text: SPX and 2012 Elections 2 Adam Hamilton July 6, 2012 2646 Words After the US Supreme Court inexplicably redefined Obamacare to uphold its constitutionality, politics are very much back in the news. And with the all-important US elections only 4 months away, it's only going to get worse. Interestingly, the state of the US stock markets heading into voting is likely to both predict and heavily influence the outcome. The markets' impact on Americans' collective psyche is vast. For most investors and speculators, this is pretty obvious. When the stock markets are up we feel more optimistic about everything, so we tend to spend more. Economists call this the wealth effect. And when the markets are down we feel more anxious and worried, so we pull in our horns. Not surprisingly, these behavioral changes spawned by our rising and falling portfolios also carry over into the voting booths. When the stock markets are strong so everyone feels better about the future, incumbents are more likely to win. Americans perceive them as being somehow responsible for the prosperity they are experiencing and expect to continue. But when markets are weak everyone feels worse and wants things to improve. So the incumbents tend to get booted out in favor of the challengers. The stock markets are the key. Provocatively much hard data supports this thesis, it is somewhat well-known among students of the markets. Back in February the same day I published my original essay in this series, another fascinating thread from a different perspective also made news. InvesTech Research did a study showing that stock-market performance has been the most reliable indicator of who will win the presidency for over a century. The methodology was simple. InvesTech looked at the stock markets' performance in the 2 months leading up to every US presidential election since 1900. Since these elections are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, always early that month, this essentially means how the markets did in September and October. This minor piece of data has correctly forecast nearly 9 out of 10 elections! InvesTech found that if the stock markets rally to gains in the 2 months leading into elections, the incumbent party wins the presidency. And if the stock markets slump to losses in that critical September-October period for shaping psychology, the incumbent party loses. Out of the last 28 presidential elections, this simple indicator has proven correct 25 times. This is an astounding 89% success rate! Broken down further, in 15 out of 16 times the incumbent party was re-elected to the presidency when the stock markets rallied in those final two months before voting. And in 10 out of 12 times when the stock markets fell in September and October, the incumbent party lost. These are super-high correlations over more than a century's worth of data, so this stock-market indicator has to be taken very seriously. While I sure wish I had thought of InvesTech's elegant approach first, my own took a different tack. I had noticed in recent years that Obama's approval rating climbed when the stock markets were strong and flagged when they were weak. But this was merely based on isolated anecdotal observations, reading an article or listening to a news report here and there. Was there any way to test it more thoroughly? Thankfully the elite polling organization Gallup rode to the rescue. Essentially founded in 1935, it is now probably the biggest and best polling operation in the world. Among the countless polls it conducts, there is a daily one where Americans are asked whether they approve or disapprove of the job Obama is doing. When this high-resolution data is overlaid on the stock markets' performance, everything becomes clear. Gallup's daily job-approval and job-disapproval ratings for Obama are rendered on this chart in green and red respectively. They are superimposed over the flagship S&P 500 stock index (SPX) shown in blue. In general when the stock markets are up, Obama's approval rating is high and his disapproval rating is low. And the opposite is true when the stock markets are down. Voters are heavily influenced by the SPX! Starting in 2009, this chart covers both the whole post-stock-panic era and Barack Obama's entire presidency. But the first year or so is largely irrelevant for our purposes today. As we'd all like to forget, 2008 suffered a brutal once-in-a-century stock panic. The SPX ended that year down a gut-wrenching 38.5%! So regardless if you voted for Obama or McCain, we all desperately hoped for a better 2009. And Obama is a super-impressive guy, overcoming all kinds of hurdles including his youth and lack of experience to become the first African American president in US history. He can give great speeches and inspire. I certainly didn't vote for him because his politics scare the heck out of me (Marxist class warfare and Socialist wealth redistribution), but he really had great potential to enhearten Americans. So Obama entered office riding an incredible honeymoon high. His approval ratings were off the chart, while disapproval ratings were low. Even the 45.7% of American voters who didn't want him were impressed by his charisma and sincerely hoped he could lead us out of the post-panic malaise. This effect gradually faded over the following year as reality set in, so early 2010 is the best place to start. After Obama's honeymoon, as is usually the case his approval rating started to be heavily correlated with the SPX. When the SPX surged to new post-panic highs, over half of Americans approved of the job he was doing. But when the SPX sold off in one of its periodic healthy corrections, Obama's approval rating collapsed while his disapproval rating surged. This pattern has persisted for the couple of years since. Anytime the SPX is near highs, such as in mid-2011 or early 2012, Obama's approval rating climbed to 50%+ heights while disapproval moderated. The best example is highlighted in this chart, the spring-2011 period when Obama's approval per Gallup shot up around 53% while his disapproval fell near 40%. He looked invincible then, destined to win another term. Why? Because stock markets were faring well. And the opposite is true when the stock markets weren't doing well, following major SPX selloffs. Last autumn after the SPX's sharp correction (which was admittedly exacerbated by Obama's refusal to do a timely debt deal with Congress), his approval rating plunged. It sunk all the way down into the 38% range. And meanwhile his job-disapproval rating soared to 55%. Americans hate weak stock markets. Is it fair that a sitting president gets credit when stock markets rally and blamed when they sell off? Usually not. Occasionally some major political event comes along like last year's debt-ceiling fight that directly impacts the markets, but for the most part investors and speculators do their own thing regardless of who is in power. But the buck stops at the president, so he is perceived as presiding over everything. And these stock-driven psychological swings are massive in this closely-divided country. Remember that all elections are effectively decided by the independent voters in the middle. About 4/10ths of American voters are conservatives who will always vote Republican, and the opposite 4/10ths are liberals who will always vote Democrat. It is the 2/10ths in the middle, the independents and swing voters, who decide elections. And most elections are won and lost by only a few percentage points, like 52% to 48%. So seeing a president's job-approval and job-disapproval ratings swinging from 40% to 55% and back based on the fortunes of the stock markets is huge. This enormous range totally dwarfs the margins by which elections are always decided. So obviously it really matters where the stock markets are heading into voting. If incumbents (presidents, senators, representatives) are fortunate enough to have their fate decided after the markets have rallied for a couple months and are near major interim highs, Americans will be optimistic and much more likely to keep them in office. But if election day happens to arrive after the markets have sold off for a couple months, then Americans are pessimistic and want new leadership. These valuable approval and disapproval ratings from Gallup looked at through the lens of major stock-market uplegs and corrections buttress InvesTech's approach. What the SPX does in the September and October before an early-November election heavily influences Americans' sentiment. Rallying markets make us feel good and like our politicians, while falling ones bum us out so we kick the bums out. So if you want Romney to win this November, pray for a major stock-market slide between now and election day. And the more that selling falls into September and October, the better. Obama got hugely lucky in 2008. He was down in the polls and an underdog for most of the summer, but then a once-in-a-lifetime stock panic struck at the perfect moment. The SPX plummeted 24.5% in September and October! That is not just a down stock market, it is a disaster. I don't think any incumbent, even ones commanding legendary popularity like John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, could have won while facing such a fierce immediate psychological headwind. It is amazing given the stock panic's ideal timing that Obama only won 52.9% of the popular vote. That it wasn't a landslide shows just how polarized Americans were. While there is no doubt in the hard data that the fortunes of the stock markets influence Americans heavily, there is a big question. Why? It's obvious why investors and speculators, people who watch the markets every day, are influenced by their flowing and ebbing. But the majority of Americans are not investors and speculators, and couldn't care less about the stock markets' short-term gyrations. So why are non-interested voters also influenced? I suspect there are quite a few reasons across multiple fronts, but a couple major ones come into play. They include media exposure and personal relationships. No matter how little average Americans care about the stock markets, they consume media that is obsessed with them and interact with people intimately affected by their ongoing performance. Everyone is interested in the news to varying degrees, wondering what is happening on any given day. And as they read articles and listen to reports, the stock markets often come up. Any solid up day in the SPX is accompanied by optimistic and positive reporting, as everyone considers rising stock markets to be a bullish omen for the general economy. And of course the opposite is true on any meaningful down day. So the newsflow that people consume to shape their individual sentiment is heavily colored by what happened in the stock markets that day. And these trends compound over time. Late in a major upleg Americans have been deluged with positive reports from many weeks of rallying stock markets. So they feel good, optimistic about the future. When things are going well there is little desire to change leaders. And after a couple months of selling in a correction, Americans have seen plenty of negative and pessimistic reporting spawned by stock-market down days. After enough of this, they naturally start getting worried and anxious. So they start to look for a change in leadership to fix things, to improve the economy and their own chances for success. If an election happens then, they like to vote in new blood for change. And remember that the people reporting the news are not poor, and they have indirect stock-market exposure through their retirement plans. So the media itself is part of the investor class, happy when the stock markets are strong and worried when they are weak. These innately-human biases of reporters naturally spill into their work no matter how hard they try to be objective. And many don't even try. Personal relationships are the second biggest reason the SPX is so influential after media exposure. About 90% of Americans work in the private sector. And of course the companies that employ them need to earn profits by making sales. Since the stock markets drive such a huge wealth effect, people spend more when they are doing well and less when they aren't, sales naturally follow the stock markets too. When sales are weak, owners and managers get anxious and worried. Their employees can't help but notice this pessimistic bias and quickly internalize it as their own, even if they don't know the exact cause. They too grow increasingly nervous, fearing for their jobs if operations are cut back to bring costs back in line with reduced revenues. So employees are indirectly influenced by the stock markets. These relationships extend into our personal lives too. We all frequent businesses to buy the goods and services we need and want. Many of these are small businesses. Sales are the lifeblood of small business, and when you visit one there are often clues about how business is going. When it is well, more likely in up markets since Americans spend more, the vibe is usually positive and optimistic. And the opposite is true when business is slow. When we see businesses we patronize appear to be struggling, we start worrying about the economy too. In addition, the majority of Americans probably have close personal friends who are small businessmen or investors. So when they talk to these friends who are influenced by the state of the stock markets, some of these views naturally rub off on them as well. One of the most famous political phrases in modern history was created by Bill Clinton's notorious campaign strategist James Carville. "It's the economy, stupid." This slogan helped unseat Bush the Elder as Americans were worried about a weak economy. We really do vote our pocketbooks, and strong stock markets make us feel secure while weak ones make us feel anxious. Elections reflect this. There is a high probability that the state of the stock markets heading into early November will decide the US elections this year. We like to think we have a choice between pro-big-government Obama and pro-free-market Romney, and we do. But we Americans are so heavily influenced by the stock-market fortunes in a variety of ways that we generally aren't even aware they're often dominating our sentiment. The future path of our country hangs in the balance, and the stock markets could effectively decide its fate! So if there was ever a time to get up to speed on the markets, what is happening and what is likely to happen, now is it. We can help you do that, as studying the markets in order to launch profitable trades is what we do at Zeal. And they are almost certain to be incredibly interesting over the coming 4 months. We publish acclaimed weekly and monthly subscription newsletters loved by speculators and investors worldwide. In them I draw on our vast experience, knowledge, wisdom, and ongoing research to explain what the markets are doing, why, where they are likely heading, and how to trade them with specific stock trades as opportunities arise. Subscribe today, get prepared for the opportunities these elections bring! The bottom line is the short-term fortunes of the US stock markets nearly always determine the outcome of our presidential elections. When the markets are up, Americans feel optimistic and are more likely to give the incumbents more time in power. And when the markets are down, we get pessimistic and want to give the challengers a chance to improve things. This has proved true for over a century now. Nothing influences our collective national psychology more than the state of the stock markets. This is even the case for Americans who don't directly invest due to media exposure and personal relationships with those affected by the markets. Americans are going to vote their pocketbooks this autumn as always, and how they feel about the economy and their futures will be heavily colored by how stocks are faring. Adam Hamilton, CPA July 6, 2012 Subscribe |


text:
A respected Hungarian historian has found evidence that during the Communist dictatorship five Catholic bishops and archbishops worked for the secret service. The Church wants no investigation of this. [1] The collapse of Communism offered the Vatican the prospect of replacing its secret cooperation and wary agreements with Communist governments by formal concordats.
In May 1989, Hungary began taking down its barbed wire fence along the Austrian border – the first tear in the Iron Curtain. The Vatican moved fast and the next spring, even before the first free elections in March 1990, it signed the first concordat with the new Republic of Hungary. There are three Hungarian concordats, one of them amended with the Vatican and one with the Vatican-controlled Order of Malta.
♦ Concordat establishing diplomatic relations and stating that issues related to the Church are to be settled by the Canon (Church) Law and the new Hungarian law on religious freedom (9 February 1990)
♦ Concordat establishing a military chaplaincy (10 January 1994)
♦ Concordat on finances (20 June 1997), Amendment (21 October 2013)
However, concordats are not the only way of increasing Vatican influence over civil society. the governing party, Fidesz, which defines itself as "Christian, right-wing, and nationalist" holds a two-thirds majority in parliament since 2010. Under its rule one expert claims that "Hungary is no longer a Western-style democracy". [2] Another is "alarmed" by the new constitution which could be used to keep the present ruling party in power, despite almost anything the electorate could do. [3] In addition to threatening democracy, many of the measures brought in by Fidesz also decrease the separation of church and state.
— Hungary's media law, introduced in 2011, has led to mass layoffs of independent journalists and has subjected the rest to political control. [4]
— The "Easter Constitution" passed on Easter Monday 2011, enshrines key Catholic doctrines. It states that "The life of a fetus will be protected from conception," which is expected to outlaw abortion. It also defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and shields this from challenge by excluding sexual orientation from the protected grounds of discrimination. [5] It was brought in while Hungary held the rotating European Union presidency and so escaped EU censure. With this Hungary joined the Dominican Republic in possessing a Constitution designed to enforce Catholic doctrines on all its citizens. [6] Later that year this was backed up by domestic legislation that was rushed through parliament. [7]
— However, Hungarian officials made it clear that they do not believe that they are yet able to enforce the new provisions through legislation prohibiting abortion. Therefore, hard on the heels of the new constitution has come an advertising campaign against abortion [8] This was 80 percent funded by an EU grant that was not intended for that purpose. [9]
— Hungarian state schools are also increasingly coming under the influence of organised religion. From 2013 classes in religion or ethics will be mandatory in all elementary schools, with the religion classes led by outside instructors sent by the churches and taught according to instructional material chosen by them. [10] And some state schools are even being handed over to the churches because local government officials say they are unable to afford their upkeep. [11] Yet, at the same time, Hungary is sending large amounts of money to the Vatican as required by the Finance Concordat. [12]
— And, finally another of the Measures brought in by Fidesz, the restrictive registration laws for religions, was rejected by the European Court of Human Rights. In 2014 it ruled that Hungary's parliament cannot accredit religions, as that violates religious freedom. [13]
A 2013 report by Human Rights Watch concluded that he systemic changes to Hungary's legal framework introduced by the Fidesz government since 2010 weaken legal checks on its authority, interfere with media freedom, and undermine human rights protections. [14] Peter Hack, professor of constitutional law at the Budapest university ELTE, argued that with its current constitutional setup, Hungary would never have been admitted to the Union. "But now that it's in, it thinks it can do what it wants." [15]
Hungarian concordat with the Order of Malta (2010): text | |
A strategic picnic, as the Soviet empire was, led to this concordat with the Sovereign Order of Malta (SMOM), a religious order placed directly under the pope. It regulates the largest social service provider in Hungary, the Hungarian Malteser Charity Service. (Magyar Máltai Szeretetszolgálat or MMSZ). This agreement is one of more than 70 "treaties" with various countries which put their social services under Vatican control. | |
Hungary-Vatican concordat on diplomatic relations (1990): text | |
With this tiny concordat, Hungary became the second Warsaw Pact country (after Poland did so on 17 July 1989) to establish diplomatic relations with the Vatican. It states that Church-related issues are to be settled in accordance with both Canon (Church) Law and Hungary's new law on religious freedom. It replaces a pact with the Communist regime which is still being held secret. [1] | |
Hungary-Vatican concordat on finance (1997): text | |
This concordat was the best financial package that the Vatican could get from the Socialist government. In fact later, when Hungary ran into financial difficulties, the payments to the Vatican became a hardship. However, four years later the conservative government amended this concordat to give the Vatican an even better deal. | |
Failed attempt to renegotiate the finance concordat (2006) | |
Stonewalled by the Vatican, Hungary learned in 2006 that concordat negotiations cannot be re-opened — unless the Church thinks it can get a better deal. Otherwise it's in the Vatican's interest to simply stall until a more favourable political climate ends the opposition to it. In 2010 this is what finally happened. | |
Amended Hungary-Vatican financial concordat (2013): summary | |
After 16 years and a change of government the Vatican was able to renegotiate the Hungarian financial concordat to get even more favourable terms. Naturally, the public was unaware of what was going on. |

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Monday, October 18, 2010
ABC's Islam Deception: Did Muhammad Promise "Raisins" or "Virgins" in Paradise?
79 comments:
- Michelle Qureshi said...
Raisins? Where'd she get that from?!? She must have heard it through the grapevine...
- October 18, 2010 at 1:57 AM
- Tizita said...
Ok, David im gonna sue u for killing me w/ laughter here!!!!!
Im still laughing rit now. U. have. got. to. be. kidding. me!!!
U know what i can't write right now......im gonna go laugh it out n come back to this. - October 18, 2010 at 2:23 AM
- thegrandverbalizer19 said...
With the name of God, Peace be unto those who follow the guidance from their Lord.
Well, I could have done without the first minute or so.
However, as I said there is a place in television entertainment for David Wood and Nabeel if they ever choose the course.
I did get a laugh out of the raisins segment and David holds up the bag "these things" whilst shaking them! Hehehe.
I'm with David on this one. Irshad is from the modernist-reformist camp who twist and distort things to make them more palatable to a liberal audience.
The strange thing is they never give these people's credentials.
On what basis can she perform exegesis of the Qur'an?
Well can't blame here, you can't stop SS from saying that Allah prayers either can you?
Amazing. - October 18, 2010 at 5:53 AM
- Rafik Responde ao Isla said...
I got it ..... finally ... NOw I am ready to consider Islam as an option! I love RAISINS!
So, was it the "SECRET" that Muslims were trying to hide from the West? If I knew it before I would have converted to Islam long time ago.
Since it is about RAISINS and not VIRGINS in Paradise, then the suicide bombers must be very upset and disappointed at this moment. They must be blowing up Paradise at this very moment. I guess, that the Muslim Hell would be a safer place to go!
I always asked myself two questions:
1. Since we will have RIVERS of WINE in Paradise, who is going to press all these grapes to create rivers? Allah? Maybe! He has a big foot and will have a free foot in Paradise. The other foot will be feeling up Hell!
2. Since we will have RIVERS of MILK, who is going to milk all these, goats, camels and cows to provide rivers of milk for us.
Never mind... Allah knows best!
Isn't that wonderful that in Islam you don't need to THINK? - October 18, 2010 at 6:11 AM
- minoria said...
From what I know Irshad Manji(for who I have great respect,though not in this case)got it from CHRISTOPH LUXENBURG,the German scholar.He says many of the words in the Koran are really ARAMAIC,and in Aramaic raisin is HUR.
It is in his book "A Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran"(2000):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Luxenberg - October 18, 2010 at 8:03 AM
- Representative Tom McMillin said...
- October 18, 2010 at 8:31 AM
- Jabari said...
lol, lol, lol lol!!!!!
I should be laughing at this moment, this so hilarious and so wrong of ABC. The idea of getting married to raisins is very ridiculous :). - October 18, 2010 at 9:27 AM
- Sam said...
This idea that the Quran speaks of raisins comes from Christoph Luxenburg:
A March 2002 New York Times article describes Luxenberg's research:
Luxenberg, a scholar of ancient Semitic languages, argues that the Koran has been misread and mistranslated for centuries. His work, based on the earliest copies of the Koran, maintains that parts of Islam's holy book are derived from pre-existing Christian Aramaic texts that were misinterpreted by later Islamic scholars who prepared the editions of the Koran commonly read today. So, for example, the virgins who are supposedly awaiting good Islamic martyrs as their reward in paradise are in reality "white raisins" of crystal clarity rather than fair maidens. . . . The famous passage about the virgins is based on the word hur, which is an adjective in the feminine plural meaning simply "white." Islamic tradition insists the term hur stands for houri, which means "virgin," but Luxenberg insists that this is a forced misreading of the text. In both ancient Aramaic and in at last one respected dictionary of early Arabic hur means "white raisin."[11]
In 2002 The Guardian newspaper published an article which stated:
Luxenberg tries to show that many obscurities of the Koran disappear if we read certain words as being Syriac and not Arabic. We cannot go into the technical details of his methodology but it allows Luxenberg, to the probable horror of all Muslim males dreaming of sexual bliss in the Muslim hereafter, to conjure away the wide-eyed houris promised to the faithful in suras XLIV.54; LII.20, LV.72, and LVI.22. Luxenberg 's new analysis, leaning on the Hymns of Ephrem the Syrian, yields "white raisins" of "crystal clarity" rather than doe-eyed, and ever willing virgins—the houris. Luxenberg claims that the context makes it clear that it is food and drink that is being offered, and not unsullied maidens or houris.[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Luxenberg - October 18, 2010 at 9:40 AM
- Zack_Tiang said...
I remember Robin William making fun about this 'mistranslation'.
It went something like...
Imagine the Muslim terrorists blowing themselves up and then arriving at the gate of Heaven.
And God says, "Great job! Here are your raisins!"
It makes total sense, David! You must be filled with complete bias and prejudice against Islam. You Islamophobe! [/sarc] - October 18, 2010 at 9:43 AM
- Radical Moderate said...
Grapeaffilia LOL. Classic.
BTW Isn't Irshad a lesbian. I'm pretty sure she is the one who had a site called refuseniks or something like that. But I could be wrong. - October 18, 2010 at 10:04 AM
- Haecceitas said...
For an eternity in paradise, 72 raisins isn't all that much. But perhaps these are special raisins that grow back to their original form after you take a bite of them.
- October 18, 2010 at 10:51 AM
- hugh watt said...
RAISINS!!! RAISINS!!! This is all about.... RAISINS!!! Muslim men are getting raised for.... RAISINS!
No! I refuse to picture any Muslim man doing a Meg Ryan when they think about...RAISINS!!!?
YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! COME ON BABY. Just let me squeeze you once more for the night. Gimme Janabah my little shrivelled up one, [that's the raisin I'm referring to there]. - October 18, 2010 at 12:03 PM
- Sophie said...
Wow, there I was thinking the Qur'an was degrading to women when it was actually talking about raisins all along! Maybe this fruit-substitution principle could be more liberally applied to the Qur'an to make it more westerner-friendly - maybe Mohammed actually said that his followers could GRAPE female slaves and GRAPE war captives (as in, feed them grapes?)? Could other fruit products be substitued, too? I mean, maybe Allah didn't command hatred of Jews; maybe he commanded hatred of JUICE. Yeah, Allah hates juice. Especially with pulp.
Did you ever think of that, David? That all this answering Islam has been for nothing? There is a whole lot of egg on your face right now. - October 18, 2010 at 12:29 PM
- hugh watt said...
Rafik Responde ao Isla said:
"I got it ... finally ... NOw I am ready to consider Islam as an option! I love VIRGINS!
So, was it the "SECRET" that Muslims were trying to hide from the West? If I knew it before I would have converted to Islam long time ago.
Since it is about VIRGINS and not RAISINS in Paradise, then the suicide bombers must be very upset and disappointed at this moment. They must be blowing up Paradise at this very moment. I guess, that the Muslim Hell would be a safer place to go!"
I know where you're coming fro...
A Saudi judge sentenced Madmoud Imaginethat with stoning to death after he was caught with 2 grapes in his pockets in his apartment in down town Riyadh. His wife was granted a divorce on the grounds of adultery.
Imaginethat will launch an appeal against his conviction.
hugh watt reporting. - October 18, 2010 at 2:36 PM
- hugh watt said...
A Saudi judge today overturned the conviction of Madmoud Imaginethat after it was confirmed by an anatomist that the supposed grapes found in his pockets were not grapes after all!
Imaginethat was said to be, quote; "Relieved."
In further news today. Scientists are working on the assumption that the reason Aisha could not bear fruit was because she was a grape.
This is hugh watt reporting. - October 18, 2010 at 2:47 PM
This video is comedy central material! why don't you send this info to John Stewart or Colbert or something. I know they probably won't broadcast it, but it's really funny LOL.
- October 18, 2010 at 4:11 PM
- Representative Tom McMillin said...
Today, I opened the cabinet in the kitchen and saw a box of raisins....I'll never look at a box of raisins the same....thanks David...
- October 18, 2010 at 5:01 PM
- Osama Abdallah said...
I look forward to the Pleasures and Bliss of Heaven! May I and every Muslim be the Winners of Paradise! Ameen.
Osama Abdallah
www.answering-christianity.com - October 18, 2010 at 5:02 PM
- Anthony Rogers said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- October 18, 2010 at 5:18 PM
- Anthony Rogers said...
Given the subject matter of this post, I think you should have said: "May I and every Muslim be among the wieners of paradise." Just seems to fit better. - October 18, 2010 at 5:27 PM
- Hogan Elijah Hagbard said...
great thread David
- October 18, 2010 at 5:33 PM
- Traeh said...
Outstanding. Very funny, too.
- October 18, 2010 at 6:54 PM
- Damon Whitsell said...
MAYBE she meant that Jihadist will get 72 ETHIOPIANS in Paradise.
Burkhari Volume 1, Book 11, Number 662:Narrated Anas:The Prophet said, "Listen and obey (your chief) even if an Ethiopian whose head is like a raisin were made your chief."
Burkhari Volume 1, Book 11, Number 664:Narrated Anas bin Malik:The Prophet said to Abu-Dhar, "Listen and obey (your chief) even if he is an Ethiopian with a head like a raisin."
Burkhari Volume 9, Book 89, Number 256:Narrated Anas bin Malik:Allah's Apostle said, "You should listen to and obey, your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian (black) slave whose head looks like a raisin." - October 18, 2010 at 7:32 PM
- Royal Son said...
Osama, is it not rather presumptious on your part to say that you are looking forward to Paradise?
What makes you think you'll make it to Raisin central?
Another question: If raisins are in paradise, does that mean date-ing is actually allowed in Islam too? I mean what's good for a grape is good for a plum too right? - October 18, 2010 at 8:05 PM
- Robea said...
Now wait a second. In the West sometimes a man will call a woman his "date". As in "I have a hot date tonight." Dates are dried fruits as are raisins.
So there you have it, in Islam "raisin" is just their word for "date". - October 18, 2010 at 10:00 PM
- alekhine said...
david repeating the part "raisins" just killed me lollll.....
- October 18, 2010 at 10:41 PM
- Michelle Qureshi said...
You guys are having way too much fun with this.
- October 18, 2010 at 11:16 PM
- Tizita said...
@ Damon Whitsell......
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold ur horses there buddy. No muslim man deserves an Ethiopian woman in paradise ( I being one). The woman of Ethiopia have toiled hard n long n they deserve better than to be sex slaves in paradise.
I'll not let that happen. Our woman r to beautiful, not even allah is worthy of us (being a false god). They can stay with their own Arab women.
No ill feelings Damon :)
@ Nabeel yes we are! You dont get comedy like this very often. - October 18, 2010 at 11:34 PM
- thegrandverbalizer19 said...
With the name of God, Peace be unto those who follow the guidance from their Lord.
The other thing that I take away from this is that David Wood did a great job of debunking not only Irshad but of Sam Shamoun as well.
In fact the next time SS tries to use this 'argument' I'll simply say to him, "Now wait a minute David Wood has already debunked this". - October 19, 2010 at 12:30 AM
- Royal Son said...
These are very serious issues we're trying to grapel with Nabeel :)
- October 19, 2010 at 3:40 AM
- Ken said...
"BTW Isn't Irshad a lesbian." ?
Yes, Irshad Manji is a lesbian and seeking to re-interpret Islam.
It figures that a western media source would get her interpretation of Islam; rather than actually quoting the Qur'an, as David did, and rather than getting the interpretation of the Fiq scholars and Imams and Mullahs and Muftis.
- October 19, 2010 at 5:38 AM
- Ken said...
GV19 wrote:
"Well can't blame here, you can't stop SS from saying that Allah prayers either can you?"
What does this mean? (you need some more English words in the sentence to make sense)
and what is SS?" - October 19, 2010 at 5:42 AM
- sam said...
i dont like chewy raisins. they make me shiver as if someone was scratching a chalkboard.
osama the great is looking for raisins. i have a bag full of em. got a good deal at the bulk store.
oh man that robin william joke is too funny. like dr robert spencer says "theres no fun in islam". but i sure had fun with this raisin i meant joke. - October 19, 2010 at 6:34 AM
- Locrian said...
Ok well this makes makes much more sense now. I was wondering where the inspiration for the following hadith came..
وقال أبو الحصين أن الدب بو غسلها بن سعيد أن سمع النبي يقول :
أوه ، أراهن كنت أتساءل 'كيف عرفت
نوبة خطط لجعل لي زرقاء
الرجل الآخر مع بعض كنت تعرف قبل
بين الرجلين منا كنت أعرف أنني أحبك أكثر
استغرق مني على حين غرة يجب أن أقول
عندما اكتشفت أمس
لا أنت تعرف أنني
"Abu Boo Bear said that Hasin bin Bathed said that the he heard the prophet say:
Ooh, I bet you're wondering' how I knew
'bout your plans to make me blue
With some other guy you knew before
Between the two of us guys you know I love you more
It took me by surprise I must say
When I found out yesterday
Dont you know that I...(am all powerful and forgiving)"
*shakes head* - October 19, 2010 at 7:29 AM
- Rafik Responde ao Isla said...
After all... Isn't Islam a FUNNY religion?
- October 19, 2010 at 7:30 AM
what makes this video even better is that the "great" Osama is here watching, LOL. This is really funny!
- October 19, 2010 at 8:06 AM
- hugh watt said...
I object to the nudity on this thread. Will you please remove it.
Thank you! - October 19, 2010 at 8:22 AM
Maybe, just maybe, I will eventually be able to stop laughing and get on with my day! I will not get my hopes up, though.
What if someone does not like straight raisins? If one is a chocolaholic, does he get to have chocolate-covered raisins? How about oatmeal-raisin cookies? Variety is the spice of life, you know! - October 19, 2010 at 9:42 AM
- Michelle Qureshi said...
I wonder if the people who go to Hell get the grapes of wrath...
- October 19, 2010 at 9:53 AM
- hugh watt said...
I invited the neighbor round for a glass of grape juice. He smiled and seemed to grow a few inches. I thought; is that a bomb in his pocket, or is he just happy.
- October 19, 2010 at 10:25 AM
- Haecceitas said...
It's great that you found a picture but where are the swelling breasts?!
- October 19, 2010 at 10:44 AM
- Haecceitas said...
What? Has Shamoun argued for the "raisins" translation? Seriously? - October 19, 2010 at 10:46 AM
- Unknown said...
Hi David, Great video as usual ..
You mentioned along the lines that Mohammed had sex with a 9 years old gurl (Aisha), after marrying her at the age of 6. Just a little clarification to elaborate the shocking scandel; considering that lunar calender are lesser by 11 days per year, accordingly he married her when she was 5, and had sex with her when she was 8 !! - October 19, 2010 at 10:56 AM
- Haecceitas said...
"BTW Isn't Irshad a lesbian."
That would make a certain amount of sense. Please note that the Quran only claims that the raisins haven't been touched by men or jinns. But for all we know, they may well have experimented all kinds of stuff while waiting for their husbands. Perhaps they even resided in a fruitcake. - October 19, 2010 at 10:56 AM
- Fernando said...
@ Nabeel Qureshi... two posts, two very foonie jokes... loool...
@ on the other hand, dear Osama The Great Abdallah, if your muslim heaven is full of sexual pleasur and virgins are raisin, then you habe two choives: a) habe some big raisin into which you can perforate with your eternal arousal (and then: how can muslims bend into the floor in heaven with those?); b) to something else, on the other side off your body, with rasins... hummm... I wonder which one do you prefer... - October 19, 2010 at 11:24 AM
- Fernando said...
Hi brother shafsha... glad to see you around here ounce again... may God, the Holy trinity, bless you and your family...
- October 19, 2010 at 12:26 PM
- Anthony Rogers said...
TGV said: "I'm with David on this one. Irshad is from the modernist-reformist camp who twist and distort things to make them more palatable to a liberal audience."
Yes, David is right that Irshad is twisting the Qur'an. But you, TGV, are wrong when you imply that it is merely liberals who find unpalatable the notion that heaven is a great big brothel. Almost everyone else on the planet would recoil from even the suggestion that heaven could be the sort of place spoken of in Islamic sources. The idea that this has anything to do with a Holy God, or that it has anything to do with the desires and pleasures that His people would seek from His hand, as Osama nauseatingly suggested, is not even conceivable by those pursuing holiness in the fear of God.
So, don't bother lying about Sam or addressing yourself to a subject that neither you nor anyone in your small circle of blogandists and dawagandists would ever debate him on, and spend more time searching your own conscience about what could bring you to even entertain such dishonorable thoughts about God or to the point where you could pretend that lusting after women - women who are not yet guaranteed to you personally even if the Quranic teaching is taken for granted, for you don't yet know Allah's (supposed) will for you - is consistent with that piety that ought to mark those who claim to submit to God. - October 19, 2010 at 3:03 PM
- GreekAsianPanda said...
I guess Alexander the Great, the Two-Horned One, didn't get any virgins. Now he's Alexander the GRAPE-eater.
(Get it?? No one ever gets my jokes...)
=( - October 19, 2010 at 3:47 PM
- Koala Bear said...
She is a lesbian and her site says that she had doubts about islam but read a book by KAREN ARMSTRONG who confirmed to her that allah is indeed God. Who goes by the book of some pc dhimmi moron!
- October 19, 2010 at 4:12 PM
- John Park said...
RAISINTASTIC video David, can't wait for part two.
btw, where could I find ABC's video on Islam referred here. - October 19, 2010 at 4:30 PM
- Netranger said...
Dear David/Nabeel,
This video is hilarious... have been laughing since two days now... seen the video dozens of time... especially the bit about you repeating "Rasins" with Ms.Manji.
Actually the logic did hit me before when I read the article online that this just doesn't make sense. But, your video was through the roof man, couldnt have imagined this in my wildest dreams... with your usual wit and style "If I was a Muslim, I would actually be offended at this"... I can imagine Muslims around the world banging their heads at this foolishness...
GOD BLESS you man... cant remember the last time I laughed this much.
Naren - October 19, 2010 at 5:24 PM
- Unknown said...
Brother Fernando,
Thank you dear friend for asking.... I always try to keep following up with any new on the blog, but my am having some commitments and issues that keep me away from posting here and sharing with you ...
Please remember me in your prayers .. as I am really in need for them ..
may the Lord bless your service and bless this blog and all who are sharing or following :-) - October 19, 2010 at 5:42 PM
- Unknown said...
I believe this lady represents a large sector of western muslims. if she is not deliberately deceiving the audience, then I would say that she has been lied upon by other muslim to hide facts - which is permissible in islam in addition to a clear deep ignorance of the islamic literature. Trully represntative of the sitution of many muslims not reading thier books, though try to show themselves as the Umma of reading !
- October 19, 2010 at 6:50 PM
- Tom ta tum Tom said...
@Shafsha, you don't know me but I read you here sometimes. Your plea for prayer really reached out to me (partly because I'm in much the same situation). Please let me uplift you...
"Beloved Father God, in the precious name of Our Lord Jesus, I come to you right now in prayer for Shafsha. Precious Lord, I don't know the situation for Shafsha nor do I know the need - but you do, Sovereign Lord, and I ask that you outstretch your loving mighty arms to surround Shafsha with comfort and with strength just now. Father, please let me agree with Brother Fernando and please grant, Lord that Shafsha would be strengthened not only by our prayers but also by the prayers of many others."
"Gracious, precious Lord, it's obvious that Shafsha believes in prayer so Father, hear our prayers on behalf of this one who has reached out to the community of faith for help in prayer. Teach us, beloved Lord, how we should pray for Shafsha and teach us how we should be mindful of each other and prayerful for each other here in this wonderful blog."
"Father, please let me uplift Shafsha, Fernando, David, Nabeel, Bro. Hogan, precious little Negeen, Paul, Brother Joseph and the whole Acts 17 team."
"Please Lord, let me uplift to you 'thegrandverbalizer19', 'Osama Abdallah' and all of the other Muslim visitors here that you would provide a true vision of Christ Jesus for them. Set them free to love, precious Lord!"
"And Lord, please let me offer up Thanksgiving and Praise for this wonderful ministry and all of the amazing and engaging commenters that come this way so often. Thank you Father, for the love and the wisdom they share."
"And now, Father in dwell in each of us here through your loving Holy Spirit - however we are connected - and draw us closer to you and closer to each other in the love of your precious Son".
"These prayers for Shafsha and for all of us I pray in the mighty name of our Savior Jesus.... Amen!" - October 19, 2010 at 7:47 PM
- minoria said...
Hello Shafsha:
I have prayed with Tom for you.I really hope all turns out well,whatever it may be.God bless you. - October 19, 2010 at 11:53 PM
- Unknown said...
Lord, thank you for the love of my brothers, love that you father created within the heart of your sons.
May God Bless you brothers Tom and Minoria, and reward you all in his heavenly kingdom. - October 20, 2010 at 8:35 AM
Brothers Shafsha and Tom,
My family and I will pray for you, as well. Whatever your situations are, may the Lord bless and keep you both! - October 20, 2010 at 9:39 AM
- hugh watt said...
GreekAsianPanda said:
"I guess Alexander the Great, the Two-Horned One, didn't get any virgins. Now he's Alexander the GRAPE-eater.
(Get it?? No one ever gets my jokes...)
Nope! And you need to start raisin your level around here. - October 20, 2010 at 11:12 AM
- hugh watt said...
Without going into specifics, is there some guidance you can give on what to pray for? - October 20, 2010 at 11:14 AM
- Robin Hubbard said...
I believe she got the "raisin" idea from this source:
Here are 3 videos outlining the book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1JsyFrpKg - October 20, 2010 at 1:31 PM
Tom and the others, please include me in your prayers. I am desperate for prayers and I am in for a long fight, I really do appreciate your prayers for me too. I trust in the Father, Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and I know God has been with me, but I need him more than ever now. Thank you.
- October 20, 2010 at 1:42 PM
- minoria said...
Hello WILL:
I have just read your request,I am here less often due to writing for avraidire.eu.Please let us all pray for Will,whatever it may be,whether work,health,or X situation.
Will,know we care and we care for Shafsha.I hope whatever you are going through passes by quickly,I have been in bad situations many ,many times,before and after becoming a Christian,I have been there,again,let us all pray for Shafsha and Will DAILY. - October 22, 2010 at 10:22 PM
- donna60 said...
I don't believe that balderdash about Mohammad having relations with his nine wives in one night. I'm sorry, but that is nothing but male preening and boasting. When I was a new bride, my husband and I tried to see how many times we could have relations in one night, just for kicks and giggles. The third time was kind of ouchy-oody, and the fourth time didn't happen.
- October 23, 2010 at 3:03 PM
- donna60 said...
When I get my 72 virgins I am going to put them to work cleaning out my garage (and kitchen)
- October 23, 2010 at 3:14 PM
- donna60 said...
Mr. Abdallah said: 'I look forward to the Pleasures and Bliss of Heaven! May I and every Muslim be the Winners of Paradise! Ameen."
Mr. Abdallah, does your wife know about these fantasies of yours? Because I wouldn't let her know. Women are crazy, mean, jealous creatures and she might do something rash.
(Just tell her it's all about the raisins.) - October 23, 2010 at 3:23 PM
- donna60 said...
That little raisin tart in the red pumps is lying about her past. She's had more than a couple of Jinn, I can tell by the looks of her.
- October 23, 2010 at 3:31 PM
- Radical Moderate said...
We need to stone that raisin. - October 23, 2010 at 8:30 PM
- hugh watt said...
donna60 said:
"I don't believe that balderdash about Mohammad having relations with his nine wives in one night."
What Muslims say is Allah gave Muhammad the strength to do that, and in Jannah "males will be given the strength of 100 men!" - October 24, 2010 at 6:09 AM
- Unknown said...
Dear Brother hugh watt, thank you and all the other brother for sharing their prayers for me. In fact i am passing now through several issues 1) relocating which I don't know to where yet, 2)300+ job applications that I haven't received any positive response so far , 3) some postgrad studies that are a bit challenging 4) some unsatble familial issues 5) few governmental paper issues 6) health issues - that required intervention - further putting me in dept
The Lord is Near - October 24, 2010 at 11:47 PM
- Lindert said...
"I don't believe that balderdash about Mohammad having relations with his nine wives in one night."
As it turns out, his own wives did not believe it either (and what better witness could there be).
"Narrated Aisha:
Magic was worked on Allah's Apostle so that he used to think that he had sexual relations with his wives while he actually had not (...)" Sahih Bukhari 7.71.660
Of course the idea of Muhammad lying was ridiculous, as he was the prophet of Allah. This lead people to conclude that Muhammad was delusional because of black magic worked on him (see rest of hadith). - October 25, 2010 at 6:06 AM
- sparapet said...
Not sure whether those were virgins or raisins, but know for sure that those were HOT. So hot that he is burning in their eternal fire to this day...
- October 25, 2010 at 10:06 PM
- hugh watt said...
1 Peter 5:7 God cares for you, so turn all your worries over to him.
Psalm 55:22 Turn your worries over to the Lord. He will keep you going. He will never let godly people fall.
Isaiah 40:29 The LORD gives strength to those who are weary.
30Even young people get tired,
then stumble and fall. 31 But those who trust the LORD will find new strength. They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run without getting tired.
I know it gets difficult at times, but God is faithful.
Psalm 34:19 Anyone who does what is right may have many troubles.
But the Lord saves him from all of them.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Psalm 42:11 My spirit, why are you so sad? Why are you so upset deep down inside me? Put your hope in God. Once again I will have reason to praise him. He is my Savior and my God.
Maranatha - October 26, 2010 at 7:02 AM
- Unknown said...
The latest interpretations of the Quran show that Mohammed meant "Virginians"
- October 26, 2010 at 8:14 AM
- hugh watt said...
Kees said:
"The latest interpretations of the Quran show that Mohammed meant "Virginians.""
Just when I thought all those raisin jokes had dried up! - October 26, 2010 at 11:43 AM
- donna60 said...
I'm not trying to scare any Muslim men on this post, but you have to think about this medically. Physical relations have very little to do with strength, per se. (I hope I'm not being too crude here. I realize I am not talking to biologists)The fact is, anytime skin meets friction, a certain amount of chaffing occurs. The only way you could keep the affected skin from splitting open and seeping and bleeding, due to overuse, is by hardening of the skin---like the hands of hard-working farmers. That being said, wouldn't that rather defeat the purpose?
- October 28, 2010 at 2:50 PM
- donna60 said...
Mr. Fat Man said. "We need to stone that raisin."
Trust me, that party-girl "little Miss Raisin in the red stilettoes" has been "stoned" more than once in her twenties. - October 29, 2010 at 10:09 AM
- donna60 said...
Look, I'm not trying to scare any Muslim men who might be reading this, but I looked up houri, and I don't know about them. They have this pasty white skin that is translucent, and bone marrow can be seen through the skin. Bone marrow is in the core of every bone of the body. It is bright red. I know this because I have watched physicians pull it out through a needle, and I have spread it over a slide to exam under a scope. That means that the skeletons of these houris are going to be shining through the skin, bright red.
If that isn't ghoulish enough, these houris have these huge black eyes. Let me just say this--I haven't seen a costume this terrifying at Halloween World. If 72 of these souless creatures started chasing my brother with a look in their eyes, he would start running, and his screams of terror would be at least an octave higher than my own. - October 30, 2010 at 8:57 AM
- Jabari said...
1. Islam and the West are like night and day........if you have to reinterpret what your religion says (saying that you'll get 72 raisins in Heaven as oppose to 72 virgins), I see no point in converting. You're just making Islam into your own image.
2. This post still makes me laugh. And Shafsha, I'm praying for you. - October 30, 2010 at 8:55 PM
- Unknown said...
This is exactly why we can't divorce Quran and Hadith, it allows wild speculation and strips away context, and most importantly, ignores the most accurate and prolific of Quranic exegates, The Prophet Himself (saw). Let's examine what he told us about the Huriyya.
1. Not from the offspring of Adam.
2. Will have large eyes with intensely white scleras and dark black centers,
3. They will have translucent skin and bones, with the marrow visible, and it will glitter.
4. They have never been touched (sexually) by man or jinn.
I can go on, but what need? These are not raisins nor human virgins, by a heavenly creature in the same way that an angel is a Heavenly creature not a human being, though without the same attributes of angels - October 8, 2016 at 11:47 AM


text:
Monday 15 July 2024
The false statement of "Vassula excommunicated" is unveiled at last
The news of Vassula's alleged excommunication was published in March 2011 on the website, misleadingly called www.infovassula.ch by its author, Maria Laura Pio Cafaro. The false statement has also been widely published and relayed in particular by Church related media, thereby impugning honour and reputation of Vassula Rydén and the Foundation for True Life in God. Maria Laura Pio Cafaro has now issued the following retraction and apology following legal proceedings in the Civil Court of Belgium: FORMAL RETRACTION:
The document of the Patriarchate is not a decree of excommunication of Mrs Rydén.
Maria Laura Pio – 27 February 2012. This retraction and apology was demanded and given because of the grave damage to the reputation and integrity of Vassula Rydén and of the Foundation for True Life in God caused by the slanderous and untruthful statements published by Maria Laura Pio Cafaro and those who have also misled their readers and audience in the same way, in particular: - Mgr. Denis Lecompte, Coordinateur national de "Pastorale, Nouvelles Croyances The statements of Mgr. Lecompte and Father Francois-Marie Dermine were widely published and repeated in clerical circles particularly in the Roman Catholic Church up to the level of National Bishop Conferences. The present clarifying statement is issued and published by the Foundation for True Life in God on behalf of Vassula Rydén. FOUNDATION FOR TRUE LIFE IN GOD Geneva, April 2012
Articles of the same Topic :
3. Announcement by the Ecumenical Patriarchate


text: Article / 8 July 2012 How Qatar is taking on the world By Guardian Reporter Facebook X Email LinkedIn WhatsApp Cleaners work on the exterior of The Shard in London On Thursday evening Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who combines the roles of Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, stood with the Duke of York and mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to watch the inauguration of the Shard. As blue and green lasers, accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, lit up a London skyline now dominated by the 310m skyscraper, the performance was streamed live around the world. If the opening of Western Europe's tallest building — presided over by Hamad, whose country's sovereign wealth fund owns 95% of the development — was a demonstration of Qatar's rapidly growing global visibility and influence, a few days before, in an equally vast but older building, that influence was being exercised far more discreetly. The building was the UN's Palais des Nations in Geneva, where last Saturday Hamad met the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and other foreign ministers to press his country's case for firmer international action over Syria. Both scenes underline a phenomenon: the emergence on to the world stage as a considerable diplomatic, cultural and even military player of a tiny state whose huge ambitions to spread influence around the globe are fuelled by enormous wealth and devotion to a strict interpretation of the Qur'an. That ambition is being realised, from the sports stadiums and skyscraper penthouses of western capitals to the industrial centres of China and the battlefields of Syria and Libya. A generation ago Qatar — whose people are the world's wealthiest by virtue of its oil and natural gas reserves — barely registered on the global radar. It is a former British protectorate ruled by the al-Thani family since the 19th century; its present emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, seized power in 1995 from his father in a bloodless palace coup. Today it is difficult to avoid its money and influence. In London, the al-Thanis' investment arm, Qatar Holdings and the Qatar Investment Authority, have been on a long shopping spree, spending more than £13-billion in recent years on purchasing Chelsea Barracks, Harrods and the Olympic Village. Qatar is the largest shareholder in Barclays Bank. Its global investment strategy most recently has seen the statelet aggressively pursue new openings in China. The Qatar Foundation sponsors Barcelona football club, a reminder that in 10 years' time it will play host to the World Cup. Then there is the Doha-based al-Jazeera television, considered the most important Arab news TV channel, owned by Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation — which last week claimed that it had evidence that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned with polonium. The emirate also hosts the Taliban and Hamas regional offices, as well as a host of international organisations — Georgetown University, the British Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies — creating a space where the West rubs shoulders with the Islamic world. Indeed, until 2009 Qatar even hosted an Israeli trade centre, which closed its doors after the Israeli incursion into Gaza. Since the Arab spring, Qatar has attempted to position itself at the forefront of the transformation of the region, giving military support to the opposition to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya as well as backing key players in the country's fractured post-revolutionary politics through tactics — some diplomats have alleged — that have included weapons shipments. More recently, it has been accused of funnelling arms to Syria's opposition groups — a claim the prime minister denies, despite the fact that Qatar vocally supports the arming of that country's opposition. All of which leads to questions: what does Qatar want from a foreign policy that combines the deployment of both soft and — increasingly — hard power, and how did such a small country get to be so important? 'Pygmy with the punch of a giant' That — as the Economist pointed out last year in a profile of "the pygmy with the punch of a giant" — was precisely the question that was asked by Egypt's former autocrat, Hosni Mubarak, when he paid a visit to al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha in 2001. He reportedly grumbled: "All that noise from this little matchbox?" It is a question that has been framed in so many words by everyone from Arab leaders to Western diplomats struggling to understand not only the complex combination of considerations driving Qatari foreign policy but also its trajectory. In some respects, say analysts who have studied that policy, the diplomacy of the al-Thani family is interpreted through the very personal filter of the emir, his prime minister and Sandhurst-educated crown prince Tamim, the head of its tiny military. With a population of fewer than two million — of whom fewer than one in seven is native-born — Qatar sits on a flat peninsula that juts out from the coastline of Saudi Arabia, facing Iran across the Gulf. When it ceased being a British protectorate in 1971 it elected not to join the United Emirates. While Qatar was a founding member of the Gulf Co-operation Council in 1981, which guarantees its sovereignty, its foreign policy has long been focused on forging friendships and alliances to guarantee its independence and security, not least through its hosting of US Central Command since 2002. "You only have to look at Qatar's location on the map to see that it is in a rather heavy neighbourhood," says Jane Kinninmont, a Gulf expert at the Chatham House thinktank. "There is a feeling that it needs a lot of allies. So Qatar pursues alliances both with larger countries and smaller ones that it can rely on in places like the UN general assembly." It is precisely this, believes Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Centre, that has driven a "creative" foreign policy that has long required Qatar to cultivate friendships. That, however, is not enough to explain Qatar's emergence as an international player punching far above its weight. Instead, the reality is that it has benefited from a complex combination of events bound together by the powerful personalities of the emir and his prime minister built on the foundation that Qatar should "matter". Assertive diplomacy It is precisely over this issue of self-validation that the dots between the Shard and the Olympic village and Qatar's increasingly assertive diplomacy are joined. "Fifteen years ago no one had really heard of Qatar," says Kinninmont. "Now we know about it not only because of its trophy investments in places like London but because of its foreign policies. It is very brand-conscious and in part that is because it seeks to define and brand itself through what it is involved in." That is as applicable to notable buildings as its support for revolution in the Arab world. Qatar's strategy was for a long time similar to that of Turkey's, a "zero problems" foreign policy that focused on increasing its influence by acting as both a crisis mediator and through winning friends. But in the middle of the Arab spring, which saw other leaders forced to look inwards, Qatar, with its relative stability, seized its opportunity to take on a more active role. Speaking three years ago, Qatar's prime minister insisted: "Our sources of power are our belief in God, our self-confidence and the emir's clear perception, in which there is no competition with anyone. We want to compete with no one. Our country is small and I repeat this a hundred times." While few would argue with Qatar's declaration of "self-confidence", it is the last statement that many are increasingly sceptical about, not least since March last year when the emirate dispatched six Mirage jets to join Nato operations over Libya and military advisers and anti-tank missiles to the rebels. It was this moment, as David Roberts, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute, argued in a piece for Foreign Affairs last year, that marked the "qualitative change" in Qatar's foreign policy from an "activist" but militarily "unthreatening" stance to active intervention. Roberts's explanation for the emergence of Qatar as a key regional actor is intriguing. He argues that, following his coup in 1995, the emir was anxious to develop "a positive and liberal image … with a single goal — to consolidate his regime in a hostile environment where supporters of the old regime inside the ruling family and outside the monarchy [Saudi Arabia] cherished hopes for restoration." It was a policy that a year later would see the launch of al-Jazeera. It has been more recent events, however, that have defined Qatar. Despite being an absolute monarchy — although it will hold elections next year for a royal advisory body — the state has seen no contradiction in throwing its weight behind popular movements fighting long-standing autocrats, a position viewed by some in the region with deep scepticism. "The Arab spring changed everything," says Hamid. "Among Arab leaders, Qatar was the only one that was ahead of the curve in the Arab spring and willing to take risks." Ironically, he argues, it was the small and wealthy population and the lack of pressure for democracy, that allowed it to feel less "existentially" challenged by what was happening around it than its bigger neighbours, not least Saudi Arabia and Iran. "It saw what was happening," says Kinninmont, "and has been aligning itself with the Muslim Brotherhood and brotherhood-based movements everywhere. It has sided with what it sees as the rising trend." That support for parties with their roots in the brotherhood — including Tunisia's Ennahda party, whose recent victory Qatar financed, comes despite the fact that the emirate itself embraces the Wahhabi tradition of Islam and has also hosted radicals from that school. This has led to suspicions in some parts that its agenda is religiously driven, although others argue that it is less ideological and more opportunistic. But if Qatar has long learned to be pragmatic — managing to host a huge American base while still conducting military exercises with its neighbour, Iran — its approach, says Kinninmont, has also been driven by very personal factors, not least in the friction with Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. "The emir spent a lot of time cultivating Assad as an ally. The feeling was that they could explain and he would listen. But Assad didn't want to listen." The change of tack in Qatar's policy from acting as mediator in a series of crises, including between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels and in Darfur, to a more interventionist stance has not been without its risks. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution in Libya, Western diplomats in Tripoli complained bitterly about Qatari interference. Qatar's activism on behalf of Syria's opposition and the suspicion that it has been involved in channelling arms to its members has drawn criticism both public and private. It has led some to speculate that Qatar will not be able to sustain its influence. It has been remarked that, while it has benefited from the distraction of neighbours like Saudi Arabia at the start of the Arab spring, the long-term consequence of Qatar's actions in the last year and a half — not least its support for Sunni Islamist movements — may be drawing it closer to Riyadh in the increasingly apparent sectarian divisions thrown up by the Arab spring, not least the conflict in Syria. Equally challenging for Qatar is that its newly assertive policies may be in danger of undermining the careful network of friendships it has worked so long and hard to develop, making new enemies. Even among Libya's revolutionaries who benefited from Qatari military assistance there has been grumbling. Among those who have spoken out is General Khalifa Hiftar, who while welcoming Qatari "aid [that] comes through the front door … if it comes through the window to certain people [and] bypassing official channels, we don't want Qatar". Hamid admits: "Everything comes at a price. Opposition to Qatar has risen. There is the risk of blowback for the emirate. But they know that that goes with the territory." Then small Qatar might well discover, as others have before, that the realities of hard power trump the expensive and subtle business of soft power — laser light shows and gleaming towers included. – guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2012 Tags: Guardian Reporter, QATAR


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Free webapp Scrumy helps teams manage and complete projects that will feel familiar to anyone who's used Scrum collaboration techniques developing software. Frustrated when cheap sticky notes refused to stay stuck to the wall, the folks from Knockout Apps decided to develop a digital solution. A free version is available, but to go pro it'll cost you $7 a month or $60 a year and you'll get extra features like automatically generated burndown charts to track your progress from day to day. Plus, you won't randomly get a clip from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air instead of your project. Check out the demo, and if you're not convinced, check out the team's "Professional Infomercial" after the jump.
Scrumy [scrumy.com]


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In this guest blog, Andrew Moore, who has authored over 200 systematic reviews, many on pain, lifts the lid on paracetamol. Effective and safe? We are challenged to think again…
People with pain have some very simple demands. They want the pain gone, and they want it gone now. A successful result is one where the pain is reduced by half or more, or where they have no or only mild pain. That result delivers not just on pain, but also improves sleep, depression, quality of life, work, and the ability to get on with life.
For many years paracetamol has been the 'go-to' medicine for all sorts of acute and chronic pain conditions. NICE recommends it for back pain and osteoarthritis, and paracetamol or paracetamol/opioid combinations are among the most common medicines for treating neuropathic pain, including back pain with a neuropathic component. Primary care in England spent £87 million on paracetamol in 2015, much for chronic pain conditions – and that does not include equally large amounts for fixed-dose combinations of paracetamol and opioids.
So how does paracetamol stack up against what people with acute back pain want? A Cochrane review is unequivocal – it doesn't work. Not immediately, not later. At no stage between one and 12 weeks is 4,000 mg daily any better than a placebo. Nor does the review find any evidence that it works in chronic back pain either. The results were heavily dependent on one impeccable, large, randomised trial that described average pain intensity dropping steadily with paracetamol or placebo from over 6/10 points (severe pain) at the start of the trial to 3.7 at week 1 (moderate pain), 2.6 by week 2 (mild pain), and then 1.2 by week 12 (mild pain).
It is really difficult when an almost ubiquitous practice (using paracetamol) meets a distinctly inconvenient truth (it doesn't work). The high quality of the evidence cannot be challenged, so let's have a quick look for evidence showing that paracetamol is effective in other chronic pain conditions. That's where the trouble starts – in osteoarthritis, our most recent best evidence indicates a barely significant and tiny benefit of around 3/100 mm over placebo, and a ranking barely above placebo in a network meta-analysis. For chronic neuropathic pain an ongoing Cochrane review reveals a complete lack of any evidence for paracetamol at all. Paracetamol is without effect in cancer pain, and it is the poor relation in acute postoperative pain and migraine.
How safe is paracetamol?
That makes it time to start using our brains. We have probably given up thinking about paracetamol because it is over 50 years old, and we have it drummed into us that 'at least it is safe'. Well the safety message may not be true either. Emerging evidence provides food for thought.
- A systematic review of observational studies shows paracetamol is associated with increased mortality, cardiovascular adverse events (fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, or fatal coronary heart disease), gastrointestinal adverse events (ulcers and complications such as upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage), and renal impairment.
- A national case-population study of non-overdose paracetamol exposure resulted in twice the rate of acute liver failure leading to registration for transplantation than NSAIDs.
- A large randomised trial in chronic pain showed that patients taking paracetamol were four times more likely to have abnormal results on liver function tests than those taking placebo.
- A large randomised study in arthritis showed similar adverse event rates for paracetamol and ibuprofen over three months.
The bottom line is that paracetamol doesn't effectively relieve pain but has demonstrable rare but serious adverse events. If it were just a few tablets, then maybe we could ignore it, but it isn't. Paracetamol consumption is measured not in kilograms, not even tons, but thousands of tons a year. Both public health and ethical questions are being ignored.
Where do we go from here?
It makes best sense to go to the fundamentals of what the evidence in pain tells us. We know:
- People in pain tend to have either a very good response to medication/treatment (more than 50% pain reduction) or little or none. Responses are not Gaussian, but U-shaped or all-or-nothing.
- When people have good pain relief they tend to have benefit in a range of accompanying symptoms. Their quality of life goes back to normal and they can work or look after themselves and family.
- Not many are so lucky with any single drug – success rates for chronic pain are well below 50%, typically 10% for chronic low back pain or fibromyalgia to 30% for osteoarthritis or painful diabetic neuropathy.
- Much evidence on efficacy is misleading. For opioids particularly, where withdrawal rates can be as high as 60% over 12 weeks, inappropriate handling of data from withdrawals indicates the drugs work when they probably do not. That is true for all opioids apart from tramadol and probably tapentadol. And spending on opioids dwarfs that of paracetamol.
- There is virtually no reliable evidence for any of the non-drug therapies.
Back to low back pain
There are no easy answers. We have very limited evidence on back pain. That makes it even more important that when solid evidence comes along – even if it is a solid negative as with paracetamol – we take it on the chin and move on. Too much in the past have we been like the 'wise' monkeys – unwilling to see, unwilling to hear, and unwilling to speak about obvious issues right under our noses. Time to look, listen, and open up a new conversation.
Andrew Moore reports grants and personal fees from RB, grants and personal fees from Gruenenthal, personal fees from Menarini, grants and personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from Futura, personal fees from Omega, outside the submitted work.
References can be found here.


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Two prison guards in Illinois are standing trial on federal civil rights charges this week. They're accused of beating 65-year-old Larry Earvin so severely, he died. A third guard has already pleaded guilty. But there's evidence the pattern of abuse is much broader. Shannon Heffernan with member station WBEZ's Motive podcast reports.
SHANNON HEFFERNAN, BYLINE: In 2018, Larry Earvin was allegedly beaten by staff in a part of Western Illinois Correctional Center that is known for having no cameras. His autopsy showed almost half his ribs were fractured, and his cause of death was listed as homicide after a, quote, "altercation with staff." But in order to understand the broader implications of this trial, it's important to know what happened in the years before Earvin's death. WBEZ identified nine additional people who reported very similar stories to Earvin's - beatings, often in the same part of the prison, sometimes even by the same guards. One of those alleged victims is Roger Latimer. He says that in 2017, he was dragged down a sidewalk and taken to an area of the prison not under camera surveillance.
ROGER LATIMER: At that point, the officer on the left starts kicking me with his boots, over and over again. It was very terrifying. I thought I was - this is the way I die - is I get kicked to death.
HEFFERNAN: Latimer's medical records from an outside hospital indicate he had four rib fractures, bruises and a concussion. The nurse wrote in her records that she tried to take pictures of Latimer's injuries, but guards would not let her. She wrote that the patient said, quote, "They're just trying to cover this up. No one will know what they did to me if you don't take the pictures." When Latimer heard about Larry Earvin's death, he recalled all the ways he tried to report his experience - contacting prison officials and local prosecutors.
LATIMER: It was like, gee, it sounded like he was dragged down a sidewalk and kicked in the ribs. It's like - so this is still happening. It's so upsetting because I tried to reach out.
HEFFERNAN: The Illinois Department of Corrections would not answer a detailed list of questions about the blind spot where men report being beaten. Officials also would not answer questions about why no action was taken, despite documented reports of abuse. In a written statement, they said they installed more cameras since Earvin's death, but they insist footage should not be available to journalists or the public. Jenny Vollen-Katz is with the John Howard Association, a nonpartisan prison watchdog group, and says cameras are not enough. She argues that information of what happens behind prison walls needs to be available to people outside the corrections department.
JENNY VOLLEN-KATZ: When all of that information is only reported internally, we tend to see, you know, a lack of response, which is deeply concerning, but also unfortunately not unusual in a correctional environment.
HEFFERNAN: The trial that is underway is of two of the men accused of beating Earvin - Alex Banta and Todd Sheffler. A third, Willie Hedden, has already pleaded guilty. But the trial has raised issues about the system beyond those three guards. Several staff have already testified they saw co-workers beating Earvin and did nothing to stop it. Earvin's daughter-in-law, Toscia Pippion, was at the trial and says the problem is bigger than just the three men who've been charged.
TOSCIA PIPPION: Everybody should be held accountable for what they did. I don't care if you kicked him. I don't care if you pushed him. He needs to be held accountable for it.
HEFFERNAN: Neither of the guards on trial agreed to an interview. If the jury finds them guilty, they could face a sentence up to life in prison.
For NPR News, I'm Shannon Heffernan.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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I have listed a new property at 12 6220 Orr DR in Red Deer.
Well kept bi-level located on one of the largest lots in Oxford Place. The main floor has a bright open layout with vaulted ceilings. The kitchen has a large pantry and plenty of counter space including a breakfast bar. Spacious living room with access to the south facing yard and deck. The basement is fully finished with a huge master bedroom, 2nd bedroom and 4 piece bath. Single attached garage and an extra wide parking pad out front large enough for 2 cars!


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Why we need to move from Product Quality to Product Integrity?
In 2016 we have witnessed a lot of products recalls around us. We witnessed the highly visible Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall; recalls from Automotive companies, with reports suggesting upwards of 50 Million Vehicles recalled in 2016 alone.
There were recalls from various other sectors like home appliances, computing products, consumer electronics, industrial automation and many high technology industries. These incidents of a product recall, field failures, and defect slippages becoming especially relevant and most noteworthy when most of these companies have been focusing on aspects of product quality for time immemorial. Is it time for us to think beyond product quality and furthermore focus on product integrity?
As testers, one of our primary responsibilities is to provide a very context specific feedback on the quality of the product. Does this mean that providing feedback on just the quality of a product is not sufficient anymore?What more feedback should testers provide on the products they test.
First of all, let us consider the quality characteristics which we expect from a typical software product. Sogeti TMap explains around 17 quality characteristics for a software product. The popular ISO 25010 mentions about 35 quality characteristics for software products and ISO 9126 articulates around 27 quality characteristics for a software product and the list goes on. The question to ask is if the testers are being sufficiently guided by these quality characteristics or do we need additional quality characteristics to provide feedback on the quality of the product.
The new age smart products seem to be very complex with systems of systems architecture involving multiple integrations between software, mechanical, electrical and multiple information processing interfaces. Does our traditional view of software product quality suffice in this ever evolving word of smart products? Therefore should we as testers also move beyond providing feedback on just product quality. Should we as testers start providing feedback on the Integrity of the Product?
Various dictionaries describe the Integrity in various ways; But in the context of Product, The first use of the world Product Integrity was in 1990's , in response to the need for a new word which is much broader than quality and total quality.
I will try to explain my point of view on the concept of Product Integrity in subsequent posts. Please provide your valuable comments.
To interact, please visit the SogetiLabs blog: Why we need to move from Product Quality to Product Integrity?
This content comes from our technical leaders who publish very regularly on the SogetiLabs blog.


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Hosted by Cecily and Lolli
When I walk down the street, I hear a tune in my head. It goes like this:
"Hm Hm Hm, Hm Hm Hm, Hmmm Hmmm, Hmmm Hm Hm Hmmm"
The title of this song is "Linus and Lucy" but is probably more well known as "The Charlie Brown Song." You know the song I'm talking about.
I love Charlie Brown, I've always felt like a kindred spirit to the round headed kid (as Snoopy refers to him). He is so eager, and so desperate to be accepted -- and so often behind the eight ball. I can relate.
I think most of us can.
Back in the 60's, a musical was written based on the Peanuts Characters, called "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," and from that play came the song "Happiness" which defines the word, in a series of sentences beginning with the words, "Happiness is..."
We've hit a bit of a rough spot around here lately -- nothing insurmountable, just compounding issues that seem to come in bunches. My water heater is on the fritz. My washer stopped working. My muffler needs fixing. My fence blew over. And on. And on. It's like living in a country song.
Tonight, when I asked my wife what I should write for Photostory Friday, she said two words:
Happiness is...
It was just what I needed.
How about you?


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An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton from Another Wellesley College Alumna: Hillary, Will You Renounce Your Ties to Monsanto?
By LINN COHEN-COLE
Dear Hillary,
By polling logic, I should be your supporter — Democrat, woman, white, liberal. But this past summer I saw a News Hour show on farmers committing suicide in Maharastra, India, which affected me deeply. I started learning what was happening to farmers and to food and how the Clintons are connected.
The News Hour piece said Monsanto, a US agricultural corporation, hired Bollywood actors to sell illiterate farmers Bt (genetically engineered) cotton seeds, promising they'd get rich from big yields. The expensive seeds needed expensive fertilizer and pesticides (Monsanto's) and irrigation. There is no irrigation there. Crops failed. Farmers had immense debt and couldn't collect seeds to try again because Monsanto seeds are "patented" as "intellectual property").
Genetic Engineering is often justified as a human technology, one that feeds more people with better food. Nothing could be further from the truth. With very few exceptions, the whole point of genetic engineering is to increase sales of chemicals and bio-engineered products to dependent farmers." David Ehrenfield: Professor of Biology, Rutgers University.
Monsanto has a $10 million budget and 75 person staff to prosecute farmers.
Since the late 1990s (as industrial agriculture took hold in India),166,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide and 8 million have left the land (P. Sainath, The Hindu). Farmers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Indonesia, South America, Central America and here, have all protested Monsanto and genetic engineering.
What does this have to do with you?
Your Orwellian-named "Rural Americans for Hillary" were Monsanto's lobbyists. My greater concern, though, is you former-employer, Rose Law Firm, representing Monsanto, world's largest GE (GE – genetic engineering) corporation; Tyson, world's largest meat producer; Walmart, the world's largest retailer. Rose is home to Industrial FOOD.
Rose's cozy connections: Jon Jacoby, senior at the Stephens Group – one of the largest shareholders of Tyson, Walmart, DP&L – is C.O.B. of DP&L, arranged the Wal-Mart deal. Jackson Stephens' Stephens Group staked Walton, financed Tyson. Monsanto bought DP&L. Walmart's board invited you on, Tyson executive helped you do $100,000 trade just before Bill' governorship, Jackson Stephens backed Bill for Governor, then President (donating $100,000).
Monsanto made Agent Orange, PCBs, nuclear weapons components, pesticides, and with that diverse background in death, are now "doing" food.
Bill in office:
USDA immediately significantly weakened chicken waste/contamination standards, easing Tyson's poultry-factory expansion.
1. Monsanto people were put in charge of food, …
2. FDA okayed Monsanto's rBGH (bovine growth hormone), first GE-product ever approved.
3. Despite bovine illness/death, FDA didn't recall or warn.
4. When dairymen labeled milk "rBGH-free," USDA threatened confiscation.
5. Organic food was the last way around unknown danger. FDA tried to close that escape with new "organic" standards, to include: genetic engineering of plants/animals, food irradiation , sewage sludge fertilizer.
USDA backed down from public response 20 times greater than to anything before American food:
Oils: Indian sheep died eating from Bt cotton fields. Our children eat Bt cottonseed oil in peanut butter, cookies.
Grains: 49 per cent of corn acreage planted in Bt corn in 2007. A French study indicates it causes kidney and liver toxicity. . Monsanto controls US's two main crops, soy (90% GMO, 90% of traits "belong" to Monsanto) and corn, the largest crop (60% GMO, nearly 100% Monsanto "owned" traits).
Meat: Steroids bulk athletes, Monsanto steroids fatten animals, our fattening children eat steroid-laced meats. FDA allowed "known TSE-positive (Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy Mad Cow Disease) material to be used in pet food, pig, chicken and fish feed." Monsanto's GE-hormone increases risk sick cows are entering US food chain
Poultry: USDA weakened waste/contamination standards. Waste from transnational poultry industry is now implicated as the source of bird flu. The poultry industry is using the crisis to push out small farmers.
Milk: Scientific studies indicate Monsanto's rBGH increases risks of breast cancer by up to seven-fold, increases colon, prostate cancers risks. Canada, 29 European nations, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa ban U.S. rBGH dairy products. Bill's USFDA put no restrictions, warning labels, or any labels.
Control out of control.
Monsanto's Terminator genes make plants sterile after one season, posing apocalyptic risk of breaking out into nature. GE breakouts have contaminated maize and weeds, already.
Monsanto, meat-packers, and the USDA are pushing NAIS (National Animal Identification System), a corporate database tracking small farmers' livestock. Monsanto pushing state laws taking control from farmers, communities, over GE planting.
Cattle living in filth, 12,000-year-old seed loss, poultry industry implicated in bird flu, Mad Cow disease, bee colony collapse, poisoned soil, depleted water, Superweed), lawsuits against farmers, loss of family farms throughout the world, … farmers committing suicide. Industrial agriculture.
Bees and farmers, dead canaries in that mine.
Your proposed "Department of Food Safety" centralizes control over food into whose hands? Tough talk on labeling "foreign" food but Bill degraded US food and prevented minimally sane labeling. You never objected.
Monsanto uses child labor in India.
You take Monsanto donations. Blacks, our poorest group, have to eat Monsanto's steroid/hormone/antibiotic-filled GE food. You take Monsanto donations.
Who are you protecting? National Black Farmers Association, boycotting Monsanto? Babies drinking rBGH milk? Women fearing breast cancer? Despairing farmers? Suffering animals? Children fed kidney-and-liver-toxic Bt-corn?
Or Monsanto?
I am a person before I am a woman. Your gender is irrelevant. Given deadly threats to my grandchildren's future by your corporate connections (Edwards was right), I don't believe your talk of "caring" about Blacks/women/children/health/farmers/food.
I will vote for someone committed to small farmers – our ONLY real food safety. Your friends, though, are the heart of an international industrial agricultural nightmare.
Linn Cohen-Cole
Disclaimer. I am not a scientist. I have read for months on this subject, and am including only a tiny portion of the horrifying things I have learned. I am expressing my opinion as person and may be wrong. Perhaps things are swell out there and rBGH is fabulous and TSE-laced feed is great, and genetic engineering is the best thing since manna. But I am scared for my family and I have not only a right to say so but an obligation to do so. I am angry that Monsanto was allowed the influence it had and has done the things it definitely seems to have. I am disgusted by industrialization of every tender and beautiful part of our world and hope, for all our children's sake, we are not too late to pull back.


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Two out of three in Colorado, with a potent offensive output in all three games.
Two out of three in San Francisco, including a Friday blowout and a Sunday ninth-inning dagger from AJ Ellis.
Sweep in Arizona against the division leader, capped by a gritty extra-inning come-from-behind victory last night, narrowing the gap to 1.5 games out of first place.
That's 7 of 9, baby!
Now we're back at home for four against third-place Colorado. It's almost a pity, at this stage, that there's an All-Star Break. I don't want this momentum to end!


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We met Daniel Whittle yesterday – and will be looking at some of the answers to prayer that he has collected in his book. Daniel Whittle was talking about the importance of taking everything – large or small – to God in prayer. He continues with a meeting he happened to have with George Müller.
It was my happiness to cross the Atlantic in the company of this dear brother [George Müller] on the steamship Sardinian, from Quebec to Liverpool, in June, 1880.
I met Mr. Müller in the express office the morning of sailing, about half an hour before the tender was to take the passengers to the ship. He asked of the agent if a deck chair had arrived for him from New York. He was answered, No, and told that it could not possibly come in time for the steamer. I had with me a chair I had just purchased and told Mr. Müller of the place near by, where I had obtained it, and suggested that as but a few moments remained he had better buy one at once.
His reply was, "No, my brother, Our Heavenly Father will send the chair from New York. It is one used by Mrs. Miller, as we came over, and left in New York when we landed. I wrote ten days ago to a brother who promised to see it forwarded here last week.He has not been prompt as I would have desired, but I am sure Our Heavenly Father will send the chair. Mrs. Müller is very sick upon the sea, and has particularly desired to have this same chair, and not finding it here yesterday when we arrived, as we expected, we have made special prayer that Our Heavenly Father would be pleased to provide it for us, and we will trust Him to do so." As this dear man of God went peacefully on board the tender, running the risk of Mrs. Müller making the voyage without a chair, when for a couple of dollars she could have been provided for, I confess I feared Mr. Müller was carrying his faith principles too far and not acting wisely.
I was kept at the express office ten minutes after Mr. Müller left. Just as I started to hurry to the wharf a team drove up the street, and on top of a load just arrived from New York, was Mr. Müller's chair! It was sent at once to the tender and placed in my hands to take to Mr. Müller (the Lord having a lesson for me) just as the boat was leaving the dock. I found Mr. and Mrs. Müller in a retired spot on one side of the tender and handed him the chair. He took it with the happy, pleased expression of a child who has just received a kindness deeply appreciated, and reverently removing his hat and folding his hands over it, he thanked his Heavenly Father for sending the chair. "In everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God." "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
From the book, The Wonders of Prayer, by Daniel W. Whittle.


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