That is what you do when you break the fast and hit the buffett!
"Support for Muslim converts during Ramadan" by Lisa Wangsness | Globe Staff, July 20, 2013
Ramadan — which occupies the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed — is the holiest time of the year in Islam, a time for fasting, self-improvement, family celebration, and intensive prayer.
For converts, Ramadan, which began the second week of July and continues until early August, can also be lonesome and bewildering. Fasting from food and water from the first light of dawn to sunset is a physical challenge. Family, friends, and colleagues who are not Muslim are not always quick to see its purpose or benefits. And without family to share the predawn suhoor meal and the evening iftar meal — those can be big family meals, or something smaller — some converts miss out on Ramadan’s communal spirit.
Yeah, okay. I should have known my Zionist agenda-pusher would find some flaw with the custom. It's just an anecdotal observation, but it has been my experience that the newspaper sees all religious rituals and other cultures as being just a little f***ed up -- unless they are Jewish.
Related: Mayoral Candidates Take Positions on the ‘Sucking Blood From a Baby’s Circumcised Penis’ Question
WTF? That's considered a "beautiful ancient ritual?"
But unlike some suburban mosques whose members are mostly families, or mosques whose members are mostly one or two ethnic groups, the cultural center in Roxbury is diverse, urban, and filled with students and other young people who are in Boston temporarily, or just beginning to put down roots.
Imam, William Suhaib Webb, in an interview, said he once counseled a young woman whose mother was so upset about her conversion that she had to subsist on protein shakes in her bedroom, and sometimes broke her fast because of the immense social pressure. A positive Ramadan experience, he said, can help converts feel more at home in the community and gain confidence as Muslims.
“Twenty-nine or 30 days — you think about it, man, it’s intense,” Webb said. “And you feel so much better spiritually, you are really more sensitive to people around you.”
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Not that everything had gone perfectly. Getting the hang of fasting — a gesture of solidarity with the poor and a way of focusing on the nonmaterial world — was a challenge for some at first. Leanne Scorzoni, who was raised Catholic and recently converted, fainted at work the second day of Ramadan, despite her carefully planned suhoor of a bowl of oatmeal, water, Gatorade, Pedialyte, a hard-boiled egg, a banana, and a Flintstone vitamin.
What the h*** kind of meal is that?
Scorzoni has not told most of her family about her conversion, she said. But, surrounded by friends at the iftar, she said she did not feel she lacked community.
“I feel more for my friends from other countries, because their families aren’t here — they’re here because of work or school, and they can’t see them, except for Skyping,” she said.
Skype sends your stuff to the NSA.
Jaleela Browder of Dorchester said she has been texting other students to help them wake up at 3 a.m. for suhoor — a bit of virtual community in the wee hours for those who live alone, or whose roommates or spouses are not observant Muslims....
Others’ families were supportive, if not always helpful. Elizabeth Hughes, a psychology graduate student from Wellesley who formally converted a few weeks ago, said her mother has been “very open, very understanding, very proud” of her newfound religious conviction.
And probably just a bit worried given the false flag, patsy plot set-ups and the Zionist Jew war propaganda dominating our airwaves and culture.
But after a short hike together, her mother proffered a water bottle, saying, “Why can’t you just drink water?”
I'm full up, thanks. I suppose it was a bit too much for me to expect a positive puff piece about Ramadan from a Muslim-hating Zionist war promoter.
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Just don't use the Quran Explorer app on your iPhone.
"Iraq mosque bomb kills worshipers" Associated Press, July 20, 2013
BAGHDAD — A bomb hidden in an air conditioner that ripped through a Sunni mosque during midday prayers and other attacks killed at least 26 in Iraq on Friday, extending a wave of violence targeting worshipers during the holy month of Ramadan.
Suicide attacks, car bombings, and other violence have killed more than 200 people since the Islamic holy month of daytime fasting and charity began last week, according to an Associated Press count.
I simply refuse to believe that any pious Muslim would do such things.
Related: Occupation Iraq: Divide and Conquer
Who would want to do that?
The violence is an extension of a surge of attacks that has roiled Iraq for months, reviving fears of a return to the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.
Interesting how Iraq flared up just as the Saudi-supported Syrian jihadis started fleeing back to Iraq, huh?
Most of those killed Friday were slain while performing midday prayers in the packed Abu Bakir al-Sideeq mosque in the town of Wijaihiya, about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad. Worshipers and other witnesses said the bomb apparently was planted inside a wall-mounted air conditioning unit to the left of the pulpit. Video of the aftermath showed the interior of the mosque near the bomb site charred black and shrapnel damage peppering the walls.
One of those praying inside, 30-year-old Mohammed Faleh, said the blast struck as male worshipers, including children, were kneeling during communal prayers. Faleh said security forces found a second bomb left near the mosque that they rendered safe with a controlled detonation.
A controlled what, AmeriKan media?
Mosque bombings never happened all those years before we got there.
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Related:
"In a show of national unity, Shi’ite and Sunni worshippers held joint prayers Friday in a Shi’ite mosque in downtown Baghdad amid tight security measures."
I hope you can see why I'm no longer buying the Muslim and other sectarian strife narrative from my Jewish war media.
"Protests for Egypt's ousted leader amid tension" by SARAH EL DEEB and TONY G. GABRIEL / Associated Press / July 19, 2013
CAIRO (AP) — With the military beefing up security, tens of thousands took to the streets Friday in a determined push for the return to power of Egypt’s ousted Islamist leader, while Mohammed Morsi’s opponents staged rival rallies, raising fears of a fresh round of clashes.
In the only reported deadly violence Friday, angry residents of the delta city of Mansoura clashed with pro-Morsi protesters. Gunshots and birdshots were fired, though it was unclear by whom, security officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said a 25-year-old woman and a young girl were killed in the late night violence.
A local rights activist who was at the hospital, Abdullah el-Nekeity, said three women were killed, including a 17-year-old girl, and 13 other people were injured.
El-Nekeity said a mob attacked the pro-Morsi demonstrators with dogs, gunfire birdshots and knives. The marchers fled, some hiding in residences until the police arrived, el-Nekeity said.
A statement from Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party said those killed were supporters of the ousted government and blamed hired thugs for shooting them.
In other words, government agents.
The army warned it wouldn’t tolerate any violence and sent fighter jets screaming over the capital and helicopters hovering over the marches.
Publicizing their protests for days, Morsi’s supporters vowed Friday would be decisive in their campaign to try to reverse the military coup that removed the country’s first democratically elected president after a year in office, following massive protests against him.
Unlike other demonstrations held in the evening after breaking the daylong Ramadan fast, the pro-Morsi rallies took place throughout the day. Organized by the Muslim Brotherhood party and dubbed ‘‘Breaking the Coup,’’ they included marches in Cairo’s streets, outside military installations and in other cities, including Alexandria and several Nile Delta provinces.
The rival gatherings came just days after a new interim Cabinet was sworn in that includes women, Christians and members of a liberal coalition opposed to Morsi, but no Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to take part in talks with the interim leadership....
This after Morsi was ousted on the pretext of being exclusive!
Related: Egypt Exposes U.S. Hypocrisy to the Hilt
Friday’s rallies coincided with the 10th day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which Egyptians celebrate as the day their armed forces crossed the Suez Canal in the 1973 war with Israel. The surprise assault led to the return of the Sinai Peninsula, which had been occupied by Israel.
And now Israel is acting like it wants it back.
The occasion was a chance for the rival camps to focus on the military, which was instrumental in removing Morsi. At pro-Morsi gatherings, protesters extolled the virtue of the armed forces but drew a distinction with its leadership, which they accused of treason for turning against Morsi.
Waving Egyptian flags and pictures of the ousted leader, they chanted slogans against army chief Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi. ‘‘El-Sissi is a traitor!’’ they shouted. ‘‘Morsi is our president!’’
Organizers played Morsi’s old speeches, referring to him as the nation’s leader and the supreme commander of the armed forces....
Meanwhile, several thousand anti-Morsi protesters gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and outside two presidential palaces to celebrate their gains....
Army choppers flying overhead dropped gift coupons and Egyptian flags on the gathering in Tahrir Square and a police choir performed nationalist songs in a party that lasted late into the night.
Oh, how nice. Quite a difference than firing into crowds of praying worshippers.
The presence in the streets of the rival sides had raised fears of clashes, and military and police were deployed heavily in areas where the two crowds might collide. In one incident, near the presidential palace, security forces lobbed tear gas at an approaching march by Morsi supporters to prevent it from reaching an area where anti-Morsi demonstrators were holding their own rally.
What, no gift coupons or flags for the Morsi folk?
Only minor incidents of violence were reported in the capital. Pro-Morsi supporters and opponents shouted at one another after Friday prayers in the main Al-Azhar Mosque and police detained six Islamist protesters for throwing rocks.
It turned into a Jerry Springer show?
Separately, a man was stabbed and hospitalized when a crowd of the deposed president’s supporters questioned his identity and found out he was a policeman in civilian clothing.
Oh, the crowd FOUND an AGENT PROVOCATEUR, 'eh?
That's where my printed Globe ended the article.
In the Sinai peninsula, where militants long active in the area have intensified their attacks against security forces following Morsi’s ouster, two civilians were killed when armed militants fired rockets at a military checkpoint, but hit a residence nearby....
During their marches, the protesters made a concerted effort to distinguish between the leaders of the military and the troops. At one point, a group of pro-Morsi supporters approached a military checkpoint offering them flowers.
Police and military troops and armored vehicles were deployed heavily in Cairo around security and military installations, court houses, and the capital’s entrances.
Fighter jets flew over the protesters and military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali issued a stern warning on Facebook, telling civilians not to pose as military personnel or approach military installations or troops, saying anyone doing so risked death.
But it's okay to infiltrate the crowds with instigating agents, 'eh?
The military also dropped flyers warning against violence as a crowd of some 400 pro-Morsi protesters marched through northern Sinai’s main city of el-Arish. The flyers urged people to protect the Sinai Peninsula from ‘‘terrorists’’ and provided two numbers for people to call to report suspicious behavior.
Hmmmmmmmm!
Could it be the EGYPTIAN MILITARY that is running an "Al-CIA-Duh" cell in the Sinai?
Meanwhile, the Brotherhood said seven leaders of its parent group, including the former speaker of the parliament and an ultraconservative Salafi preacher, were transported to a heavily guarded prison, a move the group said was illegal because the men have not yet been charged. They have been accused, among other things, of inciting violence.
The ousted president, who has been replaced by interim leader Adly Mansour, has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed military facility since his ouster. He has not been charged with any crimes.
The Brotherhood’s TV channel has been taken off the air along with other Islamic channels seen as sympathetic to the group. Al-Jazeera’s Egypt affiliate was raided by security forces, and on Friday, the channel’s signal, along with its flagship English and Arabic news channels, were intermittently interrupted. The reasons for the disruptions were not clear....
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Globe's web version gave us a second helping:
"3 dead as rival rallies fill the streets in Egypt; Heavy military presence limits protesters’ berth" by Kareem Fahim | New York Times, July 20, 2013
CAIRO — Thousands of people, demanding that ousted president Mohammed Morsi be returned to power, marched in several Egyptian cities Friday, as the UN chief human rights official said she had pressed Egypt’s new leaders to provide details about why Morsi was being detained.
At least three people were killed during clashes between pro- and anti-Morsi protesters in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, state news media reported.
Morsi has not been heard from since being deposed by Egypt’s military on July 3, and he has not formally been charged with any crime. The military has refused to divulge details about his detention, except to say that he is being held for the good of the country and for his own safety. Several presidential aides have also been detained.
On Friday, a spokesman for Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said she had asked the Egyptian government to provide “information regarding the legal basis upon which the former president and his presidential team are detained.”
The spokesman said Pillay had also asked about Egypt’s investigation into the killing of Morsi’s Islamist supporters on July 8, when police officers and soldiers fired on protesters, killing more than 50 people who were camped outside the Republican Guard club near Cairo’s airport.
The club, where Morsi’s supporters believed he was being held, had become a focal point of their demonstrations.
Before the protests Friday, which Morsi’s supporters billed as an effort to “break the coup,” the army had warned that protesters who used violence would “endanger their life.” Late in the afternoon, large crowds streamed toward the Republican Guard club where soldiers were standing watch, but there were no confrontations.
The protesters turned and headed toward Rabaa al-Adawiya square, their encampment for the last three weeks, amid signs that the long sit-in, and the now-daily marches, were taking a toll on Morsi’s supporters, as well on as residents of the neighborhood surrounding the encampment. Since the July 8 killings, the army has hemmed the protesters into an increasingly constricted space.
Sure looks like the NYT is hoping the military oppression is taking it's toll.
Nothing like breaking a fast by eating NYT s***.
“They are starting to move onto our streets,” said a resident watching the protest go by on Asmaa Zaghloul Street, near the military club. The protesters chanted: “We won’t tire. Freedom is not for nothing.” The resident called them “brainwashed.”
So the residents have now become a single resident? And who even knows if this "resident" even exists? It's the NYT we are talking here!
The only way to stop the protesting was by force, he said, but added, “There will be many dead. We don’t want that.” He estimated the protesters would stay around for another month.
As he spoke, fights broke out farther up the street, after a car encroached into the march, apparently striking some protesters. After 15 minutes of anger and scuffles, the driver escaped. “Now he’ll go talk to the media,” a Morsi supporter yelled. “He’ll talk about how the Islamists tried to kill him.”
On Friday evening, thousands of opponents of the former president held their own gathering in Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square, in a contest of crowds that has become routine.
And who benefits from Egyptian turmoil?
As marches snaked through the city, military aircraft flew overhead, commemorating the army’s crossing into Sinai during the 1973 war against Israel. It was the latest of several displays of military power since Morsi was ousted by General Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, the army commander, who has become something of a local celebrity.
This is disgusting "journalism," folks.
Sissi’s portrait hangs in shops and at least a few government buildings, even as Morsi’s supporters call for him to be removed from his post. The general played a starring role in a video the military released last week that was meant to explain its position in the crisis but that also had the feel of a campaign advertisement.
Look, it's EGYPT'S NEW DICTATOR!
On Friday, the military fended off rumors that Sissi planned to run for president that started after a spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Ali, raised that possibility during an interview with an English-language paper, Daily News Egypt. Ali answered a question about Sissi’s political future by saying the general was a soldier and “does not aspire to any other role.”
He added, “But assuming that he retired and people suggested that he run for presidency, is not this the democratic process?”
Thank Allah George Orwell wasn't entombed in Egypt. The pyramid would be rubble right now from his spinning corpse.
On Friday, the military released a statement devoted to what it said was “inaccurate” speculation and said Sissi had never spoken of seeking the presidency. He was “proud enough to see unprecedented unity between the people and its armed forces,” the statement said.
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Time for me to get to sleep; however, I'll be up before dawn and back here with some Sunday Globe Specials and other goodies for you shortly.
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
"Car bombings kill at least 46 in Iraq
BAGHDAD — A coordinated wave of seven car bombs tore through bustling streets Saturday night in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad, killing at least 46. The car bombs detonated after the iftar meal that breaks the daily fast of the holy month of Ramadan. Many people head out to shop or relax in coffee shops in the cooler evenings after fasting ends. Attacks have now killed more than 250 people since the start of Ramadan on July 10, according to an Associated Press count (AP)."
Gee, those Muslims sure are violent even when they are supposedly celebrating piece, blah, blah, blah.
"Egypt forms committee to amend constitution" by Aya Batrawy | Associated Press, July 21, 2013
CAIRO — It is the latest push by the country’s new leadership to move ahead with a military-backed timetable for a return to democratic rule....
(Blog editor is perplexed; they just dumped that with their coup)
Mohammed Abdel-Aziz, a leading figure in the Tamarod petition drive that mobilized the massive street protests that led to Morsi’s ouster, said his group has launched a new initiative to collect suggestions from Egyptians on the constitution.
There are some Brotherhood guys over there.
In another sign of the interim government’s drive to move on with the transition, Jordan’s King Abdullah met with the country’s president, army chief, and other top figures Saturday in the first visit by a head of state to Cairo since the coup.
The king expressed his support for the ‘‘national choices’’ made by Egyptians, according to a statement released by the Egyptian presidency.
Translation: The Egyptian coup has the approval and blessing of the Jordanian monarch and close U.S. ally.
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Also see: What will give Egypt’s ruler ‘legitimacy’?
They had that with the guy who got elected, so....
