Buzberry

I’ve been thinking for quite sometime as to whether I should resume my discussion on religion which I concluded my first series on in February.

Recently, however, I visited a very interesting blog entitled “The Ultimate,” where its owner wrote a very impressive viewpoint entitled “A Voyage Into Religion.” I thought it would be worthwhile to share given the interest that it received and the good caliber of debate it spur.

I’d like to thank Ayya for taking the time to write that article and being so responsive to the comments we’ve all posted.

Click here for the post.

Link

Posted By:
MHG

As per the annual custom, the Queen of England has announced her list of this year’s figures who will be knighted by receiving the title ‘Officer of the British Empire’ or OBE. The most controversial person on the list, is Indian native, Salman Rushdie-world celebrated author, and crafter of the controversial book, The Satanic Verses.

Published in 1988, the book has been received with harsh criticism across the Muslim world, and triggered a fatwa of takfir by Aytollah Khomeini in 1989. Rushdie had been in hiding since then, and only appeared in public life nine years later after Iranian officials relented the fatwa.

Like his book, the announcement of Rushdie as an official holder of the OBE thus granting him the title ‘Sir’ and making him a member of the royal court, has been acutely denounced by Pakistan, Iran and a large number of Muslim states who have called for the boycott of diplomatic relations with the UK. The UK has yet to officially respond.

Is this decision a step in the right direction by grating free speech its rightful stand, or is it, as put by Pakistani Minister for Religious Affairs, Ejaz-ul-haq, that such actions are “the root causes of terrorism?”

Link

Posted By:
MHG

I couldn’t care less about the Arabic commentators of the English Premiership League, since I prefer to watch matches with English commentary, which is provided to all broadcasters worldwide by the sponsoring company of TV rights. As some of you know, next season the Premiership will be broadcasted to the Middle East through SHOWTIME instead of last season’s ART.
It seems that SHOWTIME has a shortage of Arabic commentators. Therefore, they started a competition for anyone who has the expertise and willing to be a commentator of next season’s broadcasting team, where the winner of the competition will be offered a contract to work at SHOWTIME Sports as a commentator of the English Premiership League (for the Middle East region). Grazie!

To register and view rules of the competition click on the link below:

Click here
Link
Posted By:
Alvaro

If the population of Earth was a small community of 100 people only, while keeping the same diversity we have today, it would be something like this:
50 men and 50 women
61 Asians
12 Europeans
14 Americans
13 Africans
1 Australian

33 are Christian (all sectors)
18 are Muslims
16 are Hindus
16 are non-religious
6 are Buddhists
11 practice other religions

41 Live without basic sanitation

6 people own 59% of the entire wealth of the community

13 are hungry or malnourished
14 can’t read
Only 7 are educated at secondary level
Only 8 have a computer
Only 4 have an internet connection

1 adult has HIV/AIDS

If you have a roof over your head, and have a bed to sleep in
Your are richer the 75% of the entire world population

If you have a bank account  Your one of the 30 wealthiest people in the world.

POINT: APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE!

Link

Posted By:
JBB

I received this fwd on my email lately: Tala Khoury, a UAE businessman breaks all the records in license plates auctions. Mr. Khoury bought his car’s license plates (displayed above) for a record of 6.9 million USD.

It is said that the money behind the auction will be awarded to charity. Furthermore, Mr. Khoury also successfully auctioned on other unique license plates such as: 55, 45, 76, and 55555.
Tala Khoury declared that he was on the verge of bankruptcy five years ago, however, Gods will and the good fortune in the stock market kept him away from poverty.
Although it is really overvalued to buy such things with that amount of money, the objective is to support charity.
Our beloved Kuwait: Why are the elite (who have good ‘wasta’) entitled to get unique plate numbers, without doing something good in return? Grazie!
A.F.P
Posted By:
Alvaro

I think this is the only serious move the British Olympic committee has taken, since 2005 when London won the race to host the upcoming event. Major developments are set to take place soon. I hope to see new stadiums built as well. Grazie!

 Link

Posted By:
Alvaro

While flipping through the TV last night, I was shocked to see hundreds of nude people on the streets of Amsterdam, with a cameraman giving orders to the crowd. We didn’t have any clue as to what was going on. One of the guys was about to cancel a planned trip to Amsterdam!
I searched a bit and found out that ‘More than 2000 people were participating in

Spencer Tunick’sphoto shoot in Amsterdam’ – He is known for large-scale nude mechanism in his work.
Below is the link for the clip I am talking about. Please note, it is not censored.

Click here for the link

Grazie!

Link
Posted By:
Alvaro

The Security Council adopted a binding resolution, number 1757, which puts into effect, an International Tribunal that looks into the assassination of the late Rafic Hariri, Basil Fuleihan and in compliance with the Lebanese government’s request to include the cases of Samir Qasir, George Hawi, and Bashir Jmayel. Like most political issues in Lebanon, polarized views seem overcome all others. Some factions view that this is a step in the right direction, others are skeptical about the move and wanted the court to have been formed out of a national consensus. According to today’s edition of the Jerusalem Post, Syria indicated its refusal to deal with the tribunal. A decision that questions the court’s ability to operate. On the other hand, certain Lebanese groups have indicated that such a response is a clear sign of Syria’s involvement in the case.

Our blog does operate out of Lebanon, and so I thought it would be appropriate to get feedback on this important issue. How do you feel about this? Is it an infringment on Lebanese sovereignty? Is it a way to protect Lebanon and provide stability? Or do you have a different view? Please share.

Link

Posted By:
MHG

The London Olympics Committee has announced that their lottery venture to raise funds for the 2012 Olympics has been extremely successful thus far. Since the program’s inception in July 2005, it has raised 297 million dollars geared towards planning the Olympic events of 2012! The lotto’s motto, “Scratch for Gold,” is an intended pun as it provides the purchaser of the lotto ticket with the opportunity to win a ‘pot of gold,’ and helps London, according to Lord Coe, Chair of the Olympics Committee, to raise the funds necessary to “deliver a legacy in 2012 and beyond.”

Whether you think lottery is ethical or not, you have to commend the effort!

Link

Posted By:
MHG

For twenty-four consecutive days, the Iranian government has detained one of Iran’s premier scholars, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Institute.

Haleh is known to have been a compassionate, kind, eager and influential scholar. She was detained after one of her frequent visits to her mother, who is 93 years of age and resides in Iran. She is known not to have been involved in Iranian politics, yet as of yesterday she was officially charged with espionage and denied council, which the Iranian government claims is her request. Nobel Laureate,

Shirin Ebadivolunteered to represent her, but was denied the right to do so.

I personally know Haleh, she is a decent woman and one all her friends and colleagues pray for. You can visit her site for more information, and if you’re a facebook user, then please show solidarity by joining her group as well.

Link

Posted By:
MHG