Thank you Blessed. I almost gave up on that site. How could they be down so long? It's not like people who need help can wait or care about a website that's down. I hate to say this but that's a bad sign the site would be down almost the entire bloody week. If online donations are of any significant percentage of their overall donations then they've lost a lot this week. Thanks again. Please make sure to visit it folks. P.S. I know most of you here are students but the price of a movie ticket, a book on Amazon or a dinner at a restaurant is no less than $50 so think about it. Go movieless for a month. Skip the Olive Garden trip (pasta is bad for you anyway) and tell Amazon to buzz off.

Originally posted by Socod_badne: Why would a woman wear body-hugging clothes if not to attract male eyes? May be so, but the invitation is certainly not extended to the hands, arms or other uninvited (gate-crashing) body parts. In other words, NO TOUCHING. Hence the jail sentence. You dig?

^ You got a helmet handy, son? What rubbish you speak there? The sentence is too harsh. Six months to a year is more than enough to make him think of what he did. Sensitivity classes and a psychiatric evaluation may also be in order. Four years would break his career or his education and would be too much punishment for his crime.

^ I'm sorry but my comprehension abilities are not so great as to understand the "irony" you speak of. Won't you enlighten me?

^ And your point is ...?

Originally posted by Northerner: Back to the main topic, many ME countries are in the process of changing school text books by extracting anything showing Isreal and Isrealis in a bad light after a push from the US. Wow. That's great. It finally dawned on us that double standards are not inherently Israeli or Western. I knew that cartoon saga was indeed a blessing in disguise. It's spring cleaning everywhere you look. Ken Livingston is a courageous man and speaking against right-wing Israeli policies is what gets him (or anyone) in hot water for nowadays doing so is tantamount to anti-semitism. :rolleyes:

SB, I hear ya atheer. Yours is like if I'm gonna be wrong, I might as well have only myself to blame, right? But I, Castro, hate to be wrong and to minimize that, I'd expand my sources rather than reduce them. But these are personal preferences and quarelling over them is futile. It has been my experience that the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. You said, I said learning Islam from any learned muslim is tantamount to worshiping a man's understanding of Islam. Tantamount? As in equivalent? How could that be saaxib? No one is worshipping a caalim no matter how good he or she is. Period. Worship is for the almighty and neither his messenger (scw) nor his message (the Quran) can be worshipped, let alone a caalim. I hope that's fairly clear for we're not speaking of worship here but acquiring knowledge and the means with which we can do so. You say first hand is good, I don't disagree. It's a monumental task, however, and in the process, you yourself might become a caalim. Some say we need learned men, I don't disagree with that either. It reduces the monumental task to a manageable one for the ordinary Muslim.

^ No harm done.

^ Though we are on the same page, I can't say we're on the same paragraph. I don't burn houses, flags or anything else for that matter. I deal with it by, first, raising my own awareness. Recognize what's going on and why and second, by raising the awareness of those around me. With increased awareness comes the possibility of becoming more active and engaging in things that make a difference. But that's another Oprah show.

^ Well that's one way to deal with it. But before dealing with anything, we need to recognize it for what it is and not confuse it for something else. We're on the same page.

SB, saaxib, are you basically telling me you have a better chance of understanding the actual message from God yourself rather than from someone who studies the Quran, Sunnah and Fiqh as a lifetime vocation because then you'd be learning their biased understanding of Islam? So basically your understanding would be unbiased, and by implication, the actual message itself and not some interpretation of it. Pardon my obtuse questions but it seems as though you'd join one of the "schools of thoughts" you mentioned and your understanding would be no better than say a caalim with many decades of study. Am I close to understanding your stance? I seem to have misconstrued your earlier statements.

Originally posted by BonefieD_CriTic: If that cartoon is meant to insult me then it is not doing it job - That's not what I meant. The cartoon is intended to insult Arabs (the name Abdul) and muslims (the jilbaab) by insinuating that beheadings are such natural part of their life, they use it as an offering to their loved ones. It's a racist and Islamophibic cartoon.

^ Bone, who do you think is being insulted in this cartoon?

^ Do you have student loans need paying off?

^ She meant he would then "own" her. Seeing that I put more value on Ahura than she has put on herself, I'll start the bidding at $75,000. I wouldn't mind adding her to my collection once I pay off Kooley's debts.

Originally posted by General Duke: Bashiir Raage Oo Xad gudub Ku Sameeyay Diinta Islaamka Isagoo faray Ciidamadiisa Inay Gadhka Ka xiiraan Cidii Lagu tuhmo wadaad Nimo "hada gadhka ayaa layga xiiray anigana Muuse Gurur iyo Bashiir Raage waxaan ka xiirayaa shaarbaha ay sida Yahuuda uLa Baxeen" ayuu yidhi Sh. Muxsin When it rains, it pours. It's now the mustaches vs. the beards. Oh what joy.

^ Won't you come down to the dirty south? I'm shopping for a second wife, see. I hear ya Kooley. And no one knows Vancity like I do. I drove a bloody cab there. If you ain't a Patel with a convenience store or a doctor called Wong, your behind can't even work at the 7-11. I remember filling out applications for a security guard position or gas station attendant and they'd ask me for a resume. Bloody hell. Can they even read the bloody thing if I got them one? I even tried selling encyclopedia and quit on the first day. No one wants to buy a $2,000 50-volume, two-ton worth of books full of out-dated information. After many days and nights of doom and gloom it finally occured to me that I didn't belong there. I was far too alive, far too skilled and far too black to ever make a decent living there.

^ You're one dangerous Xalimo.

^ I'd say one (or two) of her sisters is fair game. Or throw in a cousin or two. No? :cool:

^ . Yeah, he dead.

^ I'm in such trolling mood today (when am I not) so don't get me started.

^ Oh he'd be entitled to more than that, wouldn't you say?

When I'm lying in my bed at night I don't wanna grow up Nothin' ever seems to turn out right I don't wanna grow up. How do you move in a world of fog That's always changing things Makes me wish that I could be a dog When I see the price that you pay I don't wanna grow up I don't ever wanna be that way I don't wanna grow up. Seems like folks turn into things That they'd never want The only thing to live or Is today... I'm gonna put a hole in my T.V. set I don't wanna grow up Open up the medicine chest And I don't wanna grow up I don't wanna have to shout it out I don't want my hair to fall out I don't wanna be filled with doubt I don't wanna be a good boy scout I don't wanna have to learn to count I don't wanna have the biggest amount I don't wanna grow up. Lyrics courtesy of Tom Waite

^ Ain't that the truf. Speaking of death, when I went sky diving in 2003, for a few seconds I understood what was meant by "staring death in the eye". Would I do it again? Highly unlikely but I do understand the urge some people have to conquer their own fears. I now look at them and say to myself: been there, done that and got the DVD.

^ I assure both of you it's between the two figures. :cool: