Natwerk Designs

Is sleep innovations 12" memory foam mattress good?

Need Mattress Help. Sleep innovations SureTemp or E.C.O. Latex? Ok so i am looking to get a new mattress. I am always tossing and turning in bed and my neck and back hurt every morning. I have read great reviews on the Sleep Innovations 12-inch Sure Temp Memory Foam Mattress as well as the E.C.O. Luxury Latex Firm 10-inch Queen-size Mattress. My question is which bed is better? And i would love some words of wisdom from people who have tried them out. Thanks

Where can i find a sleep innovations pillow? Its memory foam, one side is like silk/vinyl feel other is soft? plush like. i got it about four years ago. Fell in love. Now i can't find one online. if anyone can find it no matter how much it cost i will personally reward you (only the first person to find the right pillow)$$ via paypal. PLEASE HELP ME I'M I NEED OF A NEW ONE AND NEED HELP PRICE IS NOT AN ISSUE. ONCE AGAIN THE FACTS I KNOW: IT IS A SLEEP INNOVATIONS PILLOW, SOFT ON ONE SIDE AND VINYL/SILK FEELING ON THE OTHER....

Does anyone have a memory foam type mattress? I have a sleep innovations mattress and although very comfortable, I am way too warm when I sleep on it. Any suggestions? Oh yes - I definitely have air conditioning, ceiling fans, etc. I live in Florida!

Memory foam mattresses? i am trying to decide on one of two memory foam mattresses for my daughter,? Sleep Innovations and Bed in a Box. Bed in a Box has alittle better reviews but is also a bit more expensive. Anyone have either of these? Whats your opinion? Thanks!

Have you tried "The Ultimate Wedgie Pillow"? It is made by Sleep Innovations

What is the IDEAL number of hours sleep per night needed for optimal energy & long term health? I've been reading cited articles for years but no one seems to agree on any number! Some say 4 is perfectly healthy, most say 8 is best, others say 7 is much better than 8, others say under 6 impairs driving, blah blah...do you have any scientific- supported data proving one number is best over all? (generally speaking since I know everyone is a little bit different). THANKS! :) 2 of those sources if interested: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2002-02-15-ideal-sleep.htm http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/medicine_health/report-7739.html

Can out of body exploration be initiated by scientific methods and innovations? I'm not only talking about G-Lock on aircraft. I'm talking about acoustics and training the brain with sound to enter the hypnagogic state(Sleep paralysis) Anyone know anything about this or this technology called Hemi-Sync(Hemisphere synchronization)?

Some inventions/innovations that are more boy-oriented? So I'm doing a National History Day project next year, and the theme is the Innovation in History, so I need to write a paper about how an innovation or invention impacted the world. I'm a girl and last year I did a feminist topic and two of my girl friends did a very boy-oriented topic, Jim Bowie and the Alamo. I only won the district and they got much farther than I did, getting an honorable mention at the nationals. Their project sucked. I think the reason they did so well is because their topic was so atypical, for two girls to do such a boy-oriented topic. This year I would like to do something atypical, but all the boy-oriented inventions are so boring...guns? War? Cars? They make me go to sleep. Can anyone think of any inventions or innovations that are more boy-oriented but that I might think are interesting? Also, if it's more modern that would rock, since I need to have lots of primary sources on it, but it doesn't strictly need to be more modern.

Why just have a FREE HIT ball in IPL, Why not more innovations? Such as Satyam's L Modi, Free hit is not generating sixes now, so I think we should also have SLEEP ball - the fielders can go to sleep, BATSMAN ball - batsman decides where exactly the ball is bowled, PACE ball - batsman decides at what pace the bowler can bowl, A SIX/FOUR ball - ball will be repeated until SIX/FOUR is the final outcome, SPECTATOR ball - only the spectators can bowl this ball. Also the fielders can be selected only amongst the spectators. LADIES ball - same as SPECTATOR ball, except the restriction is only females are allowed to bowl and field against a regular IPL batsman. SPONSOR's OVER - the highest bidding sponsor can have a whack at the batsman. SIXER OVER - Bowler bowl's until Yuvraj's six sixes is emulated - even if the batsman is R P Singh. NOT OUT OVER - bowler cannot get a wicket in the entire over - Only Satyam's L Modi can decide when he can declare a batsman out, OVERLESS over - only the batsman decides when the over ends and finally HATRICK BATSMAN - the same batsman can play 3 times during an IPL innings. If a batsman can play when his catches are dropped, why not also give this offer to a batsman. and many many more such innovations. Sambas, I suppose you are unable to realize that I am only criticizing the stupidity of Lust Modi and his lust for money.

I need help, trying to buy very good foam pillows and can't seem to find any good reviews about them ... ? Which company is the best ? I found some main one eg: Tempur- Pedic, Serta and Sensus.... I had Sleep Innovation one but needed to replace them in about 10 months as they got flat.

What should I put on my Christmas List? I have a limit of about $1,000 dollars what to ask for. I'm a 14yr old boy who loves music. I have a HTC EVO and an old laptop that doesn't charge, so i am definetly putting a new laptop on the list. I'm asking for - Sony Headphones -Skullcandy Headphones - Dock/Alarm Clock/ Speakers for my phone - Dell Inspiron Duo (A notebook hybrid that switches between a Laptop & Tablet, really cool but only a 4hr Battery life) - 32 gb microSD card (i have tons of music and pics on my phone and need more room than the 8gb I have) - Sleep Innovations Foam Pillow - Clothes (Shirts of Mac Miller, Kid Cudi, Tyler The Creator, NorthFace) I'm allowed to ask for some more things. I'm not really into videogames but I have xbox360, mw3, saints row the third, etc. and I DONT want the iPhone or iPad. I am happy with the HTC EVO and I think it's better. I like different things that are cool, and would like ideas. Thank you!

Dorm: Storage, Chairs, Mattress Pad, etc? I'll be a college freshmen next year, and I'm looking for a little advice with dorm decorating: -Storage: I've seen stackable drawers, containers under a raised bed (what kind of containers?), something that hangs over a door and stores shoes, an ottoman you can store stuff in, etc. What do you think works best? -Chairs: I want to replace the desk chair in my dorm room. Any suggestions? -Mattress Pad/topper: I was considering this: http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Innovations-2-Inch-Memory-Mattress/dp/B002NEG15E/ What do you use? Any advice is helpful. I'm the oldest in my family so I don't have any siblings who have gone through this before. Thanks in advance! I was told by several people in the building I am living in that they replaced their desk chairs and recommended doing so because the ones they give us are terrible. Hence my question. I'm not trying to redecorate, just taking advice.

Why is my costco memory foam mattress so hard? I purchased a sleep innovations novaform memory foam mattress at a costco store. I read the reviews both before and after I purchased it and no one else complains that the mattress is too hard. I never had sore hips and shoulders with my old mattress. Now I toss and turn to find a comfortable position and wake up sore. My husband loves the mattress because it gives him more support than our innerspring mattress. I feel like the princess and the pea complaining about a mattress that everyone else loves.

Would this be acceptable to use in a research paper? My topic is "Problems With Modern Education", and one of my points is that education lacks innovation, entrepreneurship, and dynamic thinking. So I wanted to use this as an opener for the paragraph: "If a doctor went to sleep 50 years ago and woke up today, nobody would allow that doctor in a hospital to do surgery. But, what about a teacher?" I'm concerned because its not really a fact or an opinion, so I don't know if its appropriate for a research paper. Let me know what you think.

How will the world change as China and India rise as the new superpowers in the 21st century? Two most ancient civlizations.....well they are back, they pretty much slept through the 19th and 20th century and here they are in the 21st. East Asia just came the top largest economic region in the world and India's credibility and innovation has also been on the move.

Which matress should i get? i am looking for a soft memory foam mattress that's under 500 dollars and available in full size im thinking of getting the sleep innovation sure-temp at amazon Bodipedic 10-inch Full-size Memory Foam Mattress at overstock or a Comfort Dreams Select-A-Firmness 11-inch Full-size Memory Foam Mattress at overstock im looking for a matress not a matress topper

Is American higher education better than Asian higher education? American schools really encourage their students to be well rounded and especially emphasize thinking outside the box which I think is a great model for education systems around the world. Many colleges have general education which gives many Americans a broad spectrum of courses which they have to take and before coming to college, many Americans are required to participate in many extracurriculars making Americans very knowledgeable about many different areas of life. Not surprisingly, the US is the center of innovation since they really have a good understanding of the big picture and can easily see how everything is really inter-disciplinary. Why? In America, kids aren't forced to memorize countless amounts of information unlike in Asia but instead are encouraged to utilize the big picture and connect the dots instead. Asian schools on the other hand have a very narrow focus: studying and memorizing what they learn in school. From an early age, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian schools make their students memorize their multiplication tables by making them recite them even to the point that they could do it in their sleep. Not only that, Asian schools emphasize repetition to improve penmanship, to improve their skills in higher level mathematics, and in many other subjects. Not surprisingly, Asians tend to be very adept at memorization and have an easier time memorizing things and phrases than do Americans. Not surprisingly, the Japanese are able to copy American innovations so well..it comes from their education system. Also, Asian schools tend to force their kids to only focus on studying rather than socializing or learning people skills, team work, or management. Not surprisingly, many Asians that come to America tend to really lack when it comes to talking to other people or even taking care of themselves aside from studying. In Asia, you also tend to specialize in a specific field at a really early age or at the end of 10th or 12th grade of high school depending on the country. That is, you decide whether you want to be a doctor, engineer, accountant, plumber, or some other job when you are 16 years old. Then you take a really stressful entrance exam that focuses on a few subjects and your life depends on this one exam. If you fail, then you could be washing dishes at a restaurant for the rest of your life. thats why i say they dont encourage their children to develop a well-rounded personality.. and once you do specialize in a field in asia, you only can take courses in that field and as a result many asians tend to know little to nothing about subjects outside their field of study

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? I am interested in starting a dialogue with this question Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-49818.html Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.

Do people realize that their past relationships do matter? I am interested in starting a dialogue with this question Do people realize that their past relationships do matter ? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems us americans like to hook up with an excessive amount of sexual partners...build our personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make ourselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After we "ruin" our lives, we want to find a "nice" significant other to pick up the pieces and try to fix our lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden This also goes for the guys. Our pasts bother women as well ( I have recieved many emails on this). I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/r... Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger people ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our youth.

videogame question please help! i want to know which one of these laptops will play videogames better number 1 or number 2? number 1.The Basics Processor: Experience improved energy efficiency, expanded wireless connectivity, and amazing battery life with the 45nm Penryn series Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor, which has a 2.50 GHz processor speed, super-fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and a super-sized 6 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.) The new hafnium-infused circuitry--which reduces electrical current leakage in transistors--conserves even more energy, giving you more time away from the wall outlet. And you'll be able to encode video on-the-go and watch HD movies with Intel HD Boost. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor has two computational execution cores in a single processor, providing greater system response when running multi-threaded applications simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. It's optimized for multitasking and is ready to support the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. It can simultaneously run multiple demanding applications--such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching business productivity applications--while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background. Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include: Smart Memory Access: Improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed. Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications. Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power. Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage. Hard Drive: This notebook provides a stunning 400 GB of storage, spread across two 200 GB Serial ATA hard drives (5400 RPM), offering one of the largest capacities you'll currently find in a laptop You'll enjoy the space for storing your entire music collection as well as your DVDs and downloaded TV shows and movies. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0. Memory: The 3 GB of installed RAM (PC5300, 1 x 2 GB, 2 x 1 GB) helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. It also offers a top-of-class 667 MHz speed. This notebook has a 4 GB maximum RAM capacity (2 x 2 GB). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed. DVD/CD Drive: The dual-layer Labelflash DVD drive is compatible with a wide range of formats, including both DVD RW and DVD-RW discs, CD-RW discs, and dual-layer (DL) DVD /-R discs, which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data--great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most important documents. It features the following speeds: 4x DVD R DL, 4x DVD-R DL, 8x for both single-layer DVD R/-R, 8x DVD RW, 6x DVD-RW, 5x DVD-RAM, and 24x/16x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x. With the Labelflash functionality, you can burn high-resolution, high-contrast pictures on the label side of DVD discs using the same laser used for data recording. Enjoy transparency and high-quality not found in traditional printable media. All you need is a Labelflash DVD disc to start labeling without a printer. Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a 104-key keyboard--with 10-keypad on the side--and electro-static two-button touchpad. It also offers CD/DVD media player and control buttons (play, stop, next, previous) as well as a volume control dial. Screen, Video & Audio This notebook has a 17-inch TFT display with a resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels (native 720p for high-definition viewing). It also provides TruBrite technology, which makes images brighter and more vivid thanks to its anti-glare feature. Video is powered by the Nvidia SLI Dual GeForce 8600M graphics card, which provides up to 767 MB of available RAM/video memory (512 MB dedicated DDR3 RAM) for unmatched HD video performance on a notebook PC. (GDDR3, short for Graphics Double Data Rate, version 3, is a graphics card-specific memory technology that's better able to deliver fluid frame rates for even the most advanced games and applications.) With support for Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), it lets you rip through all of today's most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications. Experience real-time photo editing, or immerse yourself in the most complex, true-to-life gaming environments. It includes the Dolby Home Theater set of features, which provide up to 5.1 discrete channels of crystal-clear digital surround sound as well as virtual 5.1-channel surround sound experience from any pair of stereo speakers. It also features four stylishly incorporated Harman Kardon stereo speakers with a built-in subwoofer. Networking, Connectivity & Expansion Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with this notebook's integrated quad-mode Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and wi-fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range--great for closed office environments). You also get super-fast wired connectivity, with a Gigabit Ethernet port (10/100/1000). You'll enjoy wireless connectivity to a wide range of peripherals with the built-in Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR (enhanced data rate), which offers up to three times the bandwidth of standard Bluetooth. It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 54/34 card slot (as well as a standard PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. You get a good offering of connectivity options: 6 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals 1 HDMI output (for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable) Standard video output: VGA and S-Video 1 ExpressCard 54/34 1 headphone jack (with S/PDIF digital audio compatibility) and 1 microphone jack 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card) 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet 56K modem (V.90) Operating System The Windows Vista Ultimate operating system (32-bit version) has it all--an advanced, business-focused infrastructure, mobile productivity, and premium home digital entertainment features. It offers all of the features found in Windows Vista Home Premium, including Windows Media Center, Windows Movie Maker with high-definition support, and Windows DVD Maker. It also provides all of the features found in Windows Vista Business, including business networking, centralized management tools, and advanced system backup features. In addition, Windows Vista Ultimate includes Extras such as: Windows Hold'em, a poker game for players of all skill levels Language packs for Windows multi-language interface, where users can install and use multiple languages on a single PC. Great for multi-lingual households or if you are learning a new language. Secure Online Key Backup, where Ultimate users can store their BitLocker recovery password and Encrypting File System certificate on Windows Marketplace's Digital Locker website for access to the key anytime, anyplace, and from any computer that has an Internet connection BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool, an automated tool which removes the complexity of setting up your PC to use this exclusive data security feature. Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities. Preloaded Software Microsoft Works 9.0, Google Desktop and Picasa, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5, Norton 360 All-in-One Security (30-day trial), and Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (60-day trial). Dimensions & Weight This notebook measures 15.7 x 11.3 x 2.05 inches and weighs 9.37 pounds. Power It comes with a 6000 mAH lithium-ion battery pack for extra-long battery life. What's in the Box This package contains the X205-SLI6 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, remote control, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty. Product Description The Satellite X205-SLi6 is action at your fingertips for hard-core gaming or heavy-duty video editing in one sleek designed notebook, with eye-popping views from the brilliant 17-inch diagonal WSXGA TruBrite widescreen display. One-touch launch of the Dual Mode Pad and you face off in full throttle mode with the newest Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 processor with 6MB L2 Cache. Top gamers will appreciate the top-of-the-line NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8600M GT graphics card with 512MB dedicated video RAM, for uncompromising gaming stamina for mind over muscle defeat of your opponent. Dual 200GB (7200rpm) hard drives, 3GB RAM as well as upgraded 1GB LAN connectivity for faster transfer rates provide an uninterrupted thrill-packed adventure. Burn, rip and store more multimedia files with the DVD SuperMulti drive and with the TV Tuner watch and record live TV programs. Amp up the audio with four built-in Harman Kardon speakers and subwoofer. Connect to LCD or Plasma TV in HD, courtesy of the HDMI connector with support for up to 1080i and 5.1-surround sound. 17.0 diagonal WSXGA (1680 x 1050) TruBrite TFT LCD display PCI-E x16 NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8600M GT, 512MB GDDR3 discrete graphics memory, plus up to 255MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory Built-in Webcam and microphone Toshiba USB HDTV 1080i Tuner (External) Labelflash DVD -R/RW SuperMulti Drive with Double Layer 4 Built-in Harman/Kardon Stereo speakers with 1 subwoofer Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965 802.11A/B/G/N 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN Bluetooth v2.0 (EDR) Fingerprint reader 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter - MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD ExpressCard 54/34 Slot 6 x USB 2.0, Headphone out; Microphone-in, VGA, S-Video, HDMI, IEEE-1394, RJ-11(Modem), RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 15.7 (W) x 11.3 (D) x 2.05 (H) Approximate Unit Weight - 9.37 pounds or number 2.Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz Processor 3MB L2 Cache 800MHz Bus speed 3072MB DDR2 (PC2-5300) RAM Max: 4GB 320GB (2 x 160GB, 7200RPM) SATA Hard Drive 17.0" diagonal WSXGA (1440 x 900) TruBrite TFT LCD display PCI-E x16 NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8600M GT, 512MB GDDR3 Discrete graphics memory, plus up to 255MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory Built-in Webcam and microphone Labelflash DVD±R/RW SuperMulti Drive with Double Layer 4 Built-in Harman/Kardon Stereo speakers with 1 subwoofer Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965 802.11A/B/G/N 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN Bluetooth v2.0 (EDR) Fingerprint reader 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter: MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD ExpressCard 54/34 Slot 6 x USB 2.0, Headphone out; Microphone-in, VGA, S-Video, HDMI, IEEE-1394, RJ-11(Modem), RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions: 15.7" (W) x 11.3" (D) x 2.05" (H) Approximate Unit Weight: 9.37lbs i want to know which one can play games like crysis and wow and assassins creed please help!

do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? this one last question for the night- everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to germany and found a good wife. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-49818.html to answer a few things 1. she was a virgin 2. German food is great. Beer is at the table everynight (in moderation of course) to answer IB-WIGGLY yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.

When to read Ayat al kursi? i know Allah will protect you but when exactly in the day should u read it. Also thing is it Bidah (any type of innovation in Islam) if you read a dua from Prophet Moahmmed in a certain time that Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) did not say it in that certain time. For example if you read ayat al kursi before u sleep but maby Prophet Mohamed (pbuh) did not say it before he slept would it be Bidah as your adding something to Islam. Plz explain your answer.

Ramadan: Life in the grave..? One of the dua’s that Rasoolullah (SAW) used to make quite often towards the end of his prayer was the dua: “Oh Allah, I take refuge in You from the punishment of the grave, from the torment of the Fire, from the trial of life and death and from the evil affliction of the Al-Maseeh Ad-Dajjal” (narrated by Bukhari and Muslim). Indeed, Rasoolullah (SAW) said “Verily there is a pressing that occurs in the grave, if anyone could be saved from it, then Sa’d ibn Mu’adh would have been.” The trial of the grave includes the questioning of the angels in which the disbelievers, evil-doers, and hypocrites will have problems answering these questions (O Allah, save us from hypocrisy). Indeed, there are rewards and punishments in the grave, many of which are established through mutawatirah hadith (the most authentic kind of hadith). Examples of reward in the grave include: -widening of the grave -good company in the grave -light in the grave -having a comfortable, deep sleep -seeing one’s potential place in the Hell-fire, but then showing one’s true abode in paradise -telling of glad tidings Punishment in the grave can be cruel and harsh. All but humans and jinn can hear the sounds of the punishments in the grave since if Allah (SWT) were to expose the punishments of the grave to humans in this life, then we would all just live in fear. Examples of the punishment in the grave include: -a bed of fire -being in darkness -being shown a position in paradise which would then disappear into a picture of the Hell-fire -having tightness to break one’s ribs -beating hammers in the grave What causes one to have punishment in one’s grave? Causes of punishment in the grave include: -kufr/shirk -poor cleaning of oneself after using the bathroom -gossiping, back-biting, spreading rumors -calling to innovations -usury/interest -stealing from orphans -exposing a Muslim’s mistakes -suicide -committing major sins in Al-Haram (i.e. Makkah) -learning Quran and being distant from it (including one who memorizes the Quran and does not pray the tahajjud (night prayer)!!!) -not waking up for prayers (i.e. fajr) -ruling against the Shariah -eating and breaking one’s fast before time -having one’s pants below the ankles due to pride (men only!) -being merciless to animals -not paying one’s debts (if one can) Subhana’Allah, this list is very scary and insha’Allah, we are amongst those people who are spared the torment of the grave. How can we be saved from this torment? Two ways are by reciting the dua that Rasoolullah (SAW) used to recite (go: http://www.makedua.com/display_dua.php?sectionid=24 and it is the first dua listed) and by Surat Tabarruk (Surat 67 of the Holy Quran). “And they ask you (O Muhammad) concerning the Rooh (the Spirit); Say ‘The Rooh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little’” (Translation of the Holy Quran, 17:85). If anyone knows anything lse about this matter, feel free to add on :) @Travis-well you shouldn't be cremated if you're Muslim, cos it's Haram. @Muslim-yes, but your soul is alive in the sense that you feel, hear and see. @ Justice-I doubt it, I think the fact that one isn't being tortured is enough, forget missing an episode of The Simpsons..:P @ Wazeer-Thank you brother for the links and your answer :)

Call me an idiot, but .....? tell me again whats so special about AC units?? from a recent posting about brake procedures from our residant engineers, i had read a couple lines mentioning having an all AC lash up (DPMs yes and/or no... either way) would be a different story concerning brake apllications on a hill. now forgive me if i read this wrong, but did i understand those posts to read that if you have no air recharged, and you release from emer. application that AC units would hold the train? if so i find that one hard to believe guys. but yall are in the know so who am i to say otherwise. and thus my quandry. i studied intensely the workings of steam. diesels however are the locomotives of my lifetime. having just returned to the hobby in the last couple of years i have been trying to get all the new innovations under my belt. sure, i know its "another question about braking". and we all know how yall love those! i just wont be able to sleep now untill yall clarify some of this. it would help too if the acronyms are explained. not all of us know our IPS valve from a hole in the ground lol. i would like to know if you wouldnt mind informing us of just how an operation would go if your on a hill and you have to stop. im curious to know when your down to just an engineer and conductor, how the heck are you supposed to tie down a train when your so labor starved? (does anyone still hear the call for BRAKEMEN!) curious to know to how all the calamity plays out with DPMs. say your trains breaks in half while DPMs are pushin from the rear. sure, the train goes into emergency, but now you have one crew and two trains. from my point of view, irrespective of some 'best practices book' of any railroad, its seems like you guys are set up to fail no matter what. sounds like each and every time you head out you have to hope and prey every little piece is up to par that day. i would hate to think youd face that kind of anxiety every day, every mile. so lets hear it for another brake operations answer! ya know we lovem! Samurai - see, that was the delima. i just cant believe they would let you substitute like that. im with you, i dont think it should EVER be done. im no hogger, but that makes too much sense even to a layman. the rest of answer, bravo! Rango - sorry my friend, ill try and do better on the que next time. proper question length should be equal to the time of a commercial break during the game, right? LMAO! Andy - sorry pal, everything past the part of placing the DPMs into setout mode i dont get. forgive me but if the train breaks in two, DPMs on the end pushing, and the trainline pressure is going to 0psi, wouldnt the DPMs go into emergency like the front end would? i also cant see there being a 'check list' (lack of better words) for the DPMs in an emer situation.... meaning, wouldnt you already have your hands full with the front end units at the moment you go into emergency? and if the DPMs are radio AND air controlled, if you lose air, dont you lose that side of the contr

Do you wanna know what it was like to be a kid in the 1930s thru 1970s? Those Born 1930-1979 READ TO THE BOTTOM FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH BY JAY LENO. IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. We played...tag your it, Indians & Cowboys. The Indians always lost the battle. Snow ball fights....who could hit a moving car with a snow ball and run like heck without being caught. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We didn't rush to the emergency room for a scrap on the knee, or bashing our heads into something that got in the way. We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms........ WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" .

I thought Innovation in Islam was Forbidden? Salam All, 003.032.227 - Praying at Night in Ramadaan (Taraweeh) - - - - Narrated Abu Huraira Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) underthe leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked,'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part ofthe night." Can someone explain this for me please? JazakAllah Khair Edit: @Abu Maryam: Salam, You said it's not a bid'ah but clearly Umar said "What an excellent Bid'a", Also when the Prophet (pbuh) says “I saw what you did, and nothing kept me from coming out to you except the fact that I feared that it would be made obligatory for you." Wasn't he supposed to to expound the Shari'ah of Islam? lebanese Spirit: Salam, I thought only Allah can bring Innovations, not even the Prophet (pbuh) was allowed even though his status was so high he was the messenger and propagator of Islam. "so what Umar(ra) didnt change islam, he was making things easy on the muslims since muslims are trained to pray in jama'aa" Making things easier is still an Innovation or am I wrong, because an Innovation could be for example to make marriage temporary to "make things easier". I'm trying to keep an open mind, you're opinions are important to me. Edit: @Abu Maryam: The Issue I have is that it seems to me like a new innovation because the Prophet(pbuh) did not do it in his time and even when people did, the Prophet (pbuh) stopped coming to the Mosque out of fear it would become Obligatory. Surely if the Prophet(pbuh) wanted taraweeh to be prayed as a group he would have done it himself and instructed people that it is not obligatory like the other recommended prayers. @ lebanese Spirit - The Qu'ran isn't an Innovation like in your example because it was intended to be recorded in the form of a scripture hence the verses "We revealed to you this scripture" and we as Muslims know that the Qur'an has remained unchanged so the book I hold contains the exactly words of that spoken to the Prophet (pbuh) by Gabriel which was intended to be recorded, does that make any sense? Edit: @ abouterachess: This is news to me that there are Good Innovations and Bad Innovations, surely Allah(swt) is the only one who is allowed to make changes to religion since He is Omniscient (All knowing) and every religious aspect is perfected by Him alone. With all due respect this view is flawed and any Innovation is prohibited otherwise Allah knows how many deviations would have occurred if Good Innovations were Permissible.

Would you support this jury innovation? Hello, I am a law enforcement professional with over 20 years of experience. My colleagues and I have proposed a new system to our state congress and I think it offers several improvements to our criminal justice system. We've all read the headlines. Victims and their families can't sleep in their beds because slick lawyers and misled juries regularly botch the law in cases where dangerous defendants stand trial. Our innovation, the "police jury system" (not to be confused with louisiana's governmental system) will do away with this. As officers, your policemen pledge to protect and serve our nation's communities. we can fulfill that duty by comprising the exclusive pool of potential jurors in state criminal trials. The risk of impropriety is minimal as we have already sworn to uphold the law. A concerned defendant could rebut this preemption with evidence beyond reasonable doubt that a police juror is unfit to judge a particular case. Testifying officers would not serve either. In addition to providing police jobs for the citizens of our state, this would alsopromote economic growth by exempting the men of our stste from jury service so they can continue their jobs and so women can stay home with their children and families. Also, the public could rest assured that only decisionmakers will try criminal cases. No federal constitutional rights are implicated because this is a state court so only state constitutional procedural rights to a jury trial will apply. We are also thinking of extending this system to civil cases to promote tort reform if it proves successful in criminal justice. Would you support this great new innovation?

I'm trying to find out the name of this movie. This man was frozen mistakenly for 50 years.? I remember seeing the preview for this movie years ago. It takes place in the past, it's basically this guy who is feeling depressed; (from what I can remember) and his friend invents a way to freeze people in like; stasis. So he asks his friend to freeze him for one year in the basement, something goes wrong and he ends up being frozen for 50 years. After he wakes up, he is astounded learning all about the modern innovations that were made while he slept like color T.V. and wireless remote control. I've searched Google for hours trying to find any reference to this movie but I've had zero luck. I can't wait to finally watch this flick and maybe I'll learn to wright down the names of movies when I watch the previews for them. thanks I love you guys, I had suspected it was because of a woman. Had a feeling it was someone that was sick or something that being the reason for him being depressed. thanks so much guys/ girls

to those that survived the 30s 40s 50s 60s &70s? TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING ! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! i know that this is a long entry and that things arent as safe as they used to be but when you think about it its all true.

For those of us born 1920 - 1979, what do you think? TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day, and we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games at all; no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good . While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! CHOOSE KATIE: LOL!! I copied and pasted hon. My fingers don't work that well anymore. Arthritis, you know. FRANK: Yeah, still no flying cars or personal robots, unless you include ROOMBA!! ART PSCHO: You are welcome. I don't usually post questions, but this one got me all nostalgic. MICHELLE: I feel your pain...LOL!! SOUTHERNBELLEMOMMY: Go figure, huh? Glad you understand what we wax nostalgic about!

Whats so good about maturity? Grow up, act like everyone else, act your age, stop being a child, act like that 'nobody' over there, be quiet... Seriously you conformers are the most boring people I have ever come across. Heres a hint for you... act mature and watch how quickly your body ages and your mind decays. Mature people have no innovation, no sense of adventure, no creative imagination, or any life energy whatsoever. Next person who tells me to grow up I'm going to sleep!

Why has my generation lost the innovative spirit? Wake up, brush your teeth, comb your hair, put on your well-ironed pants, drive your car through increasingly stupid traffic, work 9-5, go home, brush your teeth, iron your pants, go to sleep...........REWIND! Why does generation X/Y care so little about innovation and creating? What has happened in the last few decades that caused our nurtured generation to grow so unreceptive to creativity? Alexandra, I completely agree with you. I am in that generation and feel that most of my peers, including myself, have been breast fed our entire lives. The luxuries of life sure feel good, but to what ends? Are we born to be entertained?! Even social activity has been interrupted with television and media. Many people cannot communicate interestingly anymore as they spend too much time entertaining themselves and less time being creative and entertaining others.

Just thought I'd share? TO ALL THE KIDS >> >> WHO SURVIVED the >> 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !! >> >> First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank >>while they were pregnant. >> They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, >>and didn't get tested for diabetes. >> >> Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in >>baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. >> >> We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets >>and when we >> rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we >>took hitchhiking. >> As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, >>booster seats, seat belts or air bags. >> >> Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a >>special treat. >> >> >> We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. >> >> >> We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and >> >> NO ONE actually died from this. >> >> We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade >>made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because . >> >> WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING ! >> >> We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as >>we were back when the streetlights came on. >> >> No one was able to reach us all day. >> >> And we were O.K. >> >> >> >> We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and >>then ride down >> the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running >>into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. >> >> We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video >>games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, >>no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, >>no Internet or chat rooms....... >> WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! >> >> We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there >>were no >> lawsuits from these accidents. >> >> We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not >>live in us forever. >> >> We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, >> >> made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were >>told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. >> >> We rode >> bikes or walked to a friend's house and kno cked on the door or >>rang >> the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! >> >> Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those >>who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! >> >> The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was >>unheard of. >> >> They actually sided with the law! >> >> These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, >>problem solvers and inventors ever! >> >> The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new >>ideas. >> >> We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we >>learned >> >> HOW TO >> >> DEAL WITH IT ALL! >> >> If YOU are one of them . . . CONGRATULATIONS! >>

Who remembers these ? Those Born 1930-1979! TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids or caps on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets which meant our parents HAD to watch us closely... when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING ! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when we were told to be home. No one was able to reach us all day - unless they yelled for us or called our friends house. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did NOT have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes... no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or Dvds, no surround-sound or Cd's, no cell phones, no personal computer's, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them . . CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

what is China's future with the US? so i'm an ABC, american-born chinese, and I firmly believe in integration into american without loss of culture, and i also firmly believe in the sense of individuality and freedom america has. i.e. only country to have landed peeps on the moon (with 1960s technology) and few places in the world where two conflicting cultures (e.g. Islam and Christianity) can coexist peacefully (e.g. without violence for the most part). however, it'd be remiss to ignore the "sleeping giant" of the far east. anyone give any analysis? --technological innovations in china, or are they still "copying?" --freedom of expression and paranoid chinese government? ever going to change? --economic mismatch between countryside and cities? --crazzzyyy pollution? lol ChaCha BSherman Well, 5 years in Shanghai >> my experience. but you are generalizing about me. parents are chinese, but they lived elsewhere before the US (Singapore, Philippines, Australia, etc.) now, what my Mom said about China was -- yes, it sounds like China bashing but it's what she told me -- (1) "Back in my day, divorce didn't exist. So I had to flee because of an abusive husband" (2) "When you go back to China, they treat Westerners better than their own kind (non-China born Chinese)" the reason why i say "paranoid chinese government" is that even GOOGLE said....censorship was abound in China, and with that latest e-mail break-in scam. what about the pollution? is that really bad, or just overblown? the economy is big in China, no doubt, but is that due to....a consumer-driven model? e.g. 500 million people buying an iPhone....or is there real innovation, biotech, etc wow - i take back my comments BSherman. After reading through YOUR questions, your posts about are NOT impartial at all!!! 1. you hate the US 2. you love China. jeezzzzuuuussss......that's a HardBoiled Egg if I ever met one. (White on the outside, Yellow on the In)

Why won't my Toshiba laptop start? Well, Yesterday my laptop was working perfectly fine then I switched off my laptop and then about 30 minutes later I turned it back on suddenly the mouse thing of my laptop didn't work it wouldn't move, I tried clicking on the 2 buttons below the mouse bit but it still didn't work. Then I tried touching one of the buttons on the keyboard and they didn't work either however, the on/off button did work. I turned it off and went to sleep. Next morning (today) when I turned it on it says Toshiba Innovation like always then it goes to a black page with at the top right corner it says _ And then it just stays like that and it doesn't make any noise whatsoever. It's really pissing me off and I want my laptop back, I haven't told my parents yet, I bet they're going to be so angry cause it was a new laptop as well, I just got it for my birthday. I hope you can help me Thank you very very very much! When i restart it and tap the F8 button it still doesn't work as I think the keyboard isn't working as well A dumb question but how do I remove the battery and where is it?

Why don't depopulationist realize the more is better? We are living in a less is more society. Less Jobs and less people geen a greener planet. But what depopulationist don't realize is that larger population produce more science and more innovation. Yes, we live in a selfish prepackage society where we would rather have a nicer car than have a child. We rather sleep with many people than be commited to one. We rather believe that we are the sole propriotor of the universe and turn everything inside. Science and innovation grew as a result of population spurt in the past couple of hundred of years. Very little science and very little innovation was shared or discovered when humans beings were in the millions. Food for thught! Mean

Ramadan: Did Umer start "Excellent Bid'ah" of Congregation Tawawih? Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227 The people would pray individually (not like in Tarawih) during Prophet[saww]'s time Narrated 'Urwa: That he was informed by 'Aisha, "Allah's Apostle went out in the middle of the night and prayed in the mosque and some men prayed behind him. In the morning, the people spoke about it and then a large number of them gathered and prayed behind him (on the second night). In the next morning the people again talked about it and on the third night the mosque was full with a large number of people. Allah's Apostle came out and the people prayed behind him. On the fourth night the Mosque was overwhelmed with people and could not accommodate them, but the Prophet came out (only) for the Morning Prayer. When the Morning Prayer was finished he recited Tashah-hud and (addressing the people) said, "Amma ba'du, your presence was not hidden from me but I was afraid lest the night prayer (Qiyam) should be enjoined on you and you might not be able to carry it on." So, Allah's Apostle died and the situation remained like that (i.e. people prayed individually). " Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 229 Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: The Prophet took a room made of date palm leaves mats in the mosque. Allah's Apostle prayed in it for a few nights till the people gathered (to pray the night prayer (Tarawih) (behind him.) Then on the 4th night the people did not hear his voice and they thought he had slept, so some of them started humming in order that he might come out. The Prophet then said, "You continued doing what I saw you doing till I was afraid that this (Tarawih prayer) might be enjoined on you, and if it were enjoined on you, you would not continue performing it. Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 393 Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of ANGER, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. Tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (Tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 134

Darkness is good not evil, and outside the system of control? The system of control, is a system of people who rule by force, to control and bully people with fear and deception; they are like the bad guys in the Matrix, the government and religion... They are the ones that make you fear the unknown (darkness), for those that fear the dark and fooled into keeping safe with what they know; and that way they will never discover the truth which is that they are slaves to the system of control. In the light, we see what we know, we feel safe; and yet we are pushed to get up for work when we are too tired, following orders and addressing management as sir with ties and a suit. We are abused with our rights taken away, made to do everything in cycles every single day; ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... and on and on and on We think we are getting somewhere but we are really chasing our tales, because we are generating all things that the controlling people want. We do not realize that we are slaves. Everything that they tell us is propaganda and lies, telling us it is good, not lazy and holy. They threaten us with punishment, death or pain; to make us feel intimidated to everything they say, like fascists. If you have heard of the Illuminati, the 'New world order' and conspiracies, you will know what I mean. If you try to tape record abuse, they lie and say it is illegal; as this is designed to scare you away from getting them into trouble; thus it gives them grounds to control you with more abuse that you cannot prove. This is an example of why such laws exist, and you should question what you know about the fact it makes no sense. In the unknown is chaos, no control systems, and it is mysterious. The paranormal, psychic power and so on are good examples of things beyond the known. They are outside of our awareness and can only be discovered through exploration. For chaos means free will, right to individuality (not formal dressing), expression of personality, freedom and most importantly above all... Love... for love allows freedom, individuality and free will, as no bullying and abuse can take place. Knowing this we should realize that the way that we live can be bettered through, exploration, innovation, experimentation and engineering; through probing the unknown and pushing back the boundaries with our abilities, to go further than ever gone before. This is progress, this is an adventure, this is the way to become a better person. For here we will one day learn we are capable of far more than we ever dreamed, far more than we can currently comprehend, far more than science knows, far more than what the teachers tell you at school. The problems that seem impossible to solve, because they say "that's just the way it is", are problems that only have no answers until we find solutions. I have found I can do things which I never knew I could do, and we can continue doing so to infinity; like I have scientific proof of life after death. I am an engineer! Come with me into the darkness and explore, progress and prosper forever more! Do you agree, don't be afraid? Snow Man Tell me what you think?

I believe that darkness is good and not evil? The system of control, is a system of people who rule by force, to control and bully people with fear and deception; they are like the bad guys in the Matrix, the government and religion... They are the ones that make you fear the unknown (darkness), for those that fear the dark and fooled into keeping safe with what they know; and that way they will never discover the truth which is that they are slaves to the system of control. In the light, we see what we know, we feel safe; and yet we are pushed to get up for work when we are too tired, following orders and addressing management as sir with ties and a suit. We are abused with our rights taken away, made to do everything in cycles every single day; ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... and on and on and on We think we are getting somewhere but we are really chasing our tales, because we are generating all things that the controlling people want. We do not realize that we are slaves. Everything that they tell us is propaganda and lies, telling us it is good, not lazy and holy. They threaten us with punishment, death or pain; to make us feel intimidated to everything they say, like fascists. If you have heard of the Illuminati, the 'New world order' and conspiracies, you will know what I mean. If you try to tape record abuse, they lie and say it is illegal; as this is designed to scare you away from getting them into trouble; thus it gives them grounds to control you with more abuse that you cannot prove. This is an example of why such laws exist, and you should question what you know about the fact it makes no sense. In the unknown is chaos, no control systems, and it is mysterious. The paranormal, psychic power and so on are good examples of things beyond the known. They are outside of our awareness and can only be discovered through exploration. For chaos means free will, right to individuality (not formal dressing), expression of personality, freedom and most importantly above all... Love... for love allows freedom, individuality and free will, as no bullying and abuse can take place. Knowing this we should realize that the way that we live can be bettered through, exploration, innovation, experimentation and engineering; through probing the unknown and pushing back the boundaries with our abilities, to go further than ever gone before. This is progress, this is an adventure, this is the way to become a better person. For here we will one day learn we are capable of far more than we ever dreamed, far more than we can currently comprehend, far more than science knows, far more than what the teachers tell you at school. The problems that seem impossible to solve, because they say "that's just the way it is", are problems that only have no answers until we find solutions. I have found I can do things which I never knew I could do, and we can continue doing so to infinity; like I have scientific proof of life after death. I am an engineer! Come with me into the darkness and explore, progress and prosper forever more! Do you agree, don't be afraid? Snow Man Tell me what you think?

Would this be acceptable to use in a RESEARCH paper? My topic is "Problems With Modern Education", and one of my points is that education lacks innovation, entrepreneurship, and dynamic thinking. So I wanted to use this as an opener for the paragraph: "If a doctor went to sleep 50 years ago and woke up today, nobody would allow that doctor in a hospital to do surgery. But, what about a teacher?" I'm concerned because its not really a fact or an opinion, so I don't know if its appropriate for a research paper. Let me know what you think. Also, I'd like to clarify that this is not the thesis statement, this is an introduction to one of my points in the research paper: That modern education lacks innovation, entrepreneurship, and dynamic thinking. Remember, this is a RESEARCH PAPER, not a persuasive essay or anything like that.

How come cool technology available in Japan, isn't available in the United States? I watched a special about the recent technological innovations of Japan on the Travel channel. Why is it that Japan is always the first to get the coolest and latest gadgets and technology? Why does it take the US and other countries more time to finally catch on? Japan has a cool feature on cell phones that allows them to make purchases from the vending machine! There is a chip on the back on the cell phone.They touch the chip to the pad on the machine and they can get their candy,chips,soda,or juice. That is too cool!! Why isn't the United States in a hurry to place a chip on the back of our cell phones so that we can purchase candy,chips,and beverages from the vending machine? This invention would come in handy. WHat if you beome really hungry but you don't have any change or cash on you to purchase something from the vending machine on your job. Having a chip on the back of our cell phones so that we could purchase from a vending machine would come in handy for in case we don't have change or cash to purchase something from a vending machine. Tokyo,Japan has sleeping cubicles for when a man can't make it to his home.They are $40 a night.Its just a cubicle with a bed.The bed takes up the whole cubicle.You can't stand up in the cubicle.Its sitting room only.There is a radio,microwave,and tv in the space.You just lay or sit on the bed in the cubicle and watch tv,listen to music,and relax. Something like this would come in handy in the United States.Sometimes people get stranded.Plus the US has more of a problem with homelessness.This would be a nice thing for the homeless only it should be cheaper because $40 would be steep for a homeless person. Why isn't the technology thats available in Japan, available in the United States or other countries? Why is the United States always the last to receive cool technological innovations?

Can a man abrogate or add any law of Allah? Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of ANGER, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. Tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (Tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 134 Narrated Abu Huraira: �So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227

Ramadan: If Umer introduced 6th Fardh (Farz) Salaat (prayer) as Excellent Bid'ah, did you follow it? Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an EXCELLENT Bid'ah (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227 Ninja & Ducky Aslam-0-Alaikam How are you? How are your fastings? Do you deny Sahih Bukhari Hadiths? Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of ANGER, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. Tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (Tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 134 Lebanese Spirit zaid ibn thabit(ra) is not my god. zaid ibn thabit(ra) is not my prophet.

Ramadan: If Bid'ah a sin then what is your excellent Sin? Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'ah(i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227

Ramadan, Taraweeh prayer in a group is Bida? salamun aleikum. so here is the Hadith. Umar himself even says "This is a great Bida" so taraweeh in a group is actually bidah? if so why do so many Muslims do it? what possible explanation can be given to this hadith when it's clearly written Umar said this is a great BIDA? Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227: Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Actually I am asking for my friend who happens to be SUNNI :). He read this Hadith and was confused so I got interested too and decided to ask about it. so please take the shia sunni BS out :) @salman read my question again. YES taraweeh is sunnah for you. But where does the prophet say we can pray it in the group? the hadith Ive posted SAYS Umar made it bida to pray taraweeh jama'a. i am not saying taraweeh is wrong im saying from the hadith it seems like praying it with an imam in a group is bida and not what the prophet did Salman. read the hadith YOU posted read it: Volume 3, Book 32, Number 229: it even says in there that once people started praying behind the prophet he didnt pray at the mosque for taraweeh. and it says at the end PEOPLE PRAYED INDIVIDUALLY. this hadith is actually proving my point. so after the prophets death people prayed INDIVIDUALLY until Umar came and made it BIDA to pray in a group. connect Volume 3, Book 32, Number 229: with my hadith @Nickname: you are considering the REASON prophet gave for not leading people in a taraweeh prayer. But we don't take the REASONS of the prophet, we take what the prophet did. And the prophet did NOT lead taraweeh. the hadith said people formed behind him and when the numbers increased he NO LONGER did it. But the fact that Umar himself said it's a BIDA doesn't that make it a BIDA? @salman: Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational) prayer." doesnt this alone mean we should pray tarawee seperately and not go to the masjid for it? nickname: this has nothing to do with shia sunni. But I think my arguement shows that taraweeh in a group is not the right thing and is bida. argue if you want the evidence is in the hadiths you posted yourself

Any tips on improving my CV (included)? Hi, I am currently going to college 2 days per week completing a practical engineering course. I am going to apply for a job at an insurance company, the job requires the employee to answer telephone and work on a computer. I have not worked before sa I left school in June. I just wrote up my CV quickly and I know it needs improving. Any tips are welcome! Here it is: Name Address Mobile: Home email Personal Statement I have the skills and knowledge required to answer telephone calls and work on a computer. I have a good level of English and can deal with callers professionally and effectively. I can successfully problem solve while under pressure and I have a polite telephone manor. I also have a good knowledge of computing and can comfortably use software packages such as Microsoft Office. EDUCATION School, Town, City 2006 - 2011 GCSEs English Language Grade A English Literature Grade A Mathematics Grade C Science Grade C Additional Science Grade C Citizenship Grade C Other qualifications ICT DiDA Merit (GCSE Grade A equivalent) BTEC Sport Higher Diploma in Engineering Level 2 Certificate in Adult Literacy Level 2 Certificate in Adult Numeracy NCFE Level 2 Key Skills in Improving Own Learning and Performance NCFE Level 2 Key Skills in Working with Others NCFE Level 2 Key Skills in Problem Solving WORK EXPERIENCE Local newspaper distributer 2008 – Present Year 11 work experience In November 2010 I went to [Town], [City] for 5 days with the British Army. During my time with the Army I took part in a series of activities which tested my motivation and dedication. I was required to maintain my sleeping area to British Army standards. I completed the same physical training tasks which are required by the British Army. I also learned how to cook food and set up a sleeping area with little resources in a short amount of time. For my second work experience option I worked at [City] college for 5 days. I was required to listen to and follow instructions which included cleaning machinery to a high standard. I was also required to use machinery which I already had some knowledge of as well as using precision measuring instruments which I had not used before. INTERESTS Technology I am very interested in technology and like to keep up to date with innovations in technology, including computers and mobile phones Fitness Fitness is an important part of a healthy lifestyle so I like to maintain and improve my fitness as much as possible. Socialising I like to socialise with my friends when I have any spare time. SKILLS Computing I have got a good knowledge of computers and can comfortably use software packages such as Microsoft Office. Telephone I have got a polite and helpful telephone manor and would be able to assist people on the phone. Communication I am a good communicator and can work successfully as part of a team or individually. I am good at following orders or giving instructions. I meant 'manner' not 'manor'

Is Zvanetskiy, Russian comedian/writer correct about his observation of today's Russia? Going to use Traslator first and Russian version in additional detais, because it won't fit Everything ended the Golden time, everything for money. Commercial toilets visitors who have constipation, require return money back, and the courts to support them. For any question you can go to court and get the acquittal. The main task of the Court is not contact, the main task of the Church is not an argument. The Court, the Church and the people are totally separated from the State, teachers, students, separated from the police split from thieves, doctors separated from patients all ask not whom. On screen continuously shoot, love each other in the blood, dirt, and sing in the same place. Songs in the sense of approaching rock painting. Sex is completely separated from love at weddings under the cry of "Bitter" no longer kiss and go further. Favorite called partners, hugs are called pose, Kiss is the beginning of the game, grooms and brides have disappeared as a class among the venereal diseases most rare pregnancy. The rest is just fine. Sparkles, Odessa, Moscow, Omsk improves first learned that such congestion. Government debates when to go lax pension-with 60 or 65 (with an average life expectancy to 57). During the great influenza epidemic is considered chic podgovorit′ episode Kiss Chief. Radiation we have no fear-it is believed that die from it, we just don't have enough time. In stores everything in there, only to have it all? Starting with the 17-th year, eating only "new Russians". Songs in the country has become one hundred times more, but the lyrics in the songs-a hundred times less. Nice innovation-singing phonogram: favorite singer arrives on tour, but the voice does not take with them. What brings us together is not the case, although the mouth opens, and yells at us, they do not see your hands, don't hear applause, "Bravo" did not hear ... "Slack!" he shouts at us, "languid you!". This is something we are repressed in the Hall? "Can't hear you!" shouts. He does not hear us as though we sing. But in the end he seeks our sound, so in fact we are in favour of his phonogram. All the newspapers about how to behave in bed, as if we don't get out of it, although passers-by on the streets there. All tips as sleep-sleep, and any advice how to live. As a result: how to Rob a bank-knows every Russian, how to save money there-nobody knows. Because our production is not working, we dressed decently. In contrast, women stripped brightly and brosco, make this everything, then sue for it. New President for all puzzle. Earlier it was mysterious country, then a mysterious people, now mysterious President ... The mind of anyone of them do not understand. There must be something else to think of something we have not yet picked up. Today's life to understand it. There is no literature, textbooks are not. Tell about your life, how about this new vodka: when she gives in the head-perestaëš′ not empty. In Moscow came to a new restaurant, waiting for the waiter, he came and brought the score. That is so in new ways never lived. When I am asked: "do you like English?"-"Read freely, but do not understand either the horseradish". What's good in Russia-all live very long, bastards including, therefore, the whole question of patience. And yet instead of the dark and the same appeared unhappy and happy. And all this boiling water with all its ills and riddles still looks more like a life than the one area where the prison, meat-processing plant, confectionary factory and destroy the party looked the same. thanks Всё, кончилось золотое время, в стране всё за деньги. В платных туалетах посетители, у которых запор, требуют вернуть деньги обратно, и суды их поддерживают. По любому вопросу можно обратиться в суд и получить оправдательный приговор. Главная задача суда - не связываться, главная задача церкви - не ввязываться. Суд, церковь и народ полностью отделились от государства, учителя отделились от учеников, милиция отделилась от воров, врачи отделились от больных, всё, спросить не у кого. На экране непрерывно стреляют, любят друг друга в к Всё, кончилось золотое время, в стране всё за деньги. В платных туалетах посетители, у которых запор, требуют вернуть деньги обратно, и суды их поддерживают. По любому вопросу можно обратиться в суд и получить оправдательный приговор. Главная задача суда - не связываться, главная задача церкви - не ввязываться. Суд, церковь и народ полностью отделились от государства, учителя отделились от учеников, милиция отделилась от воров, врачи отделились от больных, всё, спросить не у кого. На экране непрерывно стреляют, любят друг друга в крови, в грязи, и поют там же. Песни по смыслу приближаются к наскальной живописи. Секс полностью отделился от любви, на свадьбах под крик "Горько" уже не целуются, а идут дальше. Любимые называются партнёрами, объятия называются позой, поцелуй называется началом игры, женихи и невесты исчезли как класс, среди венерических болезней самая редкая - беременность. Остальное нормально. Москва сверкает, Одесса хорошеет, Омск впервые узнал, что такое автомоби sorry for Google translator It sucked, I just read

Why do people waste their time in a world that doesn't exist? Let's face it, we could have done without all the inventors, musicians, scientists, teachers, farmers, or anyone that contributed something to the world that did not exist before they discovered it. If we are animals and people see themselves as creatures and nothing else, let's take all the innovation from their lives and technology they didn't create and let them all live together on a big island where survival of the fittest is the law. Just kidding though.....lol But really excuse the sarcasm, let me rephrase the question Why do some find happiness in their own minds and their own dreams when the world around them could be falling apart? History recalls how great the fall can be While everybody's sleeping, the boats put out to sea Borne on the wings of time It seemed the answers were so easy to find "Too late," the prophets cry The island's sinking, let's take to the sky Called the man a fool, stripped him of his pride Everyone was laughing up until the day he died And though the wound went deep Still he's calling us out of our sleep My friends, we're not alone He waits in silence to lead us all home So tell me that you find it hard to grow Well I know, I know, I know And you tell me that you've many seeds to sow Well I know, I know, I know Can you hear what I'm saying Can you see the parts that I'm playing "Holy Man, Rocker Man, Come on Queenie, Joker Man, Spider Man, Blue Eyed Meanie" So you found your solution What will be your last contribution? "Live it up, rip it up, why so lazy? Give it out, dish it out, let's go crazy, Yeah!"

Can you relate to any of this? First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day for we did not have cell phones. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them. CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good . While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doe sn't it?! The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

If you were born between 1930 and 1979, would like your opinion? This is long, but I got it in an email and would like some thoughts and/or opinions on it: TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing....that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.. And, we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times,we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

Don't you remember and miss the old days? It's long but worth the read.? Here's to US!!!! No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us, WE ARE AWESOME ! OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF! To Those of Us Born 1925 - 1985 At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno. If you don't read anything else, please read what he said.. Very well stated, Mr. Leno. TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. On the 4th of July, we woke up the entire neighborhood lighting off fireworks starting at 6 AM. No one got seriously hurt! We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.. If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it? The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us......go ahead and delete this. For the rest of us...pass this on. Libby, not to be mean, but since you were born in the 80's, that's when the good old days started to fade away. No offense...

Someone sent me this email & I thought it was quite true & funny Thoughts? TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one b ottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to l earn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good . While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

How Lucky We Are-Sent to me by a Lovely lady from NY- Enjoy? How Lucky We Are-Sent to me by a Lovely lady from NY- Enjoy? First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. W e did not have play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was not unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good . While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. 1 month ago Additional Details 1 month ago Me and My Family- Girl ease up please Report It

My Asus computer won't go pass the Asus start screen... help? Last night I was playing a mmo and my computer died while it was still on the game because of low battery. So I went to sleep after that, this morning when I tried to turn on my computer, it won't go pass the "Asus inspiring innovation persistent perfection" screen and I have no idea to reboot it. It's possible that it might be still trying to load my game while it's still on would be my guess. But how would I be able to reboot? Should I put in my Windows Recovery disk in? Help? I tried to let it die completely and it didn't work still.

help any mathematician? A high-altitude climber is planning an ascent of Everest with new high-tech equipment. One of the innovations is a nanotechnology tent, which loses almost no energy until the temperature difference reaches 41° Fahrenheit. The climber's body puts out 55 watts while sleeping and on Everest one watt will heat ten cubic feet of air by 14° Fahrenheit per hour. If the volume of air inside the tent is 30 cubic feet, how long will it take the air inside the tent to go from Everest's nighttime temperature of zero to 41° Fahrenheit? Please round your answer to the nearest integer number of minutes now how many minutes?

Do you know these Six Attacks by Shaytaan - Ten Defenses? The evil of Shaytaan is limited to six categories, he continues [to assault] mankind until he succeeds in one or more of them: 1) The evil of polytheism and disbelief; 2) Then innovations; 3) Next are the major sins; 4) Then the minor sins; 5) Subsequently, busying people with practicing Mubahaat [1] instead of practicing good deeds [that one is rewarded for]; 6) Next is busying them with practicing deeds which are good instead of deeds which are better. The reasons that safeguard a servant from the Shaytaan are ten: 1) Seeking refuge with Allaah from him; 2) Reading al Mu'awathatain [Surat an Nas and Surat al Falaq]; 3) Reading Ayatul Kursi; 4) Reading Surat al Baqarah; 5) Reading the ending of Surat al Baqarah [last two verses]; 6) The believer reading from the beginning of {Haa Meem.} until {to Him is the final return.} [Ghafir: 1-3]; 7) Saying what translated means: 'There is no deity worthy of worship but Allaah, alone having no partners, to him belongs the dominion, to him belongs all praise, and He has the ability to do all things.' One hundred times; 8) Practicing the remembrance of Allaah a lot; 9) Performing ablution along with prayers; 10) Refraining from supernumerary (extra) looking around, talking, eating and mixing with people. [Shaykh Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Naasir as-Sa`dee - Compiled by as Sa'dee from Ibnul Qayim's book: Badaa-'i al fawaa-id. Tareeq al Wusool ila al 'Ilm al Mawool: p.129] [1] Actions that one is neither ordered to or prohibited from performing specifically, such as eating or sleeping.

How did we survive childhood? TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's! First, we survived being born to mothers Who smoked and/or drank while they were Pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, We would ride in cars with no car seats, No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day Was always a special treat. We drank water From the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, From one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were Always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, As long as we were back when the Streetlights came on. No one was able To reach us all day. And, we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps And then ride them down the hill, only to find out We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS And we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth And there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, And the worms did not live in us Forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, Although we were told it would happen, We did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just Walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal With disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law Was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?

Would this be acceptable to use in a RESEARCH paper? My topic is "Problems With Modern Education", and one of my points is that education lacks innovation, entrepreneurship, and dynamic thinking. So I wanted to use this as an opener for the paragraph: "If a doctor went to sleep 50 years ago and woke up today, nobody would allow that doctor in a hospital to do surgery. But, what about a teacher?" I'm concerned because its not really a fact or an opinion, so I don't know if its appropriate for a research paper. Let me know what you think. Also, I'd like to clarify that this is not the thesis statement, this is an introduction to one of my points in the research paper: That modern education lacks innovation, entrepreneurship, and dynamic thinking. Remember, this is a RESEARCH PAPER, not a persuasive essay or anything like that.

Ramadan; Is Umer your GOD? Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227

RAMADAN: WAS IMAM BUKHARI A SHIA? SAHIH BUKHARI CALLS IT BIDAH congregation is a bidah Narrated Abu Huraira: Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227 Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of ANGER, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. Tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (Tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer (i.e. Tahajjud or the so called Tarawih) at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 134 "Ubaid bin al-Hassan reported that Umar Ibn Khattab gathered people behind Abi bin Ka'b and he used to lead them in 20 Rakah prayers,... but during the last ten days of Ramadhan, then Abi bin Ka'b used to stay in his home and offer his prayers there, while other people used to say that Abi bin Ka'b ran away". Sunnan Abu Daud, Volume 1 page 154 "Abdullah Ibn Umar (the son of Umar Ibn Khattab) did not pray Tarawih with people in the Mosque, but he used to offer them individually at home". Encyclopedia of Fiqhs, Volume 7, Under the topic of 'Fiqh of Abdullah Ibn Umar'

math problem??????????? A high-altitude climber is planning an ascent of Everest with new high-tech equipment. One of the innovations is a nanotechnology tent, which loses almost no energy until the temperature difference reaches 41° Fahrenheit. The climber's body puts out 55 watts while sleeping and on Everest one watt will heat ten cubic feet of air by 14° Fahrenheit per hour. If the volume of air inside the tent is 30 cubic feet, how long will it take the air inside the tent to go from Everest's nighttime temperature of zero to 41° Fahrenheit? Please round your answer to the nearest integer number of minutes now how many minutes? give me the solution thanks

How Lucky We Are-Sent to me by a Lovely lady from NY- Enjoy? First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. W e did not have play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was not unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good . While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Me and My Family- Girl ease up please

To Those of YOU Born 1930-1979? To all the KIDS who SURVIVED the 1930's 40's50's60's& 70's!!!!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had NO child proof lids on medicine bottles locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes we had ball caps on our heads Not helmets. As infants and children we would ride in cars with no car seats no booster seats no seat belts no air bags bald tires and some times no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck ,On a warm sunny day was a special treat for us kids ( when we were small) What memories. We drank water from a garden hose and NOT a bottle. We shared one soft drink amoung four people,From one bottle, and no one actually died from it. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool- Aid made with real sugar and we weren't Over weight. WHY????? Because we were always out side PLAYING..... That's WHY!! We would leave homeas soon as we were allowed to go outside most times in the morning,And play all day as long as we were back before the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our Go-Carts or play areas etc.etc. Out of scrap woods and what ever we could find, and then run the carts down the biggest hill we could find,Just to find out we had forgot the brakes.After running into trees, bushes fences we finally got the brake thing down (the feet). We did not have Play Stations, Nintendo's, or X Boxes, there were no video games, no 150 channels on the TV,No video movies or DVD's no surround-sound or CD"s no Cell phones, No Computers, No Internet and No Chat rooms. We had FRIENDS and We were OUTSIDE and had lots of Fun buy ourselves. We fell from trees, got cuts, broken bones scrapes from falls or bad hits from the moves we did but no lawsuites came from any of this our accidents. We ate dirt worms mud pies and the worms did not live in us and the dirt did not harm us either and we would do again if we were kids again. We were given BB guns at age 10 made up games with sticks rope wood any thing we could find was a new toy for us and yes we were told you will put an eye out with that so let it be but never really did do any harm. We rode bikes or walked around skats some times but walkes more than not.Go to a friengs home play kicked rockes to see how far they would go played marbles in the road rolled best there than dirt. Little League had try outs and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with Disappointment. IMAGINE THAT!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an Explosion of INNOVATION and NEW IDEAS. We had Freedom, Failure, Success and Responsibility and we learned hoe to deal with it all. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THEM............. CONGRATULAITIONS!!!!!! WE HAD THE CHANCE TO GROW UP AS KIDS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This is for of you who were? > > > -----Original Message----- > > More truer words may never have been spoken.I have to share this - it is just so true......To Those of You Born 1930 - 1979 > Quote of the month by Jay Leno.. read what he said. Very well stated, Mr. Leno. > TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times,we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Play stations,NINTENDO and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.... They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers,problem solvers and inventors ever..The past 5 0 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the politicians lawyers and big brother government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ? The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornado's, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this. Do you remember this i do. A simple YES or No will do,but if you want to make a commit go right ahead. Nothing happen to childhood in 1979. He is just stating how life was so simple and care free for the people growing up during those yrs.The start of the 60's was when all of the thing that he mentioned started to come to be. Nothing happen to childhood in 1979. He is just stating how life was so simple and care free for the people growing up during those yrs.The start of the 60's was when all of the thing that he mentioned started to come to be.

What do you think about my theory of life? life is a massive mystery, and theres only a few different ways to really crack below the surface to that mystery, and the best way is psychedels. and the heavier the psychedel is, the better. and guess what? no ones dying from psychedels, all our thoughts on psychedels are based on bs propaganda that we heard about people going crazy, losing their minds, you're not gonna go crazy, you're gonna go fraking sane. alright all that stuff is gonna ruin your ego, and it's gonna explain what the world is really all about. humans and the world are bacteria. theres great things in us, but when you get passed that a lot of it is biological tricks. and they're all set up to make sure that we keep perpetuating the species, to keep moving forward. now why doesn't the species wanna move forward? why does technology move forward? why do we keep inventing weapons? why do we keep inventing new crazy stuff? what is this thirst for innovation? what's this all about? well this is what i think: if you fly into la, and you're going over those mountains, and you see these beautiful fields, and then all of the sudden you see la. if you looked at the earth as living organism, you would look at la and go that's cancer. that's a growth. it's got brown smoke coming out of it and it stinks. and it's geting bigger every year. why is it getting bigger? why do people just keep having kids? what is this all about? i think that it's on purpose like how yeast makes bread rise, or mold takes over a sandwich. i think that's what people do. i think we're just a very complicated form of bacteria. and all our thoughts on ourselves, it's all just biological tricks to keep your ego alive. to keep your biology alive, to make sure you keep perpetuating this freaking thing. make this human orgasnism this one gigantic organism to keep growing. if you look at mold on a sandwich, you don't look at individual molds, individual identities, you look at a pile of mold. and that's what people are. we just think we're individuals, we're not. we can't be away from each other, we get lonely. for punishment, prison, they take you away from other people, other freaking prisoners! wouldn't that be the best way to keep me away from prison? no that's punishment. if you put us in a bed with no scum bags, murderers, we get sad. it all relates to the dmt world. every night when you go to sleep, you take a trip for 8 hours. you have to have dmt. your body has to have it. i think the whole reason why we're alive, i think theres two consciousness's theres a dream one and a waking one. and this dream consciousness might be more real than the waking one. and that might be what our whole biology is about. this whole complex system of social order and predetermined patterns, behavior and cultureral traditions might be just affect ways to move along the breeding process. to make sure we keep adding more people, animals, save the whales. we're just trying to save energy.

RAMADAN: Are these Bida'h words from the mouth of Omar bin Al Khatab? Narrated Abu Huraira: Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227

Some inventions/innovations that are more boy-oriented? So I'm doing a National History Day project next year, and the theme is the Innovation in History, so I need to write a paper about how an innovation or invention impacted the world. I'm a girl and last year I did a feminist topic and two of my girl friends did a very boy-oriented topic, Jim Bowie and the Alamo. I only won the district and they got much farther than I did, getting an honorable mention at the nationals. Their project sucked. I think the reason they did so well is because their topic was so atypical, for two girls to do such a boy-oriented topic. This year I would like to do something atypical, but all the boy-oriented inventions are so boring...guns? War? Cars? They make me go to sleep. Can anyone think of any inventions or innovations that are more boy-oriented but that I might think are interesting? Also, if it's more modern that would rock, since I need to have lots of primary sources on it, but it doesn't strictly need to be more modern.

Ramadan: How many of you consider Sahih Bukhari as a book of lies by not accepting the following Hadith? According to these Hadiths Taraweehs are Bidah. Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an EXCELLENT Bid'ah (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227 Narrated Abu Huraira: �So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227 Brother León De Ali(AS) Islam is for all. Islam is Stratul mustaqeem (straight path) Straight path is always ONE not four or 73 Omer Muslims (shia) never claim that Nahjul Balagha a Sahih book.

Do You Remember When?.........? Those Born From 1930-1979 READ TO THE BOTTOM FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH, BY JAY LENO. IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930s, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms........ WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cuts, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?! The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?' For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us...go ahead and delete this. For the rest of us...pass this on.

I don't believe Obama and Congress do you? yesterday the left said, oh, thank goodness this recession is over. I said, I beg your pardon? "Oh, everything's on the upswing. I talked to everybody. Everybody's saying everything's on the upswing." Really? Everything's on the upswing? That's fantastic. She just looked at me and said, "It's not?" And I said, well, I could be wrong, but... no! Don't believe that. You're in the eye of the hurricane. You've got the other wall coming, and the other wall the storm we're at sea. The storm is still gathering strength. And here they are yesterday we were talking about taxes and how they have to do a VAT tax. No. No, they don't. The first thing they have to do is cut spending. And then you know what? And then start cutting benefits. This comes from the New York Times In Medicine, the Power of No. How can we learn to say no? The federal government is now starting to build the institutions that will try to reduce the soaring growth of healthcare costs. There will be a group to compare the effectiveness of different treatments, a so called Medicare innovation center and a Medicare oversight board that can set payment rates. Aren't these the things they promised us they weren't going to do, that they were going to compare the effectiveness of different treatments? Didn't they say they would never get between you and your doctor. Well, what does that mean when they're comparing the effectiveness of treatments? They're like, oh, this one's not really effective for the money? But go ahead and do it anyway; we just don't want to tell you. All of these groups will face the same basic problem: Deep down Americans tend to believe that more care is better and we recoil from efforts to restrict care. Managed care became loathed in the 1990s. The recent recommendation to reduce breast cancer screenings set off a firestorm on it, because it didn't come from doctors; it came from the government! On a personal level anybody who has made a decision about his or her own care knows the nagging worry that comes from not choosing the most aggressive treatment. This, try anything and everything" instinct is ingrained in our culture and has big benefits but also has big down sides including the side effects and the risks that come with unnecessary treatment. Consider the recent study that found 15,000 people were projected to die eventually from the radiation they received from CAT scans in just a single year. Bullcrap. From an economic perspective healthcare reform will fail if we can't sometimes push back against the "Try anything" instinct. So figuring out how so say no may be the single toughest, most important task facing the people in charge of carrying out healthcare reform. So now what the New York Times is saying to us is, now that the government is in charge, now the New York Times is trying to sell us that we need less healthcare. You hear that? Before they were saying, "Oh, no, they're not going to it's not going to affect your healthcare, it's not going to affect it. You're not going to get less, there's not going to be rationing. What is this? What is this? This is the setup to rationing! Sometimes less is better. I'm so tired of the lies. I am so tired of the lies. I am so tired of the truth not mattering to these people. They don't care. They just don't care about the truth. It amazes me because I don't know how people sleep at night. You know the big push on you is that you're insane and dangerous. The big push now on me here's the latest one, that I'm only in it for the money. And that I don't believe anything that I say. I want you to know. What the hell would I be doing if I wasn't doing this for money? It's my job. I'm a capitalist. I have no problem making money, and my audience doesn't have a problem with people making money. I was poor and I'm rich and I may be poor again. It doesn't matter. But I have a right, as long as I am creating something of value. As long as I really take pride in my work, as long as I'm creating something of value and I'm trying to give you every bit of quality. For every dollar that you spend, I want you to have $1.25 in quality. I want you to have entertainment or information, and I say this to you all the time. I promise you, I know how hard you work for your money. Well, I work hard for my time. I work hard for my quality. And everybody here, we bust our ass. You're damn right we're getting rich, and I'm not ashamed of it. But who could possibly sleep at night, saying the things that I say and believe, think I want to say these things? Do you think I want my family under threat all the time? Do you think I want I'm not talking to you. These people just don't care. They don't care about the truth one way or the other. They told us that they w

gel memory foam vs regular memory foam mattress? Has anyone tried the sleep innovation mattress from costco that's made out of their new gel infused memory foam? If so how does this compare to their non gel infused memory foam mattress? The reason why I'm asking is because I can get the non gel infused memory foam for about $125 less from amazon because I don't have to pay tax on amazon and I want to know if it's worth it to pay the extra money for the gel.

Sunnis, Please Explain This to me? Is this an accurate hadith? I mean, it does say Sahih Bukari. Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227 Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter.>>>>>>> On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is;<<<<<<but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night (Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." -Sunni. Thanks for the answers so far, very helpful. Wait, so is this hadith false? Because Umar says 'What an excellent bid3a.'

Do you agree?...i apologize for the length!? For those born 1920-1969 TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1920's, 30's, 40's,50's and 60's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants &children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms...... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50+ years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

Are tarawih prayers in congregation a bid'ah? Volume 3, Book 32, Number 227: Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'What an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night. (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sarah please read the hadith, it's from a sunni source. Lol okay, I just read this hadith and I was kinda shocked.

If you were born between 1950 to 1970 read this and let me know if it's true, and was their health insurance from the 1950's to 1970??? thank you .. First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lea d-base paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up truck on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside, playing...that's why! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up game s with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. If YOU are one of them? CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, be fore the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. WOW THESE ARE GREAT ANSWERS SO FAR .......

WOW, To Those born in 20's- 70's LOL? THOSE BORN 1920-1970 TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies=2 0or DV D's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good. While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

opinions on the beginning of this chapter? just revised the beginning of one of the chapters I am writing for my book, I would appreciate you honest opinions and suggestions. Thanks :) The following morning Isla suffered from the excruciating pain of an acute migraine, she refused to even open her eyes in hopes of sleeping off the terrible throbbing sensation. It was not unusual for Isla to be the victim of a severe headache, but it was not only her head that was being bothersome. In fact, her whole body ached from head to toe. Her stomach was disturbed with nausea, her shoulders were tense and her entire lower body felt so sore it was as if she had been run over by a car; especially in the groin region. Her symptoms were like she had a bad case of the flu that had escalated beyond the common cold and the pain was so intolerable it was all that consumed Isla’s mind. Isla battled with these terrible aches and pains for what seemed to be an hour. Without any luck of being relieved, she finally gave up and opened her eyes. The image that met Isla’s gaze would forever change her life. Her eyes had fixed upon what seemed to be a dimly lit box, with two decently sized windows on each side of her that were tinted black. “Oh my God,” she shuddered in horror. Only a faint mumble could be made out of her voice, leading her to the discovery that there must be something covering her mouth like some sort of gag. She closed her eyes in disbelief. This had to be an awful nightmare; it was all too bizarre to be true. When her eyes re opened they saw the same situation as they had five seconds ago. “Oh my God, Oh my God,” she repeatedly shrieked in horror. She felt her arms being held tightly together behind her back (which explained her tense shoulders) as she struggled to set them free, she also took notice of her legs which were tied together with coarse rope as well. It took a few moments for the realization to hit her. She laid there in a daze as she tried to make sense of her recent innovation, hoping it would some how go away. “Help!” she began to scream as loud as she could, but there was no use in using her voice that couldn’t possibly be heard by anyone outside. She began kicking the walls and windows of this strange box, having to use both of her long legs in unison like a mermaid. The box could not have been any more then four feet high five feet wide and six eight feet in length. Had she gone delusional? She wished that were the case but this had become all too real. Feelings of fear and confusion overwhelmed Isla’s mind which lead her to vomit only inches away from her. She felt extremely dizzy, so dizzy that she was afraid she was going to lose consciousness at any moment. Where was she? Why was she there? And how did she get there? Isla frantically attempted to revive her memory, hoping for some sort of answer. She relived the night step by step numerous times in her memory, trying to trigger something that would give her an explanation. The only memory that she could salvage was her argument with Jack, but even that was a little hazy and still didn’t explain her current situation. She tried to remain calm, trying to keep her mindset positive but there was no way to make light of the circumstances. What had she gotten herself into? Isla wished her arms were untied so she could smack herself for her own stupidity. She came to the conclusion that she was being held hostage,( and due to the immense pain in her groin possibly even raped) she didn’t know why, how or even who could have committed this sick crime, but it had to be a direct result of the argument. If she hadn’t been so stubborn she would have woken up next to Jack, not on the ground of this dingy box. Isla was too shocked and confused to even shed a tear of her fear. Maybe a little part of her didn’t fully believe this was really happening, but with each kick of her legs a stabbing pain pulsated through her groin. The pain was too harsh for her to even continue to kick, but she was not done putting up a fight. She was lucky enough to even be alive and she was determined to find answers. She struggled to hoist herself up of the rough black ground into a sitting position to peer out of the window to her left. There it was; the highway. It all made sense now; she was in the back of a moving car driving to the destination that would arrange her fate. She began to think of how many times Jack must’ve called her phone, wondering where she was as much as she did herself.

Opinions on one of the chapters for my book? I just revised the beginning of one of the chapters I am writing for my book, I would appreciate you honest opinions and suggestions. Thanks :) The following morning Isla suffered from the excruciating pain of an acute migraine, she refused to even open her eyes in hopes of sleeping off the terrible throbbing sensation. It was not unusual for Isla to be the victim of a severe headache, but it was not only her head that was being bothersome. In fact, her whole body ached from head to toe. Her stomach was disturbed with nausea, her shoulders were tense and her entire lower body felt so sore it was as if she had been run over by a car; especially in the groin region. Her symptoms were like she had a bad case of the flu that had escalated beyond the common cold and the pain was so intolerable it was all that consumed Isla’s mind. Isla battled with these terrible aches and pains for what seemed to be an hour. Without any luck of being relieved, she finally gave up and opened her eyes. The image that met Isla’s gaze would forever change her life. Her eyes had fixed upon what seemed to be a dimly lit box, with two decently sized windows on each side of her that were tinted black. “Oh my God,” she shuddered in horror. Only a faint mumble could be made out of her voice, leading her to the discovery that there must be something covering her mouth like some sort of gag. She closed her eyes in disbelief. This had to be an awful nightmare; it was all too bizarre to be true. When her eyes re opened they saw the same situation as they had five seconds ago. “Oh my God, Oh my God,” she repeatedly shrieked in horror. She felt her arms being held tightly together behind her back (which explained her tense shoulders) as she struggled to set them free, she also took notice of her legs which were tied together with coarse rope as well. It took a few moments for the realization to hit her. She laid there in a daze as she tried to make sense of her recent innovation, hoping it would some how go away. “Help!” she began to scream as loud as she could, but there was no use in using her voice that couldn’t possibly be heard by anyone outside. She began kicking the walls and windows of this strange box, having to use both of her long legs in unison like a mermaid. The box could not have been any more then four feet high five feet wide and six eight feet in length. Had she gone delusional? She wished that were the case but this had become all too real. Feelings of fear and confusion overwhelmed Isla’s mind which lead her to vomit only inches away from her. She felt extremely dizzy, so dizzy that she was afraid she was going to lose consciousness at any moment. Where was she? Why was she there? And how did she get there? Isla frantically attempted to revive her memory, hoping for some sort of answer. She relived the night step by step numerous times in her memory, trying to trigger something that would give her an explanation. The only memory that she could salvage was her argument with Jack, but even that was a little hazy and still didn’t explain her current situation. She tried to remain calm, trying to keep her mindset positive but there was no way to make light of the circumstances. What had she gotten herself into? Isla wished her arms were untied so she could smack herself for her own stupidity. She came to the conclusion that she was being held hostage,( and due to the immense pain in her groin possibly even raped) she didn’t know why, how or even who could have committed this sick crime, but it had to be a direct result of the argument. If she hadn’t been so stubborn she would have woken up next to Jack, not on the ground of this dingy box. Isla was too shocked and confused to even shed a tear of her fear. Maybe a little part of her didn’t fully believe this was really happening, but with each kick of her legs a stabbing pain pulsated through her groin. The pain was too harsh for her to even continue to kick, but she was not done putting up a fight. She was lucky enough to even be alive and she was determined to find answers. She struggled to hoist herself up of the rough black ground into a sitting position to peer out of the window to her left. There it was; the highway. It all made sense now; she was in the back of a moving car driving to the destination that would arrange her fate. She began to think of how many times Jack must’ve called her phone, wondering where she was as much as she did herself.

Back masking, intended reversed sound and Jimi Hendrix? So I'm doing some research on back masking for my perspectives essay (I do BA Music Technology and Innovation) and my partner and I were talking and he said Jimi Hendrix did a piece where he played the guitar solo in reverse and then forwarded it again, kind of like in The Beatle's 'Im only sleeping'. Can anyone tell me what track he used this technique on? And I could do with as many examples of back masking and reversed sound as an intended technique as possible, if anyone knows any!! PLEASE don't give me ANY examples of 'satanic messages', I really don't want to hear them and this has nothing to do with my question. Thank you!

is tarawee not an inovation according to sahih bukhari? Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: The Prophet took a room made of date palm leaves mats in the mosque. Allah's Apostle prayed in it for a few nights till the people gathered (to pray the night prayer (Tarawih) (behind him.) Then on the 4th night the people did not hear his voice and they thought he had slept, so some of them started humming in order that he might come out. The Prophet then said, "You continued doing what I saw you doing till I was afraid that this (Tarawih prayer) might be enjoined on you, and if it were enjoined on you, you would not continue performing it. Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational) prayer." (See Hadith No. 229,Vol. 3) (See Hadith No. 134, Vol. 8) The Caliph Umar made it a practice to hold Tarawih in congregation, therefore it was something new. Consider the following passage from Sahih Bukhari and you shall understand: Ibn Shihab said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of Umar’s Caliphate." Abdur Rahman bin Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, Umar said, ‘In my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)’. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka’b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, Umar remarked, ‘What an excellent Bid’a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; (Sahih Bukhari 3.227 thank you hapily hapy ,you just confirmed umar asked people to perform what the prophat sws had forbed!good at least you are admiting this inovation called taraweeh

How is Taraweh not a Bidah? Before going further, let's make some facts clear. People often confuse three different prayers. Namely: 1) Tahajjud (also called Salat al-Lail, Namaz e Shab): The time of this prayer is from mid-night till before dawn. But the best time is near before Dawn (i.e. before the time of morning prayer). TAHAJJUD is offered all arround the year. 2) Nafl (Non-Compulsory prayers): These are offered without congregation (Jama'at) Individually. The more time one spends in Nawafil, Non-Compulsory prayers, and recitation of Qur'an etc in Ramadhan nights the better. Such prayers can also be performed throughout the year. 3) Tarawih Offered in congregation (Jama'at) during Ramadhan. Usually starts after Isha prayers. Prophet(saw) got angry with the people who insisted on him offering Tarawih prayers (in congregation) Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Allah's Apostle made a small room (with a palm leaf mat). Allah's Apostle came out (of his house) and prayed in it. Some men came and joined him in his prayer. Then again the next night they came for the prayer, but Allah's Apostle delayed and did not come out to them. So they raised their voices and knocked the door with small stones (to draw his attention). He came out to them in a state of ANGER, saying, "You are still insisting (on your deed, i.e. Tarawih prayer in the mosque) that I thought that this prayer (Tarawih) might become obligatory on you. So you people, offer this prayer at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is the one which he offers at home, except the compulsory (congregational) prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 134 Prophet Ordered to perform non compulsory prayers at home Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: The Prophet took a room made of date palm leaves mats in the mosque. Allah's Apostle prayed in it for a few nights till the people gathered (to pray the night prayer (Tarawih) (behind him.) Then on the 4th night the people did not hear his voice and they thought he had slept, so some of them started humming in order that he might come out. The Prophet then said, "You continued doing what I saw you doing till I was afraid that this (Tarawih prayer) might be enjoined on you, and if it were enjoined on you, you would not continue performing it. Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational prayer." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 393 The people would pray individually at the time of Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) Narrated 'Urwa: That he was informed by 'Aisha, "Allah's Apostle went out in the middle of the night and prayed in the mosque and some men prayed behind him. In the morning, the people spoke about it and then a large number of them gathered and prayed behind him (on the second night). In the next morning the people again talked about it and on the third night the mosque was full with a large number of people. Allah's Apostle came out and the people prayed behind him. On the fourth night the Mosque was overwhelmed with people and could not accommodate them, but the Prophet came out (only) for the Morning Prayer. When the Morning Prayer was finished he recited Tashah-hud and (addressing the people) said, "Amma ba'du, your presence was not hidden from me but I was afraid lest the night prayer (Qiyam) should be enjoined on you and you might not be able to carry it on." So, Allah's Apostle died and the situation remained like that (i.e. people prayed individually). " Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 229 Umar Initiated Taraweh Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever prayed at night the whole month of Ramadan out of sincere Faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven." Ibn Shihab (a sub-narrator) said, "Allah's Apostle died and the people continued observing that (i.e. Nawafil offered individually, not in congregation), and it remained as it was during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr and in the early days of 'Umar's Caliphate." 'Abdur Rahman bin 'Abdul Qari said, "I went out in the company of 'Umar bin Al-Khattab one night in Ramadan to the mosque and found the people praying in different groups. A man praying alone or a man praying with a little group behind him. So, 'Umar said, 'in my opinion I would better collect these (people) under the leadership of one Qari (Reciter) (i.e. let them pray in congregation!)'. So, he made up his mind to congregate them behind Ubai bin Ka'b. Then on another night I went again in his company and the people were praying behind their reciter. On that, 'Umar remarked, 'what an excellent Bid'a (i.e. innovation in religion) this is; but the prayer which they do not perform, but sleep at its time is better than the one they are offering.' He meant the prayer in the last part of the night(Tahajjut). (In those days) people used to pray in the early part of the night." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, Book 32, Number 22 What did Prophet(saw) say about his orders? Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Leave me as I leave you) for the people who were before you were ruined because of their questions and their differences over their prophets. So, if I forbid you to do something, then keep away from it. And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can." Sahih Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 92, Number 391 now my questions to Sunnis and Salafis/Wahabis 1) How is Taraweh not a Bidah? 2) Are there any hadith where Prophet Muhammad(saw) encouraged Tarawih? please avoid giving me what Shayks think about Taraweh. Tarawih is a bidah in the following sense 1. Rasool Allah never offered any such (20 or 8 rakah) prayers after Isha prayer. What he offered (and people joined behind him for 3 nights) was night prayer (i.e. Tahajjud prayer which is offered after midnight). So, what is known as Tarawih nowadays (i.e. 20 or 8 rakat prayer after Isha prayer), had never been a Sunnah of Rasool Allah [saww]. 2. Tarawih is not in harmony with the principles of Islam. Rasool Allah [saww] gave clear orders that NON COMPULSORY CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS should be offered individually in the homes. But contrary to the orders of Rasool Allah [saww] Umar collected the people in mosque, and started offering non-compulsory congregational prayer in congregation. How is this not an innovation when Prophet said that NON COMPULSORY CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS should be offered individually in the homes? whatever Prophet(saw) performed those 3 nights were Tahajjud prayer NOT TARAWEH you say it was a "good Bidah" how is it a good Bidah? is it within the harmony of Islam? And pray in the small watches of the morning: (it would be) an additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for thee: soon will thy Lord raise thee to a Station of Praise and Glory! Al-Qur'an Surah 17, Ayah 79 (Translation by Yusuf Ali) For the rest of Ummah, Tahajjud prayer is only Sunnat-e-Mu'akkidah, but not obligatory. And for all the Nawafil and Sunnat-e-Mu'akkidah, Rasool Allah [saww] has clearly said: "Therefore, O people! Perform your prayers at your homes, for the best prayer of a person is what is performed at his home except the compulsory congregational prayer." Why did Umar gather people in the mosque for Jam'at (congregation) to carry out NON COMPULSORY and NON CONGREGATIONAL Prayer? Is it not a clear violation of the orders of Rasool Allah [saww]? @Shay Shay- you say taraweh is not compulsory but Shafai and Hambali Fiq'h declared the Jama'at for Taraweh is an obligatory Sunnah for all. @harder better stronger and faster- Thanks for your input but I am still waiting for you to answer me why did Umar gather people in the mosque for Jam'at (congregation) to carry out NON COMPULSORY and NON CONGREGATIONAL Prayer? Is it not a clear violation of the orders of Rasool Allah(saw)?

Darkness is good not evil, and outside the system of control? The system of control, is a system of people who rule by force, to control and bully people with fear and deception; they are like the bad guys in the Matrix, the government and religion... They are the ones that make you fear the unknown (darkness), for those that fear the dark and fooled into keeping safe with what they know; and that way they will never discover the truth which is that they are slaves to the system of control. In the light, we see what we know, we feel safe; and yet we are pushed to get up for work when we are too tired, following orders and addressing management as sir with ties and a suit. We are abused with our rights taken away, made to do everything in cycles every single day; ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... ...getting up, going to work, coming home, going to sleep... and on and on and on We think we are getting somewhere but we are really chasing our tales, because we are generating all things that the controlling people want. We do not realize that we are slaves. Everything that they tell us is propaganda and lies, telling us it is good, not lazy and holy. They threaten us with punishment, death or pain; to make us feel intimidated to everything they say, like fascists. If you have heard of the Illuminati, the 'New world order' and conspiracies, you will know what I mean. If you try to tape record abuse, they lie and say it is illegal; as this is designed to scare you away from getting them into trouble; thus it gives them grounds to control you with more abuse that you cannot prove. This is an example of why such laws exist, and you should question what you know about the fact it makes no sense. In the unknown is chaos, no control systems, and it is mysterious. The paranormal, psychic power and so on are good examples of things beyond the known. They are outside of our awareness and can only be discovered through exploration. For chaos means free will, right to individuality (not formal dressing), expression of personality, freedom and most importantly above all... Love... for love allows freedom, individuality and free will, as no bullying and abuse can take place. Knowing this we should realize that the way that we live can be bettered through, exploration, innovation, experimentation and engineering; through probing the unknown and pushing back the boundaries with our abilities, to go further than ever gone before. This is progress, this is an adventure, this is the way to become a better person. For here we will one day learn we are capable of far more than we ever dreamed, far more than we can currently comprehend, far more than science knows, far more than what the teachers tell you at school. The problems that seem impossible to solve, because they say "that's just the way it is", are problems that only have no answers until we find solutions. I have found I can do things which I never knew I could do, and we can continue doing so to infinity; like I have scientific proof of life after death. I am an engineer! Come with me into the darkness and explore, progress and prosper forever more! Do you agree, don't be afraid? Snow Man Tell me what you think?

Like to have your comments on this newpspaper article? This appeared in TOI today. A Strange Meeting Wahhabism finds an unexpected counter Ali Khan A village in Barabanki district is a microcosm of the struggle between the Barelvi Sunnis and those with Wahhabi inclinations. The town’s population is largely Sunni with a Shia minority. Before partition, the rulers of the estate were Shia and a collateral branch of the Mahmudabad family. Mahmudabad’s Muharram processions are famous all over India and in some parts of the world. When processions were banned in Lucknow, people flocked to Mahmudabad. Bilehra always had smaller processions but the thing that stood out was that most of the crowds were Sunni Muslims. With the arrival of funds from some Middle East countries as well as returning migrant workers, some of whom had spent years away from home and were influenced by their surroundings, Bilehra gradually saw the rise of Wahhabism. The crowds in Muharram diminished and the number of people who attended prayers at the Barelvi mosque also fell. According to one young man, for a number of years the people who subscribed to the Barelvi school of thought would outwardly show loyalty to the Wahhabis. The Wahhabis – with their puritanical behaviour and insistence that some Sunnis and all Shias are essentially infidels – have polarised Muslim societies worldwide. Their literalist interpretation of the Quran is reductionist and does not allow scope for debate, analysis or a contextual, historical and consequently nuanced understanding. They strictly forbid music, religious or spiritual, and the veneration of holy men amongst many other things. A number of urs, gatherings around the tomb of a Sufi pir where music is performed and poetry is read aloud in remembrance of the Prophet, his family and the pir, are held in and around Bilehra. People who attended these functions are now subject to the taunts of students at the Wahhabi mosques. During Muharram, people would be afraid of going to processions or keeping a tazia, a paper replica of the shrine of Imam Hussain in Iraq, in their houses since these acts would also mark them out for heckling and jeering. The less powerful Barelvis could not match the money or resources thrown at them. But it is not power or money that has shaken or caught by surprise the Wahhabis. Earlier this year an individual ignored and labelled a madman roaming the streets of Bilehra became the crucial factor in the resurgence of the Barelvis. Mastaan Baba was homeless. People remember him wandering around, sleeping under trees, eating what little he was given and never trying to gather any worldly possessions. About six months ago, he was asleep as usual underneath a mango tree in the fields adjoining the Kerbala, where the tazias are brought after the processions and buried. A little girl came and lay down next to him and when he noticed her he got upset, pushed her and asked her to go away. Apparently, when she got up, her back had straightened and she was no longer a hunchback. People flocked from villages all around to see the girl and to see this man. He continued to wear what he had always worn, a dirty white kurta, a black lungi or cotton towel wrapped around his legs like a sarong. He carried a little satchel tucked under his arms. The little brick room in which he sometimes slept has now become a beehive of activity. People have set up shops around the room, a power cable that was meant to be laid a long time ago is now finally in place and there is a constant throng around him. Politicians, IAS officers and many other officials have all come to him in different capacities. Since that night he hit the girl, there have been more stories about his powers and how he has changed people’s lives. Hindus and Muslims both are seen around him. This article is not about whether following him is permissible in Islam. It seems that people are desperate to seek out men who have not been ‘corrupted’ by the material world. The rise of Mastaan Baba in Bilehra has had an inadvertent effect on Bilehra’s Muslims. People who had gone over to the Wahhabi mosque and others who had hidden their true sympathies with the Barelvis have started to drift back. Whereas the Barelvi mosque used to be nearly empty with about 30 people, recent Eid prayers saw close to 300 people in attendance. Wahhabis in Bilehra who openly condemned anything involving the veneration of living or dead men as innovations in Islam, have found themselves drawn to a quiet, wandering man. A few refuse to acknowledge Mastaan Baba but, according to people who live there, their wives and daughters regularly and secretly go to visit him! It seems there are now a couple of more people in Bilehra who claim to be Mastaan Baba. Regardless of whether this man is genuine or not, it seems he has managed to single-handedly and unintentionally stall the rise of Wahhabism, in and around Bilehra. The writer is a religious studies sc

Can anyone remember when it was like this? A LITTLE NOSTALGIA FOR US ALL FOR THOSE BORN BEFORE 1986 According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived.... Because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags – riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits. We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations! Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us. This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face: The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986........they are called youth. They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children, and the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle. For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. Michael Jackson has always been white. To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year. They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, Red Hand Gang or the Famous Five. They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why Don't You? They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone. Now let's check if we're getting old... 1. You understand what was written above and you smile. 2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out. 3. Your friends are getting married/already married. 4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers. 5. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head. 6. You remember watching Dirty Den in EastEnders the first time around. 7. You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the Good Old Days, repeating again all the funny things you have experienced together. 8. Having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some other friends because you think they will like it too... Yes, you're getting old!! Tammy.....I was born in the 50's and when i was about 10 or older we went out to play and only came home at meal times. it was all innocent play and our parents had no worries about us causing trouble for anyone. Pity is wasn't like that nowadays Stephen D.....of course i do...well someone who doesn't find reading boring. Like yourself it seems Kaygee.......oh i know....bring back those days. Kids nowadays haven't got a clue what they have missed. Mrs Shady....now you've brought back the memories of my kids when they were growing up. My house had three bedrooms with various 80's music coming out of them all. Adam.....My God.....Stop feeling so sorry for yourself. with an attitude like that no wonder you're a misery. Don't you think everyone hasn't seen bad times in their life? Retox.....life was great then wasn't it. I remeber my father hiring a neighbours long vehicle open lorry to move house. i was 11 and sat on the back of the lorry with my legs dangling down waving to the cars behing me. great memories Seven....i know, what a life that was. at 10 i fell out of a tree into a bed of nettles. at 12 my mum found me on the roof of the house. she about had a fit, but the next day i was on the roof of the coal house and fell through it. her face when i walked in black as a coal miner was a picture.

Cultural Relations Between? The history of the Shi`ah and Christian cultural relations is comparatively old. Of these relations may be mentioned inter-religious dialogue in the area of Kalam that took place in a spirit of complete mutual understanding. In the works of the Shi`ah this is discussed in detail. Among such dialogues one may refer to discussions between the spiritual leaders of the two creeds, particularly dialectic between the Muslims and Catholicos, preserved in the oldest Shi`i books. The commentators of hadith have explained Catholicos in the following manner: "Catholicos, is the greatest spiritual leader of Christianity of every age." Most probably this word is the same as Catholic in the present sense, though for an author it is difficult to say which term is an alternative of the other. Muhammad bin `Ali bin Babwayh al-Qummi, known as al-Shaykh al-Saduq (d. 280/901 A.D.), has recorded four polemical discussions between the highest spiritual leader of Christians and Shi`ah scholars of eminence and Mutakallimun in his works. It is probable that dialogue of Cathilicos with Imam `Ali (`a) took place during 657 A.D.[1] But the culminating point of these controversies has been during the early 10th century A.D.,[2] i.e., in the 2nd century Hijrah, during the periods of Imam al-Sadiq (`a) and Imam al-Rida (`a),[3] the 6th and 8th Imams of the Shi`ah. 2-- Another point that is indicative of the close cultural relations between the Shi`ah and Christianity is recording of the sayings, character and biographical accounts of Christ in the books of the Shi`ah, which surpasses all such accounts of Christ in the works of all other sects of Islam. It is noteworthy that the name of `Isa has occurred in the Qur'an 25 times and the name of Masih (`a) recurs 36 times in the Qur'an. And the circumstances of his birth and his way of preaching and his ascension are repeatedly narrated in the Qur'an. But despite this emphasis the books of non-Shi`i authors do not contain detailed accounts of Christ's sayings and character. For instance, in Sihah al-Sittah, i.e., six authentic compendia of hadith of Ahl al-Sunnah we do not come across even a single utterance of Christ. On the other hand in the books of the Shi`ah, even some of the oldest, utterances of him are found in abundance. Imam `Ali (`a), the first Imam of the Shi`ah, has narrated the ascetic style of the life of Christ in one of his sermons, given under No. 160, in Nahj al-Balaghah. After him, in the 2nd century A.H., Imam al-Sadiq has quoted the preaching of Christ, as found exactly in the Bible of Mathew, while delivering his advice to `Abdullah bin Jandab in New Testament, book of Mathew, chapter 6, sentences 2,3,6,7,16 and 18. During the period from the 2nd to the 4th century A.H., al-Jahiz, in al-Bayan wa al-Tab'in, nine short sayings and one detailed speech of Christ were recorded. During the middle of the 4th century an eminent Shi`i author, Abu Muhammad Hasan bin `Ali bin al-Husayn bin Shu`bah al-Harani (d. 38 A.H. = 1001 A.D.) in his book, Tuhf al-`Uqul `an Al al-Rasul, had devoted about 16 pages to record the sayings of Christ. These utterances consist of two parts: the first, which is briefer, second, which is comparatively detailed, quote parts of Christ's sermons. According to the researches done in this regard, same words are accessible to us at present, in some of anajil (i.e., Book of New Testaments). For example one may refer to the following: Book of Mathew, sentences 1-7, 14-17 and 44-45 in chapter 5, sentences 12-19, 24, 30 in chapter 6, sentence 16 in the chapter 7, and 29-36 in chapter 22; Book of Luke, sentences 17-49 in chapter 6; 44-45 in chapter 6, 4-17 in chapter 8 and 37-53 in chapter 11; Book of Mark, sentence 30 in chapter 12. Ibn Shu`bah was a resident of Harran and since Harran was a center of learning for the Christians, he had access to a majority of the Christian primary source. Of course, most of the sentences that Ibn Shu`bah has quoted are specifically from the books of Mathew, Luke and Mark. It remains unknown why he has not quoted from all the books of New Testament. However, it is a distinct feature of the Shi`i works that they have been forerunners in the matter of referring to and quoting profusely from the sayings and sermons of Christ as compared to all other Muslim sects. 3-- In the books of the Shi`ah special attempt has been made to deal with the life and character of Christ [Masih (`a)]. In the sermon 159 in Nahj al-Balaghah, `Ali (`a), while highlighting the piety of great prophets, writes about Christ: "Hadrat Masih (`a) laid his head on a stone, put on dress made of coarse material, took tough food. His main diet was hunger, at night the moon provided him only light; during winter he slept under the sun at times when it shone or set down; his fruit and vegetable was none other than what the earth grows for animals. He neither had wife that could instigate him to do follies nor did have a child that could make him sorrowful with concern; nor had any property which might have taken away from him; nor had he any kind of greed (for worldly things) that could cause him humiliation. He had no means of moving except his own feet, his servants were his own hands." On another occasion, addressing one of his companions, Nuf Bukali, Hadrat `Ali (`a), says: "Blessing be on those pious persons who have turned away from the worldly attachments like Christ." Mutual Influences in Kalami (Theological) Polemics As it is generally accepted by researchers and scholars that Islamic Kalam has exercised influence on Jewish and Christian Scholasticism. In a similar way, it is also incontrovertible that on the land the views of Muslim Mutakallimun, with regard to the Divine Attributes, in the course of their polemics and discussions with the Christian scholastics, particularly in the issue of trinity have developed and attained maturity of thought. Undoubtedly, the use of the term Attribute (sifat) and emergence of the concept of universal (kulliyat), during the medieval period of Christianity, through the Latin translation of the work of Ibn Hayman, Hidayat al-Mudallin (A Guide for Wayward) (530-601 A.H./1135-1204 A.D.),[5] were influenced immensely by Islamic `ilm al-Kalam. He and before him Sa`diya Gawun (Sa`id al-Fayumi - 271-331 A.H./892-922 A.D.), had acquired their knowledge of the Greek philosophy indirectly from `Arabic translations and their Islamic commentaries. They themselves wrote in `Arabic (which was the academic language of that period). The ground conducive for the acceptance of the teachings of Muslim Mutakallimun, particularly al-Ghazzali, through Sa`diya, who might be justifiably regarded as Ash`airah of Judaism, for he not only adopts the method of Ash`ariyyah but also in specific issues, makes use of their arguments. Yahud Ahlawi from Totedo, born in 479 A.H., who was a contemporary of al-Ghazzali, like him felt that philosophy in questioning the fundamentals of faith by interpreting them on the basis of logical argument results in weakening of the creed. With this view he embarked upon writing a book on refutation of philosophers, entitled al-Khazari,[6] briefly called Khazri. Yahud-e Ahlawi, in his book, Logical and Philosophical Jargons, followed the same method and arguments that were advanced by al-Ghazzali against philosophers. Much more than him another scholastic thinker of the Jewish creed, Hasda'i Karaska was undoubtedly influenced by Tahafut al-Falasifah of al-Ghazzali though Wolfson, the Professor of Harvard University, rejects this view, arguing that Tahafut al-Falasifah was translated into Hebrew after the death of Karaska.[7] His argument seems to be baseless, for Tahafut al-Tahafut by Ibn Rushd was translated before 729/1328 by Qalunimus bin Dawud and was published under the title Hapatlat Hapala, while Karaska died in 814/1210. Even on this ground if we accept that there was no possibility of his direct access to the arguments of al-Ghazzali, forwarded in Tahafut al-Falasifah, it may be conjectured that undoubtedly he could have possibly referred to al-Ghazzali's arguments by means of the translation of Al-Ghazzali's Tahafut al-Falasifah. Raymond Martin, one of the eminent Christian scholastics, who died in 1285 A.D., is the person who worked as a link between European Christianity and al-Ghazzali, because in his works, Interpretation of the Secrets of the Disciples of Jesus, and The Sword of Faith, he has evidently borrowed ideas from al-Ghazzali. The influence of Ibn Sina on B. Spinoza's various views, particularly his doctrine of emanation (ifadah), serves as irrefutable in the view of the thinkers of the East and the West.[8] From these examples it may be inferred that the scholastics of other religions, particularly the Christianity, have benefited from Muslim mutakkalimun in the middle ages without doubt. But the question arises as to whether non-Muslim scholastic thinkers have also influenced in a similar way of the Muslim scholastics. 5-- The Mu`tazilah claimed[9] that the Asha`irah in preaching uncreatedness of the Qur'an, were advocating the Christian doctrine about Logos, and as a result have fallen prey to a kind of pluralistic heresy (shirk). The Mu`tazilah argued that the emphasis of the Asha`irah on the uncreatedness of the Qur'an cause them in believing the doctrine of the eternity of the Qur'an and its coexistence in pre-eternity with Allah. Thus they attributed eternity to the Qur'an along with the Eternity of Divine Essence. Shaykh al-Mufid says: "A man from Basra was talking about one of Ash`ariah beliefs which was against monotheism. He was of the view that God's Eternal Attributes are not the Divine Essence and not otherwise as well. That is why God is ascribed to be All-Knowing, the Living, the Omnipotent, the Hearing, the Seeing and the Speaker. That man was of the view that God possesses eternal face, eternal hearing, eternal seeing and eternal hands, such ideas are against the ideas of the monotheists what to talk of Islam."[10] This is interesting to note that the Asha`irah made a similar allegation against the Mu`tazilah and dubbed them as the greatest of atheists (kafirun). They argued that whosoever maintains emphatically that the Qur'an is created comes closer to the views of the atheists, since the atheists said that the Qur'an was a creation of the Prophet's mind. To support their argument they site a verse from the Qur'an, in which Allah Himself explains the unbelievers' faith by saying: "This (the Qur'an) is saying of man." (25:74) Al-Ash`ari writes: "Anybody who maintains that Qur'an is created, verily believes that Qur'an is man's words. Such idea is like the ideas of unbelievers."[11] The criticism of the Mu`tazilah seems to be a criticism far from truth. They say that the Asha`irah, supported by some orientalists, borrowed this doctrine of the eternity of the Qur'an and its uncreatedness from Jewish or Christian interpretation of the term "Logos". As the Asha`irah have based their doctrine on the apparent meanings of some of the Qur'anic verses per se, they may not be blamed for adopting this view from alien sources and then reconcile it with the Qur'anic verses. But we have to concede to some extent that the issues concerning the Divine Attributes in general, and the controversy regarding the Qur'an in particular, have emerged and developed in the course of controversies and discourses among mutakallimun of Islam and the use of other religions, during which they came in contact with the works of each other. The same is applicable in the context of the medieval Christian scholasticism and the role of Descartes, and in the context of Medieval philosophy of Judaism and its impact on the modern philosophy of Europe through Spinoza. 6-- The word of God (Kalimat Allah): It may be said that the image of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (s) bin `Abdullah in Muslims' view and the Christian view of the personality of Christ (`a) may not be compared reasonably, since the concept of prophethood of `Isa bin Maryam (`a) in the Christian milieu and the concept of the Prophet (s) in Islam is also different. Whenever we want to compare and contrast some sacred things in Islam and Christianity, we should try to compare the image of Christ in the Christian view with the words of the Qur'an and their nature, because both the Qur'an and `Isa Masih are called Kalimat Allah (The Word of Allah). It occurs in the Qur'an: "When the angels said: O Mariam surely Allah gives you good news with a word from him (of one) whose name is the Messiah `Isa son of Mariam, worthy of regard in this world and the hereafter and of those who are made near (to Allah)." (3:44) In Christianity `Isa Masih is the embodiment and incarnation of the "Word of God" (Kalimat Allah). His embodiment and anthropomorphisation is similar to what is meant by the revelation and descent and consequently written form of the Qur'an. This matter is discussed in the history of `Ilm al-Kalam in the same way and sense. The Qur'an described itself as having the attributes according to which it is indicated that the existence of the Qur'an precedes its revelation in historical time to the Prophet (s). For instance: "Most surely it is an honored Qur'an, in a book that is protected." (56:77-78) "Most of it is a glorious Qur'an, in a guarded tablet." (85:22) "And surely it is in the original of the Book with us, truly elevated, full of wisdom." (43:3) A number of verses in the Qur'an throw light on this issue, that is, the Qur'an has been revealed (in time), and despite this its existence precedes its revelation. 7-- Accordingly "The Preserved Tablet" is considered as contingent and created. The problem of revelation and written form of the Qur'an, that is, the issue of the relationship of the revealed word to the Mother Book (Umm al-Kitab), does not give rise to any philosophical difficulty. The philosophical difficulty arises when in the light of some Qur'anic verses. The Qur'an is referred to as existing in the realm of Divine Knowledge. "And if you follow their low desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you shall not have against Allah any guardian or a protector." (13:37) "And if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you shall have no guardian from Allah, nor any helper." (2:120) These verses led some Mutakallimun to confuse the Qur'an with the Divine Attributes of Knowledge, and they were compelled to believe that the Qur'an as created in time, revealed and written, is an accident of the Attribute of Eternal Divine Knowledge that preceded the written revelation. This confusion is like the problem that arose in Christianity particularly regarding the embodiment and incarnation of Christ. It is interesting that this issue too was interpreted in a similar way, since the Christian scholastics considered Christ as embodiment of Divinity in the person of a human being and called the second member of the Trinity. When the Shi`i Mutakallimun came to know that the use of the term "created" (makhluq) created difficulties, so in accordance with the way the Holy Family (Ahl al-Bayt) of the Prophet (s), they avoided to make use of the word Muhaddith and instead of it used the word muhdath. This term is used in the Qur'an for itself "Never comes there unto them a new reminder from their Lord but they listen to it while they play." (21:2) "Never comes there into them a fresh reminder from the Beneficent One but they turn away from it." (26:5) Al Shaykh al-Mufid, says: "In my view, Qur'an is the God's word and revelation. It is created in time (hadith), as is described by God, I do not wish to call it Mukhluq. There are certain hadith from Imam Baqir (`a) and Imam Sadiq (`a) supporting such meaning." 8- Divine Attributes: Some of the Mutakallimun (Ash`ariah) are of the view that Divine Attributes are like the persons in Christian doctrine of Trinity. For they believe that Divine Attributes are distinct beings separate from the Divine Essence and are eternal as well. Yet, other Mutakallimun (M`utazilah) and those who followed the School of Ahl al-Bayt denying the eternity of the Qur'an and by meticulous philosophical arguments, so that not to be entrapped into the embodiment and incarnation of Christianity. Of course, they believe in eternity of Divine Attributes, not as distinct beings, but as identical with Divine Essence and deny any polytheism. Thus, they are free from any shirk.These scholars of Kalam are of the view that to believe in eternal distinct Divine Attributes would lead to certain dilemma that Christian face it by believing in Trinity. For to be eternal and at the same time to be distinct from the Divine Essence would result in belief in many eternal beings which impair Divine Unity (Tawhid), as al- Shaykh al-Mufid held that such idea would lead to believe in many eternal beings.[13] 9- In order to believe in eternal and distinct Divine Attributes and at the same time keep on believing in Divine Unity and discard the ascription of any unreal attributes to God, al-Shaykh al-Mufid propounded the following rational matters: "If God is ascribed to the attributes of the living, the powerful, the knowing. The such attributes contain rational matters that is, they are not identical with Divine Essence." By the meanings of such matters, he means that attributes are not distinct from ontological point of view but are distinct from epistemological view point, as he says: "By rational matters I mean those matters which are rational in mind not concrete and objective." With a deep insight into al-Mufid's views, one can infer that by M`aqul, he means samething that later on was called by Sabziwari as the primacy of being over quiddity. In this regard Sabziwari says: being and quiddity are, however, distinct in mind but are identical in the external world.[16] Similarly, al-Shaykh al-Mufid also held that though attributes are distinct in mind but are identical in out side. Apparently, Martin McDermott also maintains that al-Mufid's approach was conceptualism.[17] 10- The issue of distinct Divine Attributes while holding the Unity of God was discussed by later Islamic thinkers. Ibn ``Arabi and Mulla Sadra also like al-Shaykh al-Mufid had a kind of conceptualistic approach toward the Divine Names. Ibn `Arabi explicitly denies the existential status of attributes and says: "What we believe is as relations which in Shari`ah is called name. Every name bears a meaning different from others. That meaning is predicated to God. Nazzar who follows Kalam, considers it as attribute not relation... Do names possess existential status? In this regard there is a debate between Nuzzar. In our views, everything is clear. They are only relations and names and are conceptual, not objective and concrete. Thus, substance can be divided only by being, not by accidents, attributes and relations."[18] He further says: "Relations are neither essences nor things. Regarding the reality of relations, one should say that they are nothingness in nature."[19] Mulla Sadra commented the following points on the levels of being: "Nothing can be found which is not available among the Divine Names. Names come into being by Divine Being. They come into being in a best manner, and owing to His necessary Essence they would be necessary."[20] ... These names are conceptual and simple beings which depend on Necessary Being. And such multiplicity in unity is one of the secrets of the Divine Being.[21] In some other place, he said: "Divine Attributes are identical with His Divine Essence, not as Ash`ariah believe in it. For they believe in multiplicity of His Attributes which entails multiplicity of two eternal beings, not as M`utazilah creed also who denied the reality of the attributes. Yet, while believing in its effects, he considers essence as second to the attributes."[22] Concluding that Ibn `Arabi and Mulla Sadra admit the basis of al-Mufid ideas though they developed it in a broad area, they believe that all created beings are conceptual, and, all creatures possess conceptual entities and like Divine Names they can be called Divine Word. 11- Difference between the development of Islamic Thought and that of the Christian doctrine of Trinity is considerable. In Islamic philosophy, inclination was directed towards multiplying of the Divine Attributes in a sense to consider all creatures as Divine Attributes. At the same time such attributes do not impair Divine Unity.[23] The early Islamic scholars of Kalam were aware of modalism in Trinity and believe that common people's perception is nothing but innovation. The theory of modalism is attributed to Sibelius[24], who consider God as a person with three attributes which certain Muslim Sufis also used in their poems. Modalism approach of Trinity was strongly discarded in the Christian theology. For they believe in a vertical Trinity, that is, father and son, according to which son does not possess perfect divinity. In refuting the modalism approach towards Trinity, they believe that God not only is three in term of meaning, but is a Triad personality.[25] According to Mutakallimun this idea is a kind of polytheism as the Qur'an says: "Believe therefore in Allah and His Apostle, and say not, three. Desist, it is better for you; Allah is only One God...." (4:171) Kendi argued against the doctrine of Trinity and Christians tried to reply it. Kendi said: "Three fold personality cannot be included in the categories of porphyry." Yahya bin `Adi, the well-known Christian learned-man in return replied as: "Such beings are individual substances."[26] Mutakallimun of Islam like Ghazzali used the argument of Tamama (an argument in kalam), derived from the Qur'an to prove the Divine Unity. Ghazzali says that if there were two gods than if one of them wanted to act, the other one had to favor it or oppose it. In the former case, he would have been a follower which impair his omnipotent and in later case one of them would have been weaker which again impair their omnipotent. The same argument was applied by Scotus against a kind of Trinity namely social Trinity. In such Trinity God has three distinct personalities. Everyone of which possesses certain attributes which suffice for being a god. The argument of Tamano applied by new Christian schotictics as a logical reasoning. Endnotes: * This paper was presented at the conferences of Islam and Orthodox Christianity in the month of Sharivar 1373 (September 1994), in Tehran by the Center of International Studies and Culture. Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Tawhid, pp.182, 286, 361. Ibid., pp.270, 417, 420. Ibid., p.422. Harrani Ibn Sh`ubah, Tuhfat al-`Uqul, Tehran, 01. For more information, please refer to the book: History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy, by Howzile, New York, 1930. p.24. The original title of the book is: Al-Hujjat wal-Dalil fi Nasr al-Din. Please refer to Hartwig Mirschefeld, Kitab al-Khazri, London, 1931, p.6. Wolfson, Crasxa's Critique of Aristotle, Harvard, 1929, p.12. On influence of Ibn Sina on Jewish Thinkers particularly spinoza refer to the following books: E.I.J. Rosenthal, Avicenna's Influence on Jewish Thought, "Avicenna: Scientist and Philosopher", ed., G.M. Wiefens, London, 1952, Ch. IV. Encyclopedia Britanica, "Studies in Muslim Philosophy", by Saeed Shaikh. Refer to "Comparative Studies in Islamic Philosophy", translated by Sayyid Mustafa Muhaqqiq Damad, Kharazmi Publication, 1369, Tehran, p.48. Al-Abanah, p.56. [..] Wolfson, Philosophy of Kalam. The term `inlibration' is used for this matter. Awail al-Maqalat, p.50. Ibid., p.58. Ibid. Sabzawari, Manzumah. McDermott, 1978, p.134ff. Ibn `Arabi, Futuhat Makkiyah, vol.4, p.294. Ibid., vol.2, p.516. Al-Hikmat al-`Ushi`ah, p.229. Ibid., p.230. Ibid., p.223. 23. Refer to the article: "Influence of Ghazzali on Western Thought", by Sayyid Mustafa Muhaqqiq Damad, Maqalat wa Barrasiha, Number Dai, pp.45-46. [..] Sabellius. David F., The Modern Theologians, volume Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1989, pp.195-198. Op. cit, Wolfson, p.32. Quoted from the book: Rationality, Religious and Moral Commitment, by J.W. Right, 1986, pp.2-301. In this book the over-mentioned text in quoted from the book Tract on Dogmatic Theology, which is the translation of, Fi `Usul al-Aqa`id, by Ghazzali.

do you do any of these things when fasting........? hope it helps :)? MIstakes when fasting. 1.Spending all day cooking Some of the sisters (either by their own choice or forced by their husbands) are cooking ALL day and ALL night, so that by the end of the day, they are too tired to even pray Ishaa, let alone pray Taraweeh or Tahajjud or even read Quraan . Husbands must help, do their share of the work!! This is the month of mercy and forgiveness. So turn off that stove and turn on your Imaan! 2. Eating too much Some people stuff themselves at Suhoor until they are ready to burst, because they think this is the way to not feel hungry during the day and some people eat at Iftaar, like there is no tomorrow, trying to 'make up for the food missed.' However, this is completely against the Sunnah. Moderation is the key to everything. The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: 'The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach; for the son of Adam a few mouthfuls are sufficient to keep his back straight. If you must fill it, then one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for air.' (Tirmidhi, Ibn Maajah. saheeh by al-Albaani). Too much food distracts a person from many deeds of obedience and worship, makes him lazy and also makes the heart heedless. It was said to Imam Ahmad: Does a man find any softness and humility in his heart when he is full? He said, I do not think so. 3. Sleeping all day Some people spend their entire day (or a major part of it) 'sleeping away their fast'. Is this what is really required of us during this noble month? These people also are missing the purpose of fasting and are slaves to their desires of comfort and ease. They cannot 'bear' to be awake and face a little hunger or exert a little self-control. For a fasting person to spend most of the day asleep is nothing but, negligence on his part. 4. Wasting time The month of Ramadaan is a precious, precious time, so much so that Allaah calls this month 'Ayyamum Ma'doodaat' (A fixed number of days). Before we know it, this month of mercy and forgiveness will be over. We should try and spend every moment possible in the worship of Allaah so that we can make the most of this blessing. However, there are some of us who waste away their day playing video games, or worse still, watching TV, movies or even listening to music. Subhaan Allaah! Trying to obey Allaah by DISOBEYING him! 5. Fasting but not giving up evil Some of us fast but do not give up lying, cursing, fighting, backbiting, etc. and some of us fast but do not give up cheating, stealing, dealing in haraam, buying lotto tickets, selling alcohol, fornication, etc. and all kinds of impermissible things without realizing that the purpose of fasting is to not stay away from food and drink; rather the aim behind it is to fear Allaah. "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)" [al-Baqarah 2:183] The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: 'Whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, and ignorance, Allaah has no need of him giving up his food and drink.' (Bukhaari) 6. Smoking Smoking is forbidden in Islam whether during Ramadaan or outside of it, as it is one of al-Khabaa'ith (evil things). And this includes ALL kinds of 'smoking material' eg.cigars, cigarettes, pipes,'Sheesha', hookah etc. 'he allows them as lawful At Tayyibaat (all good and lawful things), and prohibits them as unlawful Al Khabaa'ith (all evil and unlawful things) [al-A'raaf :157] It is harmful, not only to the one smoking, but also to the ones around him. It is also a means of wasting ones wealth. The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: 'There should be no harming or reciprocating harm.' This is especially true during fasting and it invalidates the fast. (Fatwa -Ibn 'Uthaymeen) 7. Skipping Suhoor The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: 'Eat suhoor for in suhoor there is blessing.'(Bukhaari, Muslim). And he (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: 'The thing that differentiates between our fasting and the fasting of the People of the Book is eating suhoor.' (Muslim) 8. Stopping Suhoor at 'Imsaak' Some people stop eating Suhoor 10-15 minutes earlier than the time of Fajr to observe 'Imsaak'. Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen said: This is a kind of bidah (innovation) which has no basis in the Sunnah. Rather the Sunnah is to do the opposite. Allaah allows us to eat until dawn: 'and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night)' [al-Baqarah 2:187] And the Prophet (pbuh) said: '….eat and drink until you hear the adhaan of Ibn Umm Maktoom, for he does not give the adhaan until dawn comes.' This 'imsaak' which some of the people do is an addition to what Allaah has prescribed, so it is false. It is a kind of extremism in religion, and the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: 'Those wh

what is the status of Christ in Islam ? Christ in Islam by Ahmed Deedat In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter One : Christian Muslim Responses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debate on TV At the end of the debate - "Christianity and Islam" - which appeared on the SABC-TV program "Cross Questions" on Sunday 5th June 1983, the Chairman, Mr. Bill Chalmers commented: "I think it can be said from this discussion that there is, at present, somewhat more accommodation on the Islamic side for the founder of Christianity than there is on the Christian side for the founder of Islam. What the significance of that is, we leave it to you, the viewer, to determine, but I do think you will agree that it is a good thing that we are talking together." "Bill" as he is popularly addressed, without any formalities, on all his programs, by all his panelists, is extremely charming and stupendous in his humility. He is a picture of what the Holy Quran portrays of a good Christian: "...And nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say: 'We are Christians': because among these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world. And they are not arrogant." (The Holy Quran 5:82) Jesus - His Status Were the Muslims on the panel trying to placate the viewers out policy, deceit or diplomacy? Nothing of the kind! They were only articulating what God Almighty had commanded them to say in the Holy Quran. As Muslims, they had no choice. They had said in so many words: "We Muslims believe, that Jesus was one of the mightiest messengers of God that he was the Christ, that he was born miraculously without any male intervention (which many modern-day Christians do not believe today), that he gave life to the dead by God's permission and that he healed those born blind and the lepers by god's permission. In fact, no Muslim is a Muslim if he or she does not believe in Jesus!" Pleasant Surprise Over 90% of the people who witnessed this debate must have been pleasantly, but skeptically, surprised. They might have not believed their ears. They must have surmised that the Muslims were playing to the gallery - that they were trying to curry favor with their fellow Christian countrymen; that if the Muslims would say a few good words about Jesus, then in reciprocation the Christians might say a few good words about Muhammed (may the peace and the blessings of God be upon all His righteous servants, Moses, Jesus, Muhammed...etc.); that I scratch your back and you scratch my back - which would be a sham or hypocrisy. Hate Cultivated We cannot blame the Christians for their skepticism. They have been so learned for centuries. They were trained to think the worst of the man Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, and his religion. How aptly did Thomas Carlyle say about his Christian brethren over a hundred and fifty years ago: "The lies which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man (Muhammed) are disgraceful to ourselves only." We Muslims are partly responsible for this. We have not done anything substantial to remove the cobwebs. Ocean of Christianity South Africa is an ocean of Christianity. If Libya boasts the highest percentage of Muslims on the continent of Africa, then the Republic of South Africa would also be entitled to boast the highest percentage of Christians. In this ocean of Christianity the R.S.A. - the Muslims are barely 2% of the total population. We are a voteless minority - numerically, we count for nothing; politically, we count for nothing; and economically, one white man, as Oppenheimer, could buy out the whole lot of us, lock, stock and barrel. So if we had feigned to appease, we might be excused. But no! We must proclaim our Master's Will; we must declare the Truth, whether we liked it or not. In the words of Jesus: "Seek ye the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Two : Jesus in the Quran -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christians Unaware The Christian does not know that the true spirit of charity which the Muslim displays, always, towards Jesus and his mother Mary spring from the fountainhead of his faith - the Holy Quran. He does not know that the Muslim does not take the holy name of Jesus, in his own language, without saying Eesa, alaihi assalam ("Jesus, peace be upon him") The Christian does not know that in the Holy Quran Jesus is mentioned twenty five times. For example: "We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear signs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit" (The Holy Quran 2:87) "O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary..." (3:45) "...Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of god..." (4:171) "...And in their foot steps we sent Jesus the son of Mary..." (5:46) "And Zakariya and John, and Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of the righteous." (6:85) Jesus - His Titles Though Jesus is mentioned by name in twenty-five places in the Holy Quran, he is also addressed with respect as: Ibn Maryam, meaning "The son of Mary"; and as the Maseeh (in Hebrew it is the Messiah), which is translated as "Christ". He is also known as Abdullah, "The servant of Allah"; and as Rasul u Allah, the messenger of Allah. He is spoken of as "The Word of God", as "The Spirit of God", as a "Sign of God", and numerous other epithets of honor spread over fifteen different chapters. The Holy Quran honors this mighty messenger of God, and the Muslims have not fallen short over the past fourteen hundred years in doing the same. There is not a single disparaging remark in the entire Quran to which even the most jaundiced among the Christians can take exception. Eesa Latinised to "Jesus" The Holy Quran refers to Jesus as Eesa, and this name is used more times than any other title, because this was his "Christian" name. Actually, his proper name was Eesa (Arabic), or Esau (Hebrew); classical Yeheshua, which the Christian nations of the West latinised as Jesus. Neither the "J" nor the second "s" in the name Jesus is to be found in the original tongue - they are not found in the Semitic languages. The word is very simply "E S A U" a very common Jewish name, used more than sixty times in the very first booklet alone of the Bible, in the part called "Genesis". There was at least one "Jesus" sitting on the "bench" at the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Josephus the Jewish historian mentions some twenty five Jesus' in his "Book of Antiquities". The New Testament speaks of "Bar-Jesus" a magician and a sorcerer, a false prophet (Acts 13:6); and also "Jesus-Justus" a Christian missionary, a contemporary of Paul (Colossians 4:11). These are distinct from Jesus the son of Mary. Transforming "Esau" to (J)esu(s) - Jesus - makes it unique. This unique (?) name has gone out of currency among the Jews and the Christians from the 2nd century after Christ. Among the Jews, because it came to be a name of ill - repute, the name of one who blasphemed in Jewry; and among the Christians because it came to be the proper name of their God. The Muslim will not hesitate to name his son Eesa because it is an honored name, the name of a righteous servant of the Lord. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Three : Mother And Son -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mary Honored The birth of Jesus Christ is described in two places of the Quran - chapter 3 and chapter 19. Reading from the beginning of his birth, we come across the story of Mary, and the esteemed position which she occupies in the House of Islam, before the actual annunciation of the birth of Jesus is given: "'Behold'! the angels said: 'O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee, and chosen thee above the women of all nations" (3:42) "Chosen thee above the women of all nations." Such an honor is not to be found given to Mary even in the Christian Bible! The verse continues: "O Mary! Worship thy Lord devoutly: prostrate thyself, and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down." (3:43) Divine Revelation What is the source of this beautiful and sublime recitation which, in its original Arabic, moves men to ecstasy and tears? verse 44 below explains: "This is part of the tidings, of the things unseen, which We reveal unto thee (O Muhammad!) by inspiration: Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows, as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary: nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point)." (3:44) Mary's Birth The story is that the maternal grandmother of Jesus, Hannah, had hitherto been barren. She poured out her heart to God: If only God will grant her a child, she would surely dedicate such a child for the service of God in the temple. God granted her prayer and Mary was born. Hannah was disappointed. She was yearning for a son, but instead she delivered a daughter; and in no way is the female like the male, for what she had in mind. What was she to do? She had made a vow to God. She waited for Mary to be big enough to fend for herself. When the time came, Hannah took her darling daughter to the temple, to hand over for temple services. Every priest wanted to be the god-father of this child. They cast lots with arrows for her - like the tossing of the coin - head or tail? eventually she fell to the lot of Zakariya, but not without a dispute. The Source of His Message This was the story. But where did Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, get this knowledge from? He was an Ummi, Arabic for "unlettered". He did not low how to read or write. He is made by God Almighty to answer this very question in the verse above, by saying that it was all by divine inspiration. "No!", says the controversialist. "This is Muhammed's own concoction. He copied his revelations from the Jews and Christians. He plagiarized it. He forged it." Knowing full-well, and believing as we do, that the whole Quran is the veritable Word of God, we will nevertheless agree, for the sake of argument, with the enemies of Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, for a moment, that he wrote it. We can now expect some cooperation from the unbelievers. Ask him: "Have you any qualms in agreeing that Muhammed was an Arab?" Only an ignorant will hesitate to agree. In that case there is no sense in pursuing any discussion. Cut short the talk. Close the book! With the man of reason, we proceed. "That this Arab, in the first instance, was addressing other Arabs. He was not talking to Indian Muslims, Chinese Muslims, or Nigerian Muslims. He was addressing his own people, the Arabs. Whether they agreed with him or not, he told them in the most sublime form, words that were seared into the hearts and minds of his listeners that Mary the mother of Jesus, a Jewess, was chosen above the women of all nations. Not his own mother, nor his wife nor his daughter, nor any other Arab woman, but a Jewess! Can one explain this? Because to everyone his own mother or wife, or daughters would come before other women. Why would the prophet of Islam honor a woman from his opposition! and a Jewess at that! belonging to a race which had been looking down upon his people for three thousand years? Just as they still look down upon their Arab brethren today." Sarah and Hagar The Jews learn, from the Bible, that their father, Abraham, had two wives Sarah and Hagar. They say that they are the children of Abraham through Sarah his legitimate wife; that their Arab brethren have descended through Hagar, a "bondwoman", and that as such, the Arabs are an inferior breed. Will anyone please explain the anomaly as to why Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, if he is the author, chose this Jewess for such high honor? The answer is simple, he had no choice he had no right to speak of his own desire. "It is no less than an inspiration sent down to him." (53:4) The Chapter of Maryam There is a Chapter in the Holy Quran, named Surat u Maryam "Chapter Mary", named in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him; again, such an honor is not to be found given to Mary in the Christian Bible. Out of the 66 books of the Protestants and 73 of the Roman Catholics, not one is named after Mary or her son. You will find books named after Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul and two score more obscure names, but not a single one is that of Mary! If Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, was the author of the Holy Quran, then he would not have failed to include in it with Mary, the mother of Jesus, his own mother Aamina, his dear wife Khadija, or his beloved daughter Fatima. But No! No! This can never be. The Quran is not his handiwork!. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Four : The Good News -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- " 'Behold!' the angels said: 'O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from him: his name will be Jesus, the son of Mary; held in honor in this world and the hereafter; and (of the company of) those nearest to Allah." (3:45) "Nearest to God," not physically nor geographically, but spiritually. Compare this with "And (Jesus) sat on the right hand of God." (Mark 16:19). The bulk of Christendom has misunderstood this verse as well as many others in the Bible. They imagine the Father (God) sitting on a throne, a glorified chair, and His Son, Jesus, sitting on His right hand side. Can you conjure up the picture? If you do, you have strayed from the true knowledge of God. He is no old Father Christmas. He is beyond the imagination of the mind of man. He exists. He is real, but He is not like anything we can think of, or imagine. In eastern languages "right hand" meant a place of honor, which the Holy Quran more fittingly describes as "In the company of those nearest to Allah." The above verse confirms that Jesus is the Christ. and that he is the Word which God bestowed upon Mary. Again, the Christian reads into these words, a meaning which they do not carry. They equate the word "Christ" with the idea of a god-incarnate; and the "Word" of God to be God. "Christ" Not a Name The word "Christ" is derived from the Hebrew word Messiah, Arabic Maseeh. Root word masaha, meaning "to rub", "to massage", "to anoint". Priests and kings were anointed when being consecrated to their offices. But in its translated Grecian form, "Christ" seems unique: befitting Jesus only. Christians like to translate names into their own language; like Cephas to "Peter" , Messiah to "Christ". How do they do that? Very easily. Messiah in Hebrew means "Anointed". The Greek word for anointed is Christos. Just lop off the 'os' from Christos, and you are left with "Christ"; a unique name! Christos means "Anointed", and anointed means appointed in its religious connotation. Jesus, peace and blessing be upon him, was appointed (anointed) at his baptism by John the Baptist, as God's Messenger. Every prophet of God is so anointed or appointed. The Holy Bible is replete with the "anointed" ones. In the original Hebrew, he was made a Messiah. Let us keep to the English translation "anointed." Not only were prophets and priests and kings anointed (Christos-ed), but horns, and cherubs and lamp-posts also. "I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar ..." (Genesis 31:13) "If the priest that is anointed do sin ..." (Leviticus 4:3) "And Moses... anointed the tabernacle and all things that was therein..." (Leviticus 8:100) "..the Lord shall...exalt the horn of his anointed" (I Samuel 2:10) "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus..." (Isaiah 45:1) "Thou art the anointed cherub..." (Ezekiel 28:14) There are an hundred more such references in the Holy Bible. Every time you come across the word "anointed" in your Bible, you can take it that that word would be christos in the Greek translations, and if you take the same liberty with the word that the Christians have done, you will have Christ Cherub, Christ Cyrus, Christ Priest and Christ Pillar, ...etc. Some Titles Exclusive Although, every prophet of God is an anointed one of God, a Messiah, the title Maseeh or Messiah, or its translation "Christ" is exclusively reserved for Jesus, the son of Mary, in both Islam and in Christianity. This is not unusual in religion. There are certain other honorific titles which may be applied to more than one prophet, yet being made exclusive to one by usage: like "Rasulullah", meaning "Messenger of God", which title is applied to both Moses (19:51) and Jesus (61:6) in the Holy Quran. Yet "Rasullullah" has become synonymous only with Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, among Muslims. Every prophet is indeed a "Friend of God", but its Arabic equivalent "Khalillullah" is exclusively associated with Father Abraham. This does not mean that the others are not God's friends. "Kaleemullah", meaning "One who spoke with Allah" is never used for anyone other than Moses, yet we believe that God spoke with many of His messengers, including Jesus and Muhammed, may the peace and blessings of God be upon all His servants. Associating certain titles with certain personages only, does not make them exclusive or unique in any way. We honor all in varying terms. Whilst the good news was being announced (verse 45 above) Mary was told that her unborn child will be called Jesus, that he would be the Christ, a "Word" from God, and that... "He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company) of the righteous." (3:46) "At length she brought the (babe) to her people carrying him. They said: 'O Mary! truly a strange thing has thou brought!'. 'O sister of Aaron!, thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!' " (The Holy Quran 19:27-28) Jews Amazed There is no Joseph the carpenter here. The circumstances being peculiar, Mary the mother of Jesus had retired herself to some remote place in the East (19:16). After the birth of the child she returns. A. Yusuf Ali, comments in his popular English translation of the Quran: "The amazement of the people knew no bounds. In any case they were prepared to think the worst of her, as she had disappeared from her kin for some time. But now she comes, shamelessly parading a babe in her arms! How she had disgraced house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood! "Sister of Aaron": Mary is reminded of her high lineage and the unexceptionable morals of her father and mother. How, they said, she had fallen, and disgraced the name of her progenitors! What could Mary do? How could she explain? Would they, in their censorious mood accept her explanation? All she could do was to point to the child, who, she knew, was no ordinary child. And the child came to her rescue. By a miracle he spoke, defended his mother, and preached to an unbelieving audience." Allah azza wa jall says in the Quran: "But she pointed to the babe. They said: 'How can we talk one who is a child in the cradle?' He (Jesus) said: 'I am indeed a servant of Allah (God) : He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet: 'and He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as I live. '(He hath made me) kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unblest; 'So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life again)'!" (19:29-33) His First Miracle(s) Thus Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, defended his mother from the grave calumny and innuendoes of her enemies. This is the very first miracle attributed to Jesus in the Holy Quran that, he spoke as an infant from his mother's arms. Contrast this with his first miracle in the Christian Bible which occurred when he was over thirty years of age: "And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, 'Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.' His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:110) Since this miracle, wine has flowed like water in Christendom. Many reason that what was good for the Master is good enough for them. Jesus was no "kill-joy" they say. Didn't he make good potent wine, that even those "well drunk", those whose senses had been dulled could make out the difference ? "That the best was kept for the last.". This was no pure grape juice. It was the same wine that, according to the Christian Bible, enabled the daughters of Lot to seduce their father (Genesis 19:32-33).It was the same wine which the Christian is advised to eschew in Ephesians 5:18 - "And be not drunk with wine..." It is that innocent (?) 1% potency that eventually leads millions down into the gutter. America has 10 million drunkards in the midst of 70 million "born-again" Christians! The Americans call their drunkards "Problem Drinkers". In South Africa, they are called "Alcoholics"; drunkard is too strong a word for people to stomach. But the Prime Minister of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, does not hesitate to call a spade a spade. He says, "I am not prepared to lead nation of drunkards", referring to his own people who drink intoxicants. Whether the water "blushed" or not "seeing" Jesus, we cannot blame him or his disciples for the drinking habits of his contemporaries. For he had truly opined, "have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). Mankind had not reached the stage of receiving the whole Truth of Islam. Did he not also say "You cannot put new wine into old bottles"? (Matthew 9:17). "Mother" or "Woman"? According to St. John, in the fourth verse above, describing the marriage feast at Cana, we are told that Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, behaved insolently towards his mother. He calls her "woman," and to rub more salt into the wound he is made to say "what have I to do with thee?" What connection is there between you and me, or what have I got to do with you? Could he have forgotten that this very "woman" had carried him for nine months, and perhaps suckled him for 2 years, and had borne endless insults and injuries on account of him? Is she not his mother? Is there no word in his language for "mother"? Strange as it may seem, that while the missionaries boast about their master's humility, meekness and long-suffering, they call him the "Prince of Peace" and they sing that "he was led to the slaughter like a lamb, and like a sheep who before his shearer is dumb, he opened not his mouth", yet they proudly record in the same breath, that he was ever ready with invectives for the elders of his race, and was always itching for a showdown i.e. if their records are true: "Ye hypocrites!" "Ye wicked and adulterous generation!" "Ye whited sephulcres!" "Ye generation of vipers!" and now to his mother: "Woman..." Jesus Defended Muhammed, salla Allah u alihi wa sallam, the Messenger of God, is made to absolve Jesus from the false charges and calumnies of his enemies. "And He (God Almighty) hath made me (Jesus) kind to my mother, and not overbearing or unblest" (19:31). On receiving the good news of the birth of a righteous son Mary responds: "She said: 'O My Lord! how shall I have a son, when no man hath touched me?" The angel says in reply: "He said: 'Even so: Allah (God) createth what He willeth: when He hath decreed a matter He but sayth o it 'Be,' and it is! And Allah (God) will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Torah (Law) and the Gospel," (3:47-48). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Five : Quranic and Biblical Versions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meeting the Reverend I was visiting the "Bible House" in Johannesburg. Whilst browsing through the stacks of Bibles and religious books, I picked up an Indonesian Bible and had just taken in hand a Greek - English New Testament, a large, expensive volume. I had not realized that I was being observed by the supervisor of the Bible House. Casually, he walked up to me. Perhaps my beard and my Muslim headgear were an attraction and a challenge? He inquired about my interest in that costly volume. I explained that as a student of comparative religion, I had need for such a book. He invited me to have tea with him in his office. It was very kind of him and I accepted. Over the cup of tea, I explained to him the Muslim belief in Jesus, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. I explained to him the high position that Jesus occupied in the House of Islam. He seemed skeptical about what I said. I was amazed at his seeming ignorance, because only retired Reverend gentlemen can become Supervisors of Bible Houses in South Africa. I began reciting from verse 42 of chapters 3 of the Holy Quran: "'Behold!' The angels said: 'O Mary, Allah hath chosen thee...'" I wanted the Reverend to listen, not only to the meaning of the Quran, but also to the music of its cadences when the original Arabic was recited. Rev. Dunkers (for that was his name) sat back and listened with rapt attention to "Allah's Words". When I reached the end of verse 49, the Reverend commented that the Quranic message was like that of his own Bible. He said, he saw no difference between what he behaved as a Christian, and what I had read to him. I said: "that was true". If he had come across these verses in the English language alone without their Arabic equivalent, side by side, he would not have been able to guess in a hundred years that he was reading the Holy Quran. If he were a Protestant, he would have thought that he was reading the Roman Catholic Version, if he had not seen one, or the Jehovah's Witness Version or the Greek Orthodox Version, or the hundred and one other versions that he might not have seen; but he would never have guessed that he was reading the Quranic version. The Christian would be reading here, in the Quran, everything he wanted to hear about Jesus, but in a most noble, elevated and sublime language. He could not help being moved by it. In these eight terse verses from 42 to 49 we are told: (a) That Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virtuous woman, and honored above the women of all nations. (b) That all that was being said was God's own Revelation to mankind. (c) That Jesus was the "Word" of God. (d) That he was the Christ that the Jews were waiting for. (e) That God will empower this Jesus to perform miracles even in infancy. (f) That Jesus was born miraculously, without any male intervention. (g) That God will vouchsafe him Revelation. (h) That he will give life to the dead by God's permission, and that he will heal those born blind and the lepers by God's permission, ... etc. "Chalk and Cheese" The most fervent Christian cannot take exception to a single statement or word here. But the difference between the Biblical and the Quranic narratives is that between "chalk and cheese". "To me they are identical, what is the difference?" the Reverend asked. I know that in their essentials both the stories agree in their details, but when we scrutinize them closely we will discover that the difference between them is staggering. Now compare the miraculous conception as announced in verse 47 of the Holy Quran with what the Holy Bible says: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was in this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, (as husband and wife) she was found with child of the holy ghost."(Matthew 1:18) Master Dramatizer The eminent Billy Graham from the United States of America dramatized this verse in front of 40,000 people in King Park, Durban, with his index finger sticking out and swinging his outstretched arm from right to left, he said: "And the Holy Ghost came and impregnated Mary!" On the other hand St. Luke tells us the very same thing but less crudely. He says, that when the annunciation was made, Mary was perturbed. Her natural reaction was : "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34) meaning sexually. The Quranic narrative is: "She said: O my Lord! how shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" (3:47) meaning sexually. In essence there is no difference between these two statements "seeing I know not a man" and "when no man hath touched me". Both the quotations have an identical meaning. It is simply a choice of different words meaning the same thing. But the respective replies to Mary's plea in the two Books (the Quran and the Bible) are revealing. The Biblical Version Says the Bible: "And the angle answered and said into her : 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee" (Luke 1:35) Can't you see that you are giving the atheist, the skeptic, the agnostic a stick to beat you with? They may well ask "How did the Holy Ghost come upon Mary?" "How did the Highest overshadow her?" We know that literally it does not mean that: that it was an immaculate conception, but the language used here, is distasteful. Now contrast this with the language of the Quran: The Quranic Version "He said (the angel says in reply): 'Even so: Allah (God) createth what He willeth: when He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!' " (3:47) This is the Muslim concept of the birth of Jesus. For God to create a Jesus, without a human father, He merely has to will it. If He wants to create a million Jesus' without fathers or mothers, He merely wills them into existence. He does not have to take seeds and transfer them, like men or animals by contact or artificial insemination . He wills everything into being by His word of command "Be" and "It is". There is nothing new in what I am telling you, I reminded the Reverend. It is in the very first Book of your Holy Bible, Genesis 1:3 "And God said..." What did He say? He said "Be" and "It was". He did not have to articulate the words. This is our way of understanding the word "Be", that He willed everything into being. Choice for His Daughter "Between these two versions of the birth of Jesus, the Quranic version and the Biblical version, which would you prefer to give your daughter ?" I asked the supervisor of the Bible House. He bowed his head down in humility and admitted "The Quranic Version." How can "a forgery" or "an imitation", as it is alleged of the Quran, be better than the genuine, the original, as it is claimed for the Bible? It can never be, unless this Revelation to Muhammed is what it, itself, claims to be viz. The pure and holy Word of God! There are a hundred different tests that the unprejudiced seeker after truth can apply to the Holy Quran and it will qualify with flying colors to being a Message from on High. Like Adam Does the miraculous birth of Jesus make him a God or a "begotten" son of God? No! says the Holy Quran: "The similitude of Jesus before Allah (God) is that of Adam; He created him from dust then said to him: 'Be', and he was." (3:59) Yusuf Ali, comments in his notes in the Quran translation: "After a description of the high position which Jesus occupies as a prophet in the preceding verses we have a repudiation of the dogma that he was God, or the son of God, or any thing more than man. If it is said that he was born without a human father, Adam was also so born. Indeed Adam was born without either a human father or mother. As far as our physical bodies are concerned they are mere dust. In God's sight Jesus was as dust just as Adam was or humanity is. The greatness of Jesus arose from the divine command 'Be': for after that he was more than dust a great spiritual leader and teacher" The logic of it is that, if being born without a male parent entitles Jesus to being equated with God, then, Adam would have a greater right to such honor, and this no Christian would readily concede. Thus, the Muslim is made to repudiate the Christian blasphemy. Further, if the Christian splits hairs by arguing that Adam was "created" from the dust of the ground, whereas Jesus was immaculately "begotten" in the womb of Mary, then let us remind him that, even according to his own false standards, there is yet another person greater than Jesus, in his own Bible . Who is this superman? Paul's Innovation "For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God... Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life..." (Hebrews 7:1,3) Here is a candidate for Divinity itself, for only God Almighty could possess these qualities. Adam had a beginning (in the garden), Jesus had a beginning (in the stable); Adam had an end and, claim the Christians, so had Jesus "and he gave up the ghost". But where is Melchisedec? Perhaps he is hibernating somewhere like Rip Van Winkel (a fairy tale character who slept for many ages.) And what is this "Hebrews"? It is the name of one of the Books of the Holy Bible, authored by the gallant St. Paul, the self appointed thirteenth apostle of Christ. Jesus had twelve apostles, but one of them (Judas) had the Devil in him. So the vacancy had to be filled, because of the "twelve" thrones in heaven which had to be occupied by his disciples to judge the children of Israel (Luke 22:30). Saul was a renegade Jew, and the Christians changed his name to "Paul", probably because "Saul" sounds Jewish. This St. Paul made such a fine mess of the teachings of Jesus, peace blessings be upon him, that he earned for himself the second most coveted position of "The Most Influential Men of History" in the monumental work of Michael H. Hart: The 100 or The Top Hundred or the Greatest Hundred in History. Paul outclasses even Jesus because, according to Michael Hart, Paul was the real founder of present day Christianity. The honor of creating Christianity had to be shared between Paul and Jesus, and Paul won because he wrote more Books of the Bible than any other single author, whereas Jesus did not write a single word. Paul needed no inspiration to write his hyperboles here and in the rest of his Epistles. Did not Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Goebbels say: "The bigger the lie the more likely it is to be believed'? But the amazing thing about this exaggeration is that no Christian seems to have read it. Every learned man to whom I have shown this verse to, seemed to be seeing it for the first time. They appear dumbfounded, as described by the fitting words of Jesus: "...seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matthew 13:13) The Holy Quran also contains a verse which fittingly describes this well cultivated sickness: "Deaf, dumb and blind, will they not return (to the path)." (2:18) The Sons of God The Muslim takes strong exception to the Christian dogma that "Jesus is the only begotten son, begotten not made". This is what the Christian is made to repeat from childhood in his catechism. I have asked learned Christians, again and again as to what they are really trying to emphasize, when they say: "Begotten not made". They know that according to their own God given (?) records, God has sons by the tons: "...Adam, which was the son of God."(Luke 3:38) "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair... And when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them..." (Genesis 6: 2,4) "...Israel is My son, even My firstborn:" (Exodus 4:22) "...for I (God) am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn." (Jeremiah 31:9) "...the Lord hath said unto me (David): 'Thou art My son: this day have I begotten thee." (Psalms 2:7) "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." (Romans 18:14) Can't you see that in the language of the Jew, every righteous person, every Tom, Dick and Harry who followed the Will and Plan of God, was a "Son of God". It was a metaphorical descriptive term commonly used among the Jews. The Christian agrees with this reasoning, but goes on to say: "but Jesus was not like that". Adam was made by God. Every living thing was made by God, He is the Lord, Cherisher and Sustainer of all. Metaphorically speaking therefore God is the Father of all. But Jesus was the "begotten" son of God, not a created son of God ? Begotten Means "Sired"! In my forty years of practical experience in talking to learned Christians, not a single one has opened his mouth to hazard an explanation of the phrase "begotten not made". It had to be an American who dared to explain. He said : "It means, sired by God." "What!?" I exploded : "Sired by God?" "No, no!" he said, "I am only trying to explain the meaning, I do not believe that God really sired a son." The sensible Christian says that the words do not literally mean what they say. Then why do you say it? Why are you creating unnecessary conflict between the 1,200,000,000 Christians and a thousand million Muslims of the world in making senseless statements? Reason for Objection The Muslim takes exception to the word "begotten", because begetting is an animal act, belonging to the lower animal functions of sex. How can we attribute such a lowly capacity to God? Metaphorically we are all the children of God, the good and the bad, and Jesus would be closer to being the son of God than any one of us, because he would be more faithful to God then any one of us can ever be. From that point of view he is preeminently the son of God. Although this pernicious word "begotten" has now unceremoniously been thrown out of the "Most Accurate" version of the Bible, the Revised Standard Version (R.S.V.), its ghost still lingers on in the Christian mind, both black and white. Through its insidious brainwashing the white man is made to feel superior to his black Christian brother of the same Church and Denomination. And in turn, the black man is given a permanent inferiority complex through this dogma. Brain-washed Inferiority The human mind can't help reasoning that since the "begotten son" of an African will look like an African, and that of a Chinaman as a Chinese, and that of an Indian like an Indian: so the begotten son of God aught naturally to look like God. Billions of beautiful pictures and replicas of this "only begotten son of God" are put in peoples hands. He looks like a European with blonde hair, blue eyes and handsome features like e one I saw in the "King of Kings" or "The Day of Triumph" or "Jesus of Nazareth". Remember Jeffrey Hunter? The "Savior" of the Christian is more like a German than a Jew with his polly nose. So naturally, if the son is a white man, the father would also be a white man (God?). Hence the darker skinned races of the earth subconsciously have the feeling of inferiory ingrained in their souls as God's "step children". No amount of face creams, skin lighteners and hair straighteners will erase the inferiority. God is neither black nor white. He is beyond the imagination of the mind of man. Break the mental shackles of a Caucasian (white) man-god, and you have broken the shackles of a permanent inferiority. But intellectual bondages are harder to shatter: the slave himself fights to retain them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Six : Answer to Christian Dilemmas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Christ in Islam" is really Christ in the Quran: and the Holy Quran has something definite to say about every aberration of Christianity. The Quran absolves Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, from all the false charges of his enemies as well as the misplaced infatuation of his followers. His enemies allege that he blasphemed against God by claiming Divinity. His misguided followers claim that he did avow Divinity, but that was not blasphemy because he was God. What does the Quran say ? Addressing both the Jews and the Christians, Allah says: "O People of the Book! commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah (God) aught but the truth. Christ Jesus son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah (God), and His Word, which he bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah (God) and His messengers..." (4:171) Going to Extremes "O People of the Book" is a very respectful title with which the Jews and the Christians are addressed in the Holy Quran. In other words, Allah is saying "O Learned People!", "O People with a Scripture!" According to their own boast, the Jews and the Christians prided themselves over the Arabs, who had no Scripture before the Quran. As a learned people, Allah pulls up both the contending religionists for going to either extremes as regards the personality of Christ. The Jews made certain insinuations about the legitimacy of Jesus and charged him of blasphemy by twisting his words. The Christians read other meanings into his words; wrench words out of their context to make him God. The modern day Christian, the hot - gospeller, the Bible thumper, uses harsher words and cruder approaches to win over a convert to his blasphemies. He says: (a) "Either Jesus is God or a liar" (b) "Either Jesus is God or a lunatic" (c) "Either Jesus is God or an impostor" These are his words, words culled from Christian literature. Since no man of charity, Muslim or otherwise, can condemn Christ so harshly as the Christian challenges him to do, perforce he must keep non-committal. He thinks he must make a choice between one or the other of these silly extremes. It does not occur to him that there is an alternative to this Christian conundrum. Sensible Alternative Is it not possible that Jesus is simply what he claimed to be, a prophet, like so many other prophets that passed away before him? Even that he is one of the greatest of them, a mighty miracle worker, a great spiritual teacher and guide - the Messiah!. Why only God or Lunatic? Is "lunacy" the opposite of "Divinity" in Christianity? What is the antonym of God? Will some clever Christian answer? The Quran lays bare the true position of Christ in a single verse, followed by a note by Yusuf Ali's: "That he was the son of a woman, Mary, and therefore a man;" "But a messenger, a man with a mission from Allah (God), and therefore entitled to honor." "A Word bestowed on Mary, for he was created by Allah's word 'Be', and he was;"(3:59). A spirit proceeding from Allah (God), but not Allah: his life and mission were more limited than in the case of some other messengers, though we must pay equal honor to him as a prophet of Allah. The doctrines of Trinity, equality with God, and sons, are repudiated as blasphemies. Allah (God) is independent of all needs and has no need of a son to manage His affairs. The Gospel of John (whoever wrote it) has put a great deal of Alexandrian Gnostic mysticism round the doctrine of the Word (Greek, Logos), but it is simply explained here." Jesus Questioned Reproduced below are verses 119 to 121 from the Chapter of Maeda (chapter 5 of the Quran) depicting the scene of Judgment Day, when Allah will question Jesus, peace and blessings be upon him, regarding the misdirected zeal of his supposed followers in worshipping him and his mother: and his response, "And behold! Allah will say: 'O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah?' He will say: 'Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, Thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. 'Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things. 'If Thou dost punish them, they are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the Exalted in power, the Wise.'" (5:116-118) Claimed No Divinity If this is the statement of truth from the All-Knowing, that "Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'", then how do the Christians justify worshipping Jesus? There is not a single unequivocal statement throughout the Bible, in all its 66 volumes of the Protestant versions, or in the 73 volumes of the Roman Catholic versions, where Jesus claims to be God or where he says "worship me". Nowhere does he say that he and God Almighty "are one" and "the same person." The last phrase above "one and the same person" tickles many a "hot-gospeller" and "Bible-thumper," not excluding the Doctor of Divinity and the Professor of Theology. Even the new converts to Christianity have memorized these verses. They are programmed to rattle off verses out of context, upon which they can hang their faith. The words "are one" activates the mind by association of memories. "Yes", say the Trinitarians, the worshippers of three gods in one God, and one God in three gods, "Jesus did claim to be God!" Where? Reverend at the Table I had taken Rev. Morris D.D. and his wife, to lunch at the "Golden Peacock." While at the table, during the course of our mutual sharing of knowledge, the opportunity arose to ask, "Where?" And without a murmur he quoted, "I and my father are one" to imply that God and Jesus were one and the same person. That Jesus here claims to be God. The verse quoted was well known to me, but it was being quoted out of context. It did not carry the meaning that the Doctor was imagining, so I asked him, "What is the context?" Choked on "Context" The Reverend stopped eating and began staring at me. I said, "Why? Don't you know the context?", "You see, what you have quoted is the text, I want to know the context, the text that goes with it, before or after." Here was an Englishman (Canadian), a paid servant of the Presbyterian Church, a Doctor of Divinity, and it appeared that I was trying to teach him English. Of course he knew what "context" meant. But like the rest of his compatriots, he had not studied the sense in which Jesus had uttered the words. In my forty years of experience, this text had been thrown at me hundreds of times, but not a single learned Christian had ever attempted to hazard a guess as to its real meaning. They always start fumbling for their Bibles. The Doctor did not have one with him. When they do start going for their Bibles, I stop them in their stride: "Surely, you know what you are quoting?", "Surely, you know your Bible?" After reading this, I hope some "born-again" Christians will rectify this deficiency. But I doubt that my Muslim readers will ever come across one in their lifetime who could give them the context. What is the Context? It is unfair on the part of the Reverend, having failed to provide the context, then to ask me, "Do you know the context?" "Of course," I said. "Then, what is it?" asked my learned friend. I said, "That which you have quoted is the text of John chapter 10, verse 30. To get at the context, we have to begin from verse 23 which reads: 23. "and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade." (John 10:23). John, or whoever he was, who wrote this story, does not tell us the reason for Jesus tempting the Devil by walking alone in the lion's den. For we do not expect the Jews to miss a golden opportunity to get even with Jesus. Perhaps, he was emboldened by the manner in which he had literally whipped the Jews single-handed in the Temple, and upset the tables of the money changers at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:15). 24. "The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." (John 10:24). They surrounded him. Brandishing their fingers in his face, they began accusing him and provoking him; saying that he had not put forth his claim plainly enough, clearly enough. That he was talking ambiguously. They were trying to work themselves into a frenzy to assault him. In fact, their real complaint was that they did not like his method of preaching, his invectives, the manner in which he condemned them for their formalism, their ceremonialism, their going for the letter of the law and forgetting the spirit. But Jesus could not afford to provoke them any further there were too many and they were itching for a fight. Discretion is the better part of valor. In a conciliatory spirit, befitting the occasion: 25. "Jesus answered, I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me," 26. "but you do not believe because you are not my sheep." (John 10:25-26). Jesus rebuts the false charge of his enemies that he was ambiguous in his claims to being the Messiah that they were waiting for. He says that he did tell them clearly enough, yet they would not listen to him, but: 27. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." 28. "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." 29. "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.." (John 10:29). How can anyone be so blind as not to see the exactness of the ending of the last two verses. But spiritual blinkers are more impervious than physical defects. He is telling the Jews and recording for posterity, the real unity or relationship between the Father and the son. The most crucial verse: 30. "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30). One in what? In their Omniscience? In their Nature? In their Omnipotence? No! One in purpose! That once a believer has accepted faith, the Messenger sees to it that he remains in faith, and God Almighty also sees to it that he remains in faith. This is the purpose of the "Father" and the "son" and the "Holy Ghost" and of every man and every woman of faith. Let the same John explain his Gnostic mystic verbiage. "That they all may be one as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us..." "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one..."(John 17:20-22) If Jesus is "one" with God, and if that "oneness" makes him God, then the traitor Judas, and the doubting Thomas, and the satanic Peter, plus the other nine who deserted him when he was most in need are God(s), because the same "oneness" which he claimed with God in John 10:30, now he claims for all "who forsook him and fled" (Mark 14:50). All "ye of little faith" (Matthew 8:26). All "O faithless and perverse generation" (Luke 9:41). Where and when will the Christian blasphemy end? The expression "I and my Father are one," was very innocent, meaning nothing more than a common purpose with God. But the Jews were looking for trouble and any excuse will not do, therefore, 31. "Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him," 32. "but Jesus said to them, I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" 33. "The Jews answered him, saying : 'For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself a God.'" (John 10:31-33). In verse 24 above the Jews falsely alleged that Jesus was talking ambiguously. When that charge was ably refuted, they then accused him of blasphemy which is like treason in the spiritual realm. So they say that Jesus is claiming to be God "I and the Father are one". The Christians agree with the Jews in this that Jesus did make such a claim; but differ in that it was not blasphemy because the Christians say that he was God and was entitled to own up to his Divinity. The Christians and the Jews are both agreed that the utterance is serious. To one as an excuse for good "redemption", and to the other as an excuse for good "riddance". Between the two, let the poor Jesus die. But Jesus refuses to co-operate in this game, so: 34. "Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your Law, `I have said you are gods'?" 35. "If he called them `gods,' to whom the word of God came --and the Scripture cannot be broken--," 36. "what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, `I am God's Son'?" (John 10:34-36). Why "Your Law"? He is a bit sarcastic in verse 34, but in any event, why does he say: "Your Law"? Is it not also his Law? Didn't he say: "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law of the prophets: I am come not to destroy, but to fulfill (the Law). For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one Jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:1718). "You are Gods" "You are gods:" He is obviously quoting from the 82nd Psalm , verse 6, "I have said, ye are gods: and all of you are the children of the most High." Jesus, continues: "If he (i.e. God Almighty) called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (meaning that the prophets of God were called 'gods') and the scripture cannot be broken..." (John 10:35), in other words he is saying: "you can't contradict me!" Jesus knows his Scripture; he speaks with authority; and he reasons with his enemies that: "If good men, holy men, prophets of God are being addressed as 'gods' in our Books of Authority, with which you find no fault, then why do you take exception to me? When the only claim I make for myself is far inferior in our language, viz. 'A son of God' as against others being called 'gods' by God Himself. Even if I (Jesus) described myself as 'god' in our language, according to Hebrew usage, you could find no fault with me." This is the plain reading of Christian Scripture. I am giving no interpretations of my own or some esoteric meaning to words! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Seven : "In The Beginning" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Where does Jesus say: 'I am God,' or 'I am equal to God,' or 'Worship me'?" I asked the Rev. Morris again. He took a deep breath and took another try. He quoted the most oft-repeated verse of the Christian Bible - John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Please note, these are not the words of Jesus. They are the words of John (or whoever wrote them). Acknowledged by every erudite Christian scholar of the Bible as being the words of another Jew, Philo of Alexandria, who had written them even before John and Jesus were born. And Philo claimed no divine inspiration for them. No matter what mystical meaning that Philo had woven around these words (which our John has plagiarized), we will accept them for what they are worth. Greek not Hebrew Since the manuscripts of the 27 Books of the New Testament are in Greek, a Christian sect has produced its own version and has even changed the name of this selection of 27 Books to Christian Greek Scriptures ! I asked the Reverend whether he knew Greek? "Yes," he said, He had studied Greek for 5 years before qualification. I asked him what was the Greek word for "God" the first time it occurs in the quotation "and the Word was With God"? He kept staring, but didn't answer. So I said, the word was Hotheos, which literally means "The God". Since the European (including the North American) has evolved a system of using capital letters to start a proper noun and small letters for common nouns, we would accept his giving a capital "G" for God; in other words Hotheos is rendered "the god" which in turn is rendered "God". "Now tell me, what is the Greek word for "God" in the second occurrence in your quotation - "and the Word was God"? The Reverend still kept silent. Not that he did not know Greek, or that he had lied, but he knew more than that; the game was up. I said : "the word was Tontheos, which means "a god". According to your own system of translating you aught to have spelt this word 'God' a second time with a small 'g' i.e. 'god', and not 'God' with a capital 'G'; in other words Tontheos is rendered "a god". Both of these, "god" or "a god" are correct. I told the Reverend: "But in 2 Corinthians 4:4 you have dishonestly reversed your system by using a small 'g' when spelling 'God' "(and the devil is) the god of this world." The Greek word for "the god" is Hotheos the same as in John 1:1. "Why have you not been consistent in your translations ?" "If Paul was inspired to write hotheos the God for the Devil, why don't you use that capital 'G'?" And in the Old Testament, the Lord said unto Moses: "See, I have made thee a god to Pharoah" (Exodus 7:1). "Why do you use a small 'g' for 'God' when referring to Moses instead of a capital 'G' as you do for a mere word 'Word' - "and the Word was God."? "Why do you do this? Why do you play fast and loose with the Word of God?" I asked the reverend. He said, "I didn't do it." I said, "I know, but I am talking about the vested interests of Christianity, who are hell-bent to deify Christ, by using capital letters here and small letters there, to deceive the unwary masses who think that every letter, every comma and full stop and the capital and small letters were dictated by God (Capital 'G' here!)." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Eight : What is Left ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barrack Obama.........do you really want to vote for him? Obama's misuse of history template_bas template_bas Despite the candidate's claims, Lincoln and Kennedy were seasoned politicians before they became president. By Sean Wilentz January 26, 2008 'God alone knows the future," Ambrose Bierce reputedly wrote, "but only an historian can alter the past." Although Bierce was undoubtedly right about historians, he should perhaps have added politicians and their ardent supporters as well. In recent weeks, some of the presidential candidates and their surrogates have been evoking history more insistently than ever. Not surprisingly, those evocations often have been flimsy and faulty. On the Republican side, the misuse of history has mostly centered on the presidency of Ronald Reagan; indeed, the GOP contest has at times looked like an "American Idol"-style competition over who can deliver the most convincing imitation of Reagan. At the Fox News debate on Jan. 5, the GOP candidates invoked the former president's name 34 times -- yet, on closer inspection, their evocations have more to do with nostalgia for a happier time for conservatives than with historical accuracy. The more grievous abuses of history, though, have come from the Democrats, and particularly from the Barack Obama side, including his many avid supporters in the media and the academy. (Perhaps this is a good place to note that I am on record as a supporter of Hillary Clinton.) Few will disagree that it is very rare for a candidate with as little experience in politics and government as Obama to capture the imagination of so many influential Americans. One way for a candidate like this to minimize his lack of experience is to pluck from the past the names of great presidents who also, supposedly, lacked experience. Early in the campaign, Obama's backers likened him to the supposed neophyte John F. Kennedy. More recently, some have pointed out (as did New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, among others) that Abraham Lincoln served only one "undistinguished" term in the House before he was elected president in 1860. These comparisons distort the past beyond recognition. By the time he ran for president, JFK had served three terms in the House and twice won election to the Senate, where he was an active member of the Foreign Relations Committee. In total, he had held elective office in Washington for 14 years. Before that, he was, of course, a decorated veteran of World War II, having fought with valor in the South Pacific. Kennedy, the son of a U.S. ambassador to Britain, had closely studied foreign affairs, which led to his first book, "Why England Slept," as well as to a postwar stint in journalism. This record is not comparable to Obama's eight years in the Illinois Legislature, his work as a community organizer and his single election to the Senate in 2004 -- an election he won against a late entrant, right-wing Republican Alan Keyes, in a state where the GOP was in severe disarray. The Lincoln comparison is equally tortured. Yes, Lincoln spent only two years in the House after winning election in 1846. Yet his deep involvement in state and national politics began in 1832, the same year he was elected a captain in the Illinois militia -- and 28 years before he ran for president. He then served as leader of the Illinois Whig Party and served his far-from-undistinguished term in Congress courageously leading opposition to the Mexican War. After returning home, he became one of the leading railroad lawyers in the country, emerged as an outspoken antislavery leader of Illinois' Republican Party -- and then, in 1858, ran unsuccessfully for the Senate and engaged with Stephen A. Douglas in the nation's most important debates over slavery before the Civil War. It behooves the champions of any candidate to think carefully when citing similarities to Lincoln's record. In this case, the comparison is absurd. But on to the founding fathers. The historian Joseph Ellis, writing in the Los Angeles Times, likened Obama to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, in a hazy way, as an advocate of nonpartisan politics. Yet Ellis had to sidestep what even he admitted is a large, inconvenient fact: Jefferson and Madison were not nonpartisan -- they actually founded what has evolved into the Democratic Party. Through highly selective and misleading quotations, Ellis then described them as nonpartisan at heart, ignoring Madison's recognition, in 1792, that "in every political society, parties are unavoidable," or Jefferson's pledge, as president, to sink the Federalist Party "into an abyss from which there shall be no resurrection for it." Returning to more recent history: The Obama campaign, in asserting a supposedly innovative post-partisan politics, has endorsed a partisan Republican account of the post-Reagan years that is at odds with the facts. Obama has asserted that the GOP has been the "party of ideas" over the last 10 to 15 years -- that is, since 1993 or so. In other words: the old (and long discredited) right-wing bromides repackaged as the "Contract with America" in 1994, the Republican attack on Medicare that led to the government shutdown a year later, the endless recycling of supply-side economics (especially ironic, given the current meltdown), and the other ideological agendas pushed by Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, have made the GOP the party of intellectual daring and innovation. Historians cannot expect all politicians and their supporters to know as much about American history as, say, John F. Kennedy, who won the Pulitzer Prize for a work of history. But it is reasonable to expect respect for the basic facts -- and not contribute to cheapening the historical currency. Spreading bad history is no way to make history. Sean Wilentz, a professor of history at Princeton University, is the author of "The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln," among other books.

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? I am interested in starting a dialogue with this question Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/r... Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? I am interested in starting a dialogue with this question Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/r... Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? I am throwing this one back out to open a dialogue Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-49818.html Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-WIGGLY yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? I am interested in starting a dialogue with this question Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/r... Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women. to Miranda- I don't know where you got the idea that I cheat on my wife...I am loyal hello Mandi- thank you for your thoughtful answer. next time I repost this I will try to include males realizing how their pasts affect women. the thing about it taking two to sin. that is part of the reason women who have been with alot of men are undesireable. To take a wife into your matrimonial bed that has been with a large amount of men, is like having them in bed with you. This is not desirable, unless a man is a bisexual...and the whole question probably would not matter to him anyway.

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? I am interested in starting a dialogue with this question Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/r... Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.

Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? Do women realize that their past relationships do matter to a guy? everybody wants to find their "perfect mate" and good luck to all, you deserve it my question is, is that it seems american women like to hook up with "bad boys" (ie druggies drunks etc.) sleep with an excessive amount of them...build their personal numbers up high, have children out of wedlock, basically make themselves very undesirable as a "perfect mate " . After they "ruin" their lives, they want to find a "nice guy" to pick up the pieces and try to fix their lives. I have had alot of replies from women saying that pasts do not matter. This is not true. Most of us feel that women who sleep with alot of men will always sleep with alot of men. This is a small world, and like it or not...everyone knows what everyone does. Even if the girl doesn't tell you their "number" (most of them do, because they think it will make you closer), their friends or family usually end up saying too much around their boyfriends/husbands. We find out even if we don't want to, so it can't be hidden I gave up on what I saw as the available "singles pool" here, moved to Germany and found a good wife. For all of you who want to know "how do i know", I really took the time to know this girl, and I found out everything from her and family and friends. I let her know what was important to me in a realtionship. I just want to know people opinions on how we can improve this trend, that is ruining the american family. Check this link out.. http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-49818.html Additional Details This subject does matter to me. I moved back to the States and I see this as one of the things destroying this country. to answer IB-W**** yes, it does suck for nice guys. To all the women that think i played a bunch of girls before being married....I am a nice guy...I did not build up my numbers, and the dating problem was because of not meeting women with morals This question does not really relate to the younger women ( high school and younger) but it might be a valuable thing to think about... you ARE the future. And like it or not, the future of the american family falls heavily on the behavior of our women.