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4thought.tv: who would you like to be the new Pope?
I was featured on 4thought.tv earlier this week as part of a range of people commenting in advance of the Papal election on who should be the next Pope. You can hear my thoughts by clicking through the video.continue reading
Selling impossible dreams
This article was just published in EMEL magazine.
Yes, it's true, you too can be perfect. L'Oreal can give you the perfect hair, Oil of Olay can give you perfect skin, and Ralph Lauren can dress you in the coolest clothes.
You too can be like the perfect models in their adverts. You just need to believe in the dream, and oh yes, cough up a few pennies to buy the products. Thick glossy hair created by L'Oreal products, demonstrated by Cheryl Cole. Smooth wrinkle free skin under your eyes courtesy of Oil of Olay, as seen on model Twiggy, and a hip outfit demo'd on skinny models at Lauren.
Cole spends up to £200,000 per year to achieve her beauty, of which hair extensions are a regular cost. L'Oreal don't feel it is misleading for her to promote their products even though their shampoo could never give the look of Cole's extension-enhanced hair. The Advertising Standards Authority said this level of deception was acceptable because for two out of the thirty seconds of the TV advert, in small writing, it indicates that 'some' extensions may have been used. Twiggy's advert for wrinkle-reducing eye-cream had all her under-eye wrinkles airbrushed out in post production.
Ralph Lauren's model had been photoshopped so that her head was bigger than her pelvis. When criticism of the adverts was posted online, their lawyers sent round threatening letters to silence the critics.
The beauty industry justifies airbrushing because it claims it is selling a dream. But their products are sold based on a deception and incapable of delivering the advertised airbrushed perfection.
These are con artists – people who set out to sell a product to meet a state that has been manufactured to be unattainable. And con artists have always existed.
Yet we are deceived today into believing this perfection is attainable through a number of more modern tools. We have a more visual culture now, where images visualise on giant billboards the perfection that our lives ought to be. Of course, those lives are airbrushed and carefully staged, impossible for the products to deliver against. However, because we can now actually see the utopia that the products will turn our lives into, the impossible dream reaches a new dimension – suggesting to the believing innocent eye that the impossible is in fact possible.
But the bigger problem is this: selling dreams that can never be realised is now sanctioned. Corporations have now established as legitimate 'right' to sell impossible-to-achieve dreams.
The financial sector sold things that were never real, products that were derivatives of products and not real actual things. We were told this was good for us and for our economy. But what was sold was so vapid and intangible that it took but a blink of an eye for it to disappear. No wonder ordinary people with ordinary common sense were left baffled as to where did all the money suddenly go? The boom was built on fluff that never existed and as soon as one part of the manufactured dream was exposed as an ephemera, the whole thing vanished in an instant.
Political parties are doing the same – they create a brand like "Broken Britain" and then 'solve' it with their own branding and puff. The Conservative party will solve Broken Britain with Big Society. It's all just so much upper case branding, and so little real product.
Even extreme religious leaders sell the 'dream' of paradise to persuade innocents into killing themselves and others. They say: it's us or them, and then offer a solution of violence and criminality, where the death of innocent people is airbrushed out of the equation, and utopia is created from an act of violence.
We've institutionalised the legitimacy of selling a dream that can never become reality. In fact, selling dreams has been made to seem to be a good thing because shopping for a dream life is supposedly in the interests of consumers. We've been told that what consumers want most is to buy into a dream. No matter the hollow feeling that's left when failing to achieve perfection from oversold products.
We've been told that the fluff and stuff is important in creating our dream lives. Fluff is not fulfilling. And aspiring to something impossible simply results in heartache.
Our institutions are condoning selling ephemeral intangible fluff, rather than real things that will make things better in real terms. But it is to producing and selling real things, that can achieve real outcomes, based in reality, that we must return.continue reading
1001 Inventions exhibition: discover Muslim heritage and re-discover the excitement of science
Over the weekend I went to the see the "1001 Inventions – Muslim heritage in our world" exhibition at the Science Museum, which is based on the website and book of the same name.The exhibition consists of a number of stands like the one in the picture, under different themes like medecine, market and town. There are intriguing exhibits like Al-Jazari's elephant clock, model wind-turbines pre-dating Dutch windmills, in Afghanistan to harness renewable energy (a lesson for today's green energy activists?) as well as plenty of information like Muslim scholars predicted the world's circumference to within 125 miles 8 centuries ago, and Muslim doctors pioneered cataract removal and the use of catgut around that time as well.
The whole exhibition is a revelation about the "Dark ages" where in fact many discoveries were made that have laid the foundations for today's modern science – dispelling the absurd myths that the Muslim world was devoid of creativity, invention or contribution. Quite the opposite. From this perspective, the exhibition is a must see for historical, cultural as well as of course scientific knowledge.From a personal perspective though, it was the short film starring Ben Kingsley as a mysterious polymath from a golden age that captured my imagination. The film was broadcast at regular intervals on a huge screen in the exhibition hall. It re-ignited my childhood excitement for discoveries, and the incredible wealth of science that we have around us today. The story follows a group of school children spending the day at a museum investigating the science discovered in various eras of history. The teacher hands the assignment for "The Dark Ages" with pity to three children, warning them that they are unlikely to find much if anything. As they enter the library section they are greeted with the mysterious Ben Kingsley. He conjures up secrets from the period, and summons various scientists and philosophers to explain their secrets to the children. Once I'd got past the Harry Potter-esque introduction, I too was swept away by the enormity of the scientific findings and the graphics are magical enough to create a tingling about how science itself is magical.The stories of these Muslim scientists and their myriad of inventions left me feeling inspired to discover the secrets of the universe… All in all, an afternoon well-spent.continue reading
The Muslim wedding, British manners and the Minister who walked out
This article has just been published at the Times Online.
Politics.co.uk carries this report on Jim Fitzpatrick, the Minister for Food, Farming and Environment, who walked out of a Muslim marriage ceremony in his constituency, apparently in a state of shock that men and women would be segregated and sit apart.
Our guest blogger, Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, author of Love in a Headscarf, argues, with justification, that Fitzpatrick was extremely rude to the couple in question. What do you think?
Shelina writes: Fitzpatrick's constituency, Poplar and Canning Town, includes Tower Hamlets which has a 35 per cent Bangladeshi Muslim population. He claims, rather surprisingly, that he was unaware of the custom of segregation at Muslim weddings. It worries me that the representative of a ward where a large minority are Muslim is completely ignorant of this tradition. I'm even more shocked that he is proud to profess his ignorance. Whether he likes or dislikes the custom is a different matter: surely he ought to be aware of how a significant chunk of his community conduct a central event in their personal lives. What else is he ignorant of?
Let's start with the meaning of integration. Fitzpatrick says that separate seating for men and women is stopping integration. Yet here is a family who only knows him through a friend and possibly as their MP, inviting him to their most important day. That to me is reaching out and encouraging integration.
Then we can move onto good manners. Weddings have always been a very personal matter and as with all occasions, there is etiquette which the guests must follow. If there is one thing that the British can truly pride themselves on, it is (or at least used to be) excellent manners. We know how to respond to invitations, use the right cutlery, queue in line. In fact many a book over the centuries has been written on developing the right social graces. The bride and groom are under no obligation as to who they invite to the wedding, and to be invited at all is a great honour. And at a time when budgets are tighter than ever, and weddings are becoming increasingly expensive, it is a real privilege to be invited to someone's wedding.
I feel very sad for the bride and groom that their special day has been hijacked by a rude ungracious guest who decided that their personal choices for the day were not to his taste.
But here is the rub of Fitzpatrick's ignorance. Segregated weddings are extremely commonplace and have been so for decades. Only a handful of the many Muslim weddings I have attended in my life have not been segregated. And this is not just the case in Britain but all over the world. Women have their own celebrations, as do the men, and both of these are incredibly joyful vibrant occasions. A half-Iraqi half-English Muslim friend who married a British born Bangladeshi had her marriage celebration for women only, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Her husband is delighted that the women got to "let their hair down" (literally in some cases of hijab-wearers). A wedding I attended in Bahrain of a minor royal was held in a glamorous marquee catering for a thousand people. Nine hundred and ninety nine were women. The groom popped in briefly to give his bride the ring.
If we look closer to home, segregation is still prevalent in other wedding traditions too. Some orthodox Jewish marriages are segregated. And we still hold dear to our separation of the stag night and hen do. Would Fitzpatrick have wanted to take his wife along on a drunken weekend in Prague?continue reading
Questions on a postcard please
This was published in the April edition of EMEL Magazinecontinue reading
I have been missing out on a lucrative business opportunity. Facing a credit crunch before us, and being encouraged by the PM to fight the recession, I have registered a domain name and created my own Cyberservice which I believe will plug a much needed gap in t he Muslim market.
I base my new venture on investigations into what appears to be a worrying trend in the Muslim psyche. As a set of global communities we are facing unprecedented change and challenges, one of the most significant of which is the nature and relationship of Muslims with Authority. I write it with an uppercase 'A' because it seems we are not sure what the archetype of authority should be, and given the various kinds of authority we all deal with on a day to day level, we are not sure how we should relate to it.
We have Muslim countries whose leaders do not necessarily seem to follow an Islamic ethos. We have others who seek to impose their interpretation of Islamic law with great vigour undifferentiatedly across their entire populations. We have some Muslims who argue that we must follow scholars no matter what, and others who argue the opposite that we must use our own minds and our independent thinking to reach the answers.
'Twas ever thus, for the question of who has authority and how it ought to be exercised, questioned and obeyed lie at the heart of Islam. Even the Prophet's own authority was constantly questioned, and Muslims under his watch lived under a number of different rulers including the Christian King of Abyssinia, the Meccans who had not embraced Islam, and in fact rejected it thoroughly, as well as leadership of the Prophet himself.
There are two major changes however that do raise new challenges in our understanding of authority. The first is the immediacy of global connectivity. Where once the religious leader you followed – or opposed – was determined by your geographical location, now we have a global marketplace of leaders who are accessible through websites, video clips and television. It sometimes feels like scholars have to go out touting for business, and 'image' is everything.
The internet has brought another trend with it – the democratisation of knowledge. This is a good thing – knowledge is the lifeblood of Islamic life, and the immediacy, depth and range of information that is now available for people to educate themselves easily and freely is unparalleled. But how to choose which information is accurate and measured?
The challenge for Muslims is to face the combination of all of this readily accessible information with modernity's all-powerful individual and with an insecure – and unfounded – desperation to prove that their own understanding of Islam is always alwaysright. The outcome? A global nation of individuals who claim to have all the answers, unwilling to listen or to ask new questions, and who consequently are always stuck in the same debates: the veil, segregation, Islamism, the West.
With the constant spotlight on Muslims, we are expected to have answers to every question that anyone asks about Islam. But we are also guilty of not being able to just ask questions and spend time discussing them. We don't need to have a fixed pre-determined answer for absolutely everything. There is a joy and a creativity in asking questions, allowing others to explore them and then engaging in a dialogue about potential answers.
We need to re-introduce to our vocabulary questions that begin "why" "how" "what if…" We must have enough space to ask questions. Enough time to sit and be with those questions and be able to explore them, and enough confidence and openness to listen to those who propose answers at first or even second glance we do not agree with. Our desperate need to have answers to absolutely every single question has led to an outsized proliferation of the fatwa, where any and all questions are asked. There is indeed a place to ask those who have more knowledge and more wisdom for guidance on matters which we are unclear about, but it is worrying that we'll ask anyone anything, even things that appear to be common sense and in line with our fitrah, our conscience.
So, to make sure I cash in on this trend while it lasts, my new online business is this: DialaFatwa.Com. Am I being irreverent? It's a good question to ask.
What's love got to do with it?
This article was recently published in EMEL Magazine.
February plays host to Valentine's Day, and to the declaration of those 'three little words.' But what exactly are those three little words, and what do they reveal about our modern psyche?
A colleague of mine will be abroad, but will be sending flowers to his wife with the message: "I'm sorry I can't be there to take you out for an over-priced meal. Here are some over-priced flowers instead." He humorously conveys his love, but his words reflect a modern-day fatigue of being told what, when and how to feel, beholden to the manufacturing and commercialisation of emotion.
"Happy Hallmark Holiday" encapsulates our disillusion with modern angst for total perfection. Our very real, natural and rough-round-the-edges human processes are turned into flawless airbrushed ideals that do not resemble our lived experiences.
At the opposite extreme of expressing our feelings, we face another far too common three word phrase: "it is bid'ah", denying our natural fitrah to express love. Last year, the Saudi Vice Police were sent to all shops the week before Valentine's Day to ensure that nothing red-coloured was sold. Kuwaiti MPs declared that Valentine's Day was 'not compatible with our values.' The Internet is replete with questions asking whether Valentine's Day is haram, halal or bid'ah.
How did Muslims reach the point where we ask legal authorities about matters of celebrating love? Consider other questions that are asked: "Is falling in love allowed in Islam?" or "Can a husband express his love to his wife?" They reflect the increasingly legalistic approach that Muslims are taking in all matters of life.
Today, as Muslims, we have become servants of the law, instead of the law serving us in order to achieve higher spiritual perfection. Abiding by the law is not a purpose in itself: it is a means to an end. It is critical to respect the law, and our jurists and scholars, but we must be careful not to derive a false satisfaction from following the law for the law's sake over striving towards the underlying objectives of the law. Our current pre-occupation with legalities rather than ethos is directly connected to the fact that we have become unclear about our goals, our values and our principles as human beings who follow the faith of Islam.
Bluntly put, we focus on the minutiae instead of freeing ourselves to ask world-changing questions. Let's ask our scholars big questions that focus on Islam's concern for all human beings. If Islam is about social welfare for the whole of humanity, then let's ask: how do we use the institutions of zakat to put an end to world poverty? If the Prophet emphasised education by saying 'seek education even to China', then how do we ensure that every child goes to school? If Islam is concerned with physical as well as spiritual well-being, how do we ensure healthcare reaches all human beings?
What of those other three little words, "I love you"? We often hear that Christianity is the religion of love, but Islam – wrongly in my opinion – is characterised as far from this. Why is Islam portrayed in this way?
We must challenge the ideas that modern discourse – which includes Muslims themselves who have been brought up on a diet of legalistic directives – perpetuates that Muslims and Islam are lacking in love, or worse, are averse to it. The discussion of love – for Islam by its nature is predicated on love – is critical to our survival and contribution to the modern world. So much so, that I wanted to explore these forgotten ideas of love that underpin the very essence of being a Muslim, with humour, humanity and lightness of touch. The title and subject-matter of my forthcoming book, Love in a Headscarf, for these very reasons creates surprise at the juxtaposition of the idea of Muslims and love.
Muslims say that Islam is the religion of peace. Some go further and say that it is the religion of justice, and that justice underpins peace. I would go further still and say that Islam is the religion of Rahmah, compassion. For compassion to be exercised, justice must already be inherent. But compassion also expels the lurking remnants of hatred, fear and pain through love. Hate cannot push out hate, only love can push out hatred. Allah insists we know Him by His name Rahman, the Lovingly Compassionate. We too must reclaim our role as the people of Rahmah.continue reading
The Jewel of Medina – Sherry Jones meets Bridget Jones
The following review that I have written of the book has just been published by the BBC
A romantic telling of the life of one of the wives of Islam's prophet has caused controversy among some Muslims – and its publication has been indefinitely postponed in the UK amid fears of a violent reaction. But is The Jewel of Medina actually any good? Blogger Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is one of the few people in Britain to have read it.
The Jewel of Medina is a chest-heaving, brassiere-busting book of outrageously tacky historical romantic fiction.
Some parts of the media are suggesting that this book is at the forefront of defending free speech. The author wants it to reach out to solve our global problems of intercultural dialogue. Between them they had me rolling around on the floor laughing.
The book claims to tell the story of Aisha, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad, through her own eyes, from the age of six, through adolescence and into adulthood. But although she lives through one of the most dramatic periods of history, the narrative conveys little of the enormity of the changes of the era, and of which Aisha was a huge part.
Sherry Jones, the author, says she wanted her book to be "at once a love story, a history lesson and a coming-of-age tale".
In order to do so, she fabricates a storyline about a lover, Safwan, whom Aisha runs away with – but then decides to leave and return to Muhammad.
But this invented plot dominates, leaving barely any room for the real history and importance of her story.
Whether you believe her to be fact, fiction or fantasy, and Muslims believe her to be very real, Aisha is of great significance in global history. The one fifth of the world population who are Muslim regards her as the wife of the Prophet Muhammad and a "mother of the believers".
She is said to have been a leading scholar and teacher and recounted many of the traditions about the personality of Muhammad.
Muslims hold Muhammad, Aisha and other religious figures very close to their hearts, dearer to them than their own parents, and just as much to be respected, protected and defended.
Muslims believe they went through enormous hardship in order to keep the spiritual message of faith intact, and in return wish to honour their contribution. This is to be carried out in a measured and peaceful manner, in keeping with the spirit of Islam that advises returning harsh words with good ones, and malice with mercy.
With this in mind, I would have ignored this book and let it fade into obscurity. Allowing the book to be remembered only for the lack of interest it generated would have been the ultimate poetic justice. The original publisher pulled out – and those parts of the media who wanted to stir things up said Muslims wanted it banned.
So, in order to find out what the (manufactured) fuss was about, I found myself spending 12 dreary hours reading this cringe-worthy melodramatic prose. Even if you feel that it is your duty to read it in the defence of freedom of speech, don't do it, I beg you. Go out and enjoy the last sunny days of autumn, play with your children, watch paint dry. You'll thank me for it.
So let's deal with its literary merits. If you're a man, you'll probably hate this bodice-ripper. If you like well-written prose, then you should steer clear too. What it does have going for it is pace and saucy pre-TV-watershed romance.
Open it randomly and you read churning phrases such as: "His eyes like honey flowed sweet glances over my face and body," or "Is your young bride ripe at last?" Grab a crumbling Flake and a pot of ice-cream.
The author claims she wants to humanise Aisha, to reach out to the Muslim world and to create debate. I found the opposite of this spirit in the book. Muslims will not recognise the characters and stories here because they vary so wildly with recorded history. As the copyright note makes clear, this is a work of fiction.
Take, for example, the night of "Hijrah". This was the moment when the first band of Muslims left the hostile city of Mecca to move to Medina where Islam flourished – a turning point in Islamic history. But the book changes events to place Aisha at the house of Muhammad.
Jones changes the very essence of these individuals, so their characters are at odds with historical traditions. Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet, as well as one of the great leaders of early Islam, is portrayed as conniving, hot-tempered and lascivious. The Islamic texts document him as a consistently staunch defender of truth and justice, an upstanding character.
So, if you drive a wedge between Muslims and others by fictionalising core characters, how can the book be a platform for debate?
Jones admits that she has introduced concepts that were absent from the period and place to help to create her story. For example, Aisha is put into purdah, seclusion, as a child, but this is an Indian sub-continental idea then unknown to Arabia.
A huge focus of Aisha's energies is to become the hatun, the lead wife, and make all the other wives bow to her. But hatun is a Turkish concept – and bowing is contrary to all Islamic teachings.
What we end up with is an outdated Orientalist reading of an exoticised woman.
Aisha's angst is the angst of 19th Century western writers who couldn't understand the culture they were observing. And when they couldn't understand, they maligned the ideas they found unfamiliar, such as veiling of women like Aisha.
The result is an awkward unconvincing story, created to fit a pre-existing pre-determined idea of what life for Muslim women ought to be like. The cover art is The Queen of the Harem, a 19th Century Orientalist painting of a European-looking woman.
Sex, sex and more sex
The most irritating thing is its constant obsession with sex. The author sees it everywhere and in everything, and makes Aisha do the same. Her life is reduced to a parody of a smutty Bridget Jones diary.
I lost count of the references to "child bride". Even till relatively modern times, marriage for women in their early teens was completely natural and common in parts of the world, including Europe.
Many Muslims will indeed be offended by this book, and they should make clear why they feel hurt. If our society upholds the right to offend, then the right to be offended goes with it. But it is respect and empathy for their feelings that Muslims want, not fear.
What we need for debate and discussion are accessible histories of all the key figures in Islamic history. As Muslims, instead of honouring these individuals blindly, we will accord them much more respect by opening our eyes to their achievements through critical re-examination of their lives. This cannot be done in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.
Some Muslims oppose a style of writing and analysis that offers insights into the very human lives these individuals led.
I believe this opposition is misplaced, because that is what we already do with the words and deeds of the Prophet, known as the hadith: we read, empathise and re-apply the essence of those day-to-day experiences.
The crucial issue in creating positive understanding and dialogue through such writings is that they must be historically sound, and see the world through the experiences, morality and realities of the protagonists themselves.continue reading
The Global Ummah Needs to Start Local
Muslims are rightly proud of the diverse global ummah, but we should be more willing to embrace the diversity of the British Muslim communities, and channel it to drive forward new ideascontinue reading
Outside of the period of hajj in Makkah, the UK is home to the most diverse Muslim community in the world. The extraordinary mix of ethnic origins and opinions from across the theological spectrum make it a unique moment in the history of the Muslim world, representing a microcosm of the diversity that Islam has always aspired to.
Islam and Muslims have travelled fluidly through history – across the Arabian Peninsula on horseback, by boat along the Eastern coasts of Africa and across to India and into the South Indian seas. It was often trade, by sea, or across the Silk Road, that flung Muslims eastward to China and Indonesia and west towards Morocco and Spain. In fact, records of the slave trade to the Americas suggested that Muslims had made it across the Atlantic long ago.
The re-drawing of national boundaries, wars, post-colonialism and the ease of travel and communication which have been the driving forces of the twentieth century, have once again shuffled Muslims around the world. Their movement has been mostly into Europe and North America, and nowhere has this redistribution and melting pot of Muslims been more apparent than in the UK.
In 2001, the British census estimated that there were 1.6 million Muslims in the UK, a number which is now forecast to be close to 2 million. This makes Muslims the second largest faith group in the country, and Muslims make up more than half of the non-Christian faith community. Almost three quarters of Muslims in the UK are from an Asian ethnic background. Those from Pakistan make up 43 per cent, from Bangladesh 16 per cent and Indians and other Asians make up 14 per cent. We probably could have guessed that. But did you know that 17 per cent consider themselves to be from a 'white' background, whether that is White British, Turkish, Cypriot, Arab or Eastern European? And did you know that 6 per cent of Muslims are of Black African origin, from North and West Africa, particularly Somalia.
We also know that all these figures are out of date, and show little of those of Middle Eastern origin who have joined us on this green and pleasant land in the last few years. If you haven't spotted your country on the list, then you make up that great overlooked fact of British Muslims – that they come from all the blessed corners of this God's great earth.
But so what?
First, it is important to take note of these astounding facts. We live in an historic time and place for Muslims. We have more ideas, cultures and perspectives in a concentrated space than ever before, to inspire, motivate and produce more than ever before. If ever we were to create something overwhelming, tumultuous and inspirational, then the time has never been more ripe. The great age of Muslim learning flowered because minds were open to new ideas, perspectives and cultures. Thinkers would wait eagerly for new books and learnings to travel across the ethnicities and languages of the Muslim world.
Islam is also about appreciating different people and knowing them. The Qur'an is quite clear about this, and Muslims love to quote that Allah created people into "tribes and nations" so that we may "know each other". We take positive pride in the diversity across the global Ummah. We claim that we love all our brothers and sisters, and that we feel their pain, wherever and whoever they are! Of course, this statement of bravado only lasts as long as we don't have to go to a mosque that 'belongs' to those of a different ethnicity. As long as we don't have to marry them. As long as we don't have to have children with them. As long as we don't have to work in communities together. There are exceptions, but they are relatively few.
We will protest vehemently for the Palestinian cause, and we may deplore the terrible situation in Iraq, but do we know any Palestinians or Iraqis here in the UK? It is easier to care for those thousands of miles away, then to look after those on our doorstep.
Nowhere in the world do we have more opportunity than in the UK, to put into action the ethos that the Prophet taught us – to treat all human beings as equal in worth, and to appreciate our variations and differences. At no time in history have we had the opportunity to infuse so much culture, so many ideas and so much vivacity into the future of Muslims.
History will judge us harshly if we remain enclosed in our ethnic and ideological bunkers. Our future generations will be even less forgiving if we fail to create the magic of cultural fusion and intellectual development that history has shown is in the DNA of the Muslim spirit.
This article was published in The Muslim News
Statistics quoted can be found in greater detail at the National Office of Statistics
Modesty is not a black and white issue
Modest dress is a key component of Islam, but it's important to retain personality and aesthetics in the way we dresscontinue reading
This week I tried out the most extreme black cloak to make it into my wardrobe. A piece of elastic attached it to the top of my head, and then the single piece of long fabric hung snugly over my hair, sweeping over my shoulders and down past my feet. The final flourish was for me to hold together the two edges under my chin. Two eyes, a nose and a squashed mouth peeked through the gap under the black sheet. My husband peered into the bedroom, and nearly dropped his mug of tea.
"You look like a black blob," he said, horrified. "Where have you gone?" He poked underneath the black cloth like a serious Sherlock Holmes. Despite feeling uncomfortable about the cloak, no man was going to tell me how to observe modest dress. "Don't you want me to hide my figure so I'm not attracting attention?" I barked at him. He froze, rabbit in headlights, and then looked at me for a clue.
"Of course I want you to be modest," he said, certain that this was the right answer.
"And isn't this long cloak, the most modest thing I could wear?"
"Well yes. Erm, well no, well yes, no, yes, yeah… no? yes, yes… "
I looked at him sternly, with the if-you-dare glint of a determined Muslim woman, who has pro-actively chosen to wear the headscarf and modest dress. He looked more terrified of me in my new guise of crazy-eyed Muslim harridan than he had of the black blob. But he was right to be distressed.
The question about how we should define modesty is constantly plaguing the Muslim community. Neither men nor women can map out any consistency or meaning in the higgledy-piggledy implementation of the rules of modest behaviour. At work you can interact with the opposite gender but not at Islamic conferences. Muslim men can shake hands with non-Muslim women, but not vice-versa. Brides who normally wear hijab will uncover in front of men to be shown off. In some communities, men will push into the women's section during weddings, but will enforce segregation at home. In others it is the opposite, with women not allowed to participate in mosque management due to the fitnah (division) this could cause, but happily socialising together.
The spirit and implementation of modesty is confused at best. Women and their clothing have become hijacked into being the symbol of how religious we are as a community. If women are properly covered, then everyone seems to think they can rest easy.
Her choice of dress is inextricably linked to a judgement about her spiritual status. At the sober end she is considered overly pious, not to mention excruciatingly dull. By contrast those women who choose not to wear a headscarf, are immediately judged to be irreligious, un-spiritual and not considered to be 'properly' practising. There has been a visible increase in the number of women wearing the hijab (head covering), the jilbab (loose fitting long dress) as well as the niqab (face covering).
Colours are subtle: greys, browns, blues, blacks. These women cite their dress as a freedom, an escape from the body-obsessed post-modern world, as well as a greater commitment to the values of Islam. At the other extreme is the rise of the Muhajababe. Her head covered, she probably wears skinny fit jeans and lycra t-shirts. For her, the headscarf itself has shown her commitment to her Muslim identity and faith.
We sighed simultaneously at the black cloak I was still wearing. "We all end up looking the same, I feel anonymous and unknown. I'm not me anymore," I mourned to him. "Some people say that our voices should not be heard either. I'm part of a black silent mass at the back of the room. Surely individuality is important? Especially if Allah says that there are as many ways to know Him as there are human beings?"
He responded enigmatically: "Each flower that God has created is specifically a different colour, and design. Even when they are closed, they make an effort to show their personality, and individuality."
I squinted dubiously at him. "Does this mean you think women don't need to wear niqab, jilbab or even the hijab?"
"Defining what 'modesty' means isn't easy, and we Muslims spend an awful lot of time on the outward signs like dress and physical separation. Where we need to focus more is on the complex relationships between modesty, personality and aesthetics."
I draped the abaya playfully over his shoulders. "Modesty isn't just for Muslim women to worry about," I reminded him. "To build a strong community we all have to be concerned with inner spirituality as well as outer codes of conduct like dress." Grinning cheesily, I pointed at the cloak: "Modesty is definitely not a black and white issue."
This article was published in The Muslim News
Bishop Nazir-Ali to speak at Interfaith forum about pluralism
Imagine my surprise when I came across a listing for a lecture being held this evening by the East London Three Faiths Forum: "FAITH IN A PLURAL COMMUNITY with Bishop Nazir Ali (Bishop of Rochester)". Surely an interfaith group should be worried about some of the comments he has made?
The Telegraph wrote: 'In an outspoken attack on the custom of Muslim women to cover their faces, the Pakistani-born bishop said that the Islamic community needed to make greater efforts to integrate into British society. "It is fine if they want to wear the veil in private, but there are occasions in public life when it is inappropriate for them to wear it," he said.'
[shelina's comment: if the Bishop knew anything about the veil, then he would know that the concept of wearing it in 'private' is comical – the veil is a public matter, not a private one]
In January 2008 Nazir-Ali wrote that Islamic extremism had turned "already separate communities into 'no-go' areas" and claimed that there had been attempts to "impose an 'Islamic' character on certain areas". When he was challenged to name such areas, by various leading figures including Hazel Blears, he has failed to provide such evidence. He has failed to actually back up such a divisive statement. For a man of faith, it seems a strange way to build up community links and inter-faith work.
I have sent some people along to attend the lecture, and will post up their comments once they are in.continue reading


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Official narrative
The Official Narrative of an event is the story told about it by the establishment. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wikipedia has no page on this important topic - the closest it comes is a generic page about cover-ups.
- 1 Official Narrative
- 2 Official opposition narratives
- 3 Usage on Wikispooks
- 4 "Fringe theories"
- 5 Fabrication by The Establishment
- 6 Examples
- 7 Related Document
- 8 References
Official Narrative
The Official Narrative about Official Narratives is that this is while not necessarily the whole truth, certainly a large part of it and are mistakes are due to accidental oversight or lack of evidence rather than deliberate mendacity. While other narratives are inevitably tainted by the suspicion of self-interest, the authorities are deemed creditworthy - in the establishment's view - by their 'official' nature (and imputed track record of reliability).
The official narrative, like any other narrative is a human creation, and as such may be just as susceptible to human failings, bias, lack of integrity or other such shortcoming as any personal accounts. From the "white man's burden" to "Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction", history is littered with official narratives which were abandoned either because their mendacity was exposed or simply because they had served their purpose and were no longer needed. If the official narratives of yesteryear were packed with self-serving lies, is it reasonable to expect (far less, as the establishment would have it, assume) that the official narratives of the modern day are any less mendacious?
Official narratives are sometimes changed at short notice, and sometimes demonstrably at odds with the facts. For example, the 9/11 Commission report that states that nobody heard explosions in the World Trade Center, ignoring the testimony of dozens of witnesses such as the late Barry Jennings. They are very often inconsistent and/or incomplete (the Commission's first report completely failed to mention WTC7).
Official narratives often lack explicative power and often take a 'lowest common denominator' approach - i.e. By trivializing complex issues they fail to respect the subtleties of the matter at hand. (Who did 9/11?.. "Al-Qaeda, the evil doers". Why?... "Because they hate us." Why?... "Because we're free.") Their lack of subtlety and explicative power means that they increasingly end up as self-referencing faits accomplis, which could be instantly unmasked by a population of critical thinkers. This explains the importance of the commercially-controlled media to the modern deep state.
Legal protection
For a few special topics, official narratives are of such central importance and/or so lacking in credibility that they are buttressed by national law. An outstanding example is provided by The Holocaust; in much of Western Europe, expansive claims of "free speech" notwithstanding, the establishment imprisons those who question this official narrative, terming them "Holocaust Deniers" not for denying but merely questioning the historical record. The Thai constitution states that "No person shall expose the king [of Thailand] to any sort of accusation or action". 478 people were charged there in 2010 with this crime, termed "Lèse majesté".[1]
Partisan nature
By the usual definition (the recorded verdict of the "official" establishment body) the assassination of Martin Luther King has been, after the 1999 successful civil trial by William Pepper, in which a jury unanimously decided that Loyd Jowers conspired with unnamed (US) "governmental agencies" to kill King, demonstrably at odds with the idea of authorities as benevolent and reliable. For this reason, the trial was subject to a partial[2] news blackout by the commercially-controlled media. Wikipedia steadfastly refuses to follow its own policy on this point - preferring instead a set of unsubstantiated allegations that the legal process was "corrupted".[3]
Recent Developments
Especially since 9/11, increasingly organised crowd-sourced efforts (such as this website) are scrutinising official narratives and are successful in undermining their credibility. One ongoing response to such beviour is to attempt to suppress it through casting aspersions about those who carry out such analysis (e.g. labelling as "Conspiracy theorists") another is to ramp up censorship, refusing FOIA Requests and issue less and less by way of official explanations, citing "national security" concerns as an excuse for a culture of secrecy.
Official opposition narratives
Official opposition narratives are establishment-approved stories that run counter the official narrative. This may sound contradictory, but controlling the opposition by leading them is an old tactic. As Theodor Hertzl reportedly counseled "We will lead every revolution against us". In common with official narratives, they cover a strict subset of observable reality, sometimes in ways crafted to appeal to particular groups. Where possible, subterfuge such as distraction or insinuation is preferred to outight lies (which might lead to problems later), but the prefered stategy of dealing with uncomfortable areas (e.g. Cui bono?) is to simply ignore them.
Framing the debate
Noam Chomsky has published eloquently about 'framing the debate' - if you can choose both sides of the debate, there is no need to worry about who wins. For example, "Should we spend more on the war on terrorism now or can it wait until next year?..." "What is the best way to attack Iraq?..." "Which set of policies are the best for us, republican or the democrat?..."
Party politics could have been designed with this strategy in mind. For example, the US 2004 election, Republican Bonesman George W Bush was up against Democrat John Kerry, a fellow Bonesman. So whether you voted republic or democrat, you were voting for the same US secret society, Skull and Bones. As Anthony Sutton noted back in the 1980s such playing of both sides is a standard strategy of the Skull and Bones fraternity.[4]
Controlled media
- Full article: Corporate media
- Full article: Corporate media
Just as the commercially-controlled media is the venue for promulgating official narratives, so it is for official opposition narratives. This insight may explain how many prominent and apparently ardent critics of the establishment turn out to have an unexpected background. Bill Moyers, for example, whose 1987 film The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis introduced many to the concept of the deep state, was White House Press Secretary, a top aide to Lyndon Johnson and a member of the Bilderberg steering committee.
Example Official opposition narratives
- Full article: Iraq War
- Full article: Iraq War
The official opposition narrative to the invasion of Iraq is that it was a terrible mistake. Leaders were given "faulty intelligence", were hawkish, overexcited, even perhaps credulous and they allowed their desire to do good to overcome their good sense. Clear evidence of mendacity (e.g. the Downing Street memo) is more or less ignored and the issue of sincerity of leaders or their prosecution for war crimes does not arise. No mention is made of motivations such as the desire of multinational oil companies for continued easy access to fossil fuels, the massive profits made by mercenary companies and financial institutions.
- Full article: "War on Drugs"
- Full article: "War on Drugs"
One official opposition narrative to the War on Drugs is again that drug prohibition is 'mistaken'. It states that concern for people's welfare has triumphed over the scientific evidence which suggests that the prohibition of drugs harms society and increases criminality. It never asks "Cui bono?"; it is silent on the wider consequences of drug prohibition such the immense profits which accrue from the global drugs trade or the criminalization of huge sectors of society.
Usage on Wikispooks
Many Wikispooks pages begin with an Official Narrative section. This reflects not a high degree of credibility in the official narrative, but rather the fact that:
- Most events have a certain number of indisputable facts which are generally[5] accounted for by the official narrative
- Repetition by government schools and/or the commercially-controlled media means that many readers are more familiar with this perspective than any other
The official narrative serves as a starting point for the ensuing discussion, just as an introductory "Background" section often sets the scene for articles about people by giving some basic facts. Most "official narrative" sections (as on this page) have a "Problems" subsection which highlights some key weaknesses of the official narrative, whether in terms of its internal coherence and implausibility or in terms of its failure to sufficiently explain observed reality.
"Fringe theories"
The opposite to an "official narrative is termed by Wikipedia a "fringe theory", an idea too at odds with the official narrative to be worth contemplating. Wikipedia uses this label as an excuse for censorship. For example, the evidence that nanothermite explosives brought down the World Trade Center, although published in a peer reviewed scientific journal - by Wikipedia's own policy, a strong indication of reliability - is apparently invalidated by addition of the "fringe theory" label.
Fabrication by The Establishment
The spinning of official narratives by the establishment is a routine activity. This process is often the (completely sincere) routine work from officials who prepare press releases or public statements, later edited or soundbyted by the commercially-controlled media for their own purposes. Conscious deception is certainly involved in some cases, but creating official narratives is not necessarily indicative of venality; the majority are probably handled routinely by employees who have this responsibility precisely because their perspectives are sufficiently limited by the regulating group mind that they can be relied upon to create establishment friendly interpretations.
For particularly dramatic deep events such as the 9/11 attacks or the JFK Assassination sometimes one or more "official" investigations are carried out ostensibly to uncover the truth, but in practice more to diffuse discontent and public suspicion and to actually cover up the truth by working out a solid enough alternative version of events, one from which establishment wrongoing has been expurgated and so can be safely promulgated by the commercially-controlled media.
- Full article: Censorship
- Full article: Censorship
Censorship may indicate a duplicitous official narrative. For example, after it was shown on TV on September 11th, 2001, the collapse of WTC7 - in stark contrast to WTC1 & WTC2 - was not broadcast on commercially-controlled media for several years. Where no plausible official narrative can be concocted, this is generally preferred - so where censorship is evident, this may suggests malfeasance.
Another, albeit perhaps rare, motive for censorship is that an official narrative poses a clear challenge to the establishment. The best example of this is the 1999 verdict that the US government was involved in a conspiracy to assassinate MLK. Dramatic underreporting of this event by the commercially-controlled media has meant that most US citizens are still completely unaware of this fact.
The speed of concoction of the official narratives is sometimes revealing. On September 11th, 2001, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers was being attributed to fire[6] and the attacks were blamed on Al-Qaeda within a matter of hours, while the BBC and Fox News notably announced the WTC7 collapse before it actually happened.
|Page name
|CONTEST/Prevent/Official narrative
|File:Cass sunstein conspiracies.pdf
|15 January 2008
|Cass Sunstein
Adrian Vermeule
|Conspiracy theory
|A classic Official Narrative-type exposition of Conspiracy theory and Conspiracy Theorists with recommendations on how governments should deal with them. It is the principal source of the now widely-used expression "Cognitive Infiltration"
|Lockerbie Bombing/Official Narrative
|The Official Narrative about the Lockerbie bombing was presented by former Lord Advocate Colin Boyd on 28 August 2001.
Related Document
|Publication date
|Pilgrims Society Address 2002
|28 November 2002
|Richard Boucher
|Full of platitudes and the obligatory quotations from politicians past to bolster and confirm the essential righteousness of the Pilgrims present. Probably a fairly typical address to The London Pilgrims by a US Embassy Official, but hard to read without squirming at the delusional sanctimonious arrogance it exudes.
This provides an overview of both 'Official narratives' and 'Official opposition narratives' can be used to frame debates in ways that suit the establishment.
- ↑ High time to concede the Thai king can do wrong, 20 July 2011
- ↑ The verdict was reported in the New York Times, which even cited a member of the jury as remarking that "We all thought it was a cut and dried case with the evidence that Mr. Pepper brought to us, that there were a lot of people involved, everyone from the C.I.A., military involvement, and Jowers was involved".
- ↑ By the Washington Post and New York Times.
- ↑ UG#675 - What We're Not Being Told
- ↑ But not always! Note for example, the official narrative of the collapse of WTC7, that it collapsed due to fire, notwithstanding the fact that no steel framed skyscrapers collapsed from fire before or since.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z45hI6YuC-I
|The "Official Narrative" is the cover stor …
The "Official Narrative" is the cover story of "the powers that be". On WikiSpooks this generally means the story intended for citizens of the so-called 'Western Democracies'. This could be the truth, but the term is usually reserved for use in cases in which it departs significantly from the truth (which may be be unclear or completely unknown, cover by a veil of official lies).nknown, cover by a veil of official lies). +
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subset: commoncrawl


text: Shop Celebrity Style: Lauren Bosworth took a break from filming "The Hills" to attend the World Premiere of Cirque Du Soleil's "Viva Elvis". Lauren looked wonderful in white, in this strapless, balloon hem dress by ADAM. She paired her mini with bejeweled Steve Madden platforms and jet black jewelry in the form of Tacori onyx stud earrings and a vintage bracelet.


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[QUOTE=delso;821295]i express (1+i)^9 as 16surd9(cos (9pi/4) +i sin (9pi/4)) and (1-i)^9 as 16surd9(cos (-9pi/4) -i sin (9pi/4))[quote]
This is wrong. and .
I don't know what you mean by 'surd9' but I'm sure you did not mean " "!
, then i divide both, but my ans is (1+i)/(1-i) , which is differnt with the ans given, why cant i do in this way? i have attached the sample ans


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All Originals
Adam Ruins Everything
Hardly Working
Jake and Amir
All Articles
The Morning After: 24 (5/14)
Chris Craft
May 15, 2007
The ep opens with a pretty badass sequence of events at
. You knew the Chinese dudes really hadn't thought this thing through, considering that they kept walking through shitwater on the way over when they could have avoided it all by walking on the side things, so their demise comes as no shock. Liu bitch-slaps Nadia and the hostages are verbally abused while Josh gets spirited away to appease Phillip Bauer.
Jack and Nadia organize a prison break, with Jack breaking Liu's neck and Nadia somehow keeping a guy from shooting her in the face with an M16 until Doyle busts in and shoots the dude. It was really pretty badass on Nadia's part. Think it, if you were sitting on the couch with Nadia, you could probably throw her over the back with one hand, but here she is, handling Chinese mercenary guy? Cool, yet hot.
In the meantime, Cheng gets his little mitts on Josh and chats up Papa Bauer, who remains creepy.
When Phillip tells Josh the whole plan is to go to China, Josh has some thinking to do. On the one hand, he's set up to be a rich white kid in China, and that can't be bad from the booty angle. On the flip side, Papa tells Josh to "keep an open mind", so he's got to expect his pee-pee to get wrongfully touched at some point. Josh makes a break for it in a rooftop chase scene, Cheng is pissed, and Jack gets Cheng in his sights for a moment – but there's just enough of a pause for Josh to lose his grip on a pipe and for Cheng to magically disappear like he's the sixth Deadly Venom or something. Jack rescues Josh (similar to Kim for his ability to get imperiled, dissimilar for obvious reasons) for a brief while.
Washington is still bullshit. Lennox is exposed to the bad porn that is Lisa Miller vs. Mark Bishop, and is visibly annoyed. Bishop notes that Lisa is extra cold in the sack, so Lisa smacks him in the face with a wine glass. After strangling Lisa, Bishop gets taken down by the feds, and he plays ball with the ruse. Unfortunately, the Russians are savvy, and don't buy Powers' chicanery, demanding proof that the component is recovered, or else they'll blow some shit up. Instead of threatening the Russians with the Lisa sex-tape,
Powers calls in the chiefs to explain to him that our supposed central Asian base is probably toast. Suvarov gives Powers two hours to come up with the component or it's adios to Tashkent-com. Meanwhile, Lisa could be brain-damaged due to lack of oxygen to the brain during her recent strangling, which may lead to symptoms such as never changing facial expressions or being unresponsive during sex. In other words, she'll be the same.
Anyway, since the Chinese lost Josh, they don't have shit on Papa Bauer, so he calls Powers to broker the deal, the component for Josh and a ticket out. Powers is down with it, and Josh is nabbed by Doyle as Jack is restrained. Division fuckheads take over
, but everyone tells Nadia that she's hot and shouldn't take shit from anyone. I agree.
Off-Season Romance Update:
Marylin is clearly setting herself up to be Jack's off-season disastrous romance, but is this a good call? Sure, it always seems like a good idea to get back together with an ex after being taken hostage by slicky-boy Asian mercenaries, but has she really thought it through? If Marylin had used some of her downtime at
to check out Jack's file (Appendix D The Ladies), she would quickly savvy to the concept that hooking up with this guy is a losing proposition. The only survivor so far was the spicy desert-cougar from the start of Day 5, and even she's got to be looking over her gently-freckled shoulder by now. Marylin should be surfing J-Date before making any final call.
Major character deathwatch:
Mostly, it seems like a no-brainer from the
preview, so check YouTube for spoilers here. However, I don't think Chloe is going down, it's too obvious. Or is it? Let us know whom you think is going down at email@example.com! Or don't, that's fine.
Filed Under:
The Morning After
We like you. Do you like us too?
Don't ask me again.


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Ok, so I lied (accidentally!), this is the real last wedding related post. After I published the details of our reception, I realized I was missing a very important publication…the thank you's to all the people that contributed to make our wedding just perfect.
First, I gotta thank the fabulous guy behind my bridal hair & makeup, my talented friend Lino Martinez. Not only is he a gem as a stylist, he is one of the kindest, sweetest people I've ever met and I'm lucky to call him a friend. He captured to perfection the look I had envisioned, which was natural and effortlessly pretty. If you are in the Phoenix area, you can find him at Park Avenue Blow Dry Bar & Salon… I promise you, once he does your hair, you'll never let anyone else touch it ever again!
Then comes a huge heartfelt thank you to the talent behind our wedding photography, my friends Steven & Clarissa Toupin. Steven is the one with a passion for photography, the eye behind the camera, but his lovely wife Clarissa played his assistant for the day, and together they proved they're a match made in heaven in more levels than the clearly obvious. They were so diligent in making sure they captured every moment and every detail all throughout the day. I knew they would be awesome, but they surpassed every expectation I had. I keep insisting on Steven becoming officially a professional photographer because so far photography has only been a hobby in his life, but he's so talented and professional, he really needs to start offering up his services to the general public. I feel so fortunate he agreed to be our photographer on our special day.
Finally, a big fat thank you goes out to my bff's, my girls, the ones I can always count on: Dalia Bahena, Ann Tyburski, Mariana Oropeza and Artemisa Salinas. They've been there for me through thick and thin for years, and on my special day, they made sure everything at the reception looked like I had planned. My wedding flowers were all DIY, from my bouquet (another thanks to my dear Lino, he also helped me on this one!) to the centerpieces, and they were the ones to set up the flowers and decorations in the dinning room. They did such a fabulous job, the flowers looked exactly like I had pictured, and everything looked just beautiful. I don't know what I would've done without you friends! An added thank you goes to my girl Dalia, who was my right hand person all day, helping with this and that, putting up with my bossiness without a single complaint…there were no official bridal party titles given, but she truly played the role of my maid of honor, and I can't thank her enough.
So, thank you, thank you, thank you all for making our wedding just perfect! I am forever grateful to have had you all been such a big part of this special day, and even more grateful to have you all as dear friends.
Our Wedding: Gratitude
Ok, so I lied (accidentally!), this is the real last wedding related post. After I published the details of our reception, I realized I was missing a very important publication…the thank you's to all the people that contributed to make our wedding just perfect.


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Lucario appears to be in part 1 (if this battle is more then one episode) so unless Kotesu recalls him, he's likely not making it too far in the battle. And Lucario appearing in January doesn't have to mean Kotesu won, maybe he just leaves Lucario out like he did with RioluWell we would have two more episode in January and Lucario is there, so I believe the battle will take atleast half of the next episode or Kotetsu is the one advancing and figths Virgil.
Its still up in the air who wins.
3DS code:1048-8163-5480Bring the Thunderbolt
Unfezant vs. Ferrothorn - Unfezant
Unfezant vs. Samurott - Samurott (win pretty quickly after the hard fight of Unfezant)
Pignite vs. Samurott - Pignite is recalled
Pikachu vs. Samurott - Pikachu
Pikachu vs. Swanna - Pikachu, then recalled
Oshawott vs. Unknow Pokémon - Unknow Pokémon
Snivy vs. Unknow Pokémon - Snivy
Snivy vs. Riolu - Riolu
Pikachu vs. Lucario (Riolu evolves during the battle) - Lucario
Pignite vs. Lucario - Pignite
Pignite vs. Hydreigon - Hydreigon
Boldore (maybe Gigalith) vs. Hydreigon - Boldore (or Gigalith)
Is this better ? Personnally I pretty like this prediction.
Last edited by Everlasting; 30th November 2012 at 11:07 PM.
❝Take me down to the river.❞
❝Take me down to the river.❞
For the last time this match is for the Top 8 right?
You do all realize that the only reason why Bianca's Emboar beat Kotetsu's Samurott, was because of attract, right?
I'm pretty sure, Pignite will not be able to repeat the success. Not only is it unlikely to know attract (I will hate the writers if Pignite will know attract), it's also not strong enough to do enough damage.
Emboar had attract and strength to do it.
Pignite won't.
Which means their going to screw over 2 COTD battles with Ash, somehow.
Well that means Ash will at least come in Top 4 if he loses to Virgil. At least he won't do worse.
Pignite doesn't have to be battling Kotetsu's first Pokémon though sure, it might be likely.
All that needs to happen is Pignite is sent out first. Maybe Pignite battles Kotetsu's 2nd Pokémon, and Samurott is his third.
Or maybe a double knock out and Ash sends out Pignite first followed by Kotetsu sending out Samurott.
Or maybe Ash genuinely believes his Pignite could beat a Samurott.
I guess Boldor and Pignite failed of taking out that German Dragon
But no, I haven't reconsidered it. I mean Boldore evolving for the hell of it, in the middle of its battle against Hydreigon is worse than my supposed convoluted ideas in the Next Pokémon Thread.
Not saying it won't happen, it could easily happen, but I'm sure a lot of people won't entirely like it.
What is the secret weapon agian?
Spoiler:- Game Teams:
Black 2(8/8 badges): emboar, Vaporeon, roserade, Lucario,fraxure, Magnezone
Leafgreen team: Charizard, Pidgeot, Vaporeon, Zapdos, Mewtwo, Dragonite
Soulsilver team: Feraligatr, Togekiss, Lugia, Mewtwo, Espeon, Dragonite.
Black team: Serperior, Excadrill, Chandelure, Volcarona, Heracross, Tyranitar
Emerald team: blaziken, azumarill, cacturne, delcatty, altaria, salemence, rayquaza
In progress: Diamond (8/8 badges)
That german weapon need to be rock and Boldor over


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Anna Strebel is currently a Managing Partner at Headways Research Training and Development, Cape Town. She was previously professor in the Psychology Department at the University of the Western Cape. She is both a registered researcher and clinical psychologist and has worked in a number of psychiatric hospitals. She completed her D. Phil in Psychology at UCT on women and AIDS. Her current research interests include STI/HIV/AIDS, gender and sexuality, focusing especially on project evaluations.
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WS-Terminology? Did I miss the announcement of a new standard? :-) (sorry) I'd suggest that each standard is defining words like endpoint in ways that suit their own purposes. Even though two standards may use the same words, that doesn't mean that they are using them to mean the same thing. One way to think of it is to imagine that words like endpoint are qualified. So the first definition you quote is defining "endpoint-WS-Addressing", while the second is defining "endpoint-WSDL". So there isn't a single thing called an endpoint. There are just a stack of definitions (unintended pun), each defining something different. Oh, there are some commonalities, but there are plenty of differences. So yeah, I think it's apples and oranges (or maybe Apples and Sonys...) Tony Rogers -----Original Message----- From: firstname.lastname@example.com on behalf of Dan Diephouse Sent: Sat 07-May-05 2:57 To: firstname.lastname@example.com Cc: Subject: endpoint terminology confusion I am becoming a little bit confused by WS-Terminology as of late, and I am hoping to clear up some confusion as to what exactly is meant by an "endpoint". I'm not sure if this list is the best place to ask, but I don't know of a better one at the moment.. In the WS-A proposal, an endpoint is defined as: "A Web service endpoint is a (referenceable) entity, processor, or resource where Web service messages can be targeted." And allow me to bring in the WSDL 2.0 definition for my question: "An endpoint associates a network address with a binding." I am confused about where the endpoint actually is in the stack. For example, SOAP is theoretically transport independent. I would define an endpoint as the transport agnostic part which processes the Envelope. Then I could theoretically share my soap service over many transports (http, smtp, etc). But I could see how an endpoint could also be defined in such a way that it only has one address? Or does WS-A not even care - just as long as its referencable? Or am I comparing apples to oranges with the above definitions? Cheers, - Dan -- Dan Diephouse Envoi Solutions LLC http://netzooid.comReceived on Saturday, 7 May 2005 22:26:17 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 21:04:09 UTC


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Pets often get stressed when taken out of their home environment without their family, and their familiar sights and smells. Anxiety and stress can lower their immune system and expose them to illnesses they would not normally be susceptible to. I have had clients go to a kennel and end up with hundreds of dollars in vet bills due to stomach viruses, and in one instance canine influenza. Pets tend to adjust better to their family's absence when they are in their own environment. Additionally they stay on their normal schedule for feeding instead of being fed on a kennel schedule. In addition, someone is checking on your home while you are away every day, as many times a day as you require.
Midday walks/exercise walks versus doggie daycare: Doggie daycare is a good for burning off your pet's energy; however, in my experience the dogs are not supervised well enough. I have had clients' dogs come home with injuries that the daycare simply could not explain. In addition, again, they are exposed to all sorts of illnesses that can be very costly to care for. We will pet sit for pit bulls and other bully dog breeds. Call today for scheduling your pet care.
Backyard waste is raw sewage carrying many unpleasant parasites and diseases. Roundworm, E. coli, and Giardia and some of the harmful organisms found in animal waste. If gone untreated some parts of waste may hang around in your yard for nearly four years! Keep your family and friends out of harms waste by using one our backyard waste cleanup service. Use Gentle Touch Pet Sitting to clean up after your pet and make sure your lawn is clean and safe for your entire family to enjoy throughout the year!
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text: The Virginia Robinson Garden's Annual Tour is one of my very favorite springtime events. On this day, chic women decked out in sunglasses, pearls, garden hats and flats, and men sporting that bare ankled "I just stepped off my yacht look" delight in being Looky Loos of the highest order! The tour is a highlight of the Beverly Hills Spring social season and offers a rare opportunity to step behind the gates of some of Beverly Hills most gorgeous estates. This...Continue reading


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Want To Detox – Here Are 5 Methods Are you feeling drained, sluggish, or just plain unhealthy? In that case, the answer to your problems may be in a body detox. With a cleanse, you allow your body to expel the dangerous toxins it has gathered. The end result will be an improvement in your […]Read More...
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- Jinan Joysun Machinery Co., Ltd.
- This is a verified supplier can provide quality products and have passed the Business License Check.
Home>Products>Oil Production Line>Soybean oil mill/oil expeller/vegetable oil extraction plant
Soybean oil mill/oil expeller/vegetable oil extraction plant
- Henan, China (Mainland)
- Beiside
- 1 Set/Sets
- US $100,000 - 1,000,000/ Set
- Shipped in 15 days after payment
- paypal,UnionPay, Visa/MasterCard, Amex, Discover,T/T
- 300 Set/Sets per Month
Product Details
|peanut oil soybean oil sesame oil sunflower oil oilve oil etc.
|Cold & Hot Pressing Machine
|Automatic Grade:
|Production Capacity:
|Place of Origin:
|Henan, China (Mainland)
|Brand Name:
|Model Number:
|According to the capacity
|According to the capacity
|According to the capacity
|After-sales Service Provided:
|Overseas service center available
|Soybean oil mill/oil expeller/vegetable oil extraction plant
|3 Years
|Machine Material:
|Stainless Steel Oil Press
|Application range:
|sunflower olive Sesame..etc
|Oil Production Line
|Residual of Oil:
|1% max
|according to your need
Product Description
Soybean oil mill/oil expeller/
vegetable oil extraction plant
The producing technology of the seeds oil
Seeds→Clean→Husking&Kernel husk separation(Depending on the material situation)
↓ ↓
shell →Flaking(kernel) →Cooking
Crude oil ← Filtration ← Prepressing
Oil cake← Desolvation ← Leaching
Mixed oil evaporation evaporation, Stripping
Extracted crude oil
Seeds to squeeze pretreatment project
The technology of my company for pretreatment and pre-pressing which mainly include the cleaning,extrusion,flaking,dehulling and pre-pressing and so on.Considering the different characteristic of oil seeds and the customer requriements, we can provide you the special design, in order to adjust the oilseed to the optimum state, which will improve the oil yield and oil and cake quality, can provide the best raw materials for the following section.
Seeds cake leaching equipment
→ with what is known as "extraction solvent oil 6" (commonly known as the sixth naphtha) soaking, mix to dissolve grease formed in light gasoline oil
→ And then the mixed oil heating, remove light gasoline, made half of refined oil products.
→ soybean oil degumming, decolorization, deodorization and other refining process.
→ Finally to make cooking oil.
Main features:
Equipment using negative pressure evaporation process, low residual oil, less solvent consumption, high yield efficiency, low cost, leaching oil of good quality, color light.
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seeds oil through degumming, deacidifying, decoloring, deodorization and other refining process can meet the national standard for first grade oil.
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Centrifuge (or refining pot), bleaching tower, leaf filter, combined deacidification deodorization tower, spiral plate heat exchanger, crystallizing tank, dewaxing filter, etc.
Process characteristics
Physical refining technology is suitable to the advanced combined deacidification deodorization tower, a high degree of automation, low production cost, low loss, designed the dewaxing degreasing process, product quality can reach the national standard.
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10-500T/H oilseeds pre-cleaning,drying and storage section turn-key project.
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30-1000T/D oil continuous physical(chemical)refining production line.
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10-200T/D fatty acid esterification production line for cooking oil.
our customer
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Warranty period: 2 years from the date you bought our machine.
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- China best supplier Rice Bran Oil processing plant machine oil production line


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Search Results Showing Item 1 of 17
Scotland, PA / Abandon Pictures presents in association with Veto Chip Productions and Paddy Wagon Productions ; a film by Billy Morrissette ; produced by Richard Shepard, Jonathan Stern ; written and directed by Billy Morrissette.
Available copies
- 1 of 2 copies available at SC LENDS.
Current holds
0 current holds with 2 total copies.
|Call Number / Copy Notes
|Shelving Location
|Due Date
|Beaufort - Beaufort Branch
|FIC SCO (Text)
|Adult DVD
|Checked out
|Beaufort - Hilton Head Branch
|FIC SCO (Text)
|Adult DVD
Record details
- Physical Description: 1 videodisc (approximately 104 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in.
- Edition: Widescreen version.
- Publisher: [United States] : Sundance Channel Home Entertainment : 2005.
- Copyright: ©2002
Content descriptions
|General Note:
| DVD features include audio commentary, insider's guide to Scotland, PA and snapshot diary from the Sundance Film Festival.
Videodisc release of the 2001 feature film.
|Creation/Production Credits Note:
| Music, Anton Sanko ; editor, Adam Lichtenstein ; director of photography, Wally Pfister.
|Participant or Performer Note:
| James LeGros, Maura Tierney, Christopher Walken, Kevin Corrigan, James Rebhorn, Thomas Guiry, Amy Smart, Timothy Speed Levitch, Andy Dick.
|Summary, etc.:
| A dark comedy that transports Shakespeare's Macbeth to a fast-food restaurant in early '70s rural Pennsylvania. The McBeths are stuck in their dead-end jobs at Duncan's fast food restaurant. When their boss mysteriously dies, they become the prime suspects.
|Target Audience Note:
| MPAA Rating: R.
Grade 11 to Adult.
|System Details Note:
| DVD, Dolby surround.
|Language Note:
| Closed-captioned.
Search for related items by subject
|Fast food restaurants > Drama.
Murder > Investigation > Drama.
Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
Pennsylvania > Drama.
Comedy films.
Feature films.
Search Results Showing Item 1 of 17


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Acquisition refers to the first stages of learning when a response is established. In classical conditioning, it refers to the period when the stimulus comes to evoke the conditioned response.

Consider Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs. By associating the presentation of food with the sound of a tone, Pavlov was able to condition the dogs to salivate to the sound. The phase in which the dogs began to salivate to the sound is the acquisition period.

How Does It Work?

How does acquisition occur? In classical conditioning, repeated pairings of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) eventually leads to acquisition. Remember, the unconditioned stimulus is one that naturally evokes the unconditioned response (UCR). After pairing the CS with the UCS repeatedly, the CS alone will come to elicit the response, which is now known as the conditioned response (CR).

During acquisition, the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are repeatedly paired to create an association. Multiple pairings are required, but the number of trials needed can vary depending on what is being learned. For example, imagine that you are teaching a dog to fear the sound of a rattlesnake. This type of learning will likely occur much more quickly since the animal may already be primed to form such an association. As a result, the acquisition will happen much faster than if you are teaching your dog to play dead. The strength of the conditioned response will continue to increase up to a certain point before it begins to level off.

Once the association between the CS and UCS has been established, the response is said to have been acquired. At this point, the behavior is still often reinforced to strengthen the association.

For example, imagine that you are teaching a pigeon to peck a key whenever you ring a bell. Initially, you place some food on the key and sound a tone right before the pigeon pecks the key. After several trials, the pigeon begins to peck the key whenever he hears the tone, meaning he has acquired the behavior. If you stop reinforcing the behavior at this point, the bird would quickly stop engaging in the action, and extinction may occur. If you continue reinforcing the association between the bell and the food, the response will become much stronger.

What Factors Influence Acquisition?

A number of factors can affect how quickly acquisition occurs. First, the salience of the conditioned stimulus can play an important role. If the CS is too subtle, the learner may not notice it enough for it to become associated with the unconditioned stimulus. Stimuli that are more noticeable usually lead to faster acquisition.

For example, if you are training a dog to salivate to a sound, acquisition will be more likely if the sound is noticeable and unexpected. The sound of a bell will produce a better result than a quiet tone or a neutral sound that the animal hears regularly.

Second, timing plays a critical role. If there is too much of a delay between presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, the learner might not form an association between the two. The most effective approach is to present the CS and then quickly introduce the UCS so that there is an overlap between the two. As a rule, the greater the delay between the UCS and the CS, the longer acquisition will take.


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What does loosey-goosey mean?
Definitions for loosey-goosey
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word loosey-goosey.
relaxed; laid back
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of loosey-goosey in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of loosey-goosey in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
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Anither three different handsets have passed the FCC.
The first device is the Samsung Galasy S II. AT&T will be offering
the handset in the future. It comes in two version which are Exynos CPU
(codenamed 9100) and a Tegra 2 (9103). The model that have been passed
was Samsung GT-I9100 (Exynos CPU).
The next handset is Samsung SCH-I708. It is able to activate on GSM and CDMA networks.
[Continue reading Samsung Galaxy S II, SCH-I708, and SGH-T839 passed FCC]


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Can the Legionaries be reformed? A former member asks pointed questions
February 09, 2011
Father Richard Gill, a former member of the Legion of Christ who is now a priest of the New York archdiocese, explains the difficulties facing the effort to reform the troubled order.
In Father Gill's detailed analysis, his section on "Investigation into the origins and history of the scandal" provides ample evidence that the challenges are daunting. The questions that arise reflect not only on the current leadership of the Legionaries, but also on their patrons within the Roman Curia.
"Unless the mystery of Fr. Maciel, what he did and how, is adequately clarified, many will question the adequacy of any reforms," Father Gill rightly argues. "What was it about the Legion's internal culture that made it possible for otherwise very intelligent men to be so deceived?"
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Posted by: hartwood01 -
Feb. 10, 2011 1:08 PM ET USA
Jesus was not a criminal,He is God, who was not received by His people. He was not a sociopath,pervert...etc. How does this order revere an evil founder? Why do they hang on to this man? Why can't they beg for admission to another community? Pride, self-interest? When I see these priests, these questions bother me. I guess I should just ask one of these priests.
Posted by: samuel.doucette1787 -
Feb. 09, 2011 10:26 PM ET USA
AgnesDay, good question. The Legionairies have done much good for the Church as an order, despite the double life of their founder. I pray that future aspirants to their order will be able to see that reality and embrace whatever measures come from the Church's efforts to reform them.
Posted by: BobJ70777069 -
Feb. 09, 2011 9:36 PM ET USA
We belong to a Church founded by a "criminal", furthered by a rabid persecutor of His followers. Why not a group of fervent priests founded by a "pervert"? God's ways are not our ways.
Posted by: AgnesDay -
Feb. 09, 2011 6:23 PM ET USA
Which still begs the question, who woy uld want to belong to a community founded by a pervert?