VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

VOICE OF GLOBAL UMMAH

Volume 156, Nov 7, 2010

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Editors: Mohamed & Rashida Ziauddin

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficial and Merciful

(Reuters)
PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Editorial:

During the past week, besides the continuing natural disaster in Indonesia, the Global Ummah as a single body got additional pain in the form of misguided Muslims attacking and killing other Muslims in Iraq and Pakistan including murders committed within the House of Allah (Mosques). Our heart goes out to all the affected Muslim brothers and sisters. We pray that the souls of all victims rest in peace. May Allah ease the tremendous pain and suffering felt by the family members of the deceased victims. If the 57 Muslim countries comprise most of what the Global Ummah's body is, then Muslims killing each other in Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan specially through suicide attacks is really a sad calling and all efforts should be made to eliminate such cancerous growth by extremist elements within the global Ummah).

A PICTURE SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS:

PART A

PART A-1: PAKISTAN

People rush a man injured in a bombing to a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Friday, Nov. 05, 2010, after a suicide bomber struck the mosque Darra Adam Kheil. The suicide bomb killed many people according to an unidentified official. (AP Photo/Mohammad Iqbal)

Pakistani Muslims clean the blood from the floors of a mosque after a suicide blast in Akhurwall village, Pakistan. The blast during the main weekly prayers killed 61 people and left human remains trapped under a collapsed roof and pulverised rubble. (AFP/A Majeed)

PART A-2: IRAQ:

Map locating a series of coordinated car bombs which targeted Shiite areas in Baghdad. Eleven car bombs rocked Shiite neighbourhoods of Baghdad on Tuesday killing at least 63 people amid growing concern that Sunni militants are taking advantage of a persistent power vacuum seven months after an inconclusive general election. (AFP/Graphic)

PART A-3: ANTI-ISLAMIC ACT OF KILLING INNOCENT CHRISTIANS

(ED Note:
We share in the grief and anguish felt by our Christian brothers and sisters in humanity. We will continue to strongly condemn murderous acts of deviated and extremist Muslims).



Iraqi Christian Udai Saadallah Boutros (2ndR) holds a picture of his slain brother, 32-year-old priest Taher Saadallah Boutros, known as Father Athir,at a funeral service outside a Baghdad church. (AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)

PART A-4: INDONESIA:

"Indonesia tsunami: Baby Found Alive in Storm Drain Offers Fresh Hope"

A newly orphaned 2-month-old baby, who was found in a storm drain, sleeps at a hospital in Sikakap, Pagai Island, West Sumatra, Indonesia, Oct. 29, 2010. Achmad Ibrahim/AP

Global News Blog:
(condensed version)

By Ariel Zirulnick, Correspondent
October 29, 2010

Earlier in the week, another child, 18 months old, was found alive in a tree. Both were found without their parents, whom officials assume were swept away in the 10-foot wave that swept through the villages. By Friday the official death toll had already hit at least 400.

The lack of warning of the approaching tsunami, set off by an earthquake, has prompted questions about the the costly warning system installed after the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 100,000 Indonesians. It failed to sound any sort of alarm. Indonesian officials have said that the buoys that make up the warning system were vandalized, the Monitor reported Thursday.

Molten lava flows from the crater of Mount Merapi captured in this extended time exposure photograph taken from Klaten district in Central Java province. An avalanche of heat clouds that can kill anything in their path streamed nine kilometres down the slopes of the volcano. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)

Villager flee their home ride motorcycles following another eruption Mount Merapi in Klaten ,Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. A new eruption at Indonesia's volcano has forced authorities to widen the 'danger zone' to 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the fiery crater. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Villagers carry a women as they flee their homes following another eruption of Mount Merapi in Klaten , Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. A new eruption at Indonesia's volcano has forced authorities to widen the 'danger zone' to 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the fiery crater. (AP Photo/Irwin Ferdiansyah)

Women cry after they flee their home A women cry on a truck after they flee their home following another eruption Mount Merapi in Klaten , Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. A new eruption at Indonesia's volcano has forced authorities to widen the 'danger zone' to 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the fiery crater. AP Photo/Irwin Ferdiansyah)

The hand of a Mount Merapi eruption victim is seen at a hospital in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Friday Nov. 5, 2010. A deadly surge of blistering gases cascaded down the slopes of Indonesia's most volatile volcano, torching houses in one mountainside village. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

A girl weeps at a temporary shelter for those who are affected by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Bawukan, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Blistering gas from Indonesia's most volatile volcano spewed farther than expected Friday, incinerating houses at the edge of the danger zone, triggering chaotic evacuations and pushing the death toll above 100. (AP Photo/AK Hendratmo)

Woman prays in temporary shelter A woman prays in a temporary shelter at Maguwoharjo Stadium in Yogyakarta, November 5, 2010. Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano erupted with renewed ferocity on Friday, killing another 54 people and blanketing the surrounding area with ash. REUTERS/Beawiharta

A man with injuries sustained from Mount Merapi's latest eruption arrives at Sarjito hospital in Yogyakarta November 5, 2010. Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano erupted with renewed ferocity on Friday, killing another 54 people and blanketing the surrounding area with ash. REUTERS/Dwi Oblo

A woman prays at a temporary shelter for those who are affected by the eruption of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Blistering gas from Indonesia's most volatile volcano spewed farther than expected Friday, incinerating houses at the edge of the danger zone, triggering chaotic evacuations and pushing the death toll above 100. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi)

PART A-5: THANKS TO ALMIGHTY ALLAH, THE PARCEL BOMB PLOT GOT UNCOVERED

(Ed Note: Once again the deviated extremist Muslims are trying to follow the commands of Shaitan and violate Islamic values of peace as demonstrated by their actions below. We appeal all Islamic leaders and Imams specially those who give speeches in Friday prayers to strongly condemn terrorism and killing of innocents)

A map showing the locations where two parcel bombs were intercepted in transit to the USA. The United States intercepted parcels from Yemen in September thought to be a dry run for the package bomb plot, a US official said, as Western governments tightened freight and passenger security. (AFP/Graphic)

(ED NOTE: Below title reflects the anti-islamic mentality of the Taliban. It sounds like they disagree with the global ummah that Islam is a religion of peace for they threaten the lives of those who work towards what Islam stands for - PEACE.)

"Afghan Taliban threaten death to all talking peace".
Kathy Gannon, Associated Press
(condensed version)

KABUL, Afghanistan
– Scribbled notes from Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar have surfaced in mosques all over Afghanistan's ethnic Pashtun heartland, threatening death to anyone who takes up a government offer to negotiate for peace, according to a longtime Taliban member.

PART B

ED Note:
For those Muslims who reside in countries where they are a minority, an area of improvement for them is to blend in with the majority population in terms of participation and contribution in the social and civic life of their local community.

Application of Islamic values such as fighting INJUSTICE is an added plus. We members of the Global Ummah appeal to all Muslims to initiate a two pronged approach.

First is for us to clean our own Ummah's backyard before we point our fingers to the West or towards other Non-Muslims.

Secondly, address the gross issues of injustice whether perpetrated by Muslims or non-Muslims worldwide.

In this E-Zine, we would like to focus on the shackling of pregnant female prisoners while delivering babies. How many of you really believe that a pregnant female is likely to run or flee during delivery ? Secondly on such a special occasion when a new human being is coming to the world, to shackle the mother of the new-born is just NOT RIGHT.

PART B-1: SHACKLING THE PREGNANT FEMALE PRISONER DURING DELIVERY:

(globalshift.org)



http://www.syracuse.com

Should New York Ban the Shackling of Pregnant Inmates?

For nearly four hours before she gave birth, Venita Pinckney had a chain wrapped around her swollen abdomen. Her ankles were shackled together and her hands were cuffed.

The 37-year-old was in a maximum-security prison for violating parole. An officer told her the use of restraints on pregnant inmates was "procedure." "I'm saying to myself, 'I feel like a pregnant animal,'" said Pinckney, who was taken from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility to a hospital for the birth of her boy last year.

At state prisons around the country, jailed women are routinely shackled during childbirth, often by correctional staff without medical training, according to civil rights organizations and prisoner advocates. The practice has been condemned by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for unnecessarily risking women's health, and court challenges are pending in several states.

It isn't clear how many inmates nationwide are affected by the practice. The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics said 4 percent of state inmates and 3 percent of federal inmates were pregnant in 2008 when they were first incarcerated.

Malika Saada Saar, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Rebecca Project for Human Rights, said her organization is researching state-by-state data.

In Washington, former prison inmate Casandra Brawley sued in June saying she was shackled by a metal chain around her stomach while being transported to the hospital, and then fastened by a leg iron to a hospital bed through hours of labor. It was only because a physician objected to the restraints during an emergency Cesarean section that they were removed, the suit said.

PART C

PART C-1: SUBSTANCE ABUSE ISSUES:

(Ed Note:
Allah's commandments regarding forbidding Muslims to drink alcohol is fully compatible with latest scientific findings that point out that Alcohol is the most harmful drug compared to all other drugs. One additional reason for practicing Muslims to be firm on implementing the values of Islam and not be influenced by contemporary, socially acceptable modes that contradict Islam)

A man was once asked why he did not drink, and he replied:

'By God, I am not happy with my mind when it is sound, so why should I corrupt it even further?'

The Seventy-seven Branches of Faith - Imam Al-Bayhaqi,
The Quillian Press - (1996, ISBN 1 872038 03 4) - Page 31

(themodernreligion.com)

The Holy Quran, 2.219: They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." They ask thee how much they are to spend; Say: "What is beyond your needs." Thus doth Allah Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider.

The Holy Quran, 5.90: O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.

The Holy Quran, 5.91: Satan's plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain?

Many of grow up in societies where drinking is second nature to most people. Alcohol is staple in some societies, among an increasing number of people. It is also becoming an irreplaceable component of "having fun" and partying. No get together seems complete without alcohol. Tequila shots over the bar counter, vodka and vodka lime for beginners. (themodernreligion.com)

Alcohol Ranked Most Harmful Drug

(condensed version)
jointtogether.org
November 2, 2010

A group of British scientific experts has concluded that when combining its effects on the individual and on society, alcohol far outpaces other substances as the most harmful drug, the Associated Press reported Nov. 1.

The Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, meeting via an interactive workshop, used multicriteria decision analysis to evaluate drugs' effects on the body and their impacts on society, including effects on families and on costs in areas such as health care and corrections. Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine were ranked in the analysis as the most lethal drugs to the individual, but alcohol, heroin and crack were judged most harmful to others.

The combined harm score for alcohol was the highest, at 72 out of a possible 100, followed by heroin (55) and crack (54).

The findings were published online Nov. 1, 2010 in The Lancet.

PART C-2:

WAR ON DRUGS COMING TO A WOMB NEAR YOU
(advocatesforpregnantwomen.org)
(condensed version)

National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) works on behalf of all pregnant women including pregnant women who have been arrested and charged with child abuse or some other crime because they continued a pregnancy to term in spite of a drug problem. These pregnant women are particularly unpopular. Liked or disliked, misunderstood or understood, their cases have huge legal implications for all pregnant women- potentially setting devastating precedent that could establish special, separate legal rights for the fetus and the basis for punishing all pregnant women, including those who suffer miscarriages.

The good news is that a surprisingly broad and mainstream group of organizations oppose such arrests and prosecutions. Among these are the March of Dimes and the American Medical Association. They recognize that threatening women with arrest and frightening them away from treatment is bad for women and bad for babies. They understand that many of the women who come to police attention started to use drugs long before they became pregnant as way of numbing the pain of violence and other significant traumas.

Because prosecutions don’t actually protect children, and because the only way a woman who has a drug problem can be sure to avoid arrest is to have an abortion, no state legislature in the country has actually passed a law making it a crime for a woman with a drug problem to continue her pregnancy to term and give birth.

Even South Carolina’s state legislature refused to pass such a law.

Unfortunately, however, activist judges on the South Carolina Supreme Court rewrote state law to permit the arrest of any pregnant woman who even “risks” harm to her viable fetus.

For example, Cornelia Whitner gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby. The baby, however, tested positive for cocaine. Ms. Whitner was charged with child abuse based on the claims that a fetus is a child under state law. Although not a single residential treatment program designed to meet the needs of pregnant women existed in South Carolina at the time, Ms. Whitner pleaded guilty thinking it would help get her access to the treatment she needed.

Instead of treatment Ms. Whitner got eight years in prison.

PART C-3:

Paying Drug-Addicted Women To Get Sterilized: Choice or Coercion?
www.rhrealitycheck.org
Nov 2, 2010

(condensed version)
By Amie Newman, Managing Editor
November 3, 2010

Barbara Harris is in the news once again.

The founder of a controversial program that pays drug-addicted women to get sterilized or use a long-term method of birth control, is the subject of a recent New York Post article, with the TV talk-show title, "Why I took $300 to be sterilized."

Her organization, Project Prevention (formerly called C.R.A.C.K. - Children Requiring A Caring Kommunity) has been extensively covered in the media, analyzed, and discounted by maternal health policy experts and groups including Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) and the Committee on Women, Population and the Environment (CWPE).

However, as the New York Post reports this weekend, Harris continues her quest to ensure that women who are addicted to drugs become permanently unable to procreate, with plans to extend her program to Africa to pay HIV positive women in Kenya $40 to have an IUD implanted.

However, as Paltrow argues, this program which has garnered immense media attention over the years has also been deemed "a violation of informed consent, exploitative, coercive, racist and a form of eugenic population control."

In a New York Times article about the group, in 1999, Steve Trombley, the CEO of Chicago Planned Parenthood said, "It's simply a bribe for sterilization..." It's hardly a leap to consider, Paltrow notes, "dangling" $200 or $300 in front of a drug-addicted, poor woman to get sterilized, coercive.

The New York Post article quotes an obstetrician who works with drug-addicted, pregnant women in North Carolina who calls the cash incentives "bribery" and urges people to consider that drug-addicted women need treatment - not money for sterilization. As well, he says, this type of a program focuses on control over empowerment, despite the propaganda pushed by the organization.

PART D:

TEN DAYS OF HAJJ:
iqrasense.com

Celebrating the first Ten days and nights of Dhul-Hijjah (Hajj Season)
Nov 06, 2010

Most Muslims very well know the blessings of the nights of Ramadan, especially the last ten nights. However, not everyone knows that the first ten days of the last month of the Islamic month, Dhul Hijjah, are equally packed with blessings.

Allah has provided Muslims numerous opportunities throughout the year to renew their faith and to encourage them towards acts of goodness by specifying such special days. So, we have another such opportunity that we shouldn’t let pass by just like any other period in time.

Allah says in the Quran in Surah Al-Fajr (interpretation of the meaning):

“By the dawn; By the 10 nights” [al-Fajr 89:1-2].

Most scholars agree that these ten nights refer to the first ten nights of Dhul-Hijjah. Ibn Katheer also had validated that opinion by stating: “This is the correct opinion.” [Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/413]

Ibn ‘Abbas reports that the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) said,

“No good deeds done on other days are superior to those done on these days [meaning the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah].”

Among the deeds recommended during those ten days are observing voluntary fasting, offering animal sacrifices (lamb, goat, etc.), sincere repentance, recitation of the Quran, staying up the night and finally praying the Eid prayers on the tenth day of Dhul Hijjah.

Hafsah reported, “There are five things that the Messenger (saws) never abandoned: fasting the day of ‘Ashurah, fasting the [first] 10 [days of Dhul-Hijjah], fasting 3 days of every month and praying two rak’aah before the dawn prayer.” [Related by Ahmad and an-Nasa'i]

Abu Hurairah relates that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “There are no days more loved to Allah for you to worship Him therein than the ten days of Dhul Hijja. Fasting any day during it is equivalent to fasting one year and to offer salatul tahajjud (late-night prayer) during one of its nights is like performing the late night prayer on the night of power. [i.e., Lailatul Qadr].” [Related by at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and al-Baihaqi]

The Prophet (SAWS) commanded us to recite a lot of Tasbeeh (“Subhan-Allah”), Tahmeed (“Al-hamdu Lillaah”) and Takbeer (“Allaahu akbar”) during this time. ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Prophet (SAWS) said: “There are no days greater in the sight of Allah and in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Him than these ten days, so during this time recite a great deal of Tahleel (“La ilaaha ill-Allah”), Takbeer and Tahmeed.” (Reported by Ahmad, 7/224; Ahmad Shaakir stated that it is saheeh). (Islam-QA.com)

So, as Muslims we should welcome the ten days of Dhul Hijjah with the same fervor and enthusiasm as we welcome the last ten days of Ramadan or any other blessed days in Islam. Lets make the most of it.

PART E

(UNCALLED FOR NEGATIVITY AGAINST OUR LOVELY COUNTRY OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

(Ed Note:

USA literally implements the Quranic verse 'THERE IS NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION". Islam is the fastest growing religion and in general Muslims are free to practice Islam. We have no doubt that the policies of the Iranian government violate above Quranic verse.

In the U.S., Muslim women are free to wear niqab or hijab if they so choose to. We American Muslims would like to inform our dear brothers and sisters in Iran and to anti-Americans in Indonesia and elsewhere in the globe, that we Muslims by and large are happy and thriving well in this great country called USA. Islamic centers and Islamic educational institutions are growing fast and we are ever grateful to this great nation for being broadminded, open and tolerant to Muslims.

SURE, there are attacks and negativity perpetrated against Muslims in the U.S, but they are from a very small minority of non-Muslims who are basically the extremists. In fact, such extremists are from the same family of Muslim extremists having the common characteristics of self-centeredness, narrow mindedness, intolerance and hell bent on propagating hate. They love to feed on the "US vs THEM" mentality.

We want to remind you all that the greatest enemy lurking in the shadows of this world hellbent on violence, hate, killings and destruction are the extremists of all faiths and nationalities. We invite you all TO JOIN US, the majority of the world (moderates) of all religions, sects, creeds, cultures and ethnic backgrounds to fight against such extremists).

An Iranian schoolgirl holds signs with anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran to mark the 31st anniversary of the capture of the embassy by Islamist students. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)

Iranian schoolgirls step on a US flag while holding cartoons depicting US President Barack Obama outside the former US embassy in Tehran during a rallymarking the 31st anniversary of the capture of the embassy by Islamist students. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)

Iranian women and schoolgirls show their palms bearing anti-US, anti-Israeli and pro-government slogans during a rally outside the former US embassy inTehran. Thousands of Iranians chanted "Death to America" as they staged a mass protest on Thursday against the "Great Satan" to mark the 31st anniversary of the capture of the US embassy by Islamist students. (AFP/Behrouz Mehri)

Muslim students shout slogans during a rally against U.S. President Barack Obama in front of the U.S embassy in Jakarta November 5, 2010. Obama is expected to visit the world's most populous Muslim country next week, where he spent four years while growing up. The poster reads, " Obama is enemy of Islamic people". REUTERS/Dadang Tri

PART F

IMMIGRATION:

Canada Border Services Agency

This undated combination of photos released by the Canada Border Services Agency, shows left, a young man who boarded an Air Canada flight in Hong Kong while elaborately disguised as an elderly male, center and right, the disguise he was wearing while on board the flight bound for Canada.

The man is seeking refugee status in Canada in what border officials are calling an 'unbelievable case of concealment.'
(AP Photo/Canada Border Services Agency)

PART G:

POLITICS:

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Niamey on October 31. Niger's people gave a draft new constitution an overwhelming 90 percent yes vote in Sunday's referendum, according to complete provisional results published Tuesday by the electoral commission. (AFP/File/Boureima Hama)

Bahrain's King Hamad, pictured in 2009, named a cabinet on Tuesday following last week's parliamentary elections that is virtually unchanged, State News Agency BNA said. (AFP/File/Yasser al-Zayyat)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, is greeted by Malaysian Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalilbefore a town hall event at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

KUWAIT:
ENJOYS ONE OF THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA INCOMES IN THE WORLD

www.csmonitor.com

Photo: Abdullah Al Saife fills the tank of his American-made car with premium gasoline in Kuwait City in this 2000 file photo. With less than 3 million residents sitting on such huge oil reserves, Kuwait enjoys one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. (Gustavo Ferrari/AP/File)

Kuwait: (Total Oil Reserves - 101.5 billion barrels, fifth largest reserves in the world)

With 2.7 million people living on a slice of land smaller than New Hampshire, the Arab emirate is nevertheless an energy powerhouse with just over 100 billion barrels of oil, according to "BP Statistical Review of World Energy".

With per capita income of more than $80,000, its residents on average are also some of the richest in the world.

GOOD INITIATIVE TAKEN BY CHINA TO CRACK DOWN ON BELOW GANGSTERS INVOLVED IN EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN

A sex worker is seen in Beijing. Police in the Chinese capital have cracked a gang suspected of forcing nearly 100 women into sex slavery after giving them a "training course" and requiring them to pass a "hooker test," state media said Tuesday. (AFP/File/Frederic J. Brown)

FIRST INDIAN GOVERNOR FOR SOUTH CAROLINA:

www.csmonitor.com
Nov 3, 2010

Republican candidate for South Carolina governor Nikki Haley (second from l.) watches election results come in after the polls closed from a hotel restaurant with her husband Michael, son Nalin and daughter Rena on Nov. 2, in Columbia, S.C.

Manveer Cheema, of Columbia S.C., (r.) leads a traditional Punjabi celebratory dance after South Carolina Gov.-elect Nikki Haley, who was born to Punjabi immigrants, delivered her acceptance speech in the early hours in Columbia, SC. David Goldman/AP Photo

SAUDI ARABIA:

(Ed Note: We strongly disagree with the recent fatwa challenging the Saudi government initiative to allow women to work as cashiers in supermarkets and department stores. We believe women should be free to work in whatever job they prefer).

A Saudi man walks past women working inside a crafts tent in Riyadh in 2008. Saudi women activists expressed outrage and confusion on Tuesday at a new fatwa challenging a government initiative to allow women to work as cashiers in supermarkets and department stores.(AFP/File/Hassan Ammar)

HAS BELOW SAUDI PRINCESS BROUGHT SHAME TO THE SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY AND TO THE COUNTRY OF BIRTH OF OUR PROPHET MOHAMED (SAW)

The Prince of Wales, centre, meets Saudi owner of the Savoy HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin AbdulAziz Alsaud, and Princess Amira at the official re-opening of the Savoy Hotel on the Strand in London, Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/ Dominic Lipinski /PA)

Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Alsaud (C) walks with his wife Princess Amira (L) and Savoy Hotel General Manager Kiaran MacDonald at the re-opening of the hotel in London November 2, 2010.

PART H-1

INTERFAITH RELATIONS:

(ED NOTE:
DOES BELOW ARTICLE IN A WAY REINFORCE THE ISLAMIC VALUE OF MODESTY?)

Why is the Church Afraid of Modesty?


http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/101101.

Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspectives Ministry
November 1, 2010

(OregonFaithReport.com)

QUESTION:
My husband and I are glad that the church is finally talking about the problem of pornography and purity in the Body of Christ, and helping men address this issue. But why do we never hear about purity for women in the way they dress? I’m talking about women who profess to be Christ-followers. They become a stumbling block to their brothers when they dress seductively or dress to be sexy as the world has deemed fashionable. Please address the issue of modesty.

ANSWER:
That is a great question, and it’s very problematic. Just recently I was speaking at a church, and found I could not look a certain direction at the congregation because of how one woman was dressed. This happens frequently. I’ve been in churches where I can’t look at the worship team because of how a woman is dressed and swaying seductively while holding the microphone. It’s something you would expect in a nightclub, yet it’s in the church — the Body of Christ.

I’m all for sex and I think it’s great for a woman to be sexy with one person — her husband. The irony is there are cases where women have gotten so used to appearing sexy in public yet actually have no sexual relationship with their own husbands. So we have two issues going on related to the issue of modesty — modesty in public, and modesty when the Body of Christ is assembled. And this latter one is huge.

When I was a youth pastor, many years ago, we had a problem with swimsuits that is much worse today for church youth groups because of the change in fashions. The way girls wore their two-piece swimsuits, and even many one-pieces, showed so much. You have young men on a church retreat who are looking at these girls — their sisters in Christ — and thinking what young men think and being led into temptation.

I’m not justifying the way men think. It is a problem, but it is also true — as the person indicates who asks this question — that there’s a responsibility here for girls, and certainly for their dads and moms, to seriously consider this.

As for the part of the question asking why this is not being addressed like it should be in churches, I believe the answer is fear. I think there are many pastors and church leaders, who, like many husbands and fathers, are afraid to speak up for fear of offending women who are fashion-conscious. Some women think that to be fashionable, you have to have outfits that are sexy—including the split skirts, the very tight skirts and pants, and low-cut tops. All of these things send a message to men, and pastors are very self-conscious about speaking up because they think, There are women who will think I am a pervert for even mentioning this. “Oh, is that what the pastor is thinking about when he’s up front?”

It’s a difficult situation, but it’s an issue I believe male leaders of the home and church need the courage to speak up about and address directly. We also need godly women (especially godly women who can be reasonably fashionable and attractive in the right sense of attractive—not sexually attractive) who will lovingly challenge other women and let them know they are sending a wrong message. And if they don’t care about the message they’re sending, then something’s really wrong and they need to repent. We need open, clear discussions about this so women can become aware and understand the issue.

The Bible says our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. That compels us to honor God in all we do and say. Sadly, many inappropriate relationships develop in the church. Sometimes they start in small groups; others start through working relationships between church staff. There have been adulterous relationships that began during small group retreats, where women and men dressed and acted a certain way. Many of these relationships could be avoided if we paid closer attention to how we dress, how we come across, and the kind of affection we show.

I love to show physical affection. I often side-hug women I care about and know—if I have a close, appropriate brother-sister relationship—by putting my hand on their shoulders and pulling them toward me. But I avoid full-frontal hugs. Women sometimes are not aware how these kinds of hugs can affect their brothers in Christ.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss has excellent material on modesty and purity. She has a wonderful booklet titled The Look: Does God Really Care What I Wear? as well as several resources about the freedom of modesty at her ministry’s website, www.reviveourhearts.com.

I do believe modesty is something we need to take a very close, careful, prayerful look at in the Body of Christ. We need to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

PART H-2

(ED NOTE:
WHERE ARE THE IMAMS ? WE NEED THEIR VALUABLE FEEDBACK ON BELOW ISSUES THROUGH THE INTERFAITH PLATFORM).

1,000 Rabbis Joins Vatican Cardinal in Prohibiting Voting for Anti-Life Candidates
www.lifesitenews.com
Nov 1, 2010

NEW YORK, November 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)

Rabbi Yehuda Levin, spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America, which represents more than 1000 Rabbis, has on behalf of his organization welcomed and endorsed the recent election-themed statements by American Cardinal-designate, Raymond L. Burke, Prefect of the Catholic Church's highest court.

In a 25-minute video interview with Catholic Action for Faith and Family, which was broadcast last week on EWTN and other networks, Archbishop Burke stated: “You can never vote for someone who favors absolutely the right to choice of a woman to destroy a human life in her womb or the right to a procured abortion.”

He added: “You may in some circumstances where you don’t have any candidate who is proposing to eliminate all abortion, choose the candidate who will most limit this grave evil in our country, but you could never justify voting for a candidate who not only does not want to limit abortion but believes that it should be available to everyone.”

"In these crucial times in which we live, where many clerics tread with fear, Cardinal-designate Burke is to be commended and emulated as a voice of leadership,” said Rabbi Levin. “This moral teaching of the Catholic Church set forth in Burke's interview with Thomas McKenna, is clearly found in the Torah and serves to give solid guidance to voters whether they are Christian, Jew or any man of faith.”

"We must implement this teaching now, in the closing hours of the 2010 election cycle,” stressed the spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance of America. “We hope in the ensuing two years to have many other denominations sign on to this prohibition. This historic alliance announced today is far more important than working together for tuition tax credits for our parochial schools. Today is nothing less than the declaration of a 'spiritual civil war.'”

Rabbi Levin concluded: "Let no person think that this directive is merely an intellectual exercise. This is a call to action to uphold the natural and moral law with pro-active voting according to our religious values. There can be no middle ground when it comes to the Sacred Laws: Marriage is between one man and one woman, and respect for all human life is obligatory.

Now go out, spread the word and vote accordingly.

PART I-1

MENTAL HEALTH

(Ed Note:
In an advance western country such as the United Kingdom, where there are many more resources for receiving treatment for mental health issues including treatment for severe stress, even then if most do nothing to counter stress, imagine the situation in many Muslim countries, where the stigma to receive psychological help is much more severe, along with extremely limited resources for psychological treatment.

To make it worse, how much more stress many of the Muslims are facing day to day, specially in disaster prone and conflict prone zones where their family members are blown up to pieces by bombs, murdered in other ways, killed by natural disasters et.c.

We strongly believe that our loving Prophet Mohamed's (SAW) vision of UMMAH was definetely not confined to only coming together for religious rituals but was meant to incorporate many other facets of day to day life. Unfortunately such broad based vision of our esteemed and respected Prophet still remains unfulfilled. We appeal to all Muslim Brothers and Sisters not only to expand but to apply the tools of Islam to assist the Ummah in their complex web of bio-psycho-social problems.)

Most 'do nothing to counter stress'

"Most Britons Do Nothing to Combat Stress and Opt to Live With it, a poll Suggests"

(condensed version)

(hostednews)

(UKPA)

The majority of Britons do nothing to combat stress and opt to live with it, a poll has suggested. Although half of respondents said they felt stressed at least once a week and one in five (21%) every day, nearly two-thirds (63%) admitted they would not take any steps to deal with stress, according to the survey by the Mental Health Foundation. Spending time alone was the approach chosen by 30% of respondents, while the next most common method of tackling stress was to eat comfort food (26%). The poll found the places with the highest percentages of people who said they were stressed regularly were the London area (54%), followed by Liverpool and Milton Keynes (both 59%). Bristol was the calmest place, with 56% of people reporting they were rarely stressed.

People should actively manage stress by remaining sociable and talking about their problems, eating healthily and practising mindfulness - a combination of meditation, yoga and breathing techniques - to counter the related risk of suffering depression or physical health problems, the Mental Health Foundation said. Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the foundation, said: "The economic costs of unmanaged stress are huge and increasing - 11 million lost working days a year at the last count - while the personal costs for those who experience it, and their families and friends, is of equal concern.

"Unmanaged stress can additionally develop into mental health problems, such as depression, as well as increasing the risk of physical problems, such as heart disease."

PART I-2

BANGLADESH:

IS TRANING IN KARATE THE ANSWER TO A SPATE OF SUICIDE AND KILLINGS AMONG STUDENTS DUE TO BULLYING ?

Bangladeshi girls do their homework at a makeshift hut at Zigatola in Dhaka in June 2009. A district in northern Bangladesh has offered karate training to all female school and college pupils following a spate of suicides and killings due to bullying, officials said Tuesday. (AFP/File/Munir Uz Zaman)

PART I-3

(Ed Note:
THANKS TO AUSTRALIA FOR RECOGNIZING MENTAL HEALTH AS ONE OF THEIR TOP CHALLENGES)

www.theaustralian.com.au
Nov 2, 2010

GLOBAL warming and mental health problems provoke more public concern in Australia than in any other country covered by an international survey.

When people in eight countries that have almost half the world's population were asked to choose the greatest challenges facing their country, 37 per cent of Australians named global warming compared with an overall average of 25 per cent and just 18 per cent of Americans and 20 per cent of Britons. An even more eye-catching difference between Australia and the other nations was its concern about mental health issues. About 35 per cent of Australians named mental health as one of their country's two or three greatest challenges, in contrast to the international average of just 10 per cent, with the second-most worried country on that issue being China on 15 per cent.

The findings may suggest that public awareness campaigns about mental health have been successful in Australia.

PART J-1

MEDICAL HEALTH

"Eating Peanuts in Pregnancy Linked to Positive Allergy Tests in Allergy-Prone Kids" November 2, 2010 (Canadian Press) -- Peanut consumption while pregnant is associated with a higher likelihood that a woman's allergy-prone baby will test positive for peanut allergy, a new study suggests. (For details cut and paste above quoted article in google search).

PART J-2

KNOW THE SIGNS OF STROKE

harvard medical school

Stroke has always been a much-feared medical emergency, and rightly so. Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, amounting to 795,000 strokes and 137,000 deaths annually. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer.

Not all strokes are preventable, so it is very important to recognize the early signs of stroke and get treatment as rapidly as possible. Stroke damages brain tissue, but that loss can be minimized by getting quickly to an emergency room that can connect to a rapid-response stroke center.

Stroke warning signs and symptoms

Everyone should learn the following warning signs of stroke. If you experience any of these symptoms, immediately dial 911 or go to an emergency room:

• weakness in an arm, hand, or leg

• numbness on one side of the body

• sudden dimness or loss of vision, particularly in one eye

• sudden difficulty speaking

• inability to understand what someone is saying

• dizziness or loss of balance

• sudden, lasting, excruciating headache.

What to do when stroke happens

It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of identifying and treating a stroke as soon as possible. Warning signs can begin anywhere from a few minutes to days before a stroke (see “Stroke warning signs and symptoms,” above).

In a Gallup survey, 97% of people over age 50 did not recognize the warning signs of a stroke. Everyone, especially those who are at increased risk for stroke, should learn these warning signs and know what to do if they occur.

The National Stroke Association has devised the FAST checklist (see “Act FAST”) to help determine whether a person is having a stroke.

Act FAST

If the answer to any of the questions below is yes, there's a high probability that the person is having a stroke.

Face Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

Arms Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

Speech Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Are the words slurred? Does he or she fail to repeat the sentence correctly?

Time If the answer to any of these questions is yes, time is important. Call 911 or get to the hospital fast. Brain cells are dying.

When stroke symptoms occur, quick action is vital. If you think you or someone with you is having a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), call 911. You should be taken to a hospital emergency room, preferably one that specializes in treating stroke as it occurs (called acute stroke). If you know you are at risk for stroke, find out ahead of time the name and location of the nearest hospital that specializes in treating acute stroke.

Since the 1980s, researchers have developed rapid, safe, and effective diagnostic techniques that accurately identify the extent and location of a stroke and the nature of the blood vessel (vascular) problem causing it. The goal of treatment is to restore blood circulation before brain tissue dies. The time frame for reaching this goal is frighteningly slim. To prevent brain cell death that is significant enough to cause disability, treatment is most effective if it starts within 60 minutes of the onset of symptoms.

One of the main clot-dissolving drugs, recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA), must be given within three hours of the start of stroke symptoms, but earlier is better. An important goal of research is to find treatments that can buy time by protecting the patient’s brain until blood circulation is restored, thus improving the odds of survival and decreasing disability.

PART K:

A PEEK OUTSIDE OUR ISLAMIC BOX:

People visit graves at a cemetery in Tzurumutaro.
November 2, 2010. Mexicans are celebrating the Day of the Dead, paying homage to their dead relatives by preparing meals and decorating their graves. The Day of the Dead festival has its origins in a pre-Hispanic Aztec belief that the dead return to Earth one day each year to visit their loved ones. REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta

PART -L

ENTERTAINMENT:
5th ROME FILM FESTIVAL

Iranian-born Kurdish writer and director Fariborz Kamkari poses during the photocall for his film "Golakani Kirkuk" (The Flowers of Kirkuk) at the fifth Rome Film Festival. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

Turkish actor Ertem Eser poses during the photocall of "Golakani Kirkuk" (The Flowers of Kirkuk) at the Rome Film Festival. The film, by Iranian-born Kurdish writer and director Fariborz Kamkari, was shot entirely on location in Iraq as the first international production since the Gulf War and tells the tragic love story of an upper class Iraqi woman who falls in love with a Kurdish doctor. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

Moroccan actress Morjana Alaoui poses during the photocall of "Golakani Kirkuk" (The flowers of Kirkuk) at the Rome Film Festival. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

Actor Mohamed Zouaoui poses during the photocall of "Golakani Kirkuk" (The Flowers of Kirkuk) at the Rome Film Festival. The film, by Iranian-bornKurdish writer and director Fariborz Kamkari, was shot entirely on location in Iraq as the first international production since the Gulf War. (AFP/Andreas Solaro)

PART M:

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE

(You can't afford to be serious all the time)

Below (condensed version) forwarded by Dr. Lewis:

LESSONS FOR WORKPLACE AND MANAGEMENT:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs..

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor..

Before she says a word, Bob says, 'I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.'

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.

When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, 'Who was that?'

'It was Bob the next door neighbor,' she replies.

'Great,' the husband says, 'did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?'

MORAL OF THE STORY:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your share holders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

THE END