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A French court has annulled the marriage of two French Muslims because the husband complained his wife was not the virgin she had claimed to be. His lawyer won the case by arguing a civil marriage is a legal contract and lying about an important element in it amounts to fraud. Religion had nothing to do with it, he argued, and the court agreed. More details are in our news story here.
Should men-only Muslim teams be barred from the Olympics?
Should some Islamic countries be barred from the Beijing Olympics? The question came up in an interesting op-ed piece this week arguing that countries that ban women from competing in sports events violate the Olympic Charter and thus should be excluded from the Games. As Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, wrote in the International Herald Tribune:
Sect raid raises questions about polygamy in U.S.
For most readers outside the United States, and probably many living there, the recent stories about the polygamous sect raided in Texas in early April raised several basic questions about multiple marriage and the law in America. Like any other Western society, the United States bans polygamy. Mainstream Mormons officially banned the practice in 1890, but several breakaway groups continued it. While informed readers may know that, it still came as a surprise to see there was a polygamous community of several hundred Americans living in a large compound right under the noses of the local police and politicians. And they were not the only ones — once-hidden polygamists are now pressing to have "plural marriage" decriminalised. What's going on here?
Abortion debate rages in Britain on 40th anniversary of law
Britain passed its law legalising abortion 40 years ago today. But the controversy has not died down. Parliament is again besieged by two camps of activists, one keen to stop what they say is murder and the other defending what they see as a women's right. Judging it too difficult to have the law overturned, the anti-abortion camp aims to lower the 24-week limit for the termination of pregnancy to 20, 18 or even fewer weeks.
Turkey's covered women fed up with politics over their headscarves
It started as a women's protest for the right to wear Muslim headscarves at university, in this case at Marmara University in Istanbul. Then the men showed up with their banners and megaphones, lined up in front of the cameras and began speaking in place of the women. That left the ladies standing demurely on the sidelines or in the crowd, all decked out with their bright silk scarves with nothing to do but clap at what the men said.
Afghan journalist in blasphemy case says trial took only four minutes
Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the 23-year-old Afghan journalist sentenced to death for blasphemy and other crimes against Islam, has told the London daily The Independent in his first interview since the verdict that his trial for downloading a report on women's rights from the Internet was over in only four minutes. Independent correspondent Kim Sengupta spoke to Kambakhsh at his prison in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sherif. Here is the interview and an editorial by the newspaper, which has launched a petition for Kambakhsh's release that has got 88,500 signatures so far.
"Burkini" banned from Dutch swimming pool
Remember the "burkini"? This cover-all swimsuit made a big splash in Australia last year when its introduction allowed Muslim women to stay covered but swim and even become lifeguards. The lycra suit looked like an ingenious adaptation of tradition and technology that could help integrate Muslim women more into Australian society. Our story from January 2007 said about 9,000 had been sold so far.
Muslim student group adapts to life in the U.S.
The New York Times has an interesting article about how the Muslim Students Association (MSA) there is adapting to life in the United States. Founded in the 1960s by foreign students who wanted to pray together, the chapters "were basically little slices of Saudi Arabia. Women were banned. Only Muslim men who prayed, fasted and avoided alcohol and dating were welcomed. Meetings, even idle conversations, were in Arabic." The MSA was largely financed by Saudi Arabia and Wahhabi views presumably came along with the cheques.
Catholics, sex, abortion, libel, a cardinal — what a story…
UPDATE: The trial ended in stalemate on Feb. 29 and a retrial is due in a few months. Murphy-O'Connor was not called to testify.
Sharia comments debate details of Williams's idea
Comments on Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams's speech about sharia are starting to explore some of the ideas in more detail. Opinions are still mostly against the idea, but there are some defenders and there are more balanced arguments than the first wave of reactions. Here are some of the latest items we found interesting:


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PARCHMENT, MI -- Firefighters Monday are revisiting the former Crown Vantage paper mill site to make sure an overnight fire there does not rekindle, Parchment City Manager Dennis Durham said.
He said he was notified of the fire at shortly after midnight by the fire chief, who said the fire was being contained to a single building, part of a cluster of buildings.
A fire in September destroyed another one of the vacant buildings at the site, all of which are slated for demolition, Durham said.
"The previous fire was in the top of a four-story building," he said. "This was not that hard to get to, but because it was surrounded by other buildings, it presented its own challenges."
After the September fire, the city installed security cameras with a direct feed into Kalamazoo Township dispatcher, he said. Part of the investigation of the fire will include going over photos from weekend, he said.
This morning's fire was spotted by a passer-by, he said.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. "We will not open the case for investigation until hot spots are put out, at the earliest for tomorrow morning," Durham said.
Crown Vantage went bankrupt and abandoned the mill in 2000. The site has been slated for redevelopment by Colorado-based Frontier Renewal LLC. The company plans a mixed-use commercial and residential development on the former mill site.
Neither fire will have any impact on that plan, Durham said.

subset: commoncrawl


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Group 3 defending champion West Morris, No. 5 in The Star Ledger Top 20, is among four ranked teams still alive in NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 3.
Of course, the No. 1 team in the state, top-seeded Old Tappan, resides in the same bracket and will meet Bergen County rival Fair Lawn in the sectional quarterfinals on Friday.
West Morris, seeded second in the brackets, has a tough task when it hosts an improved Paramus club, fresh off a 2-0 victory over Sparta. Other intriguing matchups in the section include No. 8 Newark East Side, the third seed, hosting Tenafly, and No. 15 Mendham, the fifth seed, visiting Northern Highlands, a team that has been in and out of the Top 20 and played one of the state's toughest schedules.
North Jersey, Group 4 is up for grabs. No. 9 Livingston, the top seed, hosts Bayonne, while fourth-seeded Randolph is home for fifth-seeded North Hunterdon on a match that should go three sets.
Second-seeded Ridgewood hosts Westfield and third-seeded Ridge has West Orange.
In North Jersey, Group 2, No. 4 Caldwell, which hosts Indian Hills, is the only team of the remaining eight not from Bergen County. Still alive in the bracket are No. 13 Pascack Hills, No. 16 River Dell and Demarest, which last week knocked off No. 3 Immaculate Heart in the BCT quarterfinals.
In North Jersey, Group 1, No. 10 Bogota is the top seed and will most likely meet second-seeded Rutherford, which is ranked No. 12 in the state.
South Jersey, Group 4 has No. 2 and undefeated Hunterdon Central as the top seed and it will most likely meet No. 7 Williamstown, the second seed in the final there on Thursday. Third-seeded Southern, which won Group 4 two years ago, could impact the section.
South Jersey, Group 3 is wide open and only second-seeded Colonia, No. 18 in the Top 20, is ranked. West Windsor South is the top seed.
South Jersey, Group 2 has zero Top 20 teams and the top eight seeds all advanced. Cranford is the top seed and Voorhees the second seed. Third-seeded Chatham could make its way through the section.
There's more talent in South Jersey, Group 1 that has No. 11 Madison as the top seed and No. 17 Secacus as the second seed. Third-seeded Science Park is the dark horse club to win the section.
In Non-Public, 16 teams remain. Only two are ranked in No. 3 Immaculate Heart, the top seed, and No. 20 Union Catholic, the second seed. Third-seeded Holy Angels and fourth-seeded Mother Seton have had strong seasons.


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Airto Moreira: Bucking Percussive Tradition
His performance on the classic Return to Forever album Light As A Feather was a turning point in Moreira's career, establishing him as a drum set player. The influence that Moreira and Purim had on the Corea's music at that time was immense and evident on the timeless track "Spain." Moreira recalls, "When we were recording Light as a Feather, it was the first time I really felt locked in as a drummer playing jazz. I finally felt that I had become a complete drummer." When Corea decided to take Return to Forever in a different musical direction, Moreira and Purim went on to form their own group, Fingers, returning to their Brazilian roots.
While he has accompanied many legendary players, Moreira has also worked alongside some of the greatest percussionists on the planet – most notably with the 1991 Grammy-winning project Planet Drum, which included Babatunde Olatunji, Zakir Hussain, T. H. Vinayakram, Giovanni Hidalgo and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. Moreira found that the common thread shared by these percussionists was their positive energy, lack of ego and a willingness to share.
During the '90, Moreira and Purim formed another Brazilian group with guitarist José Neto called Fourth World and Moreira released several solo recordings, including his 1977 release, I'm Fine, How Are You? The track "Celebration Suite" from that album proved quite profitable, as it has been remixed and become a number one dance track in over 26 countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Moreira has also performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra and on MTV Unplugged with Smashing Pumpkins.
"These guys are the musicians of today's music and beyond," he says. "It's amazing how they can listen to a short piece of music and loop it with other samples to create exciting dance music. They do what I can't do with this new technology. My daughter and her husband are into this new technology and I have learned a lot from them. I still prefer first-generation sounds, like when you clap your hands or strike an instrument. Once you record a sound, it has already become second generation."
Nonetheless, his upcoming album, Homeless, will feature some new technologies. Homeless includes a mix of machines and real players (including Moreira's son-in-law, Krishna Booker, who is, incidentally, the son of Walter Booker). Moreira describes his new direction as "tribal music – a combination of many new styles including a little drum 'n' bass, hip-hop and what they now call trip-hop," he explains. "I enjoy working with the new technology and I feel that this is actually my best recording ever. I don't think I've gotten off the path at all with this new style of recording. Everything in this world comes from nature. Even the most advanced microchip for the new computers would not exist without nature. It is the same with sounds. There will always be a place for real musicians creating real sounds, but you must also be open to the new technology as well."
Perhaps Moreira's open-minded approach isn't so surprising when you consider that his father, José Rosa Moreira, was a spiritual healer in Brazil, who influenced his son's belief that music helps create a deeper spiritual connection with the universe. "Music transcends the material world," Moreira says. "When a musician plays in harmony with himself and others, without thinking about what he's playing, then he is communicating on a higher level. When you create this type of energy, that energy is released into the universe and it is felt by others. The music that I enjoy playing projects a positive energy into the universe, especially in a live situation. When the music can lift a person into this higher place, they feel better and they wish they could feel this way all the time. This feeling brings people together and it brings us, as human beings, closer to the purpose of why we were put here on this planet, and that is to love one another. It's the same way that our spiritual masters have tried to enlighten the people of the world. As musicians, we have the same power to help others. But this is something that musicians must take the time to figure out for themselves. The brotherhood of the world is much more important than fighting and hating each other for greed and money."


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Email List
News, Life And Arts, Music, Santa Monica, Library
Orchestra Santa Monica To Perform Free Library Concert This Saturday
Posted Apr. 11, 2014, 9:15 am
Mirror Staff
Santa Monica Public Library continues celebrating The Big Read with a free concert by the Orchestra Santa Monica (OSM) Strings this Saturday, April 12.
It will be held at 3:30 pm in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium at the Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard.
Join the library for this special concert by the OSM Strings and guitarist Ricardo Escobar.
Ricardo is the recipient of several awards, including first prize at both the America String Teachers Association (ASTA) Solo Competition and the Sigma Alpha lota Competition.
The musicians, who are active on both sides of the US-Mexico border, also discuss the cultural influences that inform their music.
Orchestra Santa Monica is under the musical direction of Allen Robert Gross.
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, designed to celebrate literature by encouraging people to read for pleasure and enlightenment.
For information on upcoming Big Read events, the book and its author, get an Event Guide and Reader's Guide at any SMPL location or visit the Big Read website at smpl.org/Urrea2014.aspx.


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I bought a Blackout off ebay .turns out it a 1st edition like 12 years old but was new kept in a safe for years.All of a sudden the liner lock is at like 95% i can move it to like 25% but when i open it it goes to 95% what can i do to fix this.adjust the pivot?
I would try that, If it doesn't work, try taking it apart and putting it together starting with the furthest screw from the pivot. It might just be tweaked a bit, and needing a little pursuasion!
Franken Blurer Extraordinaire
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James McIlroy hangs up running shoes for Larne
Published 14/08/2008
At the turn of the year a County Antrim Shield tie with Dundela was not exactly the event James McIlroy thought he would be preparing for.
The 31-year-old Larne athlete has been Northern Ireland's top class middle-distance runner for the last decade and had hoped these Beijing Olympics would be his swansong before retirement.
Financial worries hastened McIlroy's exit from running, which he announced in March, deciding against preparing for this year's Games in China.
McIlroy has decided to return home from his London base and it wasn't long after that Larne manager Graham McConnell came calling about becoming their fitness coach.
"Graham gave me a call when the lads were back to training a couple of weeks, so we sat down and went about putting a few structures in place," McIlroy revealed.
"We have introduced a number of new things to the players and have pushed them quite hard and to be fair to them they have responded very well.
"While in London I worked with London Harlequins and spent time on speed coaching with their backs and worked with quite a lot of international rugby players.
"Athletics certainly employ techniques which were beneficial to rugby and hopefully it will prove the same to football."
Despite the success he has enjoyed since bursting on to the scene in 1998, McIlroy revealed he didn't even have any plans to tune into this year's Games.
"I won't be watching these games on TV.
"I enjoyed my time in athletics but there are so many other things that people don't see that you have to go through.," he added.
"You have to put yourself through a lot in the lead up to big events like that, then the medicals afterwards and dealing the press."
Belfast Telegraph


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CAMDEN - The Camden County Police Department is looking for a missing 15-year-old from Ablett Village.
Tatiana Reyes was reported missing Sunday from her home on the 100 block of Ablett Village, police said.
She is described as a Hispanic female, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
She was last seen at the Crestbury Village apartments and has never been reported missing before, according to authorities.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the CCPD tip line at (856) 757-7042.
Contact the South Jersey Times at 856-845-3300 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/SouthJerseyTimes or follow us on Twitter @theSJTimes


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This Vanderbilt Muslim Chaplain Says He Supports Executing Gays. Why Is the University Keeping Him?
Does believing that gays should be put to death qualify as a religious freedom? If you're not actually murdering these people, we'd say yes. Believe whatever the hell you want to believe, crazy persons; that's your right here in America. But it probably doesn't make students at Vanderbilt University feel any better about Awadh A. Binhazim, the Kenyan-born University Muslim Chaplain, who just told students he supported this Islamic belief.
Asked by student Devin Saucier whether, as a practicing Muslim, he accepts this alleged Muslim requirement, Binhazim responded that he "doesn't have a choice" on which teachings to accept. But hey, there are still a long list of requirements to actually put the fag to death, like whether there are witnesses to his buggery. So it's, like, hard to kill them homos.
All of which has Vanderbilt racing to distance itself from Binhazim: "Vanderbilt University is dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of race or sexuality," the school says in a statement. "Awadh A. Binhazim is not and has never been a Vanderbilt employee, and is not paid by the university. He is the university's Muslim chaplain under a working agreement that is similar to those signed with chaplains of other faiths at Vanderbilt. This working agreement requires Binhazim to observe Vanderbilt rules, including its non-discriminatory policies. Vanderbilt does not limit the free speech of its students, faculty, staff or its chaplains in any way."
Not limiting the free speech of its chaplains is a fantastic policy, and one we support at any school. But what would happen if a visiting chaplain came along and said his religion called for the extermination of Jews? Would Vanderbilt be letting him return to campus?
…replace him with some gay person in one of those hell holes
Looks like Vanderbilt has a serious problem, even if he's not their employee. They need to solve it.
Since when is Vanderbilt so naive? Or is it bigoted?'The Muslim Chaplain can be replaced. Problem is, can Vanderbilt find someone more moderate — and do they even care?
I bet if a major Vanderbugger donor made a stink, there would be a new Muslim chaplain in a bigger hurry. Just a guess.
Free Speech vs. Hate Speech. The problem is, if he advocates the murder of another group, he is advocating violence against them. That isn't covered under religeous freedom. There are limits, the same way that people cannot smoke pot or take peyote even if it is part of their religeon.
i'm all for free speech. but for once, queerty is right. if he was advocating the murder of all jews, he would be out on his ass. there are all kinds of double standards when it comes to who gets a pass and who doesn't…
all this muslim hatred for gays is hilarious because all muslim men do is engage in homosexual activity because of the strict segregation between muslim men and women. and i mean all muslim men….they get their rocks off with other men but no, they're not gay at all. freaks!!
I don't classify Islam as a religion. It has all the look and feel of a cult. Cult's do not receive protections under the first amendment.
Islam worships a murdering child molester. They use their religion to advocate the death of anyone not a muslim. They brainwash their younger members into committing suicide to kill infidels (non-muslims). This is actually endorsed by the writings of their prophet; the murdering child molester. You cannot leave the cult without facing death.
I can see a day that Islam is outlawed in Western Europe first and later the U.S. It would be a lot easier in England; they don't have that pesky First Amendment. Until they can enter at least the 19th century they need to be kept at a distance from normal civilized society.
Drum the sick bastard off the campus, get him to the eastern seaboard, stick him on a raft and then shove him off into the Atlantic. There are certain demented points of view we should not even have to confront. What country is he from, and why is he permitted to continue living here? Holland, sensitive to the rights of its gay citizens, gives those wanting to immigrate in specific screenings, saying it is a tolerant society and that if the immigrant can't be tolerant of gay people also, he/she should not move to Holland. Flush this piece of shit down the nearest toilet.
Great… so the response to this Muslim man's apparent homophobia is just blatant Islamophobia.
Islam is no more inherently violent than Christianity. Indeed, Christianity has done plenty of violence to LGBT people, as well as non-Christians, and even many self-proclaimed Christians. There are many instances in scripture which call for the death of non-believers, heretics, blasphemers, adulterers, sinners of all kinds… and yes, men who have sex with other men.
But the vast majority of modern Christians recognize the redemptive value of the gospel without needing to follow the "letter of the law." And some Christians, myself included, see the redemptive portion of the gospel as including the celebration, affirmation, and salvation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
The fact that many Muslims, and particularly many vocal Muslims, still value the "letter of the law" of the Qur'an over the merciful and transcendent nature of Allah does not mean that Islam is a cult, or that it is any more inherently violent than any other religion, or that it should be outlawed.
Condemn this man for his homophobia. But when you paint with so broad a brush about all of Islam, you not only sink the LGBT community's chances of ever making inroads with mainstream Islam, but you also sever our connections with our Islamic LGBT brothers and sisters who are ostracized from both sides.
What a volatile, ugly combination- the American South, and Islam. Vanderbilt is in Nashville, the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. There is an immense monument to the Klan founder, Nathan Bedford Forrest on the interstate highway, on the south side of Nashville, on the way to the airport. It is illuminated at night, and has confederate flags around it. He is on horseback. In Tennessee alone, there are at least 32 monuments to him still standing TODAY !!!!! At some universities in Tennessee, buildings are named after him. All this hate is called "our traditions" in the South.
Vanderbilt is trying to pretend that it is so above all this, with academic freedom, etc. They better get this cleric off campus permanently, or else risk being exposed as the reactionary southern bastion that most of Tennessee is. They can say that the cleric must stay off campus, and that hate speech and violence against any members of the community may not be defended as "religion". There are plenty of court cases to back this position.
Why are the so-called "reasonable" or "moderate" moslem voices always so quite or non-existent when these incidents occur???????
i was just researching vanderbuilt yesterday and thought to myself, well golly, what a fine research university….still think that way, but am shocked, or not i guess i mean religion happens right?, to find this out.
Well there you go. That's what happens when you base everything on a book that someone wrote. You wind up having to take a position like gay people must die. Of course this guy may already feel that way without having a book to blame it on.
It's just amusing to me to see everyone scrambling to justify things based on rule books, or other people's teachings. How about looking inside yourself to see if you still have the ability do discern the difference between right and wrong?
No. 9 · Ben said….
Great… so the response to this Muslim man's apparent homophobia is just blatant Islamophobia.
Islam is no more inherently violent than Christianity. Indeed, Christianity has done plenty of violence to LGBT people, as well as non-Christians, and even many self-proclaimed Christians. There are many instances in scripture which call for the death of non-believers, heretics, blasphemers, adulterers, sinners of all kinds… and yes, men who have sex with other men.
But the vast majority of modern Christians recognize the redemptive value of the gospel without needing to follow the "letter of the law."
That is true Ben, however, I think people's problem is that you never see large groups of adhearents to Islam coming out and saying the same thing. Hence the problem. Additionally, there is nothing that is being said about Islam that hasn't been said about Mormonism or the Current drift of the Catholic church. This isn't some sort of phobia being screeched by people with no understanding of the world. This is the response of an embattled minority that is seeing the worlds second most numerous religeon call for our deaths, with no public speech from any members calling for the clerics to tone down this rhetoric.
This is what happens when intellectually stunted and needy automatons meet the real world…clash of indeology, reason vs. blind adherence, thinking vs. "just tell me wha t to do…"
This is what happens when 3rd world meets first…they are out of their element and must cling blindly to their outdated faith that keeps them perpetually locked outside
This is exactly how their own leaders have kept them imprisoned, uneducated, backwards for centuries while they profited off of them- their own people rely on their weakness to exploit them, yet we – out of mis-placed guilt for a little racial profiling required to prevent theirlitte airline antics – feel the need to give them equal status in our society, when in fact they are not equal. They are not secular, enlightended or intellectual, and are not interested in being any of those things.
Unbelievable. How can people sit quietly and hear such vile beliefs?! How would heterosexuals feel if their sexuality was considered a sin/crime? Disgusting. That this is even a point of debate offends me to my core being.
No. 9 · Ben wrote, "Condemn this man for his homophobia." … he was being set up. It's not clear that he is personally homophobic, but his religion includes beliefs that are. He tried his best to deflect the question, which is an indication that he was not personally comfortable with some Islamic laws, but can't disown them while acting as a Muslim authority of some sort. In particular, he was trying to wiggle out of it by claiming that no country currently follows Islamic laws 100%.
I don't think he was advocating taking matters into your own hands or changing U.S. laws.
Belief system or no belief system he would still believe this. Anti-gay bigotry is created and perpetuated by heterosexuals. The study "The Gender Belief System, Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men" explains it all.
In many religious traditions, sexuality of ALL kinds is considered shameful and sinful. Consider the views on sexuality of St. Paul or Augustine, two of Christianity's biggest influences. That kind of sexual self hatred and denial only leads to further projection and vilification of others.
In defense of Vanderbilt,
first, let me say that as a person who has received an education from Vanderbilt, I find the school, its student body, and its surrounding neighborhoods pretty darn welcoming to LGBT.
second, the argument that Vanderbilt, a private institution, should dismiss an affiliation with a certain religious chaplain based on his allegiance to his religion is pretty stupid. That's simply what it was–nothing more, nothing less. He was far from calling for the extermination of gays, and, frankly, it would be tough to find a more thoughtful muslim chaplain. So then you suggest we dismiss the chaplain altogether and further isolate the muslim group of future students that could stand to gain a good deal of perspective from a Vanderbilt education. I'm not so sure about that
third, Devin Saucier, the guy who proposed the question, was quoted in the school newspaper saying, "I knew it would be ripe grounds for me to expose the gullibility of leftists who grovel at the altars of tolerance and acceptance." He's also heavily involved in the Vanderbilt chapter of Youths for Western Civilization. He's really strange. The gay community asks for tolerance but chooses to side with this guy? That's too bad.
Vanderbilt needs to remove this fundamentalist fanatic.
@james_cambrdige: Check out the monring goods from today. Our friend Michael is back, picking on a 15 year old!
I really don't understand what you people are fussing about, why you're all so surprised.
Islam is a book based religion and is most definitely not a Pic n' Mix religion. You have to take the whole or nothing at all. This man is correct in what he says: Islam says gays have to be put to death. There can be no questioning or reasoning with this.
If you know muslims who say otherwise then they are not proper muslims.
Now, Ben, you are SO fucking wrong! And you are so wrong that it makes me larf !
Thing is, Ben, I can see where you're coming from, you want to be nice and liberal and multi-cultural and inclusive and all that, all the nice things about western culture. But with islam it just won't work.
Unless you change your mind, Ben, then I am afraid, as the muslims say, Islam will conquer the earth.
Religion sure has some pretty fucked up ideas about morality.
Fundamentalist Christians in Uganda and the US, and around the world, are debating between a gay holocaust and a gay apartheid. Pathetically, they ignore the Golden Rule and the 5th (Catholics/Lutherans) or 6th (Anglicans/Protestants) Commandment, Thou shalt not kill.
And following the Catholics/Christians centuries' lead of killing off non-believers/unfaithful, Muslims also disregard Mohammed's requirement to protect infidels from harm, for as infidels, they do not know their sin.
Of course here in America, the founding fathers' doctrine of Manifest Destiny gave them the justification, that, by God's own word, to slaughter millions upon millions of American Indians. The Spanish Conquistadors too slaughtered millions upon million of South American Indians and Inca for their Most Catholic Majesty.
I believe in God; I do not believe in religion.
@Ben: Christians don't fly planes into buildings.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn" – says: I believe in God…
Mike, is this the same god who gave Haiti a damned good shaking recently?
Is he a compassionate god?
Or, is he, as the evidence would appear to suggest, a nasty piece of work?
"Christians don't fly planes into buildings."
No, they just fire missiles into wedding parties.
religion is the Poison of Mankind,and the Killer of the Human Imagination! No SKY GOD, He,She,It…entity,whatever….doesn't cares/gives a ratz behind what us Puney Humans do with our hoo-hoos and pee-pees…..its Man-made BS to Keep the Sheeple in Line,and the Coffers Full $$$$ chk this sout on Youtube, we humans are NOt that Important!
No. 23 · Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
"I believe in God; I do not believe in religion": words to live by, well said. Pretty sure that one of two wars in the history of mankind have had their origins in some kind of religions issue……….
@No. 25 Tallskin
Fair question considering my post. So, this is just me and my thoughts:
God is the Universe, from Big Bang to the now. Imagine the creation of the Universe; per Big Bang, a singular particle (much much smaller than a single electron) of such pure energy, that, at the event of Big Bang, converts into the subatomic parts that become each and every proton, electron and neutron of each and every star, planet, comet, mountain, drop of water, hair, drop of blood, blade of grass, EVERYTHING.
I do not belittle the accomplishment of the creation of the Universe by assigning to that creation human characteristics.
The creation of the Universe is also the evolution of the Universe, and the evolution of all the components within the Universe. The very nature of the Universe is the conversion of one into another. An astroid striking the Earth wiped out the dinosaurs; today we burn the carbon residue of the dinosaur fossils as fuel. New life sprung from the ruins. To the dinosaurs, it was fucked.
Earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, fires, mudslides: natural events that strike without regard to religion or faith, wealth or poverty, or strength or weakness. Unbeknownst to most, the Earth is moving into its next ice age. For us, not a dire problem as its effects will not be detrimental for about 10,000 years. But, if man, not God, fails to take appropriate action in a timely manner, well most of the human race will die off. Of course, when the ice age ebbs again, new opportunities for new life will abound.
In the physical realm of our planet and Universe, God is neither compassionate nor a dirty piece of work. Those are human characteristics that apply to humans. The sad events in Haiti show that some humans are very compassionate and some are very dirty pieces of work.
Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
well, nice wording. But all you've given really is a metaphor for the unexplainable
Unexplainable at the moment, that is. Judging by the speed of scientific research over the past 200 or so years I'd imagine we'll have an explanation – a scientific explanation that is – quite soon.
Think back to the pre-scientific age and the explanations offered for natural events. Zeus threw down thunderbolts. God created the world and all animals in 6 days. Neptune controlled the ocean's tides.
One by one science has offered explanations for the formation and running of the universe
There's really no need to revert to primitive thoughts of a creator god just because the scale of the universe causes awe.
A human trying to genuinely understand G.O.D. makes as much sense as a goldfish truely understanding astrophysics.
What a dumb fuck. ALL Moslem mullahs are gay. Islamic literature is full of homosexuality. FIRE this idiot!!
I will believe in any god who can get rid of these goddamn St. Lucia pop up ads.
Umm, devout Muslim = homophobe…exactly why is this news?
As far as Vanderbilt's role I think that our community needs a reality check and remember that tolerance isn't a one-way street; you have to give it to receive it and what we fight for is not to end the hate (that's a nice fantasy, but not realistic) but rather an inclusive society, where the freedom of others to live according to their own values is respected. I think that academic instituions should strive to provide an introduction to as many different value and belief systems as possible, if for no other reason than to demonstrate the differences that exist in our world and encourage people to question what they've already learned.
Condemning Vanderbilt for attempting to do that is not only close minded, but naive…especially if that fantasy is ever going to have a shot at being reality.
Can't blame this on politically correct black trustees of the University. Vanderbilt has l black trustee and 49 white trustees. It's the home of country music. Christian red necks. Surprising there is a even one Muslim in their midst.
@Tallskin: I agree with you Tallskin. Ben is wrong. Ever heard of Wahhabism, Ben? Most Muslims are Sunni or Shi'a. The way men in Egypt for example treat women is deplorable. Iran is probably the more enlightened of those countries, and they're having a quiet revolution right now so to speak. Hopefully, one day democracy can work for the whole world. Until then, we don't need people advocating the killing of minorities, whoever they may be, simply because of their religious beliefs. This is fanaticism at its sickest and most dangerous. The ends do not justify the means, ever. I just can't believe how backwards we seem to be going at times.
"Does believing that gays should be put to death qualify as a religious freedom?"
He is free to believe what he wants, so long as he does not act to do anything that is actually illegal.
But, he needs to be very careful. There are laws against inciting violence or crime, recruiting or inciting terrorists, contracting for (various things), contributing to (various things), conspiracy to (various things). By acting on his beliefs, he could easily break some of those other laws.
Most people break at least one law each day, unintentionally. If the FBI sends a team to watch this guy, I expect they could find something in just a few days.
From the corporate perspective — he is a liability. If he is not tenured faculty, he should be fired ASAP. If he is tenured, they need to have a serious talk in the faculty conference, perhaps with the university lawyers.
No. 22 · Tallskin: "I really don't understand what you people are fussing about, why you're all so surprised. Islam is a book based religion and is most definitely not a Pic n' Mix religion. You have to take the whole or nothing at all. This man is correct in what he says: Islam says gays have to be put to death. There can be no questioning or reasoning with this."
Read http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/islam.htm – there is a little bit of wiggle room, particularly regarding private versus public behavior.
BTW, Awadh A. Binhazim clearly indicated that he was talking about Muslim beliefs in response to a question asking about that specifically, not giving his own personal opinion. The vitriol
directed at him personally seems a bit over the top given that he was responding reluctantly to a question (the questioner had to ask him several times to get a "yes/no" answer out of him).
At the end of the video, they repeated the question and answer, editing the answer to be as short as possible, and also showed it in text. This is a standard technique for getting the viewer to remember that part in particular after the rest fades out among all the other distractions in everyday life.
Interesting. If this man was Christian, all the queers would rally to condemn him as a prime example of Christian bigotry and ignorance. Also, you would demand him to be fired.
But he's a Muslim (a religion of peace, right? victim of American imperialism, right?). Is there any criticism of him? Not so much. It's perfectly acceptable for him to say such vile things. Maybe he should get an award for advancing free speech. Some queers even side with him. Perhaps, he should become the Chairman of HRC. Or he should be nominated for the position of diversity adviser at the White House. Yeh, lets applaud to the newly identified champion of gay rights!
Do you see where it's going? The double standards exhibited in the comments are appalling. Your political correctness is a mental disorder. That's disgusting! DISGUSTING!
Sharia law does not come directly from God. Many Muslims who actually study it know it's the law jurists have made in their interpretation of Islam.
I wish many Sheiks would understand that. Sharia law is man's law. As in, it can be changed. Many of the laws contradict each other. Forgiveness for murder, but stoning for adultery?
As for Jason, I can see you think of this religion as a cult. But most Muslims aren't hateful, and don't care to blow people up or have any ill will towards gay. They just wanna pray 5 times a day in piece. It's just like Christianity in that it has many of the same stories like Noah's arc, and it can be interpreted differently by different people.
They way you condemn it as a cult, I hope you feel the same way about Judaism and Christianity. If you do, great! Equal opportunity.
I just hope ppl realize making all Muslims look like cult members is rather futile. It's the fastest growing religion, and the more people follow it than any other religion. It's not going away. Your boss may be one! I'm not.
He sounds like the good "Christians" who use god to support their hatred and bigotry.
"Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst." Thomas Paine – Revolutionist – England, the United States, France – February 9, 1737 – June 8, 1809
Serious christers, islamists and judaeists are, for the most part, extremely violent homohaters. Their violent intentions differ not in their degree of hatred or the level of violence they'd like to inflict on us but in their ability to inflict violence.
There has yet to be an equivalent of the French Revolution in islamic countries with its cleansing use of the guillotine to clam the abuses of clerical monsters.
Increasing industrialization and mass education will create the political layers in islamic countries that will produce powerful revolutionary democratic movements. The growth of decidedly anti-American and socialist petro workers unions in Iraq and the recent pro democracy anti-clerical upsurge in Iran are a taste of what's to come.
As for some of the comments here they demonstrate the continue influence of racism and islamophobia in American society. Jason in No. 7 tells us that "Islam worships a murdering child molester", stupidly confusing the islamic sky pixie, allah, with the shyster Muhammad. And conveniently forgetting the thousands of priests, pastors and rabbis' convicted of child rape recently.
The injection of racist ideas that claim that all people living in muslim cultures are as homophobic as the killer ayatollahs is as silly as saying the all Italians follow the guidance of der papenfueher.
If we are going to attack islamic bigots for their murderous jihads against our brothers and sisters racism and support for American imperial oil piracies have to excluded from the debate and left in the gutter where they belong
No. 40 · AL: "Interesting. If this man was Christian, all the queers would rally to condemn him as a prime example of Christian bigotry and ignorance. Also, you would demand him to be fired."
…. nope – if a Christian said, "the position of the Catholic Church is X" (because the Pope said it is X), nobody should demand that he be fired – he's stating a fact. That doesn't mean the Catholic Church (specifically its pope) is right.
Also, the URL I cited above stated, "A related problem to full enforcement of the laws against homosexuality is that while the sexes are often segregated, men are encouraged to developed close friendships with other men, and women are encouraged to develop close friendships with other women. Also, the Islamic law requires a certain number of male and female witnesses to the homosexual act to testify in court. Islam does place a strong value on the right to privacy in the home and thus homosexual relations that occur in private are theoretically outside the bounds of the law, although that is more theory then reality."
And "Some self-described liberal Muslims accept and consider homosexuality as natural, regarding these verses as either obsolete in the context of modern society, or point out that the Qu'ran speaks out against homosexual lust, and is silent on homosexual love. However, this position remains highly controversial even amongst liberal movements within Islam, and is considered completely beyond the pale by mainstream Islam."
Note: this suggests there is a possibility of progress. Given that it took the Catholic Church over 400 years to admit it made a mistake about Galileo, and using that as a rough estimate of how long it takes a religion to change some strongly-held beliefs, Islamic opinions of homosexuality may change over time, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen.
In the nation of Holland they were tolorating muslim attacks on gays women etc… until finally some folks pointed out that being tolorant of others intolerance, is NOT being tolerant, it is supporting their intolerance. That is the same thing here. If Vanderbuilt has a policy against bigotry and advocating violence, then they cannot have a chaplin there with these beliefs, period. If there was a Catholic Priest there saying that he believed in taking slaves because it was in the Bible they would not let him have that job.
There will come a time when Muslim people can only travel to and immigrate to other Muslim countries to keep the world a safer place if their beliefs are perceived as anti-western and anti-American. Home-grown Muslims will be instructed to emigrate to the country of their parents' birth. This is harsh but the inevitable road to immigration reform when any group forms a militia against their host nation, especially in the name of religion.
@B: The so-called "radical Muslims" draw their sources in 14 centuries of Islamic history as well as hadiths and Muhammad the Prophet's life that must be an example for Muslims. The Jihad is theologically correct. Osama bin Laden and this man that wants to see us dead is just being a good Muslim.
Mohammed's homo hatred words in Hadith, "Kill the one who is doing it, and kill the one it is being done to". Mohammed was a jackass.
Well I have never claimed to be a theologian and I am hardly an astrophysicist. And I did preface that my post #28 were my thoughts.
So, what metaphor? If anything, Genesis' "Let there be light" and Islam's Allah act of saying/willing "Be" are metaphors for Big Bang, a spark of pure energy from out of nothingness (that is the nothingness before the event horizon of Big Bang), into cosmic inflation that begins the transformation of energy into matter. Not in six days, as there was not a Sun/Earth calendar relationship for the first 10 billion years.
Comparing the Big Bang theory of creation to Zeus, Genesis and Neptune is invalid faulty logic. That our predecessors 10,000 years ago began explaining the constructs of the Universe with mythological stories is hardly the same as the pain-staking observation, testing, retesting, and more and more retesting as plotting our ever expanding Universe back to its original core.
I very much like the line from MIB (Men in Black): "1500 years ago everybody knew the earth was the center of the universe. 500 years ago, everybody knew the earth was flat. … Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." Of course mankind will learn more and more about the origins of the Universe and the origins of life. I will caution, however, that, by definition, it is not possible to see beyond the event horizon.
And there will be the unfolding of the currently unknown relationship between matter and spirit. Through science, we know that that relationship exists; though human cells die, the atoms that make-up the cell do not. Indeed, many of those very same atoms reform to become the replacement cell.
Lastly, while I certainly agree with your statement: There's really no need to revert to primitive thoughts of a creator god just because the scale of the universe causes awe" I fail to see how that applies to my post.
I know to many the thought of a kindly, understanding, compassionate "Grandfather" God, somewhat as depicted by Michelangelo in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, is comforting. But, that God, in my opinion, is a monster. For only a monster would accept the fate that children are raped, slavery could and still does exist, hate and war mongering abound. But, to me, those are the failures of man, not the Universe.
@Ben: "Great… so the response to this Muslim man's apparent homophobia is just blatant Islamophobia."tell that to the MUSLIM gay CITIZENS of those countries who were EXECUTED over their sexuality,again i say replace him with one of those poor gay souls.it's not like he(the homophobe) would argue over that?after all he will finally be living in a country that follows his views
If you said the same thing he did but substituted muslim for gay. The school would be going crazy to get him out. The government would and media would come down on you. Of course, apologists at CAIR would want charges pressed and probably be accommodated.
Then there is the chance of being slaughtered like Van Gogh or forced to live in hiding like danish cartoonists
People like this make me afraid to live on earth, they could be anywhere, a neighbor, after I die, I really hope I don't come back here
Vanderbilt is a politically-correct joke. If this guy was Caucasian he'd never have been hired.
"I don't classify Islam as a religion. It has all the look and feel of a cult. Cult's do not receive protections under the first amendment."
You're a moron. The Bible says the same thing. It says men who lie with other men should be killed. Does that mean Christianity isn't a religion either?
No. 46 · Charles Merrill : "@B: The so-called 'radical Muslims"'draw their sources in 14 centuries of Islamic history as well as hadiths and Muhammad the Prophet's life that must be an example for Muslims." … that's the sort of thing that religious extremists always say, hence the Phelps people claiming more or less that everyone but them is headed for Hell.
All or nearly all religious texts have some crazy parts in them that are quietly ignored by more sensible people in those religions.
No. 47 · Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn" : "Comparing the Big Bang theory of creation to Zeus, Genesis and Neptune is invalid faulty logic. That our predecessors 10,000 years ago began explaining the constructs of the Universe with mythological stories is hardly the same as the pain-staking observation, testing, retesting, and more and more retesting as plotting our ever expanding Universe back to its original core."
The original big bang model was a simplistic solution to Einsteins field equations (for gravity) assuming the universe was the same everywhere (uniform density of matter averaging over collections of galaxies). At the time there were no observations. The solution was so surprising that Einstein introduced a new term called the "cosmological constant" because everyone "knew" that the universe was unchanging. Then Hubble made some measurements showing it was in fact expanding, at which point the cosmological constant was dropped, with Einstein calling it a mistake. There were a number of other models as well, and it took some time to sort it all out, mostly because of needing better data.
We now have a fair bit of data, but we didn't a century ago, so I wouldn't be all that hard on early mythological stories – they are merely early attempts at understanding our place in the Universe that failed, and you don't make progress if you don't try. It's the people living today who believe that mythology is true merely because someone wrote it down thousands of years ago who are out of it.
@AL: HRC and their "faith based" bureaucratic Pastor Harry Knox ($80,000 HRC salary) is cold oatmeal when it comes to being critical of other religions. You know the Christian mantra, "Turn the other cheek" and "Jesus is protecting us".
@B: The "Phelps people" are not flying airplanes into buildings. They are civilized under democratic civil law. Sharia law and the Jihad is not civilized.
Good points, thank you. I did say that comparing "mythological stories is hardly the same as the pain-staking observation, testing, retesting, and more and more retesting as plotting our ever expanding Universe back to its original core." And by the pain-staking observation, test… I was referring to the points you made about Einstein, Hubble and many others.
A point about the severe criticism of Islam compared to Christianity, sounds an awful lot "the pot calling the kettle black" scenario. [Is "pot calling kettle black" racist?] After all, 9 times did Christian/Catholic nations crusade into the Middle East, raining death, rape and pillage on Muslims, Saracens, and Arabs.
Lets not forget the other millions put to death during the Inquisitions, the internal Crusades against the Cathars, against women, and the bloody wars between the Roman Catholics and the breakaway followers of Martin Luther. The Christian Manifest Destiny, in the American colonies and future US, gave "Godly" cover for the murder of 10+ million American Indians; the 16th-19th century slave runners were Christians; and the Christian repression against European Jews provided Germany with the ability to inflict the Holocaust. And even just a few decades ago, white Christians were using their religion and Bible to continue repressing African-Americans with bloody police back lynchings, beating, and terrorism. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, and their colleagues all preached for violent disobedience against desegregation, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act.
The genuine fear for us between the difference of the vile actions of extremist Christians/Catholics over the centuries and today's extremist Muslims, is that in today's world, the ability to quickly and efficiently terrorize millions throughout the world is cheap and easy and the ability to murder millions with WMDs is achievable. It took Christians/Catholics 2000 years to inflict their actions against non-believers; it can take but a few years/decades for extremist Muslims to achieve even greater destruction against the infidels.
And of course, the world is still not free from extremist Christians and Catholics who, even today, as regularly reported here on Queerty, plot and plan actions of a gay holocaust (Christian Ugandans executing gays) and gay apartheid (imprison gays until we turn straight, and if that fails, execution).
Irrespective of the morality of such action, the ability to wipe out the 1.2-1.5 billion Muslims around the globe, would be an absurd undertaking. In 8 years, with our TRILLION dollar war machine, and we are nowhere near succeeding against less than the 200 million strong Iraq + Pakistan + Afghanistan. Strong vigilance defending against Muslim extremists will be required until Islamic reformers, as the Christian/Catholic reformers during the past 100 years, succeed to bringing a stronger global harmony. What is shockingly enlightening is that a Muslim chaplain at an august American university takes stock with the extremists and not the reformers. Many dark days ahead.
No. 56 · Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
Good points, thank you. I did say that comparing "mythological stories is hardly the same as the pain-staking observation, testing, retesting, and more and more retesting as plotting our ever expanding Universe back to its original core." And by the pain-staking observation, test… I was referring to the points you made about Einstein, Hubble and many others.
A point about the severe criticism of Islam compared to Christianity, sounds an awful lot "the pot calling the kettle black" scenario. [Is "pot calling kettle black" racist?] After all, 9 times did Christian/Catholic nations crusade into the Middle East, raining death, rape and pillage on Muslims, Saracens, and Arabs.
Is that a joke? You're trying to put today's events in context because a thousand years ago crusaders went into Turkey and the Holy land? Is that really what you are trying to do? Ok fine, then lets go back a few years earlier. Why did the crusaders move in? Because in 1076 Muslim armies invaded Jerusalem. The Christian countries responded. So I'm curious, you're saying that poor mistreated Islam should be coddled and babied because a thousand years ago Some Christian nations in Europe were discourteous enough to respond to a Mulim army invading Jerusalem? This is ridiculous. If everybody went back a thousand years we could all find plenty of grievences to bitch about.
@No. 57 Cam
NO, NO, NO, I am not arguing whatsoever that militant or extremist Muslims should be coddled or babied.
Indeed, I warned "The genuine fear for us … [is that] extremist Muslims [have] the ability to quickly and efficiently terrorize millions throughout the world … and the ability to murder millions with WMDs is achievable…[I]t can take but a few years/decades for extremist Muslims to achieve even greater destruction [than all the destruction Christian/Catholic wars of the past 2000 years] against the infidels.
I also closed with the sad realization that "a Muslim chaplain at an august American university takes stock with the extremists and not the reformers. Many dark days ahead."
My point of comparing the history of violence, hatred and war committed by Christians/Catholics and by Muslims, is intended to for all to gain a greater perception of the actual immorality embraced by these religions. In a prior post, someone comments that "Christian don't fly planes into buildings." Well, not on 9/11/01. But Christians in Uganda, TODAY, are working on plans to execute ME; Christians in the US want to arrest ME, because the love of my life is a man.
A major problem among the American culture is a separation of ignorance we apply to our checkered past. And because of that, most American lack compassion for the toils of others around the world. Balzac's great line "Behind every great fortune there is a great crime" is an accurate assessment of American history, but a history we hardly learn about in primary/secondary education. We fail to take ourselves, and our heritage, to account for the murder of the millions of American Indians, as they were, "savages." White America hardly gives any understanding nor empathy for the enslavement of Africans and the essential enslavement of Chinese.
And what our heritage did at home in the 17th-19th centuries, we continued off shore in the 20th century. America as a culture, continues to take from others that which we want for ourselves.
And as so many American Christian leaders point out all so regularly, that our nation is a Christian nation, it is, by a vast majority, a Christian initiative that pushes through the treatment of others by our country.
The struggle America and the non-Muslim world faces against Muslim extremists is real and dangerous. To take effective action, both offensively and defensively, we need to understand our own history, through honest vision, to be able to make our efforts effective.
The past 7 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have been disastrous from any measure. The original $20 billion, 18 month, multi-national effort has turned into a TRILLION dollar effort, 7 years and counting, and, except for Britain, we are basically on our own. Most all reports suggest that our gross mismanagement of the situation has been usurped by the very Muslim extremist terrorists we fight allowing them to gain greater footholds for themselves.
No… they don't fly planes into buildings. They sit around and do nothing while a Holocaust happens, hell, many of them ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in the Holocaust against Jews, gays, the mentally handicapped, Roma… they engage in the attempted "ethnic cleansing" aka "genocide" of the Bosnian Muslims, they conduct a war on a foreign country based on false evidence (that would be the Iraq War cheered on by so many self-proclaimed Christian fundamentalists), in many countries they still threaten with death people who choose to have sex with people of the same gender.
If you want to compare the number of lives taken and/or ruined by Christianity and Islam, Christianity is still leagues ahead of Islam by any count.
P.S. I am also not saying that militant Islamists should be tolerated or accepted. I am not saying that terrorism of any kind, whether it is committed for religious reasons or not, should be accepted or condoned. But there are millions of perfectly peaceful Muslims in the world, many of them living in our own neighborhoods, who would never raise a hand to harm a gay person or anyone else, regardless of what their holy book tells them or what they personally believe.
But to hear members of the LGBT community condemn all of Islam as though all Muslims are exactly the same and think exactly the same thing is disgusting. It's little wonder that LGBT people of color and LGBT people of a non-Christian religious background find so little to love in America's extremely white-dominated, upper-class, strangely Christo-centric LGBT "community."
@ Victor, again
I guess I forgot to mention that you don't see many Muslims walking into churches and shooting abortion doctors in the head.
No. 58 · Mike in Asheville, nee "in Brooklyn"
@No. 57 Cam
My point of comparing the history of violence, hatred and war committed by Christians/Catholics and by Muslims, is intended to for all to gain a greater perception of the actual immorality embraced by these religions. In a prior post, someone comments that "Christian don't fly planes into buildings." Well, not on 9/11/01. But Christians in Uganda, TODAY, are working on plans to execute ME; Christians in the US want to arrest ME, because the love of my life is a man.
Mike, Gotcha, sorry for the misread!
My wife has been hit on the head, shot at and, burned by a Christian mother. Her father knew it happened, and left her alone with this woman. People can call themselves whatever they want, but you cannot trust a persons words. It is their actions or lack thereof, that will be the only way you can measure a person. Christians may not blow buildings up, but they may crash an infants head in and leave them for dead.
a href="#comment-265313″>Drake:
Because there is no moderate Islam.
Fuck religion. It needs to die. But it would take a miracle if someone had a huge army to overthrow the governments of the world to create a global culture suicide to start all over (in order to murder religion. Fuck it into the depths of time). In its place would be the new world with each country having its own unique food, clothes, language, culture, etc. BUT ALL of the countries in the new world will be not racist, sexist, and homophobic.
A person can dream… :)


text:
Jimenez done deal, pending physical
The Orioles have signed Ubaldo Jimenez to a four-year, $50 million deal pending a physical. You can read the rest of my story on that here.
7 Comments
Is Morales also a possibility?
There was a reason Jimenez was without a contract for so long. There were and are questions about his health and his worth. I see this as a desperate move by the Orioles. More than a couple of teams would have paid him for a year, maybe 2 tops but 4 years? Not good.
Britt, I think 4 years 50 mil is a good deal these days. Tho Jimenez has been a bit inconsistent, I believe the Orioles had to do something. Chen, Gonzalez and Norris are not six inning pitchers at this point. Jimenez hopefully will give the Orioles someone outside of Tillman who can give them 6.2 to seven innings. I fervently wish that Jimenez does great things and the other three can pitch past the sixth inning. I hope Gausman has great spring and can crack the rotation. I do not trust the aforementioned trio of Chen, Gonzalez or Norris. I hope all three prove me wrong. Also would like to see Kendry Morales signed. Give up draft pick. Morales can help now and better to have him than some draft pick who may or may not help five years from now. Orioles may have short time span to win. Hardy, Davis and Wieters could all be gone after 2015. Always enjoy your comments and insight.
Por fin me llego el jueguecito y me salio baratito
Well I think Yankees fans and the fans of other east teams are happy about this deal. UJ isn't worth 4years or the money! As a fifth starter I think is really even stretching it. His injuries alone make this a terrible deal but hey I'm only a fan. So put me down as a no to this deal!


text:
- The Big Bang Theory *
Sheldon's foot is even more firmly in his mouth than usual when he advises his assistant Alex to stop her special attentions towards Leonard. Not that Leonard is complaining and it's good to see Penny feeling threatened for a change. Sheldon's clueless chat, complete with STD illustrations, results in him being hauled up before HR and accused of sexual harassment. The cringe-worthy moments keep coming when he calls the black HR lady a "slave". The fact that he means she's a slave to her menstrual cycle doesn't make it any better. To top it off, he manages to get all his friends in HR hot water as well.


text:
Overview :
In this tutorial / blog post, we will see how to make simple infrared sensor module for detecting reflecting surface. This sensor can be used to detect reflecting silver/white strip, obstacle detection, flame detection, etc. These sensors are primary requirement of any simple line follower robot car.
If you are looking for ready-made infrared sensors, check here.
IR LED emits infrared radiation. This radiation illuminates the surface in front of LED. Surface reflects the infrared light. Depending on reflectivity of the surface, amount of light reflected varies. This reflected light is made incident on reverse biased IR sensor. When photons are incident on reverse biased junction of this diode, electron-hole pairs are generated, which results in reverse leakage current. Amount of electron-hole pairs generated depends on intensity of incident IR radiation. More intense radiation results in more reverse leakage current. This current can be passed through a resistor so as to get proportional voltage. Thus as intensity of incident rays varies, voltage across resistor will vary accordingly.
This voltage can then be given to OPAMP based comparator.Output of the comparator can be read by uC. Alternatively, you can use on-chip ADC in AVR microcontroller to measure this voltage and perform comparison in software.
IR LED and IR sensor :
IR LED is used as a source of infrared rays. It comes in two packages 3mm or 5mm. 3mm is better as it is requires less space. IR sensor is nothing but a diode, which is sensitive for infrared radiation.
This infrared transmitter and receiver is called as IR TX-RX pair. It can be obtained from any decent electronics component shop and costs less than 10Rs. Following snap shows 3mm and 5mm IR pairs.
Colour of IR transmitter (IR-TX) and receiver (IR-RX) is different. However you may come across pairs which appear exactly same or even has opposite colours than shown in above pic and it is not possible to distinguish between TX and RX visually. In case you will have to take help of multimeter to distinguish between them.
Here is how you can distinguish between IR TX-RX using DMM :
Connect cathode of one LED to +ve terminal of DMM
Connect anode of the same LED to common terminal of DMM
(means connect LED such that It gets reverse biased by DMM )
Set DMM to measure resistance upto 2M Ohm.
Check the reading.
Repeat above procedure with second LED.
In above process, when you get the reading of the few hundred Kilo Ohms on DMM, then it indicated that LED that you are testing is IR sensor. In case of IR transmitter DMM will not show any reading.
Following snap shows typical DMM reading obtained when IR receiver is connected to it as mentioned above. Second snap shows how sensor's resistance increases when it is covered by a finger. Note that, these are just illustrative figures and they will depend upon sensor as well as DMM that you are using.
While buying an IR sensor, make sure that its reverse resistance in ambient light is below 1000K. If it is more than this value, then it will not be able to generate sufficient voltage across external resistor and hence will be less sensitive to small variation in incident light.
The circuit diagram :
Infrared sensor circuit is very simple and straight forward.
Circuit is divided into two sections. IR TX and IR RX are to be soldered on small general purpose Grid PCB. From this module, take out 3 wires of sufficiently long length (say 1 ft). Then, as shown above, connect them to VCC, preset and to ground on main board. By adjusting preset, you can adjust sensitivity of the sensor. VCC should be connected to 5V supply.
Making the sensor module :
You can follow these steps to make a sensor module ….
Testing sensor module :
If you have a breadboard(BB) you can quickly test this module and see how it works.
- First, connect Module on BB and connect 50K preset between vOut and GND.
- Connect DMM to movable terminal of preset.
- Rotate preset knob fully so that, resistance between variable terminal and ground is maximum.
- Give 5V supply to sensor module.
|Test setup :
Here are some test results of my module :
Here are some of the snaps of my sensor modules :
|Four IR transmitters are used to flood the surface. Sensor diode is at the centre. I had made this when I had to detect black wall. Even black colour reflects detectable IR, if irradiated sufficiently.
|Sensor module covered with black tape to lessen effect of ambient IR radiation. Also metal strip is glued for easier mounting on robot-car's chassis.
|This is how I use sensor module with my mega16 development board. Blue preset is connected to sensor in exactly same way as shown in circuit diagram. vOut is connected to ADC input of AVR.
vOut is the output from sensor module. You can connect this to ADC input of AVR microcontroller. Now using ADC, you can read the voltage developed across the movable tap and grounded pin of preset. Alternatively you can also use OPAMP based comparator.
…. And finally, if you found this tutorial helpful or have any suggestions … do leave a comment.
Ready made modules:
Making things by our own hands is fun!! However, if you are in a hurry, here are some readily available infrared sensor Modules:
Low cost infrared sensors(from Amazon):
Low cost infrared sensors(from DX):
(Approx cost ~ $4 to $10 / INR 300 to 600, free world wide shipping)
- How to build an infrared sensor?
- How to make an infraded sensor?
- How does an infrared sensor work?
- How to use an infrared sensor?
- Infrared sensor circuit diagram
- Infrared sensor circuit design
- Infrared sensor detector
- Infrared sensor working
- Infrared sensor application
- Infrared sensor project


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South Louisianians understand, in a singular way, the power of giving.
Our recovery would not be where it is without the generosity of millions of Americans who opened their wallets and volunteered their labor to help us after Hurricane Katrina. And we have in turn assisted other disaster-stricken communities and continued to help people in need here and elsewhere.
We have another opportunity this holiday season to be generous as the number of people flocking to food banks and other charitable organizations rises in our region and across the nation.
Officials with relief organizations attribute the rising demand to higher food prices and the nation's tough economic times. This year's hurricanes also have fueled higher demand for help locally.
Officials with Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana, which serves 23 parishes, said demand is up 25 percent compared to normal levels. The Salvation Army Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi division reports a 25 to 50 percent increase in applications for Christmas assistance in most cities.
In some areas the need is even greater. Demand at the Kenner Food Bank has doubled since last year. But the agency has only been able to increase assistance from 2,000 people per month in 2007 to 3,100 currently.
"It's very disheartening when you have to turn people away," said Mary-Sharon Howland, director of the city's Community Services Department.
South Louisiana hunger relief agencies in particular have been stretched in recent months. Second Harvest food banks distributed more than 1.2 million pounds of food and 950,000 prepared meals in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, depleting the organizations' supplies.
Just as demand for services has skyrocketed, donations have decreased or are expected to slow down as the full impact of the recession and the financial market crisis is felt. The annual Kenner postal carrier food drive, for example, collected 6 tons of food last month, well below the 10 tons donated last year.
The United Way of Greater New Orleans has collected more than 60 percent of the $21.4 million goal for its current fund-raising campaign. But officials say some donors are expressing concerns about their ability to contribute.
So this holiday season, give what you can. It will make a world of difference to people in need -- just like someone else's generosity did for us after Katrina.


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Hometown heroes honored in Summer Celebration! parade
The honor of "Hometown Hero" normally goes to one or two people each year who have made an impression on the Mercer Island community. However, this was no ordinary year.
Twenty with a passion for emergency preparedness shared the 2010 nomination.
"Emergency Volunteer Leads have trained, drilled and spent countless hours getting themselves and their teams prepared to respond in a disaster," said Emergency Preparedness Officer Jennifer Franklin.
Jason King, Dr. Lee Glass and Pete DuFour manage all volunteers and assist in the Emergency Operation Center; Dr. Carter Hill and Patti Darling, medical; Dr John Dunne & Dr. Kim Lampson-Reiff, mental health team; John Frazier, sheltering; Erin Koehler and Barbara Luther, child care; Beth Cordova and Jim Hunt, senior care; Steve Bryan, damage assessment, Dave Cook and the Mercer Island Radio Operators, communications; Bob Ewing and Tina Jackson, resource inventory; Bob Bersos and Dean Corrigan, transportation; Bonnie Miller, animal shelter care; Covenant Shores; Andrew King, technology volunteer; and Natalie Marr winner of the Red Cross's National Hero Award for Service in Action for Emergency Preparedness.
The Mercer Island Police Department also honored King as "volunteer of the year."
"This group goes above and beyond in their efforts to make our Island better prepared in a disaster," Franklin said.
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Hi, welcome to CSI! Thanks for your edit to the Kevin Greer page.
Please leave a message on my talk page if I can help with anything! Jenx222 (talk) 18:55, February 15, 2014 (UTC)
Criminal Minds M.O.Edit
Sure thing. I'm a frequent editor on that thing. Though User:Unsub Zero is really getting on my f---ing nerves. Darth Kieduss the Wise (talk) 20:12, April 25, 2014 (UTC)
Mass murderersEdit
I'm especially an expert on mass murderers. Darth Kieduss the Wise (talk) 20:13, April 25, 2014 (UTC)


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Flood relief efforts in Schenectady County just got a financial boost. The Schenectady Foundation has announced that it is committing $75,000 in additional funding for the Rebuilding Families Fund, a pot of money established to provide families and households with assistance for long-term recovery needs resulting from last summer's devastating flooding. Up to $50,000 of the grant will be a dollar-for-dollar match of contributions from donors. As of this month, the foundation will contribute a ...
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Laois Co Co - Portlaoise Town Council
You are here: Home / Your Council / Town Councils / Portlaoise Town Council
Main Navigation: | Home | Planning | Housing | Roads | Environment & Water | Business | Leisure & Culture | Community & Living | Your Council | Contact Us
Sub navigation: | Portlaoise Town Councillors
Portlaoise Town Council
Portlaoise Town Council was dissolved on the 1st June, 2014.
Portlaoise Town Council like all Town Councils, have their origin in the 1800's, obtaining most of their statutory powers under the Town Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854.
As a democratically elected Town Authority, Portlaoise Town Council see their role as primarily to provide civic leadership and a focus for the town and its citizens. Portlaoise is the largest town in Laois and it has a population of 14,275 (Census 2006).
Portlaoise is twinned with Coulounieix-Chamiers, a suburb of Perigeux in the Dordogne area near Bordeaux and located in the South-West of France. The official twinning ceremony took place on 28th April, 1996.
Election of Mayor and Vice-Mayor
The last AGM of Portlaoise Town Council was held on the 18th June, 2013
Councillor Willie Aird(FG) was elected Mayor of Portlaoise Town Council for 2013-2014
Councilor Jerry Lodge(FF) was elected Leas-Cathaoirleach for Portlaoise Town Council for 2013-2014
Portlaoise Town Councillors
The nine Town Councillors, headed up by the Cathaoirleach , carry out the representational role of the Council.
The elected members are as follows,
Mayor: Mr.William Aird, M.C.C.,T.C., Nutgrove, Portlaoise, Co.Laois (F.G.)
Vice Mayor: Mr. Jerry Lodge, M.C.C., T.C., Ridge Road, Portlaoise,Co Laois. (F.F.)
Ms Kathleen O'Brien, M.C.C., T.C., 6 Millview, Portlaoise, Co. Laois (F.G)
Ms Caroline Dwane T.C., 40 Clonrooske Abbey, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.(S.F.)
Mr. Tom Jacob, T.C., Ard na Greine, Glenside, Portlaoise, Co.Laois. (Non-Party)
Mr.Rotimi Adebari, M.C.C., T.C., 12 Colliers Court, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. ( Non-Party)
Mr Matthew Keegan,T.C. 16, Westlands, Mountrath Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois (F.G.)
Ms.Catherine Fitzgerald, M.C.C. T.C., 14, Cherrygarth, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. (F.F.)
Manager: Mr. Michael Rainey
Town Clerk: Ms Pamela Tynan
Town Engineer: Mr. Farhan Nasiem
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Audio Production for Video Games
Date/Time: March 26, 2013 - 7:00pm
Location: WAM, 1890 Bryant Street, Suite 312, San Francisco, CA 94110
This class will provide a basic overview of sound production for video games, one of the fastest growing industry sectors for audio professionals. Taught by Elise Baldwin, Audio Director at Electronic Arts/Maxis
We will discuss working in 2D and 3D game environments, audio asset implementation, industry tools and specialized skills. We will take a look at some case studies to discuss aesthetic and conceptual design approaches, the various audio elements that comprise a good gameplay experience, as well as some key concerns when designing sound for a game.


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Graduate students at Suffolk's School of Art & Design can pursue advanced-level study with our Master of Arts in Graphic Design or Master of Arts in Interior Architecture (formerly titled Interior Design). These rigorous programs are designed to push your creative and intellectual skills to a more sophisticated level through coursework that emphasizes the theoretical and practical aspects of exceptional design.
MA, Graphic Design
Our 30-credit Master of Arts in Graphic Design emphasizes sophisticated design and communication skills using cutting-edge technologies, combing a curriculum that is practice-oriented, yet tailored to the specialized interests of students.
MA, Interior Architecture
Our 30-credit Master of Arts in Interior Architecture is accredited as a Professional Level Program by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), the national accrediting body for post-secondary interior design programs.