Why Darwinism Is False

B Vitamins Reduce Schizophrenia Symptoms: Study

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By Sylvia Booth Hubbard   |   Thursday, 16 Feb 2017 11:40 AM

High doses of B vitamins reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, says a study published in the journal Psychological Medicine. Researchers found that adding B vitamins, including B6, inositol, and B12 significantly improved symptoms of the debilitating condition.

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic mental disorder that makes people feel they have lost touch with reality, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Symptoms can include hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there, and thinking others are reading their minds or planning to harm them. Up to 3.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disorder.

Currently, patients are treated with antipsychotic drugs. Although patients typically experience remission of symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions within the first few months of treatment, 80 percent of patients relapse within five years.

For the new study, researchers identified 18 clinical trials with a combined total of 832 patients receiving antipsychotic treatment for schizophrenia. They found that B-vitamin interventions which used higher dosages or combined several vitamins were consistently effective for reducing psychiatric symptoms, whereas those which used lower doses were ineffective.

The evidence also suggested that B-vitamin supplements were most beneficial when they were added to medicine regimens early after diagnosis.

“Looking at all of the data from clinical trials of vitamin and mineral supplements for schizophrenia to date, we can see that B vitamins effectively improve outcomes for some patients,” said lead author Joseph Firth of the University of Manchester.

 

“This could be an important advance, given that new treatments for this condition are so desperately needed.”

“This builds on existing evidence of other food-derived supplements, such as certain amino-acids, which have been beneficial for people with schizophrenia,” said co-author Jerome Sarris of Western Sydney University.

“These new findings also fit with our latest research examining how multi-nutrient treatments can reduce depression and other disorders.” Recent research, also conducted at the University of Manchester, found that aerobic exercise can ease the symptoms of schizophrenia. Researchers analyzed data from 10 clinical trials and found that 12 weeks of aerobic exercise, including treadmills and exercise bikes, significantly improved memory and concentration.

“We are searching for new ways to treat these aspects of the illness, and now research is increasingly suggesting that physical exercise can provide a solution,” said Firth.

Godhra train burning was BJP’s pre-planned conspiracy

“Godhra train burning was BJP’s pre-planned conspiracy to create communal divide for winning Gujarat election”

 

“The burning of Sabarmati Express at Godhra was a pre-planned conspiracy”, claim leaders of Patel agitation.

They have alleged that it was planned to create communal divide and set off riots so that the BJP could win the Gujarat election in 2002.

The stunning statement of the Patel leaders has once again brought to fore the mystery of the fire in the Sabarmati Express, which led to riots across Gujarat.

Rahul Desai and Lal Bhai Patel, who are leaders of the Patidar Samiti, who have now openly said that Godhra train fire was pre-planned. The BJP is a communal party and had there been no communal carnage, Narendra Modi won’t have been re-elected as chief minister in 2002, said Desai.

Earlier too there have been questions raised over the circumstances surrounding the mysterious train blaze at Godhra. But Patel agitation leaders’ charge has come as a surprise. Patels are angry at the crackdown on them, especially, the leader of agitation Hardik Patel, who is in jail on sedition charges.

The bodies of the dead were taken around along with processions, rousing tempers and the result was riots all over the State. It is alleged that ‘go ahead’ was given from the top and there were verbal orders to police and administration to let rioters attack Muslims, their houses and establishments.

The result was a pogrom which led to over 1,000 killings and mass rapes. This became a blot on the secular fabric of India. Separate commissions looked into the train fire and the riots that followed but the mystery had remained. 

10 Terms Not to Use with Muslim

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Hadith: Kindness and Simplicity 10 Terms Not to Use with Muslims (CS Monitor) CAIR: Obama Speech in Turkey a Potential Bridge (USA Today) CAIR: Muslims Seeking Greater Influence (Chicago Trib) CAIR-TX: Gender Equity Rooted in Teachings of Islam CAIR-CA: Hundreds March to Honor Cesar Chavez (Sac Bee) CAIR-San Antonio Helps Honor Cesar Chavez McCarthyist Tactics Alive and Well, Thanks to the FBI WA: Multifaith Passover Event Increases Understanding NY: Muslims Reaching Out to Christians MI: Trading Firm COO Challenges Popular Image of Muslims ----- HADITH OF THE DAY: KINDNESS AND SIMPLICITY - TOP The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it. Whenever it is taken from something, it leaves it tarnished.” He also said: “Make things simple and do not complicate them. Calm people and do not drive them away.” Imam Bukhari’s Book of Muslim Manners ----- 10 TERMS NOT TO USE WITH MUSLIMS - TOP There's a big difference between what we say and what they hear. Chris Seiple, Christian Science Monitor, 3/28/09 Arlington, Va. - In the course of my travels from the Middle East to Central Asia to Southeast Asia it has been my great privilege to meet and become friends with many devout Muslims. These friendships are defined by frank respect as we listen to each other; understand and agree on the what, why, and how of our disagreements, political and theological; and, most of all, deepen our points of commonality as a result. I have learned much from my Muslim friends, foremost this: Political disagreements come and go, but genuine respect for each other, rooted in our respective faith traditions, does not. If there is no respect, there is no relationship, merely a transactional encounter that serves no one in the long term. As President Obama considers his first speech in a Muslim majority country (he visits Turkey April 6-7), and as the US national security establishment reviews its foreign policy and public diplomacy, I want to share the advice given to me from dear Muslim friends worldwide regarding words and concepts that are not useful in building relationships with them. Obviously, we are not going to throw out all of these terms, nor should we. But we do need to be very careful about how we use them, and in what context. 1. "The Clash of Civilizations." Invariably, this kind of discussion ends up with us as the good guy and them as the bad guy. There is no clash of civilizations, only a clash between those who are for civilization, and those who are against it. Civilization has many characteristics but two are foundational: 1) It has no place for those who encourage, invite, and/or commit the murder of innocent civilians; and 2) It is defined by institutions that protect and promote both the minority and the transparent rule of law. 2. "Secular." The Muslim ear tends to hear "godless" with the pronunciation of this word. And a godless society is simply inconceivable to the vast majority of Muslims worldwide. Pluralism which encourages those with (and those without) a God-based worldview to have a welcomed and equal place in the public square is a much better word. 3. "Assimilation." This word suggests that the minority Muslim groups in North America and Europe need to look like the majority, Christian culture. Integration, on the other hand, suggests that all views, majority and minority, deserve equal respect as long as each is willing to be civil with one another amid the public square of a shared society. 4. "Reformation." Muslims know quite well, and have an opinion about, the battle taking place within Islam and what it means to be an orthodox and devout Muslim. They don't need to be insulted by suggesting they follow the Christian example of Martin Luther. Instead, ask how Muslims understand ijtihad, or reinterpretation, within their faith traditions and cultural communities. 5. "Jihadi." The jihad is an internal struggle first, a process of improving one's spiritual self-discipline and getting closer to God. The lesser jihad is external, validating "just war" when necessary. By calling the groups we are fighting "jihadis," we confirm their own and the worldwide Muslim public's perception that they are religious. They are not. They are terrorists, hirabists, who consistently violate the most fundamental teachings of the Holy Koran and mainstream Islamic scholars and imams. (More) ----- CAIR: OBAMA HEADS OVERSEAS TO TACKLE WORLD ECONOMY - TOP Richard Wolf, USA Today, 3/30/09 After 10 weeks in office trying to save the U.S. economy, President Obama is ready to take on the world economy. Whether the world is ready for his remedy remains in doubt. Obama flies to London on Tuesday, then on to four other nations, for his first overseas trip since assuming office and with the global economy in shambles. It's one of the most anticipated presidential trips since John Kennedy went to Berlin in 1963… The trip is set to end in Turkey, a nation that is 99% Muslim but has direct ties to the West. "Turkey has always been viewed as a bridge between East and West, a kind of stabilizing influence in the region," says Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In his inaugural address, Obama pledged to seek a new relationship with the Muslim world "based on mutual interest and mutual respect." As a result, his every move and phrase in Ankara and Istanbul will be closely followed. (More) SEE ALSO: CAIR: MUSLIMS SEEKING GREATER INFLUENCE - TOP Effort puts resumes of top candidates in White House hands Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Chicago Tribune, 3/29/09 In a bid to get more Muslim Americans working in the Obama administration, a book with resumes of 45 of the nation's most qualified—Ivy League grads, Fortune 500 executives and public servants, all carefully vetted—has been submitted to the White House. The effort, driven by community leaders and others, including Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), was bumped up two weeks ahead of schedule because White House officials heard about the venture, said J. Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association who sifted through more than 300 names. "It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put [the president] in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community." The effort aims to get the administration focused on Muslim Americans, a group that has at times felt like a pariah. During the campaign, Obama's staff prevented Muslim women wearing head scarves from being photographed behind him, in one of many incidents that left Muslim Americans feeling slighted by the candidate. Now, Muslim Americans—who according to a recent study overwhelmingly backed Obama in the November election—have been carefully watching the administration's every step. Most expressed disappointment with Obama's initial silence during Israel's offensive in Gaza. They've been encouraged by the video message the president issued recently to the Iranian people on the eve of the Persian holiday of Nowruz, and they want more diplomacy with Syria and Iran. They've been troubled by FBI admissions of sending what activists call "agents provocateurs" into mosques, and the bureau's break in ties with Muslim American organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Community leaders hope the White House will consider Muslim Americans for posts in the administration. They say this is not just a chance for Muslim Americans to show their patriotism but also a chance for the country to engage the community and recognize its importance. There are an estimated 7 million to 8 million Muslims in America, but there have not been any Muslims appointed to key positions, as yet. A White House aide confirmed the Obama administration had received the resumes, noting that it is "not unusual" for the administration to consider lists of job candidates suggested by constituent groups. "We're still very much in the middle of the [hiring] process, even when it comes to very senior government employees. These things take time, and they're all based on finding the right fit," said the aide, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly for the administration. "Muslims are not looking for handouts," said Abdul Malik Mujahid, the Downers Grove founder of the Muslim Democrats, who points to Zalmay Khalilzad, tapped by former President George W. Bush for many key roles. "We're just looking for equal opportunity and inclusiveness. That will give a far better message to the Muslim world than speeches." . . . Some hope Atty. Gen. Eric Holder will reverse Bush administration actions such as the FBI's decision to break formal ties with CAIR because it was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case involving the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation. "We're hoping that once Eric Holder puts the department in order and places people in different positions, we can re-establish what were very positive relations [with the FBI] in our 15-year history," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. (More) ----- CAIR-TX: GENDER EQUITY ROOTED IN TEACHINGS OF ISLAM - TOP Sarwat Husain, San Antonio Express News, 3/28/09 Throughout history, women all over the world had to struggle for equality in a male-dominated world. During International Women's Month, it's worth considering how Islam's teachings were an early harbinger of gender equity - contrary to a common misperception. Prior to Islam, a female child was often regarded as a threat to the economic welfare of the family and some were even buried alive as soon as they were born. As an adult, she was a sex object that could be bought and sold. From this inferior position, Islam raised women to a position of influence and prestige in the family and in society. Many of the rights conferred on women by the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago have only partially and grudgingly been given to women in other cultures in recent centuries. With respect to gender equity, the essential human dignity and fundamental equality of women in Islam is at one with the feminist movement of the West, despite images of Muslim women in the media and some agenda-driven circles as ignorant, oppressed and submissive. The perception that Islam subjugates women is far from the facts. (More) ----- CAIR-CA: HUNDREDS MARCH TO HONOR CESAR CHAVEZ - TOP Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 3/28/09 More than 700 people took to the streets of downtown Sacramento today for a march honoring the late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez and to support issues ranging from workers' rights to an end to the war in Iraq. . . The event was the ninth annual march sponsored by the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and included groups ranging from the Sacramento City Teachers Association to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. (More) SEE ALSO: CAIR-SAN ANTONIO HELPS HONOR CESAR CHAVEZ - TOP (SAN ANTONIO, TX, 3/30/09) The San Antonio, Texas, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SA) recently participated in a Cesar Chavez Ecumenical Service attended by representatives of many different faiths. Speaking at the services as a representative of Islamic faith, Sarwat Husain, president of CAIR-SA said “We call on all people of good conscience to once again bring back the legacy of the union Leader Cesar Chavez by standing hand in hand in the long fight for peace and justice because we understand that service in the way of God is perfect freedom. It is neither restrictive nor limiting. Restrictions diminish a man's capacities and happiness. Oh God! Once again we are standing at the cross roads of oppression and injustice. You taught us that true excellence lies, not in the intellectual or manual attainments of people of differing gifts; but in the moral attainments of a pure heart.” The services that were held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church were focused on issues of peace and justice, and in particular, how those issues relate to immigration. CAIR, America's largest Muslim civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. ----- MCCARTHYIST TACTICS ALIVE AND WELL, THANKS TO THE FBI - TOP Yusuf Khan, Examiner.com, 3/28/09 Say, did you hear the big news about the FBI last week? No? Come on! Alright, because didn't read it in the Christian Science Monitor or the OC Register I'll fill you in. Here's the scoop. In their noble effort to rid our country from the plague of terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation hired an informant whose job it was to infiltrate California mosques with the hope of identifying suspicious individuals. To quote, the exact assignment according to the informant was, "We want to perfect and train you to infiltrate the Islamic community." Nice. Makes me feel great about popping into a local mosque for prayer. Now you'd think that they would hire the ideal man for this noble, patriotic endeavor, right? Wrong. In a profound display of extraordinary judgment. the man picked as the ideal candidate for the job was ex-con artist Craig Monteilh, convicted in 2008 for grand-theft. Whoops. But wait, the fun doesn't end here. Read on! Monteilh's assignment was to pose as a new Muslim convert named Farouk al-Aziz and spout fiery rhetoric to basically anyone who would listen. Whoever lended a sympathetic ear would be promptly reported to the FBI as a suspect terrorist. As the "agent provocateur" visited mosque after mosque in SoCal, things weren't going so well for the Feds or Monteilh. They weren't finding any militants! In fact, the opposite happened. (More) ----- PASSOVER: A DAY FOR FAITH AND UNDERSTANDING - TOP Janet Jensen, News Tribune, 3/30/09 Muslims, Christians and Jews shared unleavened bread at a Passover Seder Sunday night in a Tacoma synagogue as a step toward building interfaith bonds and eventually a house. Volunteers from the three faiths will join together to build a house on Tacoma’s East Side, from April 24 to mid-July, for Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity. Habiba Karim, a Muslim from University Place, said the interfaith Seder at Temple Beth El was important because “it gives us a chance to understand each other.” Her mother-in-law, Zarina Karim, agreed. “There’s so much to learn,” she said. Led by Rabbi Bruce Kadden, the group of 50 recounted the Passover story of the ancient Hebrews’ deliverance from slavery. They sat at tables with plates containing traditional Passover elements including matzo, or unleavened bread. The word Passover comes from the book of Exodus, which tells how God killed the firstborn of Egyptian households but passed over the homes of the Israelites. The Israelites had to leave in such haste they had no time to let their bread rise, thus the tradition of unleavened bread. Allison Wisco, a Christian who lives in Tacoma, said she found it “interesting to be involved with the ritual of the Seder.”. . . American Indians also attended the Seder and are taking part in the building project. A salmon bake and an interfaith comedy show are planned before the house in Tacoma is completed, said Cassandra Jarles, with Habitat in Pierce County. (More) SEE ALSO: NY: REACHING OUT TO CHRISTIANS: MUSLIMS MARCH FOR RECONCILIATION - TOP Hundreds rally in Binghamton George Basler, Gannett News Service, 3/30/09 Muslims from the Southern Tier and other communities as far away as Michigan and South Carolina gathered in Binghamton on Sunday to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad's birthday and publicly urge reconciliation between Christianity and Islam. "In many places Muslims and Christians are in conflict. This is senseless because it leads to a tremendous loss of life and suffering," said M. Hasib Haqq, public relations spokesman for the new United Muslim-Christian Forum, which organized Sunday's program. The best way to overcome the conflict is to emphasize the commonalities between the two religions - namely belief in God, practice of The Ten Commandments and emphasis on "the golden rule" of "doing unto others as they would do unto you," he said. More than 500 people, including a small number of non-Muslims, filled West Presbyterian Church on Main Street for a series of speeches, followed by a march on Main and Court streets to the Broome County Courthouse lawn. West Presbyterian's board approved use of the church to "foster inter- religious dialogue, understanding and tolerance," said the Rev. Andrew Stehlik, pastor, who spoke during the program. Other speakers included Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan; the Rev. Tim Taugher of St. Catherine's Church in Hillcrest; and Khalifah Muhammad Hussein Adams, chairman of the Muslims of the Americas. (More) ----- MI: EAST GRAND RAPIDS MAN CHALLENGES POPULAR IMAGE OF MUSLIMS - TOP Charles Honey, Grand Rapids Press, 3/28/09 Muhammad Rasoul, chief operating officer of Global Forex Trading, has been in back-to-back meetings since 5:30 a.m., starting with a conference call to Japan and London. He hopes to be home in time to put his two younger kids to bed. But in this typical wire-to-wire day, Rasoul also will make time for something sacred: the five prayers Muslims are expected to make each day. "Anytime, I can close that door and do whatever I have to do," Rasoul says of his airy office at 4760 E. Fulton St. in Ada Township. "I really benefit from having that five minutes of peace and quiet to myself. It's almost like a meditation." Prayer is an obligation Rasoul takes seriously, as he does all other aspects of his adopted Islamic faith. Whether it's flying to Singapore on business or teaching his children about God, Islam is his guidebook for doing the right thing. If you think you know who Muslims are, meet Rasoul and think again. (More)

The Muslim guardian of Israel's daily bread

For more than a decade, an Arab hotel manager has helped Orthodox Jews to observe the Passover – by buying up forbidden foods. Ben Lynfield reports

Monday, 6 April 2009

QUIQUE KIERSZENBAUM

Jaaber Hussein, a hotel manager, prepares to take control of much of Israel's bread, beer and pasta

• enlarge

When Jaaber Hussein signs an agreement with Israel's Chief Rabbis tomorrow, he will be inking the only Arab-Jewish accord sure to be meticulously observed by both sides. The deal will make him the owner for one week of all bread, pasta and beer in Israel – well a huge amount of it anyway. The contract, signed for the past 12 years by the Muslim hotel food manager, is part of the traditional celebrations ahead of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Jews are forbidden by biblical injunction to possess leavened bread, or chametz, during Passover and ironically an Arab is needed to properly observe the holiday. The agreement with Mr Hussein offers a way of complying with religious edicts without having to wastefully destroy massive quantities of food.
Through legal acrobatics, the forbidden goods belonging to the Israeli state are simply sold to Mr Hussein for the duration of Passover and then revert back to the state once the holiday is over. Like the government's adherence to the Sabbath and to dietary laws, the ceremony sets Israel apart as a Jewish state that upholds religious traditions.
Mr Hussein, a resident of the Israeli Arab town of Abu Ghosh near Jerusalem, sees nothing odd in the arrangement, believing there are affinities between his Islamic faith and Judaism. He relishes the role the Jewish state has assigned him, one that puts his picture on the front pages of Israeli newspapers year after year.
"I see this as a way to help people with whom I work and live," he said.
Mr Hussein was a natural choice for the ritual because he works in a hotel that stringently observes Jewish dietary laws. He even keeps some of the strictures at home.
"There are many things that are close in the two religions. If not for politics, the religions would get along very well," he explains. One example he cites is the halal slaughtering of meat, which he likens to kosher slaughtering.
Passover, which celebrates the biblical exodus from slavery in Egypt, starts on Wednesday night and lasts for seven days, eight outside Israel.
The reason for the prohibition of leavened bread is, according to the Bible, that the Israelites departed Egypt in such haste that their bread did not have a chance to rise and so they ate the cracker-like unleavened bread known as matza.
Many of their descendants in modern Israel defer to this dictum every spring to the extent that a kind of fermented dough fixation suffuses the country. Housewives become the new slaves, scrubbing and vacuum cleaning to remove every trace of chametz. Religious men scald pots in the streets, making them kosher for the holiday.
For the Orthodox, there can be no half-measures. A single crumb that evades detection could spoil everything for Passover.
Those families who do not want the extra workload simply check in to kosher hotels and escape the ardour. Even secular Israelis stock up on pita bread and put it in their freezers so that they too have enough supplies to survive the week.
Tomorrow, Mr Hussein will put down a cash deposit of $4,800 (some 20,000 shekels or £3,245) for the $150m worth of leavened products he acquires from state companies, the prison service and the national stock of emergency supplies. The deposit will be returned at the end of the holiday, unless he decides to come up with the full value of the products. In that case he could, in theory, keep them all.
At the close of the holiday, the foodstuffs purchased by Mr Hussein revert back to their original owners, who have given the Chief Rabbis the power of attorney over their leavened products. "It's a firm, strong agreement done in the best way," Mr Hussein said.
But Israelis are divided on whether the state should be enforcing Passover. A law introduced by religious parties in 1986 bans the display of bread in public areas, except in those where there is a non-Jewish majority. But a court decision last year said it was legal for restaurants to sell leavened products during Passover on the grounds that they are not public spaces. The move sparked anger among the ultra-Orthodox Jews.
This year, ultra-Orthodox activists in Jerusalem sent warning letters to stores, telling them not to sell bread or pizza because this could bring divine punishment on the city. And the chief rabbinate called for supermarkets to install a computer program that would enable cash registers to detect unleavened products by their bar codes so sales could be stopped. Supermarkets cover over their chametz with papers, but the rabbis are concerned that some customers lift the covers and buy proscribed foods.
Variations of the contract between the Israeli state and Mr Hussein are being signed all over the world between selected non-Jews and rabbis, including those in the UK. The ceremony, like the absence of civil marriages in the country, reflects "some elements of theocracy" in the Israeli state, says Menachem Friedman, a sociologist at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv. "Israel is a unique state – very modern on the one hand but with very strong religious traditional elements on the other. Every government keeps this ritual."
In one final Passover twist, the restaurants of Mr Hussein's town, Abu Ghosh, are gearing up for what is always their busiest week of the year, catering to secular Jews who want to get away from the holiday's dietary strictures.
"It is also nice that you have people who don't keep Passover, who eat leavened bread," Mr Hussein said. "It is good that we are also able to help the people who are not religious."
Despite his goodwill, the chief rabbinate staffers do not seem overly attached to Israel's Arab of Passover. "It is true he is enabling people to celebrate the holiday, but if he didn't do it, there are plenty of other people who would," said Avi Blumenthal, an aide to Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger.

Vatican offers Islamic finance system to Western Banks

Vatican offers Islamic finance system to Western Banks
The Vatican says Islamic finance system may help Western banks in crisis as alternative to capitalistm.
Friday, 06 March 2009 15:10
World Bulletin / News Desk
The Vatican offered Islamic finance principles to Western banks as a solution for worldwide economic crisis.
Daily Vatican newspaper, 'L'Osservatore Romano, reported that Islamic banking system may help to overcome global crisis, Turkish media reported.
The Vatican said banks should look at the ethical rules of Islamic finance to restore confidence amongst their clients at a time of global economic crisis.
"The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service," the Vatican's official newspaper Osservatore Romano said in an article in its latest issue late yesterday.
Author Loretta Napoleoni and Abaxbank Spa fixed income strategist, Claudia Segre, say in the article that "Western banks could use tools such as the Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, as collateral". Sukuk may be used to fund the "'car industry or the next Olympic Games in London," they said.
They also said that profit share, gained from sukuk, may be an alternative to the interest. They underlined that sukuk system could help automotive sector and support investments in infrastructure area.
Islamic sukuk system is similar to bonos of capitalist system. But in sukuk, money is invested concrete projects and profit share is distributed to clients instead of interest earned.
Pope Benedict XVI in an Oct. 7 speech reflected on crashing financial markets saying that "money vanishes, it is nothing" and concluded that "the only solid reality is the word of God." The Vatican has been paying attention to the global financial meltdown and ran articles in its official newspaper that criticize the free-market model for having "grown too much and badly in the past two decades."
The Osservatore's editor, Giovanni Maria Vian, said that "the great religions have always had a common attention to the human dimension of the economy," Corriere della Sera reported today

Circumcision makes economic sense in fight against HIV

But too few men have access to the procedure, say advocates.

Erika Check Hayden

Circumcision not only saves lives by reducing the risk of HIV infection, it also has clear economic benefits, according to research presented at the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

But advocates say that these benefits are not being realized due to controversies surrounding the procedure.

Members of the Luo tribe have resisted circumcision programmes.AP PHOTO/J. DELAY

Three studies have found that circumcising adult men can cut their risk of HIV infection by 60%¹,²,³, and scientists have estimated that the procedure could avert 3 million deaths due to HIV by 2026⁴. The findings prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) last March to recommend that some countries with high HIV infection rates circumcise more men.

Today, researchers presented a complementary economic analysis of the procedure. Bertran Auvert of France's national biomedical institute INSERM and his colleagues constructed a computer model that examined the potential effects of rolling out large-scale public circumcision programmes in 15 sub-Saharan African countries. Fewer than half of the men in these countries, which contain 60% of sub-Saharan Africa’s HIV-infected population, have been circumcised.

The model predicted that large-scale circumcision programmes in Africa would cost US$672 million in their first decade. But after twenty years, the model predicted that governments would actually have saved $2.3 billion by preventing HIV infections if they circumcised 85% of men in the study area.

“By reducing the number of people infected, we could cut the budget devoted to antiretroviral therapy,” says Auvert. The work is due to be published on 6 August in PLoS ONE⁵.

Slow progress

Auvert also told the meeting that when his group offered free circumcision last year to all men aged 15-49 in 1,680 households in the Orange Farm region of South Africa, 65% of the men eventually underwent the procedure. Auvert said his data show that educational campaigns can convince men to be circumcised, even in regions with low rates of circumcision such as Orange Farm, where just 28% of men had been circumcised before the study.

Yet “the world has failed in scaling up circumcision to the degree that it can”, says Mitchell Warren of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition in New York. Health specialists conducting circumcision programmes in sub-Saharan Africa said yesterday that some leaders are dubious about the procedure. Opinions are greatly influenced by cultural and religious traditions, and circumcision is less common in southern than in northern Africa.

Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has resisted circumcision programmes, as have leaders in Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa, says Dvora Joseph of the non-profit group Population Services International in Washington DC. And last month, the BBC reported that elders of the Kenyan Luo tribe had rejected plans to circumcise men in their community. “There are governments, donors and many other naysayers that are blocking access” to circumcision, Joseph says.

Robert Bailey of the University of Illinois at Chicago recently reported⁶ that 1,319 newly circumcised Kenyan men did not engage in riskier sexual behaviours — evidence, Bailey says, that they did not see the procedure as a ironclad defence against HIV. But there are no data yet to show whether men circumcised outside of clinical trials behave similarly. Because of this, the WHO has recommended that risk counselling be offered to those undergoing circumcision.

And Kim Dickson of the WHO called for international organizations to respect the sensitivities around the procedure in Africa. “I don’t think the Luo elders are against male circumcision — they are against people forcing it on them,” Dickson said. “Scale-up is slow, but we’ll get there.” 

• References

  1. Auvert, B. et al. PLoS Med. 2, e298 (2005). | Article | PubMed |
  2. Bailey, R. C. et al. Lancet 369, 643–656 (2007).
  3. Gray, R. H. et al. Lancet 369, 657–666 (2007).
  4. Williams, B. G. et al. PLoS Med. 3, e262 (2006).
  5. Auvert, B. et al. PLoS ONE 3, e2679 (2008).
  6. Mattson, C. L. et al. PLoS ONE 3, e2443 (2008) | Article | PubMed | ChemPort |

First ever blueprint unveiled to construct a large scale quantum computer

Muslim Student At DC March

Muslim Student At DC March Is Shepard Fairey’s Poster Come To Life

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ByALLEGRA KIRKLANDPublishedJANUARY 21, 2017, 3:39 PM EDT

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WASHINGTON — Nour Obeidallah bought her American flag hijab long before she decided to attend the Women’s March on Washington. Wearing it on Saturday, with a cardboard cutout framing her in the center, she bore a striking resemblance to the “we the people” posters designed for the event by graphic artist Shepherd Fairy.

“I feel a little overwhelmed,” Obeidallah told TPM about her experience at the march. “It’s amazing that this many people came out, not just to support women’s rights and preserving Planned Parenthood but for so many varied causes.”

 

A New York University student considering an economics degree, Obeidallah came to D.C. on an all-expenses trip organized by the university’s Asia Pacific Institute.

“I’d never been to D.C. And I thought it would be cool having my first time here being a protest against it,” she said.

Dozens of marchers stopped to take her picture. When a man walked by carrying the Fairey poster, she gamely posed with it as several cameraphones clicked.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Allegra Kirkland 

Allegra Kirkland is a New York-based reporter for Talking Points Memo. She previously worked on The Nation’s web team and as the associate managing editor for AlterNet. Follow her on Twitter @allegrakirkland.

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Israeli rabbis have approved the practice of polygamy

Israeli rabbis have approved the practice of polygamy to counter what they believe is a demographic threat posed by Arab populations living in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

An expose by Channel 10, an Israeli broadcasting channel, revealed the practice was approved by the rabbinate that has actively encouraged and facilitated polygamy, claiming the practice will give Jews an edge in the demographic race against Arabs in Israel.

One rabbi who has been married for 26 years is filmed by an undercover reporter persuading a single woman to become his second wife.

“If your parents ask you why you don’t marry like everyone else,” he told her, “tell them that it is a mitzvah [religious commandment] and I want to do a mitzvah.”

The rabbi showed the reporter a letter signed by Jerusalem’s Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar permitting him to marry a second wife.

Read: Israeli rabbis launch war on Christmas tree

Reporting on the story, The Times of Israel commented that “although Jewish law forbids a woman to marry more than one husband, a practice known as polyandry, it does permit a man to marry more than one wife.”

“There are several instances of polygamy in the Bible, including two of the three patriarchs (Abraham and Jacob) and many of the kings. Jewish law gives guidelines as to the circumstances under which polygamy is permitted,” The Times of Israel explained.

The Israeli newspaper also claimed that there are cases outside of Israel, primarily within Sephardic communities, where a husband who refuses to divorce his wife is granted permission to remarry by a rabbi. This leaves the first wife as an aguna, or chained woman, who is forbidden by Jewish law from remarrying.

A spokesperson for a pro-Jewish demographic domination group, The Complete Jewish Home, told Channel 10: “We are dealing with men and women who are responsible, and this is a solution to the problem of having more single women than men seeking marriage. It also ensures the Jewish demographic majority in the country, and guarantees the right of religious women to become mothers.”

Though polygamy has been illegal in Israel since 1977, authorities largely turn a blind eye to the practice.

Read: ‘Return to the Mount’ activists seek destruction of Al-Aqsa

 

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How the Graffiti Boys ignited the Syrian Revolution

 

January 25, 2014 at 12:51 am | Published in: Article, Middle East

Yvonne Ridley

January 25, 2014 at 12:51 am

803 SHARES

“Ashaab yureed isqat annidham.” This phrase is ringing in the ears of tyrants and despots around the Arab world and means quite simply that the people want to bring down the regime. It is the enduring chant of the Arab Spring, so it’s hardly surprising that these are probably the first words children learn in their cradles as they are rocked to sleep to the beat of this rousing street anthem.

When a group of 11-year-old Syrian boys made their way home from school one day and started larking around, as boys of that age do, it was almost inevitable that among the graffiti they scratched on a partially-collapsed wall would be these iconic words. By revolutionary standards it was an unremarkable act, hardly worthy of mention because the same graffiti can be found on walls in most Arab countries. However, just as hard-up Tunisian fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi is credited with igniting the Arab Spring with his self-immolation, this long forgotten, single act of childish vandalism lit the touch paper of the Syrian Revolution.

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 It was a seminal moment in time that the Arab world’s Leftists would rather you forget; in their frenzied bid to rewrite the history of the Arab Spring they want you to believe that crazed Islamists are hijacking the peoples’ revolution. The Left in Syria, you see, isn’t as cuddly as the splintered socialist groups in Britain. These are hard-line fundamentalist, religion-hating secularists who have no room, not even a square inch, for religion in their world; not for themselves and not for anyone else.

While the people in Tunisia and Egypt fought for freedom from tyranny they also wanted the freedom to re-engage with their faith. Hence, to the shock and horror of the Arab Left, the people voted for trusted groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. It was something that the Left had never considered; they dismissed the Muslim vote as a figment of the imagination; never once did they ever imagine that Muslim groups would form political parties or even want to engage in democracy. And in Libya, although some of the more fundamentalist Islamic groups failed to secure the popular vote other Islamic flavoured parties were swept in to power.

So Syria, you see, is probably the Arab Left’s last chance at having a revolution free from religion. This is most likely the reason for their opposition to the revolution from the very outset because they knew for sure that it would carry a strong religious flavour. Well, sorry to disappoint them. I crossed the length and breadth of Syria shortly before the revolution and saw most communities, Christian and Muslim alike, holding tight to their faith. Whatever shape their revolution will take, the future will be dominated by believers.

But let me return to the 18 boys at the beginning of this story because it is vitally important that we all remember exactly how the revolution in Syria began. It did not begin with CIA interference, nor an influx of foreign fighters, Al-Qaida, rebranded weapons from the West, NATO or a global call across the Muslim world for jihad.This was a reluctant revolution, a revolution forced on the people by the acts of an evil, malevolent regime.

In fact, though, while the 18 boys may have loaded the revolutionary gun way back in February 2011, the trigger was pulled by a man called Atif Najeeb, a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Within two hours of the schoolboy prank, Atif instigated raids on every single one of the boys’ homes: armed police, the military and the ubiquitous security officials stormed every home at precisely the same time, demanding that the children be handed over. Amid the drama there was hand-wringing, cries from mothers, pleas from fathers to take the place of their sons and general confusion and chaos.

Distraught as news swept Dar’a, in the south-west of Syria less than six miles from the Jordanian border, the parents and their relatives gathered outside his office, but Atif Najeeb along with Faisal Kalthoum the governor of Dar’a, refused to meet any one of them.

For four days the families waited but not a single scrap of news came out about the fate of their sons. Eventually, a delegation made up of family members, local imams, the local headteacher and other dignitaries assembled and once again demanded to see Najeeb or the governor. After three hours they were herded into a room to meet the governor who remained seated while deliberately keeping the delegation on their feet. Culturally, this is a huge insult in the Arab world. At this point no one had even an inkling of what the boys had done to deserve their fate. The parents’ pleas to have their children returned were ignored and the governor advised them to forget about them.

He allegedly said: “My advice to you is that you forget you ever had these children. Go back home and sleep with your wives and bring other children into the world and if you can not do that, then bring your wives to us and we will do the job for you.”

By this time families in towns and villages across the region were shocked and outraged by what had happened and began to demonstrate and rally to show their support for the boys, their families and the town of Dar’a. They included local people from Dayr Al-Zawr, Idlib and Homs. While some did suggest that it was time for a revolution, the families kept to only two demands: the return of their children and the sacking of the governor for his crude and inflammatory remarks.

As the pressure mounted on Kalthoum, a helicopter full of military thugs was flown in to Dar’a to quell the unrest and during clashes with local citizens several people from Dar’a were killed. They went to their graves not knowing what the children had done to incur the wrath of the governor.

Eighteen days later, when it was clear that the parents and families would not be appeased until their children were returned, the boys were released. Their condition was pitiful and shocking; all were traumatised beyond recognition. All had had their fingernails torn off. One had lost an eye while several had fractured skulls and all had at least one broken limb. Today, those boys still bear the whip marks and scars on their bodies which bear testimony to the brutal nature of their detention and torture. Several of them still have nightmares recalling the screeches and screams of their fellow inmates.

Far from calming the situation, the physical evidence that the boys had been tortured enraged the people of Dar’a who made their own two demands: the dismissal of the governor and justice delivered to those who had done such wicked things to the boys including Atif Najeeb and his torture squad.

The relatively low level demands carried on for the next six months and those making them resisted calls for a full-blown revolution and offers of outside intervention; there were many in the Arab world who wanted to take up arms in support of their brothers and sisters in Dar’a and the dozens of Syrian cities and towns now in full revolutionary mode. Moreover, while insisting that their reasonable demands be met, some of the families pleaded for calm and even argued that Assad could not possibly have known or allowed this atrocity to happen. Surely, a London-graduated doctor and Ophthalmologist could not have consented to this barbarism, they argued.

By August the death toll across Syria had reached 1,000 and then the foreign fighters arrived, not to help the people of Dar’a but to destroy their spirit and morale. The fighters were mercenaries from numerous neighbouring and distant countries including former Soviet satellite states who, in the pay of the Assad regime, embarked on a killing and raping spree.

The plan was to subdue the spreading uprising and instill fear in the lives of the Syrian people, those who dared protest and those who were considering joining the growing crowds on the streets. Instead, the gates of Hell were opened and talks of compromise and low level demands gave way to screams of “Ashaab yureed isqat annidham”.

As news of the atrocities in Dar’a and other Syrian cities reached Damascus some senior officers in the military could no longer stomach what was being done in their name. They defected from the regime and formed what is now known as the Free Syrian Army. It’s not an army of outsiders; it was founded by Syrian officers and grew in popularity and prominence with the media because of its name.

Speculation is rife about the emergence of Al-Qaida, foreign jihadists, support from Arab countries, subversive tactics by Arab countries, infiltration by the CIA and Mossad, just about everyone, in fact, bar the Free Wales Army. Some of the speculation is true, some is not, but don’t allow anyone to rewrite the history of the start of the Syrian Revolution.

One day peace will come to Syria and when it does the Graffiti Boys should be remembered and their names should go up on another wall in Dar’a – a wall where their names can be carved with pride.

Some of them may not survive the war but some will finally enjoy the taste of freedom. Today I salute them and remember each one by name and urge you to remember them too, so that when Syria’s history is written in full they will not be forgotten: 1) Muawiya Faisal Sayasneh 2) Yusuf Adnan Sweidan 3) Samer Ali Sayasneh 4) Ahmed Jihad Abazeid 5) Isa Hasan Abulqayyas 6) Ala Mansour Irsheidat Abazeid 7) Mustafa Anwar Abazeid 8) Nidhal Anwar Abazeid 9) Akram Anwar Abazeid 10) Nayef Muwaffaq Abazeid 11) Basheer Farooq Abazeid 12) Ahmed Thani Irshiedat Abazeid 13) Ahmed Shukri Al-Akram 14) Abdulrahman Nayef Al-Reshedat 15) Mohammed Ayman Munwer Al-Karrad 16) Ahmed Nayef Al-Resheidat Abazeid 17) Nabeel Imad Al-Resheidat Abazeid 18) Mohammed Ameen Yasin Al-Resheidat Abazeid.