Confident Turkey looks east, not west | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
Turkey was not invited to Europe’s big birthday bash yesterday despite being an official candidate for EU membership. Ankara expressed disappointment at a “missed opportunity”. Media reaction to the perceived snub was sharper.
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This Family’s Hot Stuff - New York Times
The McIlhenny Company, the maker of Tabasco, is one of the country’s biggest hot sauce makers. Its fiery condiment has become so popular that its name is a generic term for hot sauce. Less known is that the family has weathered storms, both personal and economic, to keep the business going since its founding more than 130 years ago.
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10 Rules for Baby-Proofing Your Marriage
Most new parents know they will eventually have to cover their electrical sockets and take other steps to baby-proof their home, but what they may not know is that it can be equally important to baby-proof their marriage.
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Students sue anti-plagiarism site for copyright infringement - Download Squad
Got a term paper to write? No problem, just fire up the old internet
connection and copy some text from Wikipedia. Of course, in the good
old days, you had to copy off of a neighbor or buy a copy of a paper
some other student had written a few years ago.Hoever,
modern technology means more than just new ways to cheat. It also means
new ways to catch cheaters. A couple of years ago, many schools started
turning to plagiarism checking software like Turnitin. The software includes a large database of documents, and when a paper is uploaded the program checks it against that database.But
here’s the thing. It then adds that paper to the database for future
reference. And it doesn’t ask your permission. So a couple of high
school students decided to sue Turnitin for copyright violation.To
strengthen their case, they obtained copyrights for 6 papers that were
submitted to Turnitin, and are seeking $150 thousand in damages for
each violation, for a total of $900 thousand. One paper even included
instructions that it was not to be added to the database. It was anyway.
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Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the world. Their hymns and prayers have been preserved and passed down over the ages.
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This question has come up from a host of recent events, including the attention-grabbing attack on a brothel by female madrassa students in Islamabad.Mufti Rafi Usmani talked about this in his Friday prayer sermon… [read on]
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PC World - 101 Fantastic Freebies
Want to make your PC more productive, secure, informative, and entertaining? These downloads and services will do the trick–and they don’t cost a dime.
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RAND | News Release | RAND Report Says Cold War Offers Lessons on Engaging with the Muslim World
ust as it fought the spread of Communism during the Cold War, the United States must do more to develop and support networks of moderate Muslims who are too often silenced by violent radical Islamists, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today.“The struggle in much of the Muslim world today is a war of ideas,” said Angel Rabasa, a RAND senior policy analyst and the lead author of the report. “This is not a war of civilizations; it’s not Islam versus the West. It’s a struggle within Islam to define the character of Islam.”
“We cannot come in as outsiders, as a non-Muslim country, and discredit the radicals’ ideology,” Rabasa said. “Muslims have to do that themselves. What we can do is level the playing field by empowering the moderates.” [Read More]
Full Document
SunniPath Answers:
Do we have to pay zakat on stocks?
Answered by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Tiny island with a global warning
The tiny Indian island of Ghoramara, in the delta where the River Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal, is a symbol of the crisis the world is facing as it struggles to feed a growing population.It is a tiny place - just a few kilometres across - and it is getting tinier.
Yahoo Mail Announces Unlimited Storage
Yahoo is announcing
that all Yahoo Mail users will have free unlimited email storage
starting in May 2007. The current storage limit is 1 GB per account (2
GB for $20/year premium users). With this change, Yahoo leapfrogs Gmail
(2.8 GB and growing) and Live.com Mail (2GB). Yahoo mail currently has
250 million global users, more than any other online service (Live.com
has 228 million and Gmail has 51 million users). See this feature by feature comparison of the services for more information.I spoke with Yahoo’s Vice President of Mail, John Kremer, this
afternoon about the announcement. He says the new storage limits (or
rather lack of a limit) affect all Yahoo mail users, not just users of
the new beta product.
Official Google Blog: Google Pack cures the PC blues
Pack makes it easy to setup and protect your PC, and now we’ve added
two new applications to make your PC even safer: Symantec’s Norton
Security Scan, which detects and removes viruses, and PC Tools’ Spyware
Doctor Starter Edition, a top-rated anti-spyware utility. Both are free
and include automatic protection updates with no paid subscription
required.We’ve also substantially updated our screensaver. Now
you can turn your computer into a digital picture frame that displays
pictures from photo feeds—continuously updated streams of photos
from the web. Many of your favorite photo-sharing sites support them
already, so it’s easy to keep in touch with your friends and family
this way.We think you’ll enjoy the improvements, so call in the Google haz-mat crew to spiff up your PC. Get the Google Pack for your PC today.
BBC NEWS | In Pictures | In pictures: Sewage ‘tsunami’ hits Gaza
A flood of sewage swept through a village in the northern Gaza Strip after a cesspit collapsed. Four people, including a four-year-old boy, were killed.
Learning from Failed Political Leadership — HBS Working Knowledge
What should business leaders know about the ambitions of
Russia, China, and the European Union? They should know how
geopolitical conditions exert enormous pressure on companies, according
to Harvard Business School professor D. Quinn Mills and coauthor Steven
Rosefielde in their new book, Masters of Illusion: American Leadership in the Media Age.
The book weaves together insights from economics, leadership studies,
history, geopolitics, and national security to make a case for
strategic independence and improved leadership assessment in the U.S.
Multitasking makes you less productive - take ten - Lifehacker
The New York Times beats the whole “multi-tasking reduces productivity” horse to death, reporting on another set of studies that show human brains slow down when they have to juggle tasks:In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding to incoming e-mail or instant messages. They strayed off to reply to other messages or browse news, sports or entertainment Web sites.
Unlike last year’s TIME magazine article, the NYT cites new studies that show young people are not better equipped to handle interruptions having grown up with digital distractions.
I say it shouldn’t take 6 teams of researchers to figure out that interruptions waste time and increase stress, mistakes and accidents
(especially you Crackberry users in traffic). But it will take people
time to figure out how to stop jumping every time their phone buzzes or
a new message appears in their inbox.
SunniPath Answers:
Questions on Day of Judgement
Question: On the day of Judgement we will asked numerous questions. Many of these questions are known through hadith. Can you please compile a list of known questions (these are floating around amongst people, which brings room for error). This should clarify which ones are accurate and help awareness of what the All-Mighty will question us with.Answered by Sidi Salman Younas, approved by Faraz Rabbani
Open Source Windows - Free, Open-Source software for Windows
Free and open-source software is good for you and for the world. This is the best Windows software that we know of.
No adware, no spyware, just good software.
Linguistic and Cultural Formalism -Nadwi
God has bestowed numerous bounties upon man and one of these is his capacity to learn from his past experience. If he strikes his on a path, foot, he tries to find out the cause of it; removes the stumbling block from his way or deflects his steps to avoid it. But if he finds his way impassable or littered with similar obstacles, he takes to another even and straight path. Whenever he commits a mistake or fails in his venture, he tries to analyze and understand the cause of his failure. He tries to avoid the mistake once committed so that he does not take the wrong track again and so come to grief for the second time. Man’s capacity to analyse cause and effect, to understand the relationship between antecedent and result is undoubtedly a Divine blessing bestowed upon him alone.It is this distinctive capacity enjoyed by man which distinguishes him from cattle and beasts and has been the sole reason for all man’s progress in the arts, sciences, culture and civilization. [read on]
101 Shareware and Freeware Programs Every Nerd Needs | The Free Geek
How can a person limit juicy downloads to 101 freeware and shareware choices? Tough calls, but the tools below are ones that every nerd needs, or at least should ponder. Many freeware choices are open source, and the shareware all offer trial offers.Topics Covered:
Audio | Browsers | Compression | Desktop Enhancements | Download/Upload Clients | E-Mail Tools | FAX and Telephony | Graphics & Photo | Internet (Surfing) | iPod Tools | MySQL Database Tools | Networking | Office Productivity | Personal Finance | Programmers | Security | System Utilities | Tweaks | Web Authors/Owners
Invitation to endorse the Amman Message online - The Official Website of The Amman Message
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Dear Friend,
As-Salamu alaykum. We hope this message finds you well. In November 2004, King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan launched the Amman Message, a declaration aimed at clarifying the true nature of Islam and the nature of true Islam to the world. It is a message of devotion to God, love of the neighbor, goodwill, moderation and peace. Since then, the Amman Message has come to be epitomized in three major juridical and doctrinal points, each crucial to addressing the problems the Islamic world faces today.
- The great traditional schools of jurisprudence, theology, and spirituality are valid from the point of view of Islam, and the followers of these schools, which include both Sunni and Shi‘i denominations, are all Muslims. Islam has fundamental tenets but is also diverse.
- It is impermissible to declare any Muslim so defined as an unbeliever/apostate (a practice called takfir).
- Only those with the proper moral and intellectual qualifications, and the proper methodology, may issue fatwas (religious edicts).
Since they were first introduced, these three points have been recognized and ratified universally, through fatwas and official statements, in meetings of the highest and most recognized authorities and scholars in Islamic law, from all denominations and schools of thought all over the world. This is a unique historical event. The statements and signatures from these religious leaders can be see on www.ammanmessage.com.
These three points are vital for the future of the Islamic world. We suffer from disunity and discord, and must reaffirm our unity as an Islamic ummah. We suffer from wounds and ignorant prejudice which would take us into conflict with many of those who would live at peace with us. We must denounce the practice of takfir (accusing Muslims of apostasy for interpretations and opinions different from ours), which too often opens the door to terrible crimes against our own brothers and sisters. Moreover, all such atrocities committed in the name of Islam are traceable to the fatwa of men totally unqualified, morally and intellectually, to issue one. It is thus imperative that the ummah speak with one voice in reaffirming true Islam.
We invite you to add your voice to this unique and historic international Islamic consensus. Please visit www.ammanmessage.com, where you can read more about the Amman Message and find many useful documents and links. Under ENDORSE you can add your name to the list of Muslims worldwide who have endorsed and supported the three points. Your endorsement is important for all our futures.
Yours Sincerely,
The Amman Message Committee
BBC NEWS | Americas | Amazon ‘faces more deadly droughts’
Two years ago the world was shocked by pictures of hundreds of rotting fish floating in the world’s second largest river.Stranded villagers stared in bewilderment at dried out banks, and helicopters delivered food and water to isolated river communities.
Held in Kharabsheh (Amman,
Jordan)
At Faraz Rabbani’s house, a few years ago
Contents:
Track 3: Wulida al-Huda – Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi Abd al-Qadir
Track 4: Fawqa al-Manabir - Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi Abd
al-Qadir
Track 5: Man Yalumni fi Gharami - Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi
Abd al-Qadir
Track 6: Ya Laylat al-Sabh – Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi Abd
al-Qadir
Track 8: Inni Sa’altu al-Shi`r - Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi
Abd al-Qadir
Track 9: Nuruka al-Kull - Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi Abd al-Qadir
Track 13: Du`a Nasiri – group recitation, led by Shaykh Diya’
Track 16: Ya Imam al-Rusli – Shaykh Diya’ and Sidi Abd
al-Qadir
Al-Jazeera: the matchbox that roared Fred Halliday - openDemocracy
Al-Jazeera’s achievement is to have become at once global brand, Arab window on the world, and challenge to western perspectives on the “war on terror”. Fred Halliday, in his fiftieth openDemocracy column, visits the Qatar-based broadcaster.
SunniPath Blog - » For Everyone in the SunniPath Family
It has already been four (4) years since we officially started SunniPath. On March 7, 2003, after many months of discussion, we chose SunniPath as our name.
So today I will give you all an update on how our current semester’s registration went.
Outside the walls of the Jamia Binoria madrasa, donkey carts and camels jostle with battered old trucks. It is a typical sight on the chaotic streets of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.Inside the madrasa’s walls are some surprises. Several of the students here are from the United States. “[Before arriving at the madrasa] I imagined there would be gardens and rivers and Hogwarts like in the Harry Potter books,” says Saiqa (SYE-kah), 13. “I imagined I would have my own room. When I got here, I found there were only four trees on the school grounds. The only water was in the toilets, and no one even knew what Hogwarts was. I thought, ‘Where am I?’”
Saiqa is from Union City, California, where she was born. Before starting at the madrasa, she had never been to Pakistan, her parents’ native country.
Saiqa does not speak Urdu, Pakistan’s national language. She chose to attend the madrasa because she wanted to learn more about her Muslim faith. She thought that the course of study offered here would be more thorough than programs available in the U.S.
