A quote from "A History of Islamic Spain" by W. Montgomery Watt and Pierre Cachia gave me a sense of deja vu. We've been here before. Talking here about the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Corboba( circa mid 11th century) one of the most civilized and developed cultures, not just at that time but in history in general.
"We know that wealth had greatly increased under 'Abd er Rahman III and it may be that the bulk of the population had become so materialistic in outlook that few were capabl
He interpreted religion in terms of human service and exhorted his disciples "to develop river-like generosity, sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality." The highest form of devotion, according to him, was "to redress the misery of those in distress – to fulfill the needs of the helpless and to feed the hungry."
OK we are due for a prophet,an avatar,a Buddha, Messiah or Madhi. There are two places ripe for the aMFearance of a prophet.The first is China. Long overdue in the prophet department. China doesn't spit out prophets like the Middle East does. Confucianism is really a system of social organization from family to empire. Taoism is the old Chinese folk religion refined by a great holy man named Lao Tze.As China enters the stage of global domination in this century,her people will demand a prophet.
Just read this little piece on al Jazeera. I'm just quoting part to make a point:"
The United States believes that China has "no morals" in its dealings with Africa, according to an assessment in a leaked diplomatic cable.
The cable quotes Johnnie Carson, the US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, describing China as a "pernicious economic competitor" whose investments prop up unsavoury regimes.
"China is a very aggressive and pernicious economic competitor with no mora
In a post in the serious discussion forum, The Scotsmans parapharsed James Carvilles comment about Hillary giving Obama one of her balls so he had two. Today the lame duck, democratic majority Senate shot down two bills on the soon to expire Bush tax cuts. The first renewed the cuts for those making less than $200G and 250 G for couples. It sunk like the Titanic. The second measure called for tax cut renewed for those who make under $1 million a years. It too went down in flames. Why the hell ca
I posted a rant about senior citizens being thrown under the bus by cuts, but after exploring todays news I see my priorities were wrong and we need to address more serios fiscal matters. Tax cuts for the wealthy! Oh yes mustn't hurt those fine folks who make over $250,000 God forbid well gotta go my ramen noodles are ready.
When ever I feel that phantom hand in my back pocket, I figure its the hand of unbridled capitalism or their allies the Garnd Old Party making sure the rich stay rich. When gas goes up,its speculators gambling on my mobility,when i don't get a cost of living on my social security, I know its the same guys who gave obscene bailouts to the banks. When my girlfriend strSPAM!!!les to find a job in her field, I know its all those Republicans who sent our jobs to India. Then c
I am curious. I post here frequently and I can see from the stats that some folks drop by. If you desire just drop a comment say hi, so I can see who reads this drivel. Thanks a bunch
Somalia is in the news again. Hostages ransomed,another big ship taken, areas of operations extended. So mostly we don't worry,Somalia is far off and none of this affects us, or does it? Somalia is a failed state ruled by warlords,we tangled with them once and got the hell out(Blackhawk Down war) So what's with these people that they won't play by the rules? Islamic terrorists? Well, we need to realize what haMFened to Somalia to make them this way. Mutlinational fishing concerns vacuumed up all
Being a product of the Woodstock/Vietnam era,(I attended both events) i have always been saddened that my countrymen could not mount an effective war protest against the conflict in Iraq. Things have really changed in 40 years. The generation of Aquarius now vote Tea Party,the media rarely covers war protest when items like Kim Kardashian's breast take the headlines. We are all too fat to get out of our couch, because we've been force fed addictive food(salt and sugar should be ranked with heroi
I have read numerous reports on non USA news sources saying the government and the EPA are lying to the people. Numbers are being fudged,tests are being watered down in order to "assure" the public Gulf seafood is OK. Its not, aMFarently, there are some heavy duty toxins that bio accumulate in the body. Of course we can't tell people the truth,the Gulf fishing industries would collapse and that would reek havoc on the unemployment figures.
Here is one such articleGulf seafood.
Last night the fear,hate and lie campaign bore fruit and the Republicans,Tea Party and Conservatives, have succeeded in gaining control of the house. While most of the people voted with their wallets, the Republicans now claim mandate. For politicians, mandate means their own(not the peoples) agenda. For Bush it meant war, for Obama it meant socialism, for these Republicans it means going back in time. They spend the next two years trying destroy what Obama has put in place. No thought of going
Holy books are wonderful tools. A combination of the divine and human,gods and prophets have worked hard to deliver a message. Lots of embroidery was put on the message laater on and new Holy books aMFeared. Holy books got crossed, good ideas and bad floated across the world of prophets.But in birthing these books,one thing became important, to provide comfort and answers for most of the people. With all the books around everyone's covered with just enough godtalk to make your journey. I draw f
Just bought another curved dagger, this one from India, same blacksmith that made my swordcane. I collect a couple of different thing and besides Balouchi carpets(dirt cheap cause of the Afghan wars), they tend to run towards weapons. Some flintlock guns,but mainly blades. Lately its curved Middle Eastern daggers called jambiya,kuommiya and khanjar. Some tourist junk, some pedigreed when I made agood buy. EBay is a gamble because its just pictures. My lady wonders how I buy stuff i can't touch.
I have a large bush right outside my gate and these monster hornets have been living there for years. They must have come from somewhere, because they were not around when i was a kid(50's) OK they seem not to be aggressive, but they are really BIG and look really mean. The tend to try to get in the house in the fall and 2 years ago one got in an stung me. Man they hurt as bad as they look. I don't like to kill things,I've given up hunting but two critters, both fall intruders have been given th
Well this morning I turned 65. i reckon thats a milestone like 21 is a milestone. Its a legal milestone in that it used to be retirement age for social security, now its later as the government has better uses for our money than we do. i might buy a new hookah, but the government can kill more people. Things have changed alot since my birth, but I was born a few days into the atomic age. i think of my grandfather who was born in 1880's in what used to be the Ottoman empire. He came to America to
Recently, I decided to stop chewing my Trophy chewing tabbaccy. I've chewed off and on for years but quit cigs back in 96.So the VA hospital gave me Nicorette and Wellbutrin. I passed on the wellbutrin, used to give it to the boys at the wilderness school I worked at. So it's Nicorette, which tastes quite similar to hydroginated Yak dung. Gum, last time I chewed was in jr hi or maybe in Nam,cause it came in c rats and tasted like hydroginated Water buffalo dung. So off to the candy store I go or
Abul Hassan
Abul Hassan lived in Baghdad at the time of the Caliph Haroun ar-Rashid. His father was a wealthy man, and when he died, Abul Hassan inherited his great wealth. He divided it into two equal sums: the first he put away and the second he spent on his entertainment. He soon found himself surrounded by people who pretended to like him and pretended to enjoy his company.
In a very short time, he had spent half his fortune on the people around him. Then one day he pretended to have n
I was reading in a book about a love affair that was beginning to take shape,"like watching a Polaroid" develop, when it occured to me that many younger folks many not have familiarity with that obsolete technology that we thought was so miraculous back in the sixties.
Good, the teacher points out,is to man what he likes;evil what does him harm. These ideas change with location,nationality and time. Every vice has been a virtue and every good has been called a sin or crime.
One day there was news in every corner of the town about the Mullah's donkey which he lost it. When his neighbours heard the news they got sad and decided to go to mullah's house and help him to find his donkey. So they came to mullah's house and they saw that mullah is very haMFy and very thankful from god! They find it very interesting and asked mullah: " Mullah aren't you sad about loses of your donkey?" Mullah laughed and said I am haMFier because god helped me that I was not riding it othe
I don't know about you, but I am always having trouble with FedEx. Ever since Tom Hanks lost Wilson, service has gotten worse by the day.
I get alot of packages. USPS and UPS are great in getting stuff here on time. FedEx, n the other hand, has problems with rural delivery. OK, I live in the AMFalachian backwoods, miles from any town, but I do live near a paved road. UPS makes it. But they pay overtime. FedEx drivers have to head home at 5 PM whether they make their deliveries or not. Forget it
I've heard this term used frequently. The Great recession is going to eventually change the way we work and do business as much as the Great Depression. i was born at the end of WW II and all my parents ever seemed to say was how bad it was in the depression. Today, while surfing news I found some signs of how this event will change us. First off, companies are hiring part time, temporary and contractual labor. That means no benefits, no insurance, no retirement no employer matched funds going t
