Blair urges Catholic Church homosexuality rethink

AFP

Wed Apr 8, 6:42 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Former premier Tony Blair said the Catholic Church needed to rethink its attitude towards homosexuality, as it is out of step with ordinary church-goers', in an interview published Wednesday.
Blair, who converted to Catholicism after leaving office in June 2007, cited a "huge generational difference" as the key to Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to homosexuality.
A poll of the congregation at a Catholic Church on a Sunday would reveal how liberal those in attendance were, he claimed.
"We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith," Blair told Attitude magazine, a publication targeted at gay people.
During Blair's premiership, Britain enacted legislation introducing civil partnerships, giving gay and lesbian couples legal recognition of their relationships, allowing them the same rights in areas like work, pensions and inheritance as heterosexual couples.
Asked about the pope's comments on homosexuality -- he has in the past suggested that it is as much of a threat to the survival of humanity as climate change -- Blair replied that "there is a huge generational difference here."
"And there?s probably that same fear amongst religious leaders that if you concede ground on an issue like this, because attitudes and thinking evolve over time, where does that end?
"You?d start having to rethink many, many things."
He added that if a Catholic congregation at a church on a Sunday were to be polled, "you'd be surprised at how liberal-minded people were."
"I think on some of these issues, if you went and asked the congregation, I think you?d find that their faith is not to be found in those types of entrenched attitudes," Blair said.
Blair formally remained a member of the Church of England while prime minister from 1997 to 2007, but attended Catholic services with his family in that time.
He once admitted to the BBC that he toned down religious talk while in office for fear of being considered a "nutter" and his spokesman Alastair Campbell once stated: "We don't do God."
Since leaving office, he has founded the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which aims to combat religious extremism and promote understanding between the world's religions.
He is also Yale University's Howland Distinguised Fellow specialising in faith and globalisation.

Johan says: Catholic churches need to rethink of what is generally accepted by ordinary church goers according to blair, to accommodate homosexuals...sign of the times ..western civilizations coming to an end.

Black and Jewish

AP

By KATHY MATHESON, Associated Press Writer Kathy Matheson, Associated Press Writer – Wed Apr 8, 12:07 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA – The jubilation in Temple Beth'El's packed sanctuary overflowed into the aisles, with members dancing, clapping and singing as they welcomed their first Torah from Israel.
A new sacred scroll — the holiest object in Judaism — is cause for celebration in any synagogue. But for this congregation, it meant much more. It signified a tentative step toward the mainstream of American Jewish life.
"We have been unable to sleep and to eat," said Debra Bowen, who is the rabbi. "We have Torah fever!"
Temple Beth'El is a predominantly African-American synagogue formed more than 50 years ago by the daughter of a Baptist preacher at a time when many blacks were rejecting Christianity as a slave religion. The same motivation led many African-Americans to move toward Islam.
The founder of Temple Beth'El, Louise Dailey, studied with a rabbi, but was not ordained by a recognized branch of Judaism. The synagogue has a kosher kitchen and a mikvah, or ritual bath, but Dailey also adopted some traditions that are alien to the ancient faith. Congregants called her "Mother Dailey," and she ordained Bowen, her daughter, before she died.
Yet, recently, Bowen has been reaching out to the broader Jewish community, holding joint services with other congregations and speaking to service groups such as Hadassah. Her timing is good. American Jews have been showing a new willingness to build ties to African-American Jews.
Rabbi Capers Funnye, cousin of first lady Michelle Obama, has just started receiving invitations to speak to white congregations. He is chief rabbi of Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Chicago, one of the largest black synagogues in the country.
The San Francisco-based group Be'chol Lashon, which means "In Every Tongue," has been working to persuade Jews to break through the racial divisions that have alienated African-American, African and other ethnic minority Jews from the larger community.
Estimates of the number of American Jews and the makeup of the community vary. But Be'chol Lashon says that about 600,000 of the 6 million or so U.S. Jews identify themselves as nonwhite or from non-European countries.
The question of who can be considered a Jew is a subject of intense debate, since individual streams of Judaism have different ways of deciding the question under Jewish law. But in the case of most African-American Jews, the issue is even more complicated, since many did not follow any generally accepted religious law when they joined the faith.
"What makes somebody Jewish is not the congregation you belong to, but whether you were converted appropriately," said Jeffrey Gurock, a professor at Yeshiva University, an Orthodox school in New York.
Still, Bowen has had some success in her outreach. The fruit of her work could be seen at the recent Sunday service dedicating the Torah. Funnye read a prayer at the event. In the audience was Gloria Gelman, a white Jew from the liberal Reform branch, who had heard Bowen's presentation to Hadassah. She is encouraging the synagogue to start its own Hadassah group.
Dan Ross, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, is a white Jew who is writing his senior thesis on Beth'El and has brought many other Jewish students to visit. At the Torah commemoration, he said, "It really hits you how significant it is that they have it."
Lewis Gordon, director of Temple University's Center for Afro-Jewish studies, has also been a frequent visitor at other services. "These are people who are proud of being African-American and are absolutely proud of being Jews," Gordon said.
The ceremony was a mix of Hebrew readings and shouts of "Hallelujah!" — a worship style typical of African-American churches. The booming music came from what Christians would call a "praise band" — with electric guitars, drums and keyboard. There was a dress code — another unusual tradition for Jews — of blue, silver or white clothing. Bowen's garb was far from typical for a rabbi. She wore an elaborate, flowing white gown — like a wedding dress — with matching white shawl and a yarmulke.
The Torah was acquired by Rabbi Emmanuel "Manny" Vinas, who leads a Spanish-Jewish synagogue in Yonkers, N.Y. Vinas noted that many suppliers had been reluctant to sell a Torah to Temple Beth'El because of its history, and he expected strictly traditional Jews would criticize him for brokering the purchase.
"I saw the service that was held for the Torah," Vinas said. "You see those people crying and so deeply moved ... . That's a congregation that's going to honor and uphold the Torah."
The synagogue in the city's West Oak Lane neighborhood grew from a prayer group in the living room of Dailey's North Philadelphia home. She was working as a maid in a Jewish home and felt drawn to their religious rituals, such as not working on the Sabbath and covering mirrors during mourning. When she died in 2001, she had a Jewish funeral and was buried in a Jewish cemetery.
Bowen, 63, said the synagogue had lived "quietly" for decades in order to worship without distraction, scrutiny and questions of whether the congregation was truly Jewish.
But now she said, "doors are opening."
"The greater Jewish community," she said, "has been amazingly welcoming."

Biden Warns Israel Not to Attack Iran

from Newsmax:Biden Warns Israel Not to Attack IranWednesday, April 8, 2009 1:15 PMby: Rick Pedraza

Vice President Joe Biden issued a high-level warning to the Israeli government, saying it would be "ill-advised" to carry out a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites.Biden said during an interview Tuesday with CNN that the level of his concern is no different than it was a year ago.

Despite reports that Israel may be gearing up for a unilateral strike, Biden stressed that an attack on Iran is unlikely."I don't believe Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu would do that,” Biden told CNN. “I thinkhe would be ill-advised to do that."But many U.S. officials believe Israel is serious, noting that Netanyahu said several times during his election campaign that he would not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran.“And this implies everything necessary to carry this out," Netanyahu told the Los Angeles Times before his election.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, told senators last month that the Israeli government may be "so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or delay it.”Netanyahu has reiterated in recent days that the Iranian nuclear issue is high on the conservative new Israeli government agenda. The newly installed Israeli leader argues it should be a top priority for the White House, tpp, the Jerusalem Post reports.According to Netanyahu, President Obama has two pressing concerns: “fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.”

During an interview last week with The Atlantic, Netanyahu said “Western civilization” will have failed if Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons."You don't want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs,” Netanyahu said, underscoring the concern he has for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Iran.“When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying. That is what is happening in Iran."

Biden, who became the highest-ranking official to caution Israel against a striking Iran, also says criticism over the administration’s handling of foreign policy from former Vice President Dick Cheney is “dead wrong."In an interview with CNN last month, Cheney said Americans are more vulnerable to a terrorist attack on U.S. soil because Obama has dismantled former President George W. Bush's anti-terror policies.

Biden guarantees that the U.S. is safer today and its interests more secure than it has been at any time during the past eight years.He said the Bush administration left the country “in a weaker posture than we’ve been any time since World War II: less regarded in the world, stretched more thinly than we have ever been in the past, two wars under way, virtually no respect in entire parts of the world.”

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Obama reassures Arabs, nudges Israel on peace

Wed Apr 8, 2009 1:52am EDT

By Arshad Mohammed - Analysis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama reassured Arabs with his unambiguous support for a Palestinian state this week and he nudged Israel's conservative government, which has carefully avoided committing itself to that goal.

Visiting Turkey, Obama twice in two days said he backed a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shied away from the phrase.

Netanyahu's far-right foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has gone further, saying the peace process is at a "dead end" and that Israel is not bound by the U.S.-backed 2007 Annapolis declaration in which the two sides agreed to pursue "the goal of two states."

"By saying what he said in Turkey, I think it sent a clear signal about the two-state solution. It's non-negotiable. It has now become a pillar of U.S. policy," said Ghaith al-Omari, advocacy director for the American Task Force on Palestine.

"Netanyahu has been dancing around the issue, apparently because of domestic politics, but he will have to take a position before he comes here and meets Obama," al-Omari, a former adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, added, saying the prime minister is expected in Washington in May.

Having pledged to make Arab-Israeli peace a priority and having named former U.S. Senator George Mitchell as his special envoy two days after taking office, Obama now hopes to coax a skeptical Netanyahu into talks with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu has been vague about renewing talks over thorny territorial issues, saying his priority was to focus on the creation of development zones and ways to ease roadblocks and checkpoints that inhibit travel and trade in the West Bank.

The U.S. strategy may be to try to maneuver Netanyahu into expressing support, directly or indirectly, for a pursuing two-state solution.

"Without that, it's very hard to move this forward," said a diplomat familiar with the Obama administration's thinking.

JEWISH SETTLEMENTS KEY INDICATOR

Daniel Levy, a former Israeli official now at the New America Foundation think tank in Washington, said that Obama's reference to the U.S.-hosted Annapolis conference was also a form of "push back" against the new Israeli government.

However, analysts said it was far too early to gauge how hard Obama might be willing to push Netanyahu to make the compromises necessary to secure any peace agreement.

For now, the new U.S. and Israeli governments are still taking one another's measure.
Analysts said Mitchell's trip to the Middle East next week, his first since Netanyahu took office, would be a chance for the Obama administration to gauge his interest in peace and his willingness to resume negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators failed in their bid to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008 and their talks have been stalled since Israel's land and air invasion of Gaza in December to counter rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

Johan says: I dont think the power that be will allow it to happen but if he can pull it off then he would have achieved what many other US presidents have failed in their life times.

Libya's Gaddafi says fears Obama assassination

Tue Apr 7, 2009 3:18pm Yahoo News

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Tuesday called Barack Obama a "flicker of hope in the middle of the imperialist darkness," but said he feared the president could be assassinated.

Gaddafi, known for his controversial statements, did not say who might want to kill Obama but gave the examples of the assassinations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, as well as black rights leader Martin Luther King.

"I fear that they could liquidate this young man or force him to submit to their imperialist policies," Gaddafi told a university gathering of his supporters in Sirte, without specifying who might put Obama under pressure.

"Obama is a flicker of hope in the middle of the imperialist darkness," the Libyan leader said, adding: "There is a fear that they would liquidate him as they liquidated Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln."

Gaddafi, who is the African Union chairman, had offered to work with Obama to sustain security, stability and prosperity in Africa and elsewhere.

Gaddafi praised Obama for breaking with what he said was the previous American foreign policy that dictated to the rest of the world what to do to serve U.S. interests.

"He (Obama) speaks logically. Arrogance no longer exists in the American approach which was previously based on dictating to the rest of the world in order to meet its own conditions," Gaddafi said in the remarks carried by state media.

Gaddafi, who took power in 1969 in a military coup in his oil- and gas-rich North African state, was shunned for decades by the West, which accused him of supporting terrorism.

His ties with Western countries have improved since Libya announced in 2003 it was scrapping weapons of mass destruction programs and agreed to pay compensation for families of victims of bombings of U.S. and French airliners.
(Writing by Lamine Ghanmi)

Johan says: He had his own experiences of almost being obliterated by the US govt to back his opinion. The US right wing radicals are already unhappy with Obama's speech in Turkey's parliament.

Muslims believe U.S. goal to weaken Islam: poll

Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:29pm EDT

By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 70 percent of Egyptians, Pakistanis, Indonesians and Moroccans believe the United States is trying to weaken and divide the Islamic world, a poll released on Tuesday showed.

The survey by WorldPublicOpinion.org also showed more than 40 percent thought that was the primary goal of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, while only 12 percent believed Washington's aim was to protect the United States from attack.

"While U.S. leaders may frame the conflict as a war on terrorism, people in the Islamic world clearly perceive the U.S. as being at war with Islam," Steven Kull, editor at the Washington-based group, said in a statement.

The face-to-face survey, of between 1,000 and 1,200 people in each country from December to February, also found about 30 percent approved of attacks on U.S. military in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf.

But 60 percent said suicide bombings were never justified and 67 percent believed Islam was opposed to attacks against civilians.

"Attitudes toward al Qaeda are complex. On average, only three in ten view Osama bin Laden positively. Many respondents express mixed feelings about bin Laden and his followers and many others decline to answer," WorldPublicOpinion.org said.

More than half believed al Qaeda's goals included achieving a strict application of Sharia law in every Islamic country, with more than 70 percent agreeing with that aim.

More than 50 percent believed the militant Islamist group was pushing the United States to remove its bases and military forces from all Islamic countries and 63 percent agreed with that goal.

But the poll found uncertainty about whether al Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. Some 20 percent believed the U.S. government was behind the attacks.

"On average less than one in four believes al Qaeda was responsible for September 11th attacks. Pakistanis are the most skeptical -- only 3 percent think al Qaeda did it," said WorldPublicOpinion.org.

"There is no consensus about who is responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington; the most common answer is 'don't know'."

More than half those surveyed believed the United States was trying to spread Christianity in the Middle East, while nearly 60 percent thought one of Washington's goals was to maintain control over the oil resources of the Middle East.

Johan says: If there is no wind , the trees will not shake.

Vermont legalizes gay marriage with veto override

Yahoo. News - AP
By DAVE GRAM, Associated Press Writer Dave Gram, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 19 mins ago

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont, which invented civil unions, on Tuesday became a pioneer again as the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislature's vote, suggesting growing popular acceptance of the idea.

The House barely achieved the votes necessary to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill that will allow gays and lesbians to marry beginning September 1. Four states now have same-sex marriage laws and other states soon could follow suit.

Bills to allow same-sex marriage are currently before lawmakers in New Hampshire, Maine, New York and New Jersey. The three other states that currently allow same-sex marriage — Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa — each moved to do so through the courts, not legislatures.

"For a popularly elected legislature to make this decision is a much more democratic process" because lawmakers have to answer to the voters every other November, said Eric Davis, a retired Middlebury College political science professor.

Johan says: A good example of democratic process at work. The end of western civilizations is near.

Disparate Doctrines: Two Christian Faiths in Conflict

Newsweek

The tension between evangelicals and Mormons is as old as the Mormon Church itself. While the two religions share similarly conservative social values, their beliefs clash when it comes to some of the most fundamental aspects of Christianity.

The critical differences:

SCRIPTURE

Evangelical The New and Old Testaments of the Bible are the complete revelation of God's holy word. Evangelicals regard the Bible as the ultimate and absolute religious authority.

Mormon Believe the Bible to be the word of God "as far as it is translated correctly." They also consider "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ" and newer revelations to Joseph Smith and other prophets as Scripture.

HOLY TRINITY

Evangelical The Father, his Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit are a single entity. Each has distinct attributes, but the three are undivided in essence or being. This is the traditional Christian conception of the Holy Trinity.

Mormon Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are physically separate and distinct entities with distinct roles, but act with a single purpose. Mormons typically refer to the Holy Trinity as the Godhead.

GOD

Evangelical God is a spirit without a human form. While Scripture may use humanlike characteristics to describe God, He is not human and does not have a physical body.

Mormon Like Jesus Christ, God has a humanlike body that is immortal and perfected. Mormons believe in eternal progression and that they may someday become gods.

SALVATION

Evangelical Comes when the individual develops a heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not dependent on how one acted on Earth but rather on a relationship with Christ.

Mormon Comes through Jesus Christ for all people. After being resurrected, all will be judged, and according to the Plan of Salvation, their level of reward in the afterlife depends on how they lived their earthly life.

MORALITY

Evangelical Prohibits (or discourages) premarital sex and drunkenness. Moderate consumption of alcohol and tobacco is typically accepted by the evangelical churches. Strong emphasis on family values and community.

Mormon Expects complete abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea. The church also prohibits members from having sexual relations outside of marriage. Strong emphasis on family values and community.

SIZE OF CHURCH

Evangelical About 100 million Americans— a third of the population— are evangelical Protestants. (Evangelical population estimates vary by survey.)

Mormon Six million Americans belong to the Mormon Church, comprising about 2 percent of the population. Roughly a quarter of U.S. Mormons live in Utah; more than half live outside the U.S.

© 2007

The End of Christian America

The percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 points in the past two decades. How that statistic explains who they are now—and what, as a nation, they are about to become.
www.newsweek.com/id/192583

Chinese Muslims at Gitmo plea for freedom

msnbc

WASHINGTON - Chinese Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay asked the Supreme Court on Monday to order their release into the United States.

In court papers, a group of Uighurs (pronounced WEE'-gurz) says the high court should overrule a federal appeals panel in Washington, which has blocked the release of the Uighurs.

A federal judge determined in October that the Uighurs should be freed because the Pentagon no longer considered them enemy combatants. U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina said they should be allowed into this country because the administration could find no other country willing to accept them.

The Uighurs argued that last year's Supreme Court ruling that granted Guantanamo detainees the right to go to federal court to seek their freedom is meaningless if they can continue to be held.

"The US government has acknowledged that these 17 men are wrongly imprisoned at Guantanamo and have nowhere safe to go," said Emi MacLean, staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. "If President Obama is truly committed to closing Guantanamo, these men should be on a plane to restart their lives in the United States."

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said Urbina had gone too far in ordering the men released into the United States.

The three-judge appeals panel suggested the detainees might be able to seek entry by applying to the Homeland Security Department, which administers U.S. immigration laws. But the court bluntly concluded that the detainees otherwise had no constitutional right to immediate freedom after being held in custody at Guantanamo without charges for nearly seven years.
Click for related content

U.S. agrees to release another Gitmo detainee
Uighurs are from Xinjiang, an isolated region that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan and six Central Asian nations. They are Turkic-speaking Muslims who say they have long been repressed by the Chinese government. China has said that insurgents are leading an Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang. The Uighur detainees were captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2001.

Albania accepted five Uighur detainees in 2006 but since has balked at taking others, partly for fear of diplomatic repercussions from China.

Most in poll back Obama's outreach to Muslims

msnbc

WASHINGTON - Most Americans think President Obama's pledge to "seek a new way forward" with the Muslim world is an important goal, even as nearly half hold negative views about Islam and a sizable number say that even mainstream adherents to the religion encourage violence against non-Muslims, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

There is still a broad lack of familiarity with the world's second-largest religion -- 55 percent of those polled said they are without a basic understanding of the teachings and beliefs of Islam, and most said they do not know anyone who is Muslim. While awareness has increased in recent years, underlying views have not improved.

About half, 48 percent, said they have an unfavorable view of Islam, the highest in polls since late 2001. Nearly three in 10, or 29 percent, said they see mainstream Islam as advocating violence against non-Muslims; although more, 58 percent, said it is a peaceful religion.

Muslims make up about 1 percent of all U.S. adults.

Majorities of Americans with sympathetic and unsympathetic views about Islam said it is important for the president to try to improve U.S. relations with Muslim nations, with those holding more positive views much more likely to call those moves "very important." In his inaugural address, Obama extended an offer to leaders of unfriendly Muslim nations that the United States "will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Overall, nearly two-thirds said Obama, who arrived yesterday in Ankara, Turkey, will handle the diplomatic mission "about right." Nearly a quarter, though, said he will probably "go too far." Nine percent said it is more likely he will not go far enough.

Partisan divideNearly half of Republicans said Obama is apt to overreach in his efforts to advance U.S. relations, while large majorities of Democrats and independents said they think he will walk the right line.

Republicans are also more apt than others to hold negative attitudes toward Islam, with six in 10 having unfavorable views, compared with about four in 10 for Democrats and independents. Among conservative Republicans, 65 percent view Islam unfavorably; liberal Democrats, in contrast, are 60 percent positive.

This partisan divide is also apparent on the question of whether mainstream Islam encourages hostility toward non-Muslims, with Republicans about twice as likely as Democrats to say it does. Nearly half of conservative Republicans see centrist Islam as a promoter of violence.
Perceptions of Islam as a peaceful faith are the highest among non-religious Americans, with about two-thirds holding that view. Among Catholics, 60 percent see mainstream Islam as a peaceful faith; it is 55 percent among all Protestants, but drops to 48 percent among white evangelical Protestants.

Unfamiliarity breeds skepticism.

There are deep divisions in perceptions of Islam between younger and older Americans as well: More than six in 10 younger than 65 said Islam is a peaceful religion, but that drops to 39 percent among seniors.

Nightly NewsAs in previous surveys, unfamiliarity breeds skepticism: 53 percent of those who profess an understanding of some Islamic teachings view the religion favorably, compared with 31 percent of those who said they do not have that fluency. Those who have such a background are also significantly more likely to see the religion as peaceful. Similar patterns exist for those who know a Muslim. And views of Islam are more positive among those with more formal education.

In a Pew poll in March, 11 percent of Americans mistakenly identified Obama as a Muslim, about the same proportion to do so during the presidential campaign.

The Post-ABC poll was conducted by telephone March 26-29 among a national random sample of 1,000 adults. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.Unfamiliarity breeds skepticismThere are deep divisions in perceptions of Islam between younger and older Americans as well: More than six in 10 younger than 65 said Islam is a peaceful religion, but that drops to 39 percent among seniors.

Nightly NewsAs in previous surveys, unfamiliarity breeds skepticism: 53 percent of those who profess an understanding of some Islamic teachings view the religion favorably, compared with 31 percent of those who said they do not have that fluency. Those who have such a background are also significantly more likely to see the religion as peaceful. Similar patterns exist for those who know a Muslim. And views of Islam are more positive among those with more formal education.

In a Pew poll in March, 11 percent of Americans mistakenly identified Obama as a Muslim, about the same proportion to do so during the presidential campaign.
The Post-ABC poll was conducted by telephone March 26-29 among a national random sample of 1,000 adults. The results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Johan's comment: Opportunity to do more "dakwah" i.e. marketing Islam to American public, to explain the basic fundamental concept of Islam and why Islam has been the religion of choice to a billion Muslims worldwide.

Immorality’s Plague

What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are diseases that are mainly passed from one person to another (that is transmitted) during sex. There are at least 25 different sexually transmitted diseases with a range of different symptoms. These diseases may be spread through vaginal, anal and oral sex.

Most sexually transmitted diseases will only affect you if you have sexual contact with someone who has an STD. However there are some infections, for example scabies, which are referred to as STDs because they are most commonly transmitted sexually, but which can also be passed on in other ways.

What are sexually transmitted infections (STIs)?

Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) is another name for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). The name STI is sometimes preferred because there are a few STDs, such as chlamydia, that can infect a person without causing any actual disease (i.e. unpleasant symptoms). Someone without symptoms may not think of themselves as having a disease, but they may still have an infection that needs treating.

• Chlamydia: The most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States; a bacterial infection easily cured with antibiotics; it often does not have visible symptoms. For young men, untreated chlamydia generally does not present complications, but 40 percent of women who do not treat the disease will develop pelvic inflammatory disease—a condition that causes 50,000 U.S. women to become infertile each year.
• Gonorrhea: Also easily cured, but if left untreated, can lead to infertility in women. In men, gonorrhea can cause epididymitis, a painful infection in the tissue around the testicles that can cause sterility.
• Syphilis: Causes sores on the infected area, usually genitalia; highly infectious and easily treated in its early stages. If untreated, it can lead to brain, cardiovascular and organ damage, and even death. In pregnant women, if untreated, syphilis can be spread to the infant—causing stillbirth, death shortly after birth, physical deformity and neurological complications.
• Herpes: Causes a reoccurring viral outbreak of blisters, generally occurring on the genitals or rectum. The blisters will usually turn into sores that may take two to four weeks to heal. The viral infection can remain in the body indefinitely, but outbreaks are usually less frequent with subsequent years.
• AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a medical condition. People develop AIDS because HIV has damaged their natural defences against disease.HIV is a virus. Viruses infect the cells that make up the human body and replicate (make new copies of themselves) within those cells. A virus can also damage human cells, which is one of the things that can make a person ill. HIV can be passed from one person to another. Someone can become infected with HIV through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who already has HIV.

What causes STD?

Financial Management

From: Bazz

Warren Buffet's advice for 2009 We begin this New Year with dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism. Our happiness is diluted and our peace is threatened by the financial illness that has infected our families, organizations and nations. Everyone is desperate to find a remedy that will cure their financial illness and help them recover their financial health. They expect the financial experts to provide them with remedies, forgetting the fact that it is these experts who created this financial mess.

Every new year, I adopt a couple of old maxims as my beacons to guide my future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, I grow wiser and not older. This year, I invite you to tap into the financial wisdom of our elders along with me, and become financially wiser.

* Hard work: All hard work bring a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
* Laziness: A sleeping lobster is carried away by the water current.
* Earnings: Never depend on a single source of income. [At least make your Investments get you second earning]
* Spending: If you buy things you don't need, you'll soon sell things you need.
* Savings: Don't save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving.
* Borrowings: The borrower becomes the lender's slave.
* Accounting: It's no use carrying an umbrella, if your shoes are leaking.
* Auditing: Beware of little expenses; A small leak can sink a large ship.
* Risk-taking: Never test the depth of the river with both feet. [Have an alternate plan ready]
* Investment: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

I'm certain that those who have already been practicing these principles remain financially healthy. I'm equally confident that those who resolve to start practicing these principles will quickly regain their financial health. Let us become wiser and lead a happy, healthy, prosperous and peaceful life.

Previously Halal But Has Becomes Haram

BBC NEWS
Mars starts using animal products

Masterfoods' brands are household names. Some of the UK's best-selling chocolate bars, such as Mars and Twix, will no longer be suitable for vegetarians. Also affecting brands such as Snickers and Maltesers, owner Masterfoods said it had started to use animal product rennet to make its chocolate products.

Masterfoods said the change was due to it switching the sourcing of its ingredients and the admission was a "principled decision" on its part.

The Vegetarian Society said the company's move was "incomprehensible".

'Extremely disappointed'

Masterfoods said it had started using rennet from 1 May and non-affected products had a "best before date" up to 1 October.

"Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step "Vegetarian Society.

Rennet, a chemical sourced from calves' stomachs, is used in the production of whey.
It will now also be found in Bounty, Minstrels and Milky Way products, and the ice cream versions of all Masterfoods' bars.

"If the customer is an extremely strict vegetarian, then we are sorry the products are no longer suitable, but a less strict vegetarian should enjoy our chocolate," said Paul Goalby, corporate affairs manager for Masterfoods. The Vegetarian Society said it was "extremely disappointed".
"At a time when more and more consumers are concerned about the provenance of their food, Masterfoods' decision to use non-vegetarian whey is a backward step," it said in a statement.
"Mars products are very popular with young people and many will be shocked to discover that their manufacture now relies on the extraction of rennet from the stomach lining of young calves," it added.

What Would an Israel-Iran Nuclear War Mean?

What Would an Israel-Iran Nuclear War Mean?
A commentary by Scott AshleyGood News managing editor
Iran and Israel have exchanged threats and counter threats regularly in recent years. The difference is that Iranian leaders threaten Israel with total annihilation and Israel usually responds by saying that it will take the necessary steps to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons—the existence of which would give Tehran the means to destroy the Jewish nation.
This latest news emerged from Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister in the Israeli cabinet and one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s deputies. He is privy to private defense plans in the Israeli government and is a participant in the security cabinet. He clearly stated, "If Iran continues with its programme for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack it" (The Irish Times, June 7, 2008, emphasis added). He said these words to the Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot.
In December 2001, then-Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani expressed the logic, as he saw it, of a nuclear attack on Israel—that such an attack would eliminate the Jewish state, but Israel in return could only temporarily set back the Islamic world. He believed it would be worth starting a war in which 15 million Muslims would die—since well over a billion would remain—if Israel would no longer exist.
But is such a calculation reasonable or close to accurate?
Anthony Cordesman, former director of intelligence assessment for the U.S. secretary of defense and currently a top analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, offers a different and profoundly disturbing view—that an Israel-Iran nuclear war would devastate the region and the entire world economy.
He believes that Israel, being a more advanced and organized society, could conceivably survive a nuclear exchange while losing 200,000 to 800,000 citizens within 21 days, but Iran would face 16 to 28 million dead in the same time frame and no longer survive as an organized society (United Press International, Nov. 22, 2007).
The difference, he points out, is that Israel is presumed to have better antimissile defenses and more warheads with vastly greater explosive yields (up to 10 times as powerful) with far more accurate delivery systems. He notes that the Iranian capital of Tehran, with its 15 million inhabitants packed into a basin surrounded by mountains, is a "nearly ideal nuclear killing ground."
Israel, Cordesman says, would need a "reserve strike capability to ensure no other power can capitalize on an Iranian strike"—meaning Israel would have to target such "key Arab neighbors" as Syria and Egypt. While a Syrian attack on Israel with chemical and biological weapons could kill another 800,000 Israelis, an Israeli nuclear attack on Syria would kill up to 18 million and finish Syria as a nation. A similar attack on Egypt would kill tens of millions of Egyptians.
Other damage from such a war would include major population centers in the region, the Suez Canal, ports, refineries and oil-producing centers. While it would not be Armageddon for the human race, he says, it would be for the global economy, marking the end of the Oil Age, globalization and world economic growth and prosperity. "The only way to win is not to play," he concludes.