sara535

The reason the US doesn’t want people to view Hizbullah favorably is because Nasrallah is actually intelligent, he’s an intellectual (contrary to what most might know of him). He has also become a prominent figure in the region, because his politics make sense to regular citizens. But that don’t fit in neatly with America’s dabbling in the Middle East, because the rest of the region’s political leaders follow America’s orders blindly, where as Hizbullah actually speak what they believe.
If people in the West were to know any truth about that situation it would surely jeopardize Israel’s agenda, and expose their own terrorism. And who better than Hizbullah to deflect attention away from Israel. They are Muslim after all (naturally-as is the majority of the region ) and since most people in the West already equate Islam with violence it works perfectly for America and Israel.
The Christians in Lebanon supporting Hizbullah are also part of an alliance party together with Nasrallah (the March 8th Alliance, making 50% of the Lebanese Government). Then there’s the other camp of Christians and Muslims (March 14th Alliance) making up the other half. They do however all sit in the same parliament together discussing the politics of their country.
A perfect example of SAME religion opposition, and cross-religious collaboration. But who wants to believe that actually takes place in the Middle East.

I get really tired of all the non-arabic speaking spouses who throw around inshallah and hamdulllll or whatever it is.....seriously...it is rather strange.

I would be surprised if anyone comes out and says "O HAI! I have been totally MENA'ized" despite it really appearing so from the *outside*.

Heracles, I've highlighted what you might need to work on.

Give him rope . . .

WAIT!!!!!!!!! WHAT????????? Hatred? In the bible belt? You mean deeply religious Christians HATE people of other religions. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Religion simply isn't like that. Especially not in the bible belt, I mean they were mostly Democrats to and you know how they love ALL people and how they welcomed diversity in their schools and public institutions. Cam we ever forget the way the God fearing Christians of the bible belt led this country to the light of equal rights for all? And NOW you want to say they hate Muslims. Blasphemy!
The light of love, peace and harmony exibited by religion should be an inspiration to us all!

No it isn't. I've not disputed the events Malkins article describes (because it involves doing more work than i really care to). Once again the article presents those events in a manner that is deliberately vague, because the impression you are supposed to take from the article is that Muslims everywhere are like that. It doesn't leave room for the reality that very many Muslims do not subscribe to, or endorse terrorism or fundamentalist extremism.
Once again, this is a site has a diverse membership of peoples all over the world. To me - posting and endorsing articles like this one imo disparages and marginalises a lot of people here. It is against the TOS and shouldn't be allowed.
As I said, if you are not prejudiced against Muslims and you have a genuine interest in the subject of terrorism from alleged Muslims, why are you not looking for scholarly articles rather than thinly veiled propaganda. Malkins article IS propaganda BTW and like all good propaganda it uses selected truths to advance a nationalist agenda.

You're so outraged that you can't even follow the discussion.
redy 4 One said: "Most of us get Islam and those who practice Islam do so in a widely diverse manner."
I said:
"Most of you insist that you do "get it", but your posts continually prove that you do not."
Now can you please explain how the above tirade relates?
ETA: I'll go ahead and respond to your questions, even though I have no idea how you interpreted them from my post.
So your saying that if new cartoon of Muhammad with a bomb on his head was published in a Western newspaper that Muslim's wouldn't go nuts like they did last time it happened ?
No, I'm not saying that. I'm sure many Muslims would be outraged. I don't understand it nor do I agree with it. Many Muslims, and the ones that I know, would not "go nuts" over it.
Are you saying that the price put on Salman Rushdie's head is a hoax ?
No, I'm not saying that.
Are you saying the death threats made against Geert Wilders after the film "Fitna" came out is nothing but a hoax ?
No, I'm not saying that.
I think you get the picture.
Now let me ask a question of my own...Do I think that some Muslims behave badly (to put it midly)? Yes.
So now what do we conclude from that? That the religion promotes their behavior? That seems to be the popular position around here, but it's not my experience.
It truly saddens me that the religion of my son is denigrated by you and others the way that it is. It truly upsets me that ignorant people will make assumptions that he is a violent and angry person because his father was born a Moroccan Muslim. I blame terrorists, I blame the media, and I blame you.

I was thinking about the issue of these messengers earlier--although their "arguments" are deeply dishonest and intellectually lazy, the messengers themselves are often highly educated. Although Malkin doesn't quite fit my premise, she certainly knows how to formulate a logical argument. She just chooses to pander instead.
My better example is Gretchen "I'm the Special Friend" Carlson, who graduated with honors from Stanford, studied at Oxford, and shows up to Fox studios each day wearing her best "What's a Mooselimb?" costume. The lengths sharp people, and specifically women in the point I'm making, will go to in order to further The Narrative is truly embarrassing. All these people know how to construct a logical argument. They all know that things aren't black and white and they are capable of nuanced thought. But they hurl themselves headlong into full idiot-girl, innocent-backwoods, simpering bobblehead blackface so that they can appeal to a largely ignorant base. Really sad.
I'm madder at them than I am at poor, sweaty Glenn Beck, who I think is in the beginning-middle stages of a long, slow motion psychotic break.

That's a worthwhile point. What a few posters do is little more than spam the forum with bigoted propaganda about an overwhelmingly peaceful people. Allowing it to go unchecked--even protecting it in a way by creating a private "crazy person zone"--is arguably as good as condoning it. Wither the TOS?
It's embarrassing, especially in a community that is, by design, populated by people of every religion and culture. Muslims aren't an abstract concept; they are real people on this site.
There's a difference between reasoned debate and hatemongering, freedom of expression and snarling trollery. Should you be allowed to say that the Muslim religion is a hateful one, even if that statement is false? Maybe. Should you be allowed to say it fifty times in a row in different stupid ways, all day long and into the night, insulting the people of an entire religion in an interminable drumbeat of prejudice? I'm not so sure.

Most airlines typically let you check up to 2 baby items for free. So you could bring a pack'n play to thailand, although it adds more luggage. As for the stroller, you can either get a lightweight umbrella stroller and gate-check it (it means you can roll it right up to the point where you get on the plane- very convenient) or you can check your stroller with the other luggage and carry him in a carrier. I found it easiest to have a stroller with me when you have a sleepy baby and there is other luggage to handle or imigration/passport checks etc. I went without a stroller a few times and just had the Ergo (baby carrier and it was fine too, although a little harder to juggle your carry on (full of diapers and baby food) and passports/tickets etc. With a stroller you have your hands free.
Food: you can bring bottles, sippy cups and baby food jars, and the airline staff will warm it up for you (expect to wait 1 hour or more for it though, they are usually not very kid friendly)You can bring this in your carry on. I have a little cooler bag that I use for all the jars and sippy cups and I just put it in the bin when we go through security, never had an issue with that.
Did you buy a seat for the baby? If so, you can bring his carseat on the plane. If not, you will have to leave the carseat home or check it with your luggage. If there are empty seats next to you they may let you bring the car seat on board even if you have a lap baby, but I've never heard of that really happening before.
If he's on your lap, he will be fine if you have a bassinet. It's really a life saver on long distance flights!
bathroom: on the last flights I went to the bathroom when Ben was sleeping. I waited until there was no line, and then just went as he was sleeping on the seat. Worked great. It's tricky with a 6 month old. When Ben was 1 year old (he couldnt walk then) I had to take him with me, because quote "it's not in the job description of a flight attendant to babysit children" when you have to go... Sometimes you get lucky and you have nice people on board who don't mind to watch the baby while you use the restroom. Just don't leave the baby unattended in the bassinet, he could get really hurt if he falls out. If he's alseep in there and you have to go, just ask someone to have an eye on him for 2 minutes.
what else to bring: definitely bring lots of diapers (1 for every 2 hours that you are traveling, is supposedly rule of thumb) You may miss a connection or get stuck at the airport for hours (happened to us twice) and you need to have enough stuff for your own peace of mind. disposable changing mats (huggies makes them), wipes, hand sanitizing wipes ( I buy them at Babies R Us), Formula (if you bottle feed), bottles, baby blanket, a few outfits for baby AND YOU (accidents happpen, I always get spit up on me or chocolate finger prints, spilled juice etc), tylenol/motrin just in case he decides to have a fever on the big day extra pacies (if you use them, they tend to get lost or fall in crevices between the seats where you can never reach) a few toys (preferrably some toys that don't make noise) garbage bags- I use grocery bags. They are really essential. You can wrap up poopie diapers in them or just your regular trash. There is always so much garbage when you are on a plane with a kid.
So you get the idea, haha. It seems a huge affair but the better you're prepared the better it will go. I usually try to travel "light" I have a little carry on trolley where I pack all my emergency and back up supplies and extra outfits, plus stuff like cameras, important papers. That goes in the overhead bin when we're on the plane. I have an extra bag with stuff that we need for the duration of the flight (some diapers, trash bags toys, food for baby, ipod, magazine, drink for mommy, 1 outfit, pen, passports, tickets &hand sanitizer) and that goes under the seat.

I am a fundamentalist. Practicing Muslims are fundamentalists. It doesn't have the same connotation in Islam as it does in Christianity, where the term was originally applied. Terrorists and their sympathizers don't interpret parts of the Quran literally, they interpret it poorly and in a self-serving manner, and I have no doubt that they do it on purpose. Terrorism is a grab for power, not a spiritual experience.
Like the Bible, the Quran and ahadith are not books you understand by reading them. People study them both for a lifetime in their original languages and still have doubts about the context of passages or the true meaning of a word that has meaning meanings. A casual reading would not be sufficient to form a substantive or authoritative opinion, but opinions are part of free speech. It's just sad that so many of them are negative when there is so much beauty in Islam.
Here is the flaw in that position. Christianity has many violent passages, we agree on that. If terrorists seized on the examples in those verses, they would have a Biblical basis for their claim, but they would be cherry-picking the Bible for what they needed to justify their claim. That would not be Christianity.
The same is true of Muslim terrorists. They are cherry-picking verses to justify their acts of violence, but while the Quran and Muslim history puts those verses in context, terrorists don't. I mean, seriously. How ignorant do you have to be to believe that out of a book with more than 6,000 verses, less than a dozen are the only ones dealing with warfare and the oppression of women and non-Muslims define the faith of more than a billion people? If that was how it worked, the Quran would be as small as Jet magazine.
On a practical level, it's pretty insulting to tell your Muslim neighbors that you can't determine whether extremists are the model Muslims or if peaceful Muslims just don't know how to observe their faith properly. It says that Muslims should be violent and tyrannical to be Muslims, as if the lowest common denominator is all we deserve to be.
I disagree with your premise that most western societies operate on that premise. There are no Islamic countries anyway.

The Muslim communities in America that are under attack are more demonstrative of "What would Jesus do" then the Christians who hate them.
For the last 12 years, I was close friends with a Hispanic woman who was a dyed in the wool, deeply committed liberal. When it looked like Obama was going to win the presidency, she suddenly switched to conservatism and became a Republican because she didn't want a Black man as her president. She became increasingly agitated with liberals and alienated most of her life-long friends. Even I was concerned, not only over the sharp departure from her former belief system, but over the personality change.
The issue of Park51 was the last straw. She began texting me about how I should be more like some former Muslim she saw on Fox News who makes a living demeaning Muslims in conservative circles. How I'm brainwashed because I won't convert to Christianity. How BHO is a secret Muslim, so he is on "my" side. How she can no longer talk to me because I hate Christians and kill infidels. I was incredulous at the accusations she threw at me, as if she had not known me all that time.
Needless to say, we are no longer friends, but our last exchanges and those here made me notice something significant. Any discussion of Muslims with hostile non-Muslims exposes their belief that Islam is foreign and in opposition to Christianity. Not true, but that is the root of much of their anxiety.
That is why discussions about domestic issues, such as this mosque or the one in NYC, cannot be just about domestic Muslims and their mosque. In their minds, Muslims in the US are not American, their religion is not American, it's Middle Eastern (as if Judaism and Christianity are not). So the discussion devolves into accusations about how Saudi Arabians treat women, Palestinians burn the flag, Afghans desecrate Bibles, Iran persecutes homosexuals, Syria sponsors terrorism, etc. And, most importantly, how "they" want to kill "us".
A lot of American Muslims have never been to any of those countries, and feel no responsibility for their tribal conflicts or nationalistic fervor. They don't recognize the violence evoked in their explanations of Islam as the Islam they know. No one pays attention to their denunciations of terrorism, even as they wonder why it is necessary to demand their condemnation, since they have no connection with it.
The only thin, weak connection between them and the terrorists is that they both claim Islam as their faith, and, to the hostile doubters, that is enough. There is no distinction allowed between those who practice Islam correctly and those who pervert it, as there would be if the perpetrators were claiming Christianity as their motivator. Moderate Muslims may be the exception give lip service, yet, when the rubber meets the road, there are no moderate Muslims. The only good Muslim is an ex-Muslim.
Muslim/Islam hating has gone mainstream. Politics has indeed driven it there. There are many in America who have much to be ashamed of, they just don't know it yet.

Do you think writing things in bold makes your words more legitimate? I have to say you make yourself ppear to be mind bogglingly ignorant by making such a statement. History is littered with sacrifices made by 'the people' in the name of geopolitical causes. Martyrs are a lot fewer and farther between - I doubt there is a single genuine martyr to be found in this century. It must be very wearing being a muslim having to constantly counteract this unforgivable ignorance. You are not oppressed Danno, you are not denied access to information, to source material, to time to study and yet you willfully ignore every opportunity afforded to you to acquire information, preferring to listen to hacks and partisan commentary. Shame on you.
I expect a lot do. Polarization is so pretty.

Yet, many is the war that has been fought on the premise that god approves of the slaying, incarceration and slavery of non-Christians. Amazing eh? No, not amazing at all. Geopolitics is all about the manipulation of religious affiliation for political ends. Who knew?

I'm simply not scared of things that are not frightening BY. Irrational fears are pointless, muslims are not terrorists, terrorists are terrorists and I will not lay the blame for the actions of men on the muslim religion.

Arabs are classified as White by the US State Dept..

Because there are a lot of bigots (and racists) in the VJ community. They've done it so many times that they now.consider those labels to be cliche and unfairly targeted. They aren't.

Eventually, probably 3 posts in, someone would demand to know how I came up with the values. So I would need to keep a report handy. Your negativity right here takes off a couple pts from your value by the way.

Hummus is good chit. So is belly dancing. I think for those two things alone, we give the Ayrabs a pass on all that terrorism stuff.

I'm a thinking man's parrot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYRzH10L2M&feature=related

Hi Ladies!!
It's been a very fast 11 weeks of my life I'm going back to work (a week early) next week. Sam is so adorable now he is smiling and laughing and trying to grab stuff.. he's also sleep at least 6 hrs straight at night (since 9 weeks old) and just florish! He's been to the daycare a few days a week and he's fine so I wont worry about that but it's the seperation that is going to make me sad. I also got a waiver for Sam to sleep on his stomach at the daycare and he's a lot happier there now. He is gigantic though.. weigh 15 lbs 7 oz (98%) and 24 inches long (90%) he's very strong.
I'm going to take him to Thailand in December and he will be 6 months by then. His cousin was just born this Tuesday and he will be 3-4 months by the time I go and they can meet. I'm wondering though, when you go oversea, do you carry your own car seat? I dont think there's a car seat rule in Thailand and we will be using a lot of taxi I dont if I will get to use the car seat at all. Is there anything like a carseat for traveling infant? I plan on just holding him in the taxi, I know it's not the safest thing but i dont really know what to do. ideas?

sorry for the big pictures!

I read all the books, too. Love both the books and the show. I am hoping to see a lot of vampire and werewolf action. If they tone down the sex and up the violence/gore I will be very pleased. Oh, and more Lafayette and less of Tara and the Queen. Tara started bugging me in season 2 and it seems like it's still the same. And watching the Queen is like nails on a chalk board. She looks great but the character ...bleh. Also, her damn fangs are too long. lol.

Heart disease is a disease caused by unhealthy lifestyles, for the most part.
I'll take your word for it that you aren't fat, but you sure seem to have issues with overweight people. Is "fat f*cks" really necessary? Why the hostility?