"All He Has To Do is Take off That Uniform" -The Great George Bush

Soooo....the title....is a quote from Mr Bush during a press conference, when asked about Musharaf and the state of emergency in Pakistan....

Yesterday Parvez Musharaf...President of Pakistan, visited the heads of his various branches of armed forces...it was a farewell from his years as a military man...Musharaf, as of today, is a civilian, thus making him the lawful ruler of Pakistan...Musharaf joined the army at the age of 21 back in the 60's and has since then served very proudly...climbing up to the highest post and ultimately become the leader of Pakistan after the ousting of Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup...who was exiled but it back in Pakistan now....

Many foreign leaders have called for Musharaf to resign his army post, whereby not having it seem like some sort of military junta has been in power...we'll see where the state goes...Benazir isn't Happy, Imran Khan....yes former cricket all star is also in politics...isn't happy, lawyers aren't happy...and neither is Nawaz Sharif...oh yea and Musharaf has a rise of Islamic extremism to take care of and the growing popularity of Islamic political parties....Good Luck Pakistan!!!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16693538

British Teacher in Sudan Jailed for Naming Teddy Bear After Prophet

So listening to NPR this morning...there was the most bizarre report...a teacher in Sudan was arrested and convicted of the crime of insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad by naming the Classroom Teddy Bear Muhammad....yea

The teacher asked her students what they would like to name the stuffed animal...she gave them various choices ranging from Fatima, to Ali and other common Arabic names....mind you Muhammad is a very common Arab name as i have a few friends and relatives named Muhammad... and no their parents have not been jailed...the children picked the name Muhammad thus the bear was proclaimed Muhammad...

She has been found guilty but through the great work of her attorney her punishment is 10 days imprisonment followed by deportation from Sudan...she could have faced up to 15 years and 40 lashings....a tad harsh i would say...


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/29/world/main3552214.shtml?source=mostpop_story

Bush Meets Abbas and Olmert

So TODAY IS THE BIG DAY!!!

Bush met with both Abbas and Olmert separately in the white house before the actual meeting at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis...

Delegates from 40 countries joined to give their blessings...this is great...after seven years of no talks and only conflict these two neighbors are finally sitting down at the round table for formal talks...

Bush hopes to use these last 14 months or so of his presidency to achieve something...aside from two destructive wars and the loss of many civilian lives...commendable... i suppose...



http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mideast27nov27,0,4136060.story?coll=la-home-center

Peace Summit Just Around the Corner

Good ole Condy met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders today as final preparations for the Annapolis summit begin...

Ismail Haniya will not be present at the summit and Hamas has made their feelings about this clear...this coupled with Abbas dropping Haniya as PM of the national Unity government...has really ticked Hamas off...as mentioned in the previous article...Hamas is prepared to wreak havoc and violence after the upcoming talks...

The format of first session will be involving both parties meeting separately with Bush, then later all together...hmmmm lets not hope for another Camp David...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7112457.stm

Hamas....Looking to Rain on the Parade???

So Hamas leaders have spoken out today warning of violence after the upcoming Annapolis peace talks...As mentioned before President George Bush has set up this recent round of talks between Fatah leader Abbas and Israeli Leader Olmert...

Hamas was not invited to the function and is condeming both Fatah and other Arab states for their involvement in the talks...

Hamas, based in Syria, says Israel must give back Golan heights...but doubts this will occur...various Hamas officials have spoken out warning of violence...mentioning their Qassam rockets are more powerful than ever...

Please Hamas don't ruin the possibility of peace...

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2216592,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

What Will Happen in Annapolis???

So remember back in 2000 when good ole Bill Clinton set up multilateral talks at Camp David...well the talks broke down and the another intifada broke out....pleas pleas please....lets avoid this ending for the upcoming Annapolis round of talks...

So Palestinians....what do they seek this upcoming week in Annapolis??? Its pretty simple...Abbas is seeking a state, a state to include the West Bank and Gaza along the pre 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their capital... will this happen??? well i sure do hope so...

amongst Israel is willing to negotiate with Abbas as he has denounced Hamas and their cause...this will not only bolster Abbas' position internationally...but will further solidify his position domesticallyPalestinians...which is exactly what the US and Israel want...a moderate leader who has control and trust of his people....well we'll see what happens...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7104008.stm

Arab Leaders...Minus Saudi and Syria...Meet to Discuss Upcoming Annapolis Talks

Egyptian President, Mubarak, hosted a conference at the resort of Sharm al-Sheikh today in an attempt to prepare for the upcoming mid-east peace talks in Annapolis this upcoming week...

President Bush says he has a plan that will guarantee a Palestinian State by years end....wow ambitious...a few key Arab leaders however are not convinced...thus did not even bother showing up...

Jordan, Egypt and Palestinian leaders took part in the talks...

Syria and Saudi Arabia...two key states with lots of power in the region did not show up...Saudi is skeptical of the timeline and does not believe a Palestinian state will be established and Syria wants to put pressure on Israel over the occupied Golan Heights region...I applaud Mubarak for his efforts...hopefully this upcoming round will prove fruitful...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071123/FOREIGN/111230063/1003

Gaza......Arafat......Fatah.....Hamas.....Rally?????

Yes, the header is confusing...as it was meant to be...today in Gaza, thousands rallied in commemoration of the death of the great Yasser Arafat, it was also meant to be a showing of support of Fatah and a rally against the occupying Hamas in Gaza...

Around a 100,000 people showed up...a significant amount of Gaza residents... i think this is a clear sign to Hamas that the people of Gaza don't agree with their tactics much and prefer peace yea??? i would say so...

New Indonesian Islamic Prophet???

So a man by the name of Ahmed Mushaddeq has started a new sect of Islam in Indonesia... a very traditional Muslim country of the simple Sunni variety...this guy has started a new sect and claims to be the next prophet and rejects Muhammad as a prophet...in face his sect rejects the basic teaching of Islam including the five pillars....

There are 40,000 or so followers of this sect but Indonesians and the Government will not take this calling it blasphemous, outrageous and false...Mushaddeq has since then turned himself into the authorities...

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19849/al-qiyadah-al-islamiyah-2

Ministries Tax.... Yeah....Why Not

So the US congress is taking part in an investigation....6 different ministries are being investigated to see if they should pay what is being dubbed a ministries tax...

If leaders of particular ministries are found to be living too lavishly then they will be charged with a new tax...well yea absolutely...religion is non profit, brings in tons of cash and the leaders of these sects live in the lap of luxury...tax all dem lil son of a guns...


http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19832/televangelists-2

Belgium's Not Down With Scientology...

So Belgium...yes as a state....reported today that they have found Scientology to be a scam...not a religion but merely a cult that is out to get members in order to take their money...don't all religions do this...

Belgian authorities reached this conclusion after investigating their books...taxes...

They are deterring people from joining this cult as to not be scammed...

Belgium is a predominately catholic country and they prefer their folks be scammed by the Vatican...not Celebrities...fair enough...


http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19815/scientology-43

Burma Frees Democracy Activists

So yeah we all heard about the hoopla in Yangon and parts of Mandalay in September...46 people were arrested during these protests...mind you it was all done very peacefully...by monks...no one burned themselves alive or nothing...it was all good...they were led by Aung San Suu Kyi...this woman i truly admire...she however is till under house arrest...its really unfortunate whats goin on there...i will write more on Burma in a later blog...Im really gettin
over Blogging...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7074365.stm

Cults Cults Cults...Isn't That What Religious Groups are Anway?

So Japan has over 1000 registered cults now...yes they are registered as cults...negative stigma attached??? perhaps here in the US but no no no not in Nippon...the issue at hand however is the fact that many of these cults are waaay dangerous...

Remember a few years back...gnarly poison on Subways in Japan spurred by a crazy cult and its nutzo leader??....some authorities in Japan are thinking its time for a halt...yes perhaps...

Lets get serious now...many of these "cults" however are simply peaceful Buddhists who have a philosophy that differs slightly from Zen...sooooo Its all goooooood....utnill people start killin each other...

Oh yea...I failed to mention a recent police raid on a cult accused of beating its members to death....well don't go joining a cult yea??


http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19806/japan-cults

Jailed Polygamist Attempts Suicide...

Warren Jeffs...a crazy Mormon nut who was accuse of rape a few years back has tried to commit suicide while in Prison in Texas...he attempted this twice apparently...he has attempted twice now...once trying to strangle himself...and another time trying to bash his head against his cell wall....f-in idiot....


http://www.religionnewsblog.com/19833/warren-jeffs-89