Current Fave Qur'anic Excerpt

“Say: O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [ Sûrah al-Zumar : 53]

Taking Advantage of the Last Ten Nights of Ramadan

The last ten nights of Ramadan are upon us. And soon after this you the journey for Hajj will begin for Muslims around the world.

If you make the same dua, each day, for the last ten nights of Ramadan, it's guaranteed that you would have made that dua during Laylatul-Qadr. (A night worth 1000 months of reward in the sight of Allah).

********************************
So, prepare your dua from now!
********************************

Step 1: Ask yourself, "If Allah said to me, I'll give you anything you wish, just ask!" What would you ask for? Make a list. (Try to fill two pages worth of dua, from the goodness of this life and the next.

Step 2: Pick about six of those things

Step 3: Make dua for those siz things consistently every night for the last ten nights of Ramadan.

Of course, make as much dua as you want, but make sure these six things are consistent.

Source: Ustadh Muhammad Alshareef's email lists

(Hijab tip: Dina Badawy)

(Hijab (hat) tip: Saira Lari)

Corrie v. Caterpillar: Political Question

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of CCR’s case charging Caterpillar, Inc. with aiding and abetting war crimes and other serious human rights violations on the grounds that the company provided bulldozers to Israel knowing they would be used unlawfully to demolish homes and endanger civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

[The] decision from a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals found that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the case because Caterpillar’s bulldozers were ultimately paid for with money from the United States. Because of the U.S. government’s decision to grant military assistance to Israel, any decision regarding whether Caterpillar aided and abetted war crimes would impermissibly intrude upon the executive branch’s foreign policy decisions. In today’s decision, the Court did not rule on the question of whether Caterpillar aided and abetted Israeli war crimes.

“We are extremely disappointed with the Court’s refusal to decide whether Caterpillar violated the law, essentially because it did not want to question the U.S. decision to pay for the bulldozers,” said CCR Senior Attorney Maria LaHood. “The Court has a constitutional duty to uphold the law, and the law prohibits aiding and abetting war crimes - regardless of who’s footing the bill.”

Source: The Rachel Corrie Foundation

(With respect to the concern of whether or not I will ever need to know the workings of the "political question" doctrine, the answer appears to be "YES!")

And the injustice continues . . .

UAW Calls National Strike

DETROIT — The United Auto Workers has launched a national strike against General Motors Corp., GM spokesman Dan Flores said Monday. It's the first nationwide strike during auto contract negotiations since 1976.

Workers walked off the job and began picketing Monday outside GM plants after UAW's late morning strike deadline passed.

Full Story: Houston Chronicle

Real Job

(I <3 this quote. It's been circulating via email for sometime now - I thought I'd share in case some of you out there had not yet seen it. Disclaimer: I haven't verified it's authenticity.)

From Ronald Reagan's recently published diaries.

Entry: May 17, 1986;

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his
ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to
find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives
in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the
time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already
almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll
call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if
they'll hire him as a contributing editor or
something. That looks like easy work."

Milestone

For the first time, the number of deaths of children under age 5 around the world has fallen below 10 million a year.

(Sadly, that is being called a milestone.)

BUT 9.7 million children under age 5 will still die this year. Do your part to make a difference. Donate NOW.

(Reminder to myself before all others: the money spent on a new pair of shoes, even those on clearance, can save a life!)

9-11-01: 6 Years Today

Today undoubtedly marks a sad day in our country's history. However, what saddens me more is that we won't practice what we preach. Why do we, while mourning our losses, continue to kill innocent people overseas?

3,000 people died in the World Trade Center Attacks.

Over 650,000 people have died as a result of the illegal war we are conducting in Iraq.

It's 9-11 EVERY DAY in Iraq!

(Not to mention Afghanistan, Palestine, etc.!)

Win for Palestine Mural at SFSU - GUPS

GUPS @ San Francisco State University

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

Sept 5, 2007

Dear community members:

We are thrilled to announce that we have finally won approval for the SFSU Palestine Mural despite ferocious opposition.

This permanent piece of art honoring the late professor Edward Said is the first of its kind on any American university campus wall; it has been attained after a long, unrelenting, and sustained struggle spearheaded by the Palestinian students of SFSU GUPS and allies and supported by the Bay Area Arab American community and friends.

You don't want to miss the exciting celebration to inaugurate the mural that will be held at the Cesar Chavez Student Center in San Francisco State University on November 2, 2007. The event will feature cultural presentations, inspirational speakers, music, food, and more throughout the day and a moving night program. We are planning to invite members of the Said family to join us in these activities.

This is history in the making. This mural is more than just a piece of art; it signifies the unbreakable bond between Palestine and the Palestinians everywhere including US campuses. It recognizes the ground-breaking and prolific academic and intellectual work to which Professor Said dedicated his life and his relentless defense of peace and justice. The mural is an important culmination of the Palestinian students' historic struggle for Palestinian human and national rights. The mural shall serve as a daily reminder of the Palestinian struggle, establishes a permanent presence of the Palestinian issue, and links it to the three other murals that celebrate peoples' struggles for social justice, self-determination, and freedom.

Therefore, we in GUPS, and the Cesar Chavez Student Center, have the honor to invite you all to join in celebrating this historic event.

If you need more information or like to know what you can do to support this celebration please contact GUPS by email at GUPS@sfsu.edu or by visiting our website.

GUPS Office:
1650 Holloway Ave.
CCSC M100-B
San Francisco, CA 94132

We hope to see you all there.


General Union of Palestine Students
San Francisco State University Chapter

Islamic Relief and Katrina

Donate NOW: Islamic Relief

Happy Labor Day

Today the United Steelworkers and United Mine Workers of America, which have a combined 1.8 million members, threw their support behind Mr. Edwards. His campaign said the endorsements gave him “the largest bloc of union support” of any of the presidential candidates so far.

In a statement announcing the Labor Day endorsement, the steel union cited Mr. Edwards’s electability in the general election — a theme his campaign has been pushing as a way to set him apart from top rivals Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

“The union movement is not just important for the past, it is crucial to strengthening and growing the middle class in America, crucial to lifting millions of Americans out of poverty,” Mr. Edwards said while visiting a region of the country where the steel and manufacturing businesses have declined.

Read on at: NY Times

Change

I ask Allah (swt) to:

"grant us the serenity to accept the things we can't change,

the courage to change the things we can,

and the wisdom to know the difference."

Arabic

He's leaving again, but this time he is older and wiser. Thus he openly admits that he will miss me!

If you can read Arabic, check this out: Al-Madinah

And please keep my family in your duas.

Miss Teen South Carolina

"Some people in our nation don't have maps." HaHa.
Props to Mario Lopez for keeping a straight face!

(Brought to my attention by: Ahmed, Sawsan, Mohammad and Rose!)

America to the Rescue

(Hat tip to Muslim Matters! I saw it there first.)

Top Traffic Myths

If you know anything about me, it's likely you know about my sad-sad driving record. Furthermore, a few of my clients this summer were individuals who had fallen victim to some of these myths resulting in hundreds of dollars in penalties and suspended driver licenses.

It should be no surprise then that I found this MSN Money article on the 8 Top Traffic Myths to be both funny and interesting.

8 Top Traffic Myths
1. If the officer makes a single mistake on your ticket, the case will be dropped.
2. If the officer doesn't show up in court, you automatically win.
3. Red cars get more tickets.
4. You need a lawyer to beat a ticket.
5. If you get a ticket in another state, your home state won't find out about it.
6. You can make up an excuse to get out of the ticket.
7. A radar detector will ensure that you never get pulled over.
8. If you don't sign the ticket, it will be dismissed.

Check out the full article at: MSN Money

RE: Mural on 24th & Capp

Ellen Shershow: ellen.shershow@sfgov.org
Jill Manton: jill.manton@sfgov.org

Public Art Program, SF Arts Commission
25 Van Ness Ave, Suite 240
San Francisco, CA 94103

Dear SF Arts Commission,

I am writing to express my support of the mural on 24th and Capp in its entirety, including the positive images of Palestinian liberation struggles. I applaud the SF Arts Commission for their encouragement of self-expression and youth leadership development, and want to ensure that the Commission continues to allow for and insist on the artistic freedom of the HOMEY artists.

This mural represents the united struggles of people of color in the Mission, including the Palestinian and Arab community working with, living amongst, and supporting the young people of this neighborhood. The mural depicts self-determination for all and breaking down barriers as major themes. Just as residents of the Mission are fighting displacement locally and walls separating them from their homelands, so too are Palestinians.

As artists, you know the importance of freedom of creativity and the right to express strongly your beliefs and experiences. The muralist tradition has always been rooted in its depiction of popular history and struggle as experienced by the artist and the community the mural is being made in. To censor this narrative dismisses the central function, purpose, and power of the medium and the communities it speaks to. I hope this mural can not only visually represent self-determination, but also embody the self-determination of young artists and Mission residents through your help maintaining the integrity of the mural and the traditions and lived experiences which have inspired it.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Zahra Billoo

cc: admin@homeysf.org

"What if Prince Charming had never shown up? Would Snow White have laid in that glass box forever? Or would she have gotten up, spit out the apple, gotten a job and a health care plan and moved on with her life?"

Let the Countdown Begin . . .

. . . Ramadan is just a little over a month away!

10 Great Goals to Set for This Ramadan

1. Eat, drink and be moderate

Almost all of us do it - once Iftar time hits, we just keep plowing food and drink into our mouths till it's hard to move afterwards. And those of us who do it know this is totally contrary to the spirit of Ramadan, through which we're supposed to learn self-control not self-indulgence. Let's try to stick to the Prophetic rule on eating: fill our stomachs with one-third food, one-third water and one-third breathing space, even in Ramadan.

2. Give a dollar a day in charity...or five or ten

The Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, was always generous but even more so in Ramadan. Let's open our hearts and dig a little deeper in our wallets this year. Even less than a dollar a day adds up. Whatever you can give, it's the intention that counts.

3. Memorize 4 new Surahs

Memorizing the Quran often seems like a daunting task. But the key is doing it in small bites. Since there are four weeks in Ramadan, try to memorize one new Surah a week. Start off with a short, easy one. Once you've started, you'll build momentum and may even want to memorize a longer one the following week.

4. Go to Tarawih prayers

Post-Iftar, the first urge is to sleep after an exhausting day. But try your best to head out to the mosque for Tarawih prayers. Praying alone is wonderful, but doing it in congregation is fantastic. The community spirit is part of Ramadan's blessings. Don't miss it this year. If going every day is not possible, try going at least one week.

Read on at: Sound Vision

So Why Hasn’t Iran Started by Wiping Its Own Jews Off the Map?

Israel's Jewish Problem in Tehran

By Jonathan Cook

Iran is the new Nazi Germany and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the new Hitler. Or so Israeli officials have been declaring for months as they and their American allies try to persuade the doubters in Washington that an attack on Tehran is essential. And if the latest media reports are to be trusted, it looks like they may again be winning the battle for hearts and minds: Vice-President Dick Cheney is said to be diverting the White House back on track to launch a military strike.

Earlier this year Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s opposition leader and the man who appears to be styling himself scaremonger-in-chief, told us: “It’s 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs.” Of Ahmadinejad, he said: “He is preparing another Holocaust for the Jewish state.”

A few weeks ago, as Israel’s military intelligence claimed -- as it has been doing regularly since the early 1990s -- that Iran is only a year or so away from the “point of no return” on developing a nuclear warhead, Netanyahu was at it again. “Iran could be the first undeterrable nuclear power,” he warned, adding: “This is a Jewish problem like Hitler was a Jewish problem … The future of the Jewish people depends on the future of Israel.”

Read on at: Counterpunch

Hijab

"To those who say the term 'hijab' is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an and thus it cannot be fard, ask them: what then about the fact that the words 'Asr,' 'Maghrib' and 'Ishaa' are not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an?"

Paraphrasing from Ustadh Suhaib Webb's lecture at MCA (07/30/2007)

Highest Ranking Pro-[Apartheid] Israel PAC Fund Recipients

(Hat tip to CAIR: I love their daily news briefs compilation!)

US House of Representatives: 2006 Cycle

1. Kirk, Mark (R-IL) : $76, 564
2. Ellsworth, Brad (D-IN) : $48, 750
3. Hoyer, Steny (D-MD) : $44,500

US House of Represenatives: Career

1. Berkley, Shelly (D-NV) : $246, 205
2. Frost, Martin (D-TX) : $190, 014
3. Engel, Eliot (D-NY) : $179,918

US Senate: 2006 Cycle

1. Lieberman, Joseph (D-CT) : $127,093
2. Nelson, Bill (R-FL) : $89,861
3. Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) : $87,000
   

US Senate: Career

1. Levin, Carl (D-MI) : $658,887
2. Harkin, Tom (D-IA) : $520,950
3. Specter, Arlen (R-PA) : $489,973

Source: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

We wonder why the US is unable to faciliate peace in the Middle East - I think it might have something to do wtih the fact that American politicians are selling their souls to Apartheid advocates.

Thank you Cindy Sheehan. Thank you for reminding me why I've always hesitated when it came to voting Democrat.

I was frightened out of ever voting for a third party, or an independent candidate, but voting out of fear is one of the things that bestowed us with the Bush crime mob and may give us the Republican, if not in party affiliation, Hillary Clinton.

I was a lifelong Democrat only because the choices were limited. The Democrats are the party of slavery and were the party that started every war in the 20th century, except the other Bush debacle. The Federal Reserve, permanent federal income taxes, not one but two World Wars, Japanese concentration camps, and not one but two atom bombs dropped on the innocent citizens of Japan -- all brought to us via the Democrats.

Read on at: SF Chronicle

An Islamic Perspective on Women's Voices

From Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi's response to a question regarding a woman's voice, in Islam:

The promotion of such negativity against women has led many 'scholars' and 'Imams' to make the unsubstantiated ruling about female speech. They claim that women should lower their voice to whispers or even silence except when she speaks to her husband, her guardian or other females. The female act of communication has become to some a source of temptation and allurement to the male.

The Qur'an, however, specifically mentions that those seeking information from the Prophet's wives were to address them from behind a screen (Al-Ahzab 33: 53). Since questions require answers, the Mothers of the Believers offered fatwas to those who asked and narrated hadiths to whomever wished to transmit them.

Furthermore, women were accustomed to posing questions to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while men were present. Neither were they embarrassed to have their voices heard nor did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prevent them from forwarding their inquires. Even in the case of `Umar when he was challenged by a woman during his khutbah (Friday sermon) on the pulpit, he did not deny her. Rather, he admitted that she was right and he was wrong and said: 'Everybody is more knowledgeable than `Umar.'

Another Qur'anic example of a woman speaking publicly is that the daughters of the Shu`ayb mentioned in the Qur'an in surat Al-Qasas, verse 23. Furthermore, the Qur'an narrates the conversation between Sulayman and the Queen of Sheba as well as between her and her subjects.

All of these examples support the fatwa that women are allowed to voice their opinion publicly, for whatever has been prescribed to those before us is prescribed to us, unless it’s unanimously rejected by Islamic law.

Read on at: Islam Online

Purchase a "Peace Scarf" and . . .

. . .show Delia's that the Zionists aren't the only ones paying attention!

Check it out - Muslamics: "Peace Scarf"

Hijab Drama

Muslim juror ‘listened to iPod under hijab’

The Muslim woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of concealing the device beneath her headscarf so that she could listen to music during the testimony of a man who bludgeoned his disabled wife to
death.

Read on at Times Online

There are sooo many issues with this situation. Assuming this is an accurate report, my top two:

1. As folks who depend on democratic tools like a jury, can we please start showing it the respect it deserves.
2. Wow. This has the potential to make wearing hijab an obnoxious burden on female jurors!

Independence Day?

Happy 4th of July?
By Guest Blogger Yesi King

As many U.S. residents stock up on beer, barbecue and chips, and families happily sit around excited circles to anticipate the crackling and luminous fireworks that will light up the sky for the most revered of American holidays, many people across the globe suffer from U.S. policies. This day is a reminder of the ‘freedom’ we have and enjoy. However, the irony in Americans enthusiasm lies is the mentality that promotes perceptions like “don’t forget what this day is all about,” or “don't let us forget those brave men and women that fought and died so that we might have the freedom to speak up when things are not as they should be...” Such patriotism is instilled in the institutions of this country in an attempt to quiet dissent over government policies that at the same time promote quite the opposite.

Read on at: Muslamics

Put Away the Flags
By Howard Zinn

On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.

Is not nationalism -- that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder -- one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?

These ways of thinking -- cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on -- have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power.

National spirit can be benign in a country that is small and lacking both in military power and a hunger for expansion (Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica and many more). But in a nation like ours -- huge, possessing thousands of weapons of mass destruction -- what might have been harmless pride becomes an arrogant nationalism dangerous to others and to ourselves.

Read on at: The Progressive

To Veil or Not?

A Saudi friend of mine once said that “the only thing more cliché than talking about the veil is apologizing for talking about the veil.” She’s right; the subject’s boring, long-exhausted. Yet, for Muslim women, it’s one subject that won’t go away. Here’s an insider tip for my male Muslim friends, even the so-called progressive ones who say they don’t care whether women veil or not: the difference between you and me is that you’ve never had to make this decision. And as much as we love you — plural — for claiming that you don’t care what conclusion we come to, the fact is you will never have to be in this position. And that, right there, makes your experience of Islam different from ours.

Read on at: Hijab Man

Finkelstein and the Facts

Local Hijab "Victory"

SAN FRANCISCO - A Muslim teenager who was ordered by a school monitor to take off a headscarf she wore for religious reasons returned to classes after school officials apologized to the family.

Issra Omer, 13, told her parents she was too embarrassed to show up for summer school classes at Seaside High School on Wednesday, the day after a monitor demanded she remove her hijab, the Muslim scarf covering the head and neck, to conform to the district's no-hat policy. Issra, whose family is originally from Sudan, explained that her scarf is worn for religious reasons, but the school employee still yelled at her, said her father, Yousif Omer. The teenager, who will be starting 9th grade in the fall, felt humiliated by being singled out in front of her peers, and started crying, he said. The school's principal, Syd Renwick, explained the employee didn't intend any harm.

Read on at: The Californian

World Refugee Day

Food for thought as we near the end of World Refugee Day:

• As of December 31, 2005, the largest source countries of refugees are the Palestinian Territories, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, and Sudan.

• An estimated 80% of refugees are women and children. They often carry the heaviest burden of survival for themselves and their families. Women and adolescent girls in refugee settings are especially vulnerable to exploitation, rape, abuse and other forms of gender-based violence.

Source: Wikipedia

My 5 Minutes of Fame is Still Going Strong

It seems as though maybe the folks at CAIR Watch are actually very fond of me. It turns out they came back to my blog when they heard I posted about being profiled on their website - and they updated the profile accordingly!

"About Billoo being profiled on CAIR Watch: "It's sad because I don't deserve such an honor. Subhan'Allah a lot of the folks in that Hall of Fame [CAIR Watch Profiles] are true superstars. We're talking about the likes of Dr. Sami Al-Arian who has suffered ridiculous injustices, along with so many others who have made innumerable contributions to the cause of social justice. I'm not fit to clean the shoes of so many of those people." (CWZY MUSLIMA, ‘Famous,’ June 12, 2007)"

Check it out: CAIR Watch

"Nation of Mutes"

"Objectively, the American public is much more responsible for the crimes committed in its name than were the people of Germany for the horrors of the Third Reich. We have far more knowledge, and far greater freedom and opportunity to stop our government's criminal behavior."

Read on at: Counter Punch

Bay Area Activist/Muslim Events

The Bay Area had been making me crazy for a while and I couldn't understand why. However, this past Wednesday (when I received an email about a HUGE event taking place this Saturday (mind you I'm on a lot of listservs, and there had been almost ZERO advertising for this event beforehand)) it kind of all just fell in place. It isn't there aren't enough activist or even spiritual events up here - rather it is that there is almost ZERO coordination amongst the various hosting/organizing groups. People sometimes double and triple schedule various events on the same day such that you could have several events happening in one weekend and NO events in another. Unlike in Southern California (Alhamdulillah for SCAMA!), the Bay Area does not seem to have a single location where ALL relevant events are listed such that people could refer to it before deciding on dates.

So, as a minimal contribution to event coordination in general (as well as my sanity) I decided I was going to put every event that ever came my way HERE.

Check it out. Add it to your Google Calendars. Bookmark it.

Do what you need to. End the madness.

"The Israel Lobby Signup"

This is by far one of the better cartoons I've seen this week. I should say though, I am a tad sad that my two favorite Democratic candidates as of yet (Edwards & Obama) are depicted as being closest to the signup sheet!

Famous

I'm famous! I'm famous!

CAIR Watch Front Page

CAIR Watch Hall of Fame

Check out the links folks; it's fabulous! I wonder if my parents ever speculated I'd be such a super star?

So yes for the 2nd time now in six months, an Islamophobic website has decided to make a feature presentation out of me!

• It's crazy because of all of my years of activism, I'd have to say that at least in these past 10 months I've been less of an activist than ever before. In fact, a large amount of my activism has become confined to my blogs - are the Islamophobes really that concerned about my minimal contributions to the marketplace of ideas?
• It's sad because I don't deserve such an honor. Subhan'Allah a lot of the folks in that Hall of Fame are true superstars. We're talking about the likes of Dr. Sami Al-Arian who has suffered ridiculous injustices, along with so many others who have made innumerable contributions to the cause of social justice. I'm not fit to clean the shoes of so many of those people.
• On the upside, I'd like to thank the CAIR Watch folks for picking a somewhat decent picture of me. When the Militant Islam Monitor/Pipes drama went down, they first put up a video of somebody who was not me and when they finally put up a picture of me it wasn't such a great one. However, I'd have to say that relatively speaking I actually like the one up on CAIR Watch. Alhamdulillah.
  

Privilege

Subhan'Allah. This story is another reminder of just how fortunate and privileged we are.

Chinese Leave Guantánamo for Albanian Limbo

TIRANA, Albania — Ahktar Qassim Basit says he is not angry about the four years he spent as an American prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before his captors mumbled a brief apology and flew him to this drab Balkan capital to begin a new life as a refugee.

It is this new life in Albania, Mr. Basit and other former Guantánamo detainees say, that is driving them to desperation.

The men, Muslims from western China’s Uighur ethnic minority, were freed from their confinement in Cuba after they were found to pose no threat to the United States. They have now lived for more than a year in a squalid government refugee center on the grubby outskirts of Tirana, guarded by armed policemen.

The men have been told that they will need to get work to move out of the center, they said, but that they must learn the Albanian language to get work permits. For now, they subsist on free meals heavy with macaroni and rice, and monthly stipends of about $67, which they spend mostly on brief telephone calls to their families. But some of the men have already lost hope of ever seeing their wives and children again.

“We suffered very much at Guantánamo, but we continue to suffer here,” Mr. Basit said. “The other prisoners had their countries, but we are like orphans: we have no place to go.”

Mr. Basit and four other men here, who spent time at a hamlet in Afghanistan run by Uighur separatists, are still considered terrorist suspects by China’s Communist government. Only Albania’s pro-American government would give them asylum, but Albanian officials have since told the men they cannot afford to give them much else.

Things could be worse, the former prisoners note. At least 15 of the 17 Uighurs who remain at Guantánamo have also been cleared for release, but not even Albania will accept them — and neither will the United States. Instead, American diplomats say they have asked nearly 100 countries to provide asylum to the detainees, only to find that Chinese officials have warned some of the same countries not to accept them.

Read on at: NY Times

Student Loan Debt

June 5, 2007

Senator Jack Scott, Chair
Senate Education Committee
State Capitol, Room 2082
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: (APLLPI), AB 171 (Beall), Hearing Date June 13, 2007

Dear Senator Scott:

I am writing in support of AB 171 (Beall), Assumption Loan Program for Law in the Public Interest (APLLPI). The APLLPI would give students like me the financial ability to enter into the field of public interest law and give back to our communities.

Many graduating law students are prevented from considering a public interest job because of unprecedented levels of educational debt, which for most law students exceeds $80,000. This cumulative debt is a strong consideration in whether I will be able to pursue a public interest career focused on serving California’s communities most in need of legal assistance. This is especially true when private sector jobs earn a salary that can be three times as much as that of a public interest salary.

Many schools offer only a minimal amount of loan repayment assistance through school funded programs. In addition, very few employers have the ability to provide loan repayment assistance to newly hired graduated law students. The Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Program will ease a grave barrier to entry into public interest law, allowing more students wishing to pursue a career in this area to move forward with this dream.

I strongly support AB 171 and respectfully request your support as well.

Sincerely,

Zahra Billoo
1L at UC Hastings College of the Law

Ahmed Billoo in the Jewish Journal?

Yup folks, my lil' brother was quoted in the Jewish Journal.

Check it out: Pew Poll finds some U.S. Muslims support suicide bombing.

Iraqi Refugees Turn to the Sex Trade in Syria

MARABA, Syria — Back home in Iraq, Umm Hiba’s daughter was a devout schoolgirl, modest in her dress and serious about her studies. Hiba, who is now 16, wore the hijab, or Islamic head scarf, and rose early each day to say the dawn prayer before classes.

But that was before militias began threatening their Baghdad neighborhood and Umm Hiba and her daughter fled to Syria last spring. There were no jobs, and Umm Hiba’s elderly father developed complications related to his diabetes.

Desperate, Umm Hiba followed the advice of an Iraqi acquaintance and took her daughter to work at a nightclub along a highway known for prostitution. “We Iraqis used to be a proud people,” she said over the frantic blare of the club’s speakers. She pointed out her daughter, dancing among about two dozen other girls on the stage, wearing a pink silk dress with spaghetti straps, her frail shoulders bathed in colored light.

As Umm Hiba watched, a middle-aged man climbed onto the platform and began to dance jerkily, arms flailing, among the girls.

“During the war we lost everything,” she said. “We even lost our honor.” She insisted on being identified by only part of her name — Umm Hiba means mother of Hiba.

Read on at: NY Times

Death

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "You should remember the reality that brings an end to all worldly joys and pleasures, namely, death."

Fiqh-as-Sunnah, Volume 4, Number 13

Diamonds and Pearls

"If memory serves me correctly, I was wearing a little white tank top and a short black skirt. I had been raised Orthodox Muslim, so I had never before worn such revealing clothing while in my father's presence. When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father's suite.

As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day. My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said, 'Hana, everything that Allah made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You've got to work hard to get to them.'

He looked at me with serious eyes. 'Your body is sacred. You're far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.'"

Source: "More Than A Hero:
Muhammad Ali's Life Lessons Through His Daughter's Eyes."

Oprah

American talk show queen accepts Elie Wiesel proposal to come to [apartheid] Israel, says she sympathizes with [apartheid] Israelis' suffering.

Oprah Winfrey will be arriving in [apartheid] Israel for a solidarity visit in the near future, the queen of American talk shows announced Monday during an event at Manhattan's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

In the event, Winfrey was honored by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity for her contribution to promoting humanitarian issues.

Read on at: YNet

Disney's Desperate Housewives

Boycott [Apartheid] Israel – Don’t Play another “Sun City!”

An open letter to the Rolling Stones regarding their planned gig in [Apartheid] Israel:

Dear Rolling Stones,

The Palestinian arts community received in disbelief media reports of your upcoming performance in Israel, at a time when Israel continues unabated with its colonial and apartheid designs to further dispossess, oppress, and ultimately ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homeland. If the news is accurate, and we sincerely hope it is not, we strongly urge you to cancel your plans to perform in Israel until the time comes when it ends its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and respects fundamental human rights as well as the relevant precepts of international law concerning Palestinian rights to freedom, self-determination and equality.

Performing in Israel at this time is morally equivalent to performing in South Africa during the apartheid era. We all remember how leading Rolling Stones musicians played a prominent role in enforcing a cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa in the 1980’s, and participated in recording the timeless song, Sun City, which had a singular influence on raising public awareness about apartheid and its injustices. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights Prof. John Dugard, and South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils have repeatedly declared, Israel has created a worse system of apartheid than anything that ever existed in South Africa.

Indeed, Israel’s policies throughout its illegal military occupation of Palestinian territory, which have surpassed their South African counterparts, include house demolitions; Jews-only colonies and roads; uprooting hundreds of thousands of trees; indiscriminate killings of civilians, particularly children; incessant theft of land and water resources; denying freedom of movement to millions under occupation, cutting up the occupied Palestinian territory into Bantustans, some entirely caged by walls, fences and hundreds of roadblocks. Sixty years since the Nakba, Israel’s planned campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people, and 40 years into its military occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territory, Israel has consistently and relentlessly violated basic human rights and relevant precepts of international law with utter impunity. Moreover, Israel’s war of aggression against Lebanon last year caused more than one thousand civilian deaths, not to mention massive destruction to infrastructure and decimation of entire residential neighbourhoods.

The resounding failure of the international community to date in ending Israel’s occupation, collective punishment, and other forms of oppression was what prompted Palestinians to appeal to international civil society to bear its moral responsibility to put an end to injustice, just as it did against apartheid South Africa. To this end, Palestinian civil society has almost unanimously called for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it fully complies with international law and recognizes the fundamental human rights of the people of Palestine. A specific call for cultural boycott of Israel was issued last year, garnering wide support. Among the many groups and institutions that have heeded the Palestinian boycott calls and started to consider or apply diverse forms of effective pressure on Israel are the Church of England; the US Presbyterian Church; a group of top British architects; the British National Union of Journalists in the UK; the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU); the South African Council of Churches; the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario; Aosdana, the Irish state-sponsored academy of artists; celebrated authors, artists and intellectuals led by John Berger; and Palme d’Or winner director Ken Loach. Is it too much, then, to expect conscientious artists like the Rolling Stones to similarly uphold the values of freedom, equality and justice for all by supporting the growing boycott against Israel?

We appeal to your moral principles and your record of standing up for human rights and human dignity. If the reports are true, we sincerely hope that you shall cancel this ill-conceived and particularly harmful concert in Israel. If they are not true, we urge you to issue a statement to clarify where you stand on this issue of principle.


Sincerely,

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of [Apartheid] Israel

Good Riddance

Is it OK that I'm happy about today's news?
Everybody always wants to talk about those who preach hate under the guise of Islam - well good riddance to Falwell who did the same exact thing with Christianity.
GOOD RIDDANCE.

Television Evangelist Falwell Dies at 73
The Rev. Jerry Falwell was stricken at his campus office and died Tuesday after a career in which the evangelist used the power of television to transform the religious right into a mighty force in American politics. He was 73.
. . .
Driven into politics by the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established the right to an abortion, Falwell founded the Moral Majority in 1979. One of the conservative lobbying group's greatest triumphs came just a year later, when Ronald Reagan was elected president.

Falwell credited the Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, aiding in Reagan's victory and giving Republicans control of the Senate.

"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," he said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.
. . .
The 1980s marked the religious conservative movement's high-water mark. In more recent years, Falwell had become a problematic figure for the GOP. His remarks a few days after Sept. 11, 2001, essentially blaming feminists, gays and liberals for bringing on the terrorist attacks drew a rebuke from the White House, and he apologized.
. . .
In 1999, he told an evangelical conference that the Antichrist was a male Jew who was probably already alive. Falwell later apologized for the remark but not for holding the belief. A month later, his National Liberty Journal warned parents that Tinky Winky, the children's TV character, was a gay role model and morally damaging to children.

Make A Safe Bet - Buyout the UC Fee Increase & Fund Academic Prep.

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

Gambling with the future of California is a high stakes game! Please Make a Safe Bet for Higher Education - buy out the 7-10% UC fee increase and restore Academic Preparation funding to $33 million for the 2007-2008 academic year.

UC students fully understand the difficult decisions you are charged with making during this budget cycle and urge you to continue to make higher education a priority. Students who complete a college education will contribute $3 to California's economy for every $1 the state spends on their education. Higher education is a great investment in the future of our state.

If the Governor's proposed fee increase takes effect, UC fees will have increased nearly 100% in only six short years - making it impossible for students and families to plan for a college education.

Thanking you in advance,

Zahra Billoo
1250 N Bellflower Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90840

Make your voice heard! Take action now!

For the Record

I find inspiration in

the legacies of the global Islamic movement
as well as the Civil Rights movement.
Furthermore,
I advocate a notion of a Muslim student community
that is deeply religious, educated,
multi-ethnic, fiqh-balanced,
gender balanced, non-sectarian,
activist, service oriented and shura based!

Is that really too much to ask?

Wage Law No Longer Living

Judge rules in favor of LAX-area hotels
By Kerry Cavanaugh

The Los Angeles City Council lost its legal showdown with the business community on Friday, when a judge struck down its effort to impose a living-wage ordinance on hotels near LAX.
. . .
The ruling marked a major setback for the council and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who worked with the city's powerful unions to craft the controversial living-wage ordinance.

"The judge's decision is shocking to me, and I expect the city attorney to appeal," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who helped push for the law.
. . .
Los Angeles has had a living-wage requirement for more than a decade, but it had been applied only to firms doing business directly with the city.

In expanding it to the hotels, the council argued that the facilities benefit from their proximity to Los Angeles International Airport and its city-funded improvements, and so they could be required to pay higher wages.

The expanded living-wage law, first adopted in November, required 13 hotels along Century Boulevard to increase workers' hourly pay to $9.39 with health insurance, or to $10.64 without health benefits.

But hotels and business groups vigorously fought back, saying the city has no right to set wages for private-sector workers.

They also worried that the law could set a precedent and lead to similar ordinances being expanded to other industries.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce teamed up with hotels and spent $800,000 to gather more than 103,000 signatures to put the ordinance on the May ballot with the hope that voters would overturn the law.
. . .
Read the whole story at: LA Daily News
AND if you want to read about the struggle from the people actually living/fighting it: Coalition for a New Century

I think the saddest part about all of this is that I'm not even sure "$9.39 with health insurance, or . . . $10.64 without health benefits" deserves to be called a living wage.

Israel's 'Modesty Buses' Draw Fire

This is great; and they call Apartheid Israel the only democracy
in the Middle East? These buses are Saudi Arabia status!

By Katya Adler
BBC News, Jerusalem

The other day I was waiting for a bus in downtown Jerusalem. I was in the bustling orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Sharim and the bus stop was extremely crowded.

When the Number 40 bus arrived, the most curious thing happened. Husbands left heavily pregnant wives or spouses struggling with prams and pushchairs to fend for themselves as they and all other male passengers got on at the front of the bus.

Women moved towards the rear door to get on at the back.

When on the bus, I tried to buck the system, moving my way towards the driver but was pushed back towards the other women.

These are what orthodox Jews call "modesty buses".

The separation system operates on 30 public bus routes across Israel.

The authorities here say the arrangement is voluntary, but in practice, as I found out, there is not much choice involved.

'Abuse and threats'

Naomi Ragen is one of a group of women now taking the separation bus system to court. She is an orthodox Jew herself.

"I wasn't trying to start a revolution, all I wanted to do was get home," she tells me.

"I was in downtown Jerusalem and I saw a bus going straight to my neighbourhood and I got on and sat down, in a single seat behind the driver.

"It was a completely empty bus, and all of a sudden, some men started getting on, ultra-orthodox men. They told me I was not allowed to sit there, I had to go to the back of the bus."

Not only is the segregation system discriminatory, says Ms Ragen, but it can also be dangerous, she says, for those like her who ignore it.

"I said to him look, if you bring me a code of Jewish law and show me where it's written that I have to sit at the back of the bus I'll move.

"And he tried to gain support from the rest of the passengers and I underwent a half-hour of pure hell - abuse, humiliation, threats, even physical intimidation."

'Positive discrimination'

Supporters of the separation system say the buses involved serve mainly religious Jewish neighbourhoods - but not exclusively.

Many passengers are not happy. You will hear complaints at bus stops all over town.

One man told me that if some people wanted segregation buses they should pay a private company to provide them.

Another told me that in a society that is democratic and where the buses are subsidised by the government, a minority's concerns should not override those of the majority.

But Shlomo Rosenstein disagrees. He is a city councillor in Jerusalem where a large proportion of Israel's segregation lines operate.

"This really is about positive discrimination, in women's favour. Our religion says there should be no public contact between men and women, this modesty barrier must not be broken."

Uphill struggle

Opponents of the separation buses face an uphill struggle. Orthodox Jewish leaders are a powerful minority in Israel.

Naomi Ragen says the buses are just part of a wider menacing pattern of behaviour towards women in parts of the orthodox Jewish community.

"They've already cancelled higher education in the ultra-orthodox world for women. They have packed the religious courts with ultra-orthodox judges.

"In some places there are separate sides of the street women have to walk on."

She says that there are signs all over some religious neighbourhoods demanding that women dress modestly.

"They throw paint and bleach at women who aren't dressed modestly and if we don't draw a line in the sand here with this seat on a bus, then I don't know what this country and this religion is going to look like in 20 years," Ms Ragen said.

Petitioners like Naomi Ragen have asked Israel's High Court to either ban the segregation buses altogether or to force bus companies to provide parallel bus routes for passengers wanting to sit where they like.

Check out the reader commentary at BBC News.

Ya Allah

‘Ya Allah,
You are my supporter
and
You are my helper,
by You I move
and
by You I attack
and
by You I battle.’

VA Tech Copycat Threat @ Hastings

April 25, 2007

To: Boalt Community

From: Dean Christopher Edley, Jr.

It has been a week since the distressing events involving a Boalt student’s threat —a hoax — against the community at Hastings College of the Law. I am writing to let you know that all our actions following the incident have been taken with the intention of securing the safety and well-being of our community and that at Hastings, while respecting the procedural rights of the student.

On Wednesday, April 25, 2007, the Law School filed a complaint with the U.C. Berkeley Judicial Affairs Office against the law student who claimed responsibility for posting the threat on a website. We, the administrative leadership of Boalt, believe that the student’s action is clearly in violation of a number of regulations detailed in the Student Code of Conduct. The case will be adjudicated by Judicial Affairs according to campus regulations. Those regulations prohibit us from disclosing the name of the student against whom we are proceeding.

Based on the facts as we understand them today, we have recommended expulsion. This is based not only on the intrinsic wrongfulness of the act itself, but also the disruption, turmoil and emotional toll on the Hastings community and, to a more limited extent, the Boalt community as well. I have received ample evidence of this through a great many emails, some of them painful to read.

This incident has once again confirmed for me the strength and qualities of the Boalt community. Even in this challenging circumstance, you have engaged in thoughtful and productive discussions. We should all take some pride in this, imperfect though we are.

Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law and Dean

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

April 26, 2007

To the U.C. Hastings College of Law community:

On behalf of students at Boalt Hall, we express our deep sympathy and sincere disapproval for the unfortunate events associated with the recent threat to the Hastings community.

Understanding the pressures common to our field of study, particularly at this stage in the academic year, we find what transpired to be particularly inappropriate. The collective discomfort on each of our campuses underscores our interdependence as students. We can only hope that this incident will strengthen the bond between our schools in the future. Please accept our sympathies.

Sincerely,
Boalt Hall Students Association

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Regular updates on the Hastings threat drama are available at Memoirs of Hastings.)

Denim Day

The History:
Italy, 1992
An 18-year old girl is picked up by her married 45-year old driving instructor for her very first lesson. He takes her to an isolated road, pulls her out of the car, wrestles her out of one leg of her jeans and forcefully rapes her. Threatened with death if she tells anyone, he makes her drive the car home. Later that night she tells her parents, and they help and support her to press charges. The perpetrator gets arrested and is prosecuted. He is convicted of rape and sentenced to jail.

He appeals the sentence. The case makes it’s all the way to the Italian Supreme Court. Within a matter of days the case against the driving instructor is overturned, dismissed, and the perpetrator released. In a statement by the Chief Judge, he argued, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”

Enraged by the verdict, within a matter of hours the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action and protested by wearing jeans to work. This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same . . .


Make a Difference: Why Wear Denim Today?

• Make it possible for more survivors of sexual assault to reach out and find help.

• Promote prevention through education, so sexual violence won’t occur in the first place.

• Encourage men and boys to understand that strength is not for hurting, and the critical role they play in preventing violence against women.

• Encourage institutional and societal change.

Source: Denim Day in LA

20 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

1. At Lunchtime, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "In".

5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for three weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to Espresso.

6. In the memo field of all your check, write: "For Smuggling Diamonds."

7. Finish all of your sentences with "in accordance with the Prophecy."

8. Dont use any punctuation

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

11. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Go to a poetry recital. And ask why the poems don't rhyme.

14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

16. Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name, "Rock Bottom."

17. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I won! I won!"

18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "run for your lives! They're loose!"

19. Tell your children over dinner, "due to the economy, we're going to have to let one of you go."

20. And the final way to keep a healthy level of Insanity .. Share this with a friend, make them smile. It's called therapy.

(This came my way via random email forwarding - I thought some of you would enjoy it, insh'Allah.)

Bid'ah

Happy Bid'ah Day (i.e. Birthday)
Ahmed Billoo!

Ice Cream For A Good Cause

Today is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's! Affad Shaikh discussed this blessed event at: This American Muslim.

Eating for a good cause is very much up my alley.

BUT I have some words of caution, take them for what they're worth insh'Allah. It was recently brought to my attention (hat tip to Saira Lari) that the majority of ice cream flavors by Ben & Jerry's contain vanilla extract. According to Eat Halal (EXCERPT included below):

Vanilla is a plant product. It is extracted with alcohol as the solvent of choice, from the vanilla bean and is normally kept in a solution containing alcohol. It can be used in powder or liquid form. If you examine at a bottle of vanilla extract, you will find it lists alcohol as an ingredient, along with the percentage of alcohol. (In the USA, a minimum of 35% alcohol is required for it to be called natural vanilla.)
. . . .
In current practice, most of the vanillin and ethyl vanillin is produced synthetically; however, the food companies may also dissolve them in alcohol before they are used in the food items.
. . .
So in general, all intoxicants, regardless of the source, are haram. (Khamr is commonly considered to be ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol.) It is also haram to buy, sell, produce, transport, grow the raw materials for or in anyway be associated with the alcoholic drinks (Khamr). Vanilla is not a drink, but it does contain a large amount of alcohol. Even though it is used in small quantities, it is better to avoid it.

And ALLAH, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, knows best.

Please note: Ben & Jerry's has ice cream ingredients available online, so check out which of their flavors do and/or don't contain vanilla extract before enjoying your free cone. (FYI I believe all of their sorbets are safe, Alhamdulillah.)

Eat with caution?

Pakistan Battles HIV/Aids Taboo

Nearly 4,000 people with HIV/Aids have reported at treatment centres around Pakistan, government and World Health Organisation (WHO) officials say.

The figure is a fraction of the total number of Pakistanis with the virus.

A UNAids report last year said that between 80,000 and 140,000 people were infected - and the rate could spiral because of under-reporting of cases.

The WHO has been funding a three-year, $4.5m anti-retroviral programme in Pakistan since late 2005.
. . .
Pakistani officials say a low detection rate and stigma associated with the disease were hampering the treatment of HIV/Aids patients.

The problem is further compounded by a lack of awareness about the infection.

"People think it is exclusively caused by adultery, and are therefore reluctant to approach health services," says Quaid Saeed, WHO's national medical officer for HIV/Aids in Pakistan

More at: BBC News

Breaking News: CSU - CFA Reach Tentative Agreement

California Faculty Association Announces Tentative Agreement in Cal State U. Faculty Contract Dispute

Union Board Puts Rolling Strike on Hold Pending Member Ratification of Contract

The California Faculty Association announced today a tentative agreement with the California State University administration in the 23-month dispute for a contract covering the CSU’s teachers, librarians, counselors and coaches.

CFA President John Travis said, “We have a tentative agreement on the CSU faculty contract that will be good for the CSU, good for our students, good for the faculty—and frankly it will be good for California. As a result, we have put the rolling walkouts at the 23 CSU campuses on hold pending ratification of the agreement.”

The accord was reached using recommendations made by an impartial fact finder as a framework. The fact finder’s report became public March 25. (see it at http://calfac.org)

The salary portion of the tentative agreement will help the faculty to catch up with the cost of living especially in campus cities like LA, San Francisco, and San Jose, which has been a main issue of contention.

Travis said, “The CSU will be better able to retain teachers in California, improving educational quality in the CSU for students today and in the future.

He added, “This happened above all because the CSU faculty were willing to take a stand and were determined, united, and stepped up with a huge strike vote and strong preparations to take action. The faculty took a strong stand for the CSU, and for California’s public higher education system. We will continue to work for the educational integrity of the CSU.”

Through this agreement faculty will make real progress toward closing the pay gap between themselves and colleagues in other states

CFA acknowledges the help of important supporters including members of the state legislature, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, CSU campus staff, labor unions throughout California and the nation including the AFL-CIO and our affiliates, and many of our students who need and believe in the CSU.

CFA Vice President Lillian Taiz noted there remain important issues challenging California’s state university system.

Taiz said, “Student fees will be raised by the CSU Trustees if more money is not found this spring. Working to stem the rise in student fees will be important for CFA. Also, new policies are needed on compensation for top CSU executives as well as accountability and openness in how the CSU is managed.”

In the coming weeks, the tentative agreement must be turned into a final contract that can be ratified in a vote of the faculty.

Travis said, “The CSU administration did the right thing by agreeing to a contract, based on the fact finder’s report, and avoiding a strike. We hope to work together on rebuilding our university after years of tight budgets, growing class sizes, loss of teachers. The relationship will improve as the administration shows that it values the faculty and places a top priority on the instruction of students.”

Dismantling Dismay

General Humanitarian Event Tips
by Ruben Vaughan III

Coordinating an event to feed the poor, make children smile or to service humanity in general takes planning and a dedicated team. In basic preparations for a humanitarian event your team must be assembled, assigned task and coordinated with an aim of a fluid success. Fluidity implies choosing the path of least resistance, feigning away from micromanaging but at the same time paying attention to details. The details are the people you are serving, their families, their feelings, their needs and their happiness. The stimulating feeling one gets as they realize some one genuinely cares about them and the condition they are in surpasses perception. . . .

More at: Dismantling Dimay

Call That Humiliation?

No hoods. No electric shocks. No beatings. These Iranians clearly are a very uncivilised bunch

Terry Jones
Saturday March 31, 2007
The Guardian

I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this - allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills. And as for compelling poor servicewoman Faye Turney to wear a black headscarf, and then allowing the picture to be posted around the world - have the Iranians no concept of civilised behaviour? For God's sake, what's wrong with putting a bag over her head? That's what we do with the Muslims we capture: we put bags over their heads, so it's hard to breathe. Then it's perfectly acceptable to take photographs of them and circulate them to the press because the captives can't be recognised and humiliated in the way these unfortunate British service people are.

It is also unacceptable that these British captives should be made to talk on television and say things that they may regret later. If the Iranians put duct tape over their mouths, like we do to our captives, they wouldn't be able to talk at all. Of course they'd probably find it even harder to breathe - especially with a bag over their head - but at least they wouldn't be humiliated.

And what's all this about allowing the captives to write letters home saying they are all right? It's time the Iranians fell into line with the rest of the civilised world: they should allow their captives the privacy of solitary confinement. That's one of the many privileges the US grants to its captives in Guantánamo Bay.

The true mark of a civilised country is that it doesn't rush into charging people whom it has arbitrarily arrested in places it's just invaded. The inmates of Guantánamo, for example, have been enjoying all the privacy they want for almost five years, and the first inmate has only just been charged. What a contrast to the disgraceful Iranian rush to parade their captives before the cameras!

What's more, it is clear that the Iranians are not giving their British prisoners any decent physical exercise. The US military make sure that their Iraqi captives enjoy PT. This takes the form of exciting "stress positions", which the captives are expected to hold for hours on end so as to improve their stomach and calf muscles. A common exercise is where they are made to stand on the balls of their feet and then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates intense pain and, finally, muscle failure. It's all good healthy fun and has the bonus that the captives will confess to anything to get out of it.

And this brings me to my final point. It is clear from her TV appearance that servicewoman Turney has been put under pressure. The newspapers have persuaded behavioural psychologists to examine the footage and they all conclude that she is "unhappy and stressed".

What is so appalling is the underhand way in which the Iranians have got her "unhappy and stressed". She shows no signs of electrocution or burn marks and there are no signs of beating on her face. This is unacceptable. If captives are to be put under duress, such as by forcing them into compromising sexual positions, or having electric shocks to their genitals, they should be photographed, as they were in Abu Ghraib. The photographs should then be circulated around the civilised world so that everyone can see exactly what has been going on.

As Stephen Glover pointed out in the Daily Mail, perhaps it would not be right to bomb Iran in retaliation for the humiliation of our servicemen, but clearly the Iranian people must be made to suffer - whether by beefing up sanctions, as the Mail suggests, or simply by getting President Bush to hurry up and invade, as he intends to anyway, and bring democracy and western values to the country, as he has in Iraq.

· Terry Jones is a film director, actor and Python
www.terry-jones.net

Today . . .

. . . marks 1500 days of imprisonment for

Dr. Sami Al-Arian.

(MASNET) Friday, March 30th marks 1500 days in jail for Dr. Sami Al-Arian. Dr. Al-Arian was recently sentenced to an additional eighteen months in jail for his refusal to testify before a grand jury. However, this verdict was rendered against him despite a plea agreement he had with the government, which included a no-cooperation clause. (See: MAS Net)

Dr. Al-Arian has been scheduled for a hearing with Judge Bruce Lee on April 20th, 7 days after his government agreed upon release date. Reports from family members indicate that "Dr. Al-Arian intends to restate his commitment to his non-cooperation clause and request Judge Lee to withdraw the current citation for contempt."

More on Dr. Al-Arian's ongoing persecution at Counter Punch

. . . is also the 31st Anniversary of Land Day.

(Wikipedia) For Palestinians, Land Day has since become a day of commemoration and tribute to those who have fallen in the struggle to hold onto their land and identity. The Press Center of the Palestinian National Authority has characterized it "...as a remarkable day in the history of the Palestinian people's struggle, as the Palestinians in such a particular day embrace the land of their ancestors, their identity and their existence."

More on Land Day 2007 at BBC News

Stand up for Higher Education in California!

Dear Chancellor Reed:

As a concerned CSU graduate and former CSSA Executive Officer, I cannot remain quiet during this period of turmoil within the CSU. I am concerned that the CSU's current internal struggles are threatening a great public university and genuinely harming its students, faculty and the state of California.

Middle-class jobs are disappearing and for many high school students an affordable, quality education is the key to their future. The inability of CSU supporters to collectively and cooperatively advocate for state funding resources has resulted in nearly unaffordable student fees, created overcrowded classrooms not conducive to learning or teaching, and produced very difficult working conditions for professors and lecturers.

It is crucial that we work to ensure the CSU is able to maintain its status as an education system that is viewed as one of the finest and most affordable for working families in the country and not one that is only remembered as having been that way once in the distant past.

I support the California Faculty Association and their demand for a decent contract with fair wages and better working conditions. Moreover, I also support their larger battle to return CSU to well-funded institution of yesteryear as faculty teach the students that are the future of California.

Sincerely,
Zahra Billoo

Every voice counts! Send a message NOW! The CSU faculty deserve a fair contract. Have you done your part to support them in getting one?

FEMA? Hezbollah?

Personally seeing the ongoing devastation in New Orleans, reminded (vis-a-vis Affad Shaikh) me of a quote I enjoyed last year:

'So Hezbollah is giving $4,000 each to the residents of South Lebanon and promising to rebuild their towns. Seeing such quick actions, we should disband FEMA - after its woeful performance in New Orleans - and outsource the job to Hezbollah.'