as this attempt at world domination has been around for more than a century. He reminded the audience that the all powerful group wanted to reduce the total population to just about 1.5billion, at a time when the world population stood at 3 billion. This reduction could be carried out by starvation or even by the mere killing of those who do not conform to their strict code of conduct. Today the world population stands at 7 billion.

The former Prime Minister of Malaysia also termed the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) as a “New World Order” (NWO) ploy that would lead to the world’s most powerful countries dominating the global economy.

Dr Mahathir claimed that the TPPA, like many other free trade agreements, is a way for the NWO to establish a “one world government” through globalisation, as no other approach appears to be viable any longer.

“It’s not a partnership. All the countries which participate will be subjected to more rules than they ever had before. The TPPA is not about free trade, it’s about trade subjected to all kinds of laws and regulations, exposing countries to be sued by the international courts.”

The founder of PGPF also claimed that the countries that remain “recalcitrant” or refuse to conform to the trade agreement will be threatened by economic sanctions under this NWO. Among others, Dr Mahathir listed down Iran and Russia as examples.

The TPPA is a free trade agreement that has been negotiated by the US, Malaysia and nine other nations as part of the larger Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership since 2010.

In a very slick and attention grabbing presentation Dr Thomas PM Barnett claimed that the world today is a much safer place, there have been no epidemics like the Spanish Flu that took more than 60 million lives, that even AIDS and Ebola have not decimated populations. In the first 35 years after the nuclear bomb was developed there were 7 countries that acquired the weapon and became members of the Nuclear Club. But in the next 35 years, only 2 new members qualified to join that club. While many other countries have nuclear capability, no nuclear war has been fought and no bomb has been dropped on any target since 1945. While the Cuban Crisis heightened tensions between the two superpowers, namely the US and the then USSR, nothing untoward happened, except that the dangers were highlighted.

While Dr Barnett acknowledged the many failures in US policy in many parts of the world, he claimed that the US has put in place measures that seem to penalise itself more than other economies.

“Globalisation comes with rules. US pioneered the creation of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the general agreement on trade and tariffs that became the WTO,” Barnett said, referring to the World Trade Organisation.

“Well, the country most sued, since the WTO court was created, was the US. The country that has lost more suits than anybody else in the world in the WTO court, has been the US,” he added.

Barnett, who is an author and public speaker [former Pentagon official and professor at the US Navy War College], further claimed that the US has even allowed the emergence of rival trading blocs such as the BRICs — comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China – and MINT – made up of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey, instead of stifling them.

However the presentation by the US security adviser came in for some heavy criticism from many others. Almost all speakers insisted that jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State were funded by the US and its allies, which included the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel.

“They say Muslims are terrorists, but it just so happens that terrorists are Made in America. They’re not the product of Muslim society, and that should be abundantly clear to everyone on this floor,” said Dr Michel Chossudovsky, the University of Ottawa’s Emeritus Professor of Economics.

“The global war on terrorism is a fabrication, a big lie and a crime against humanity,” added the  founder of the Centre for Research on Globalisation. He added that the global war on terrorism was then used as justification for Islamophobia and to enact anti-terrorism laws that he claimed inadvertently demonised Muslims in the Western world through methods such as racial profiling.

Prof Chossudovsky asserted that NATO and the Turkish High Command were also responsible for recruiting members of IS and al-Qaeda’s affiliate the Al Nusra Front, while Israel is funding “global jihad elements inside Syria”.

In a rather moderate tone and providing the perspective from an Islamic viewpoint was Dr Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah in Indonesia, an organization that has 29 million members. A staunch supporter of the Inter-Faith movement, he reminded the audience of what the Holy Koran reveals about faith, hope and belief. He stressed there was a need for tolerance, for understanding and goodwill in the fight against terrorism.

Malaysian scholar and social activist, Dr Chandra Muzaffar provided the strongest arguments to debunk Dr Barnett’s theory that the world is in a much better shape now than ever before when he made reference to the many flaws in US policy that had far reaching consequences, such as the overthrow of the legitimate Salvador Allende government in Chile, the establishment of the rule of Shah Reza Pahlawi in Iran in 1953 and several others, all engineered by the US. All these had disastrous consequences.

Total US support for Israel and its actions allows that country to label anyone not agreeing with their occupation of Palestine as “terrorists”.

Dr Chandra also pointed out Muslims are being manipulated by the US to create a state of fear and turmoil. Liberation movements in may troubled spots have support in terms of armaments and funding. He asked if anyone had truly looked at the situation in Ukraine and at the historical perspective with regard Crimea. He stressed that it was the Palestinians who faced the greatest challenges.

Providing the Lebanese viewpoint was a former general and currently a professor of geopolitics at the American University of Beirut was Elias Hanna, who described the current situation in his country as most stable and peaceful. Once the hotbed of insurgency, political unrest, and sectarian conflict, the country is recovering from the earlier turmoil and playing an active role in Middle East affairs. Whilst Southern Lebanon was once the soft belly of the nation and needed Syrian support, Lebanon now provides a buffer zone for Syria in the Golan Heights.

Long time investigative journalist and a former editor of Japan Times, Yoichi Shimatsu provided shocking evidence of Israeli involvement in many of the calamities of recent times. Initial information, even before the start of an official inquiry into MH17, raise serious questions of whether Israeli intelligence tampered with the flight controls and radar identification(transponder) system of the Malaysian-operated Boeing-777.

Security at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam is operated by ICTS, an Israeli-owned airport security company based in The Netherlands founded by former officers of the Shin Beit intelligence agency. Its subsidiaries are also involved in key security functions there.

In concluding remarks, PGPF adviser and former minister Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim also blamed the Western world for tarnishing Islam by calling the militant group Islamic State, claiming that the rest of the world had unquestioningly followed suit.

The so-called Islamic State or IS militant group should be referred to as a terrorist or extremist group, instead of what it is called now. He said the ‘Islamic State’ was a crucial term and it gave a sinful connotation to an Islamic state itself.

“One cannot accept IS as referring to Islamic State just like that. It (IS militant group) is evil. An Islamic state is not evil. An Islamic state is dictated by syariah law.”

The term Islamic State was widely used because the United States used it.

“Because the United States uses that word, we use that word as well,” he added.

At a news conference later, PGPF president Tun Dr Mahathir said the IS militant group was not an Islamic state but a bunch of terrorists.

“We were introduced to the term, Islamic State, by the United States and we accept it. This is not an Islamic state but a terrorist group. They might have been trained and supplied with weapons and money by those who call them IS.

“Therefore, we need to think over why the IS comprises Muslims who kill fellow Muslims,” he said.

Western tobacco industries find new markets in the Eastern Countries

While the western world had been quite successful in curbing cigarette smoking significantly by imposing various restrictions, tobacco smoking is increasing at an alarming rate in the eastern world. Smoking of famous western-brand cigarette is viewed as possessor of higher societal status and financial capability in the east. Ill-effects of smoking is falling in deaf ears! Passive i.e. non-smokers suffer more than the active smokers. The article below sheds some light as to how western tobacco companies are compensating their ever-shrinking domestic market with those ever-growing new markets in the east as well as in Africa.

Industry makes $7,000 for each tobacco death
(Reuters) / 20 March 2015

Worrying smoking trends seen among women

London —The tobacco industry makes $7,000 for each of the more than 6 million people who die each year from smoking-related illness, the health campaign group World Lung Foundation (WLF) said on Thursday.

Last year, more than 5.8 trillion cigarettes were smoked, similar to 2013, as rising tobacco use in China counters declines in other countries, according to a report on Thursday led by WLF.

In their global Tobacco Atlas (http://www.tobaccoatlas.org/), the WLF and the American Cancer Society said that in 2013, the last year for which detailed figures were available, tobacco industry profits were more than $44 billion. Meanwhile, 6.3 million people died from smoking-related illness, equivalent to a profit of $7,000 for each death caused by tobacco.

The report said that, if current trends continue, a billion people will die from smoking and exposure to tobacco this century.

Besides causing lung cancer, which is often fatal, tobacco use is also a major risk factor for a range of other illnesses. It is the world’s leading preventable cause of premature death from chronic conditions such as heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure.

In China, the world’s most populous country, almost 2,250 cigarettes were smoked per person over age 15 last year, making it one of only around a dozen countries topping 2,000.

The average Chinese smoker consumes 50 percent more than in 1980, a symptom of a broader phenomenon, as tobacco use declines or is stable in many wealthy, developed nations but growing in poorer regions such as Africa and parts of Asia.

“The significant reductions in smoking rates in the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, and other countries that implement increasingly tight tobacco control laws have been offset by the growing consumption in a single nation: China,” the report said.

Many countries around the world have introduced some anti-tobacco laws, including curbing advertising and banning smoking in enclosed spaces such as bars, restaurants and offices.

But the Tobacco Atlas found that only 10 percent of the world’s population are covered by comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and only 16 percent by comprehensive smoke-free legislation.

Low- and middle-income countries now account for more than 80 percent of tobacco users and tobacco-related deaths.

The Tobacco Atlas also found that smoking among women is also on the rise, driving up rates of female lung cancer.

In an indication of future trends, there are 24 countries where girls smoke more than boys, compared to just two countries where more women smoke than men, it said.

“Whether it’s the link between tobacco and increasing rates of lung cancer among women or the ever-increasing number of health conditions and deaths related to tobacco use, the health and economic case for reducing tobacco use has never been clearer,” said John Seffrin, chief executive of the ACS.

Two things that reach towards the sky...

Yes, of course, the skyscrapers, but why are they so-called when they don't even get close to scraping the sky?! Go figure...

statically determinate structures

dynamically uplifting structures

Speaking of Statue of [Ms] Liberty ...

As a sequel to the Statue of Liberty in my previous post, I now take the liberty of presenting some more information of (non-)interest.

The French worked their but* off to meticulously build the Statue of Liberty [a female figure].

But they forgot to put "the thingie" on her which did not escape the ever-vigilant eyes of  "mad-as-hell" folks at the MAD magazine... :-)

She has, by the turn of events in this day and age, become to symbolise America's ever-growing "BIG BROTHER is watching you" nature (i.e. mass surveillance, indefinite detention & killings without judicial oversight, police-state brutality, gradual erosion of civil rights, harassment/racial profiling by homeland security -- to name a few) as has been captured by a conscientious cartoonist.

History repeats itself

Every time history repeats itself the price goes up. -Anonymous

History ... is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. But what experience and history teach is this--that peoples and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it. - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles. -Karl Marx

History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manliness, and have thus prepared themselves for destruction as soon as the the movements of the world gave a chance for it. - Walter Bagehot (The Third World)

Note: Some of the statues on Easter Island have already faced their downfall as we would probably expect of the statue of liberty (figuratively speaking) in the next century.

When America is hated ...

The immigrant rendezvous is also detested by a section of people -- both domestically & internationally...

Is that what makes America a great country?

You be the judge!

 

 

At the entrance of a Russian Shopping Mall

Protest march in Uganda

Protest march in Yemen

and many more similar evidences exist...

US immigration in a nutshell

The United States of America is rightly touted as

Till now she has an open door immigration policy

This migration trend started with the Western European migrants

coming ashore & thronging at the Ellis Island processing centre

 Then came the Eastern Asian migrants...

The Turks

even the Punjabis

 However, once in America, they all become molded in her unique melting pot

At times, America become paranoid about her immigrant population...

Other times, the worry is about illegal entrants. So she sends stern & panic messages...

The agitated illegal entrants then demand for a piece of the pie...

claiming that

or reminding the lawmakers [most of whom or their ancestors were once immigrants anyway!] to learn the true history...

even try to justify their stance drawing biblical inspiration...

The lawmakers recall their sorry plight had the native Americans not allowed them to enter this "land of free" in the first place!

So, they back down & every now and then, call for immigration reform...

And yes, the above is almost equally applicable to America's cousin [i.e. Canada] who take immigrants and give some of her intake to America. ha, ha, ha...

The changed population demography of America now looks like this:

Altering her flag at every ripple...

But one question lingers on one's inquisitive mind: Why do they use the term 'alien' for immigrants? It definitely adds to the confusion to the alien lurkers riding on their UFOs ?!

'nuff said...
ciao for now!