Mark's Views, Perhaps — from behind my eyeballs
I saw a product picture in a catalog the other day.
The item is cute.
But sacrilegious. (Relax, though, I have no violent plans.)
Here’s a similar item I found on the Web:
What would the “Arab street” do if this were a comparable Islamic scene including Mohammed?
With Islam expanding as it is, maybe toy makers will tap into that market . . . .
Gaza Christians fear ‘those more extreme than Hamas’
| The kidnapping and killing of Rami Ayyad, manager of the Gaza Strip’s only Christian bookstore, sent shudders through the Palestinian coastal enclave’s tiny Christian community.
Spared by the summer’s fierce factional clashes in which the Islamist Hamas movement seized power by routing their secular Fatah party rivals, Christians began to worry they too might be driven from the volatile coastal strip. What scares them is a new generation of shadowy extremist movements that have crept from the rubble of a seven-year uprising, months of internal bloodletting and decades of conflict with Israel. “We are not afraid of Hamas because as a government they are responsible for protecting people,” Ayyad’s brother Ramzi says. “We are afraid of those who are more extreme than Hamas.” Palestinian Christians number around 75,000 but there are only 2,500 — most of them Greek Orthodox — living in the Gaza Strip among nearly 1.5 million Muslims, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Gaza has no history of tensions between the two communities and Christians say they are bound to their Muslim neighbours by shared suffering. |
| Twenty five year old Mohammed Ahmed Higazi (L), and his pregnant wife Zeinab, 23, read from the bible August 2 in their home in a Cairo. Higazi who converted from Islam to Christianity has launched a bid to have the change recognized officially in what is believed to be the first such case, he told AFP today. In Egypt, identity cards say whether the bearer is Christian or Muslim, but those who convert to Christianity complain that administrative hurdles prevent them being able to change their official papers |
Nigeria Steps Up Security After Militants Kill Christians
| Nigeria’s central government will deploy more police to the nation’s troubled state of Kaduna “to fight crime”, after two Christians were reportedly killed there by suspected Muslim militants, BosNewsLife learned Wednesday, October 24. |
Prominent Beijing Pastor Beaten Again By Security Forces
| Chinese Christians remained concerned Thursday, October 25, about the health situation of a prominent Beijing pastor amid reports he was beaten again by security forces after being discharged from Tiantan Hospital. |
Religious literature censorship in Uzbekistan
| Uzbekistan continues to maintain severe religious literature censorship, Forum 18 News Service notes. Current examples include two shipments of Jehovah’s Witness literature – one in transit for Tajikistan and one intended for an Uzbek congregation – which have been held for more than a year. Other religious communities, such as Protestants and Muslims, also experience problems. A Protestant, involved in sending literature requested by Christians in Uzbekistan, told Forum 18 that most shipments never arrived. “This was either through postal inefficiency or because it was rejected at Uzbek customs,” the Protestant stated. “So we have given up trying to send literature.” Many who would like to receive literature are afraid of the consequences of being identified by the authorities as Christians, from their receiving literature by post. Uzbek officials are reluctant to discuss the issue, but insist that religious material can only be received after specific approval by the state Religious Affairs Committee. Uzbekistan frequently burns religious literature, including the Bible, confiscated from Muslims, Protestants, Hare Krishna devotees and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even legally imported literature is confiscated in police raids. |
| Just this week Adobe patched a major problem with its Acrobat and Reader programs. The issue? Flaws that could allow malicious exploits. Now, it seems hackers are using the precious time between update release and update download to unleash a flood of malicious code.
According to Symantec Corporation, the exploits are still alive and well for the bulk of users yet to update. |
This next excerpt is good advice all the time, but especially if you haven’t upgraded:
| Symantec warns everyone to avoid YOUR_BILL.pdf and INVOICE.pdf especially, but to also be wary of just about any PDF file arriving via email. Even if your electronic mail program doesn’t identify the file or sender as spammy, making sure you’re well acquainted with the sender (and they like you). |
No, I haven’t upgraded yet. I just read the article several minutes ago. And I’m on a dial-up connection of 31.2 Kbps.
A few weeks ago I started seeing signs like these:
The more I saw, the more it seemed the best thing was to approve 49.
Especially since I didn’t see any anti-49 signs.
Finally I noticed one in town.
Then a few started popping up in the country:
So despite my early misimpressions, the issue does have two sides. (No real shock there, of course.)
Monday morning, as I drove by some of the aforementioned signs, I suddenly thought of two Bible verses.
I see now they’re both from Proverbs 18:
“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him” (verse 17).
“He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (verse 13).
So there you are — an important life lesson that far exceeds the importance of Oregon’s Measure 49.
Every story has two sides, so wait to express judgment till you know both sides!
(And even then, be careful.)
Nativity display OK for Washington state Capitol
| A Nativity display will be allowed in the state Capitol rotunda this Christmas season and other religious displays will also be allowed now that a lawsuit has been resolved, officials said.
With settlement of a federal lawsuit filed by Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal rights group in Arizona, any faith community can apply for permission to mount a display so long as it doesn’t promote one religion over another, said Steve Valandra, a spokesman for the state Department of General Administration. |
Bah humbug?
![[Form W-6: The Envelope]](/mvp/wp-content/wp6-1.jpg)
The form:
![[Form W-6: The Form]](/mvp/wp-content/wp6-2.jpg)
Below the fold:
![[Form W-6: Below the Fold]](/mvp/wp-content/wp6-3.jpg)
One of my first thoughts: “Crooks!”
😀
I Googled “Consumer Law Center of the West” and found nothing about them in the news or in the blogs.
I also Googled the Web for “Form W-6” and didn’t see anything helpful. But I only scanned the first page of results.
| Is this Pope John Paul II waving from beyond the grave? Vatican TV director says yes
This fiery figure is being hailed as Pope John Paul II making an appearance beyond the grave. The image, said by believers to show the Holy Father with his right hand raised in blessing, was spotted during a ceremony in Poland to mark the second anniversary of his death. […] The pictures were being broadcast continuously on Italian TV and also posted on religious websites, some of which crashed as thousands logged on to see for themselves the eerie figure formed by the flames. The bonfire was lit during a service at Beskid Zywiecki, close to John Paul’s birthplace at Katowice, southern Poland, on April 2 – the second anniversary of his death. |
If the image wasn’t photoshopped, is that a demon manifestation?
Or is it a sign from God about the flaming state of the previous Pope?
Or is it truly what the director of Vatican TV says it is?
For the record, I lean towards computer hijinks.