Wishing Merry Christmas is Forbidden

Wishing “Merry Christmas” and Celebrating Religious Tolerance in Indonesia

Jakarta - Can Muslims wish someone ‘Merry Christmas’? This is a question that always comes up in Indonesia around Christmas times and gathers mixed opinions.

Ask President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo this question. He will definitely say: “Yes. They can.”

The President is fully aware that many Muslims individuals and organizations in Indonesia, including the powerful Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), still disagree that it is acceptable for Muslims saying Christmas greetings or attending Christmas gatherings.

Jokowi is swimming against the mainstream. Last year, as governor of Jakarta, he went around the city to make sure that security was adequately provided for churches where Christians gathered to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Jokowi dropped in at several Catholic and Protestant churches. He entered churches, including the renowned Catholic Church cathedral and the Immanuel church and then, standing in front of the congregations and said, “Selamat natal bagi jemaat semua”, or “Merry Christmas to all of you”. The churchgoers responded with loud shouts of joy.

Also on the Christmas eve, Jokowi called then vice-governor Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama to wish him ‘Merry Christmas’.

Jokowi is scheduled to attend the government-sponsored national Christmas gathering in Jayapura, the capital of Papua, the country’s easternmost province, later this month (27 Dec.). He will deliver a Christmas speech during his visit.

Over the past 30 years, the national Christmas celebration has been an annual event that was held in Jakarta at the prestigious Jakarta Convention Center. Well-prepared Christmas songs, orchestras and dramas, which also featured renowned Muslim artists, were performed and were enthusiastically enjoyed by Muslim guests.

So far, no complaint has been aired openly about the national Christmas celebration and other Christmas gatherings at government offices and private organizations across the country.
The restrictions for Muslims during Christmas in Indonesia

In 1981, for the first time, MUI issued an official, strong fatwa (opinion) to keep Indonesian Muslims from wishing ‘Merry Christmas’ and attending Christmas gatherings, including visiting Christian families and friends on Christmas Day.

Again, in December 2012, MUI issued another fatwa that said “Muslims become sinners when they attend Christmas gatherings” and “it is also haram (forbidden) for Muslims to say Christmas greetings”.

The fatwa also said that by attending Christmas gatherings and wishing “Merry Christmas”, Muslims acknowledge that Christian God (and Jesus Christ) is their god.

How far MUI’s fatwas have been effective within the Muslim community remains unclear. Many Muslim workers, for example, still spontaneously shake hands with their Christian co-workers during Christmas while saying “Merry Christmas”.

When asked by the media, some leaders of Muslim organizations and scholars say that wishing “Merry Christmas” should no longer be an issue for Muslims in Indonesia. Muslims, they say, can attend Christmas meetings as long as they are just a social gathering, and not a prayer meeting.
Saying no to Christmas liturgy

Last week, Slamet Effendi, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country’s largest Muslim mass organization, said Muslims sending Christmas greetings shows religious tolerance, which is a very important value for Indonesia.

“It has nothing to do with a Muslim’s confession of faith,” Slamet told Tempo magazine.

Slamet said that Islamic teachings disallow Muslims to attend Christian liturgical gatherings. He did not say, however, if the national Christmas celebration held so far is a prayer meeting.

Meanwhile, noted Exeget Professor Muhammad Quraish Shihab holds a more tolerant stance.

Shihab said: “As a Muslim, going to your friend’s home to wish him “Merry Christmas” is part of a greeting and (maintaining) a good relationship. Similarly, it is impossible for us, Muslims, to tell our Christian friends not to come to our homes on Idul Fitri Holiday”.

Shihab, who is the former Minister of Religious Affairs under the leadership of president Abdurrahman Wahid, further said, as transcribed from a TV program by Tribunews.com, “as a Muslim, there is nothing wrong with you when you say Christmas greetings while in your heart you say that Prophet Isa is not the son of God.”

Shihab attended university education in Cairo where he witnessed Al Azhar ulemas going to the homes of Christian leaders to wish them “Merry Christmas”. Even, a great ulema in Suriah issued a fatwa that allows such visits, he added.

Meanwhile, Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim said last week that Muslims can even wear Santa Claus hats when attending Christmas gatherings at their workplaces. However, they should not be obliged if they are not comfortable with wearing them.

When In Rome, Do As The Romans Do !!!

PORK IN SCHOOL CANTEENS

A REAL MAYOR WHO REFUSES TO REMOVE PORK FROM THE SCHOOL CANTEENS EXPLAINS WHY

Muslim parents demanded the abolition of pork in all the school canteens of Ath in Belgium.
Marc Duvivier the mayor of Ath, has refused, and the town clerk sent a note to all parents to explain why.
“Muslims must understand that they have to adapt to Belgium, its customs, its traditions, its way of life, because that's where they chose to immigrate.
They must understand that they have to integrate and learn to live in Belgium.
They must understand that it is for them to change their lifestyle, not the Belgians who so generously welcomed them.
They must understand that the Athois are neither racist nor xenophobic, they accepted many immigrants before Muslims (whereas the reverse is not true that Muslims do not accept non-Muslim foreigners on their soil).
That no more than other nations, the Belgians are not willing to give up their identity, their culture.
And if Belgium is a land of welcome, it's not Marc Duvivier that welcomes foreigners, but the Belgian people as a whole.
Finally, they must understand that in Belgium with its Judeo-Christian roots, Christmas trees, churches and religious festivals, religion must remain in the private domain. The municipality of Ath was right to refuse any concessions to Islam and Sharia.
For Muslims that disagree with secularism and do not feel comfortable in Belgium, there are 57 beautiful Muslim countries in the world, most of them under-populated and ready to receive them with open halal arms in accordance with Shariah.
If you left your country for Belgium, and not for other Muslim countries, it is because you have considered that life is better in Belgium than elsewhere.

Ask yourself the question, just once, “Why is it better here in Belgium than where you come from?”
A canteen with pork is part of the answer.

Rare Nude Pakistani Girl

 

A popular Pakistani actress, Veena Malik, through the cover of a magazine could offend conservatives in the country, sparked controversy across borders and trigger promises investigation of the country's Interior Minister. Veena Malik can do all that just by posing for FHM India, a men's magazine.

On the cover of the December issue of the magazine, Veena Malik appeared nude, although the arms folded across the chest so shut her breasts. With ISI acronym tattoo on his arm indicated. Tattooing was a clear allusion to a famous spy agencies of Pakistan, which is accused of being involved in a series of crimes, including the Mumbai attacks in India in 2008.

That cover, which was released online before the magazine was published, has ignited a firestorm of comment and opinion in the official media and social media of Pakistan. According to a report in The Washingtos Post, in such a commotion, case cover scandal has overshadowed the continuing conspiracy and the impact of a NATO attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers some time ago near the border with Afghanistan. Web editor of a local newspaper even said that the 'coup' Malik was already beyond the death of Osama bin Laden in terms of traffic on the internet.

That cover has make different opinions also in Pakistan. For the people who are offended Malik's own father, who reportedly did not recognize him anymore because of shame to the family and his country. A Pakistani lawyer has filed a lawsuit to the Islamabad High Court to sue Malik passport confiscated. But the court rejected the lawsuit, arguing, it was committed outside its jurisdiction.

But Veena Malik also received support. Some praised his courage, others simply enjoy her naked photos. "Arguing about Veena Malik, like clothing Veena itself, very optional, 'wrote Express Tribune, a local newspaper, in an editorial." What is not acceptable is the position of neutrality in fight between Veena and critics who claim more sacred than others. "

People who do not like the cover it is Veena Malik himself. She claimed she did not pose nude and that the picture had been 'modified'. She sued the magazine and has demanded compensation nearly 2 million US dollars.

But the magazine has denied the charges and said it had video footage to prove that claim false Malik. In a statement threatening Malik with a counter claim, FHM India asserted that she did pose nude. Party magazine also said that Malik was very comfortable and quiet when photographed for the magazine.

Shocking !!! ISIS Flag At The Church !!!

The ISIS poster by Outreach Media, seen at St Columba Uniting Church in Woollahra

The St Columba Uniting Church in Sydney is one of a number of churches displaying the poster supplied by Outreach Media.

The company’s gospel-focused posters are described as a “great tool for evangelism” and “designed to engage with the community and spark conversations”.

November’s poster is inspired by the terrorist flag and features a quote from Jesus: “Love your Enemies, and pray for those who persecute you”.

The church’s minister did not want to comment on the poster, but a description on the Outreach website said: “Jesus actually requires us to get worked up over the ISIS soldier. He commands us to find love in our hearts and pray for that soldier and really mean it. Remember, Jesus loved his enemies enough to die for them at the cross.”

Passers-by did not seem concerned about the provocative display, with one saying the mixed messages around the terror group were exhausting.

“This is obviously trying to promote Christianity. At what point is it no longer about the story and becomes about the message they are trying to promote?” Woollahra resident, Jack, 22, said.

“It’s got to the stage, whenever I talk among friends, we are exhausted at the extent by which people are turning this into propaganda.

“Everyone wants to put their two cents worth in, there is this convoluted message, but at the same time everyone is still on edge.”

Another elderly woman walking past, said wasn’t sure how she felt about the use of the IS flag but said “we should all be big enough to try and understand people who are against us”.

“Muslims individually are a beautiful people, unfortunately some are persecuting the people and don’t understand it’s because of ISIS,” she said.

“I’d like to think we could all be a bit bigger than that.”

Churches have been using their signs to engage with the community for years, with one Anglican reverend gaining a huge social media following because of his irreverent and witty signs.


source

Beer and Dogs in Malaysia

Malaysia battles beer, dogs as Indonesia shines

William Pesek

If Malaysian leader Najib Razak thought he already had problems at home, now he also needs to worry about a "Jokowi effect" spreading from neighbouring Indonesia. Last Monday, fresh-faced Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took the helm of the world's fourth-most-populous nation. Throughout Southeast Asia, young voters have been gripped by the rise of this small businessman – effectively a nobody – to his nation's highest office. Jokowi isn't the scion of any political dynasty or wealthy family, the normal routes to power in Southeast Asia. He's a self-made outsider known for hands-on solutions and personal incorruptibility.

Voters have to ask themselves why Jokowi's story can't be replicated in their own countries, many of which are crying out for more credible, effective leaders. Najib has particular reason to be concerned. His personal background – as the son of Malaysia's 1970s Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein – is one of privilege. More importantly, even as hopes rise that Indonesia might finally achieve its true growth potential, Malaysia seems consumed by petty political infighting and religious small-mindedness.

Najib is hardly alone here. If anything, next-door Thailand seems even more paralyzed by political divisions. But Malaysia's failings are especially frustrating because they are so unnecessary.

Consider this: Jokowi is Indonesia's fifth president since dictator Suharto was ousted in 1998, and the second to be elected directly by the nation's 250 million people. In contrast, the political establishment that's controlled Malaysia for six decades is still trying to silence opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Since 1998, Anwar has faced many questionable trials and prison sentences on charges ranging from corruption to sodomy. The latest verdict is due this week – just days after Jokowi publicly buried the hatchet with his political opponents, who pledged to work with him to move Indonesia forward.

Malaysians are understandably angry about surging living costs. Meanwhile, earlier this month, local politicians from Najib's United Malays National Organisation raised a stink about provocative posters for Oktoberfest, which some Muslim groups tried to ban. There's even a debate among some UMNO members about whether Muslims should be allowed to touch dogs.

Even though Malaysia's government is technically secular, religion is increasingly being wielded as a political weapon. This week, a delegation of opposition lawmakers visiting Canberra urged Australia to speak out against creeping Islamization in Malaysia. "In an environment where the state subtly and indirectly endorses criticisms and intimidation against a minority, it is easier for the messages of radical groups like IS to take hold," delegation leader Rafizi Ramli told reporters.

Malaysia cannot afford to get bogged down in such side issues. To increase the country's competitiveness, Najib should have begun scaling back the four-decade-old affirmation action program that favors the ethnic Malay majority; instead, he's expanded it. Malaysian leaders should be striving to improve the investment climate through stronger corporate governance, and expanding education and training to raise productivity. Subsidies for state-connected companies need to be scaled back and eventually eliminated.

No one's saying that Indonesia doesn't face immense hurdles, too. As skilled and well-meaning as he may be, Jokowi can't single-handedly eradicate the endemic corruption and dysfunction that has relegated millions of Indonesians to poverty. Despite the current bonhomie in Jakarta, he still confronts a determined and well-financed opposition keen on protecting vested interests.

But Malaysians should remember that globalisation enables all economies to grow quickly. If their country refuses to open up and become a true meritocracy – the kind of place where a figure like Jokowi could come to power through the ballot box – neighbours like Indonesia and the Philippines will steal away investment and industries. Then the problems they're focusing on today won't seem so large.

Muslims Vs Jews

WRITTEN BY A MUSLIM. 

The writer is the Pakistani Executive Director of the Center for Research and Security Studies, a think tank established in 2007, and an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. It sure makes interesting reading... Particularly coming from a Pakistani official. 
By: Dr Farrukh Saleem

Why are Jews so powerful

There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas , five million in Asia, two million in

Europe and 100,000 in Africa.

For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims.

Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together.

Ever wondered why?

Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish.

Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and

TIME magazine's 'Person of the Century', was a Jew.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew.

So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.

Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output

Has enriched the whole humanity:

Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle.

Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine.

Albert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine.

Gertrude Elion gave us a leukemia fighting drug.

Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B.

Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis.

Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases.

Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission.

Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology.

Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy. 

Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill.

George Wald won a Nobel for our understanding of the human eye.

Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology.

Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.

Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 15-dozen Nobel Prizes while only three Nobel Prizes

have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes).

Why are Jews so powerful?

Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip.

Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor;

Peter Schultz, optical fibre cable;

Charles Adler, traffic lights;

Benno Strauss, Stainless steel;

Isador Kisee, sound movies;

Emile Berliner, telephone microphone;

Charles Ginsburg, videotape recorder.

Famous financiers in the business world who belong to Jewish faith include

Ralph Lauren (Polo),

Levis Strauss (Levi's Jeans),

Howard Schultz (Starbuck's) ,

Sergey Brin (Google),

Michael Dell (Dell Computers),

Larry Ellison (Oracle),

Donna Karan (DKNY),

Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and

Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts).

Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state),

Alan Greenspan (Fed chairman under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush), Joseph Lieberman (US Senator),

Madeleine Albright (American secretary of state), Casper

Weinberger (American secretary of defense), Maxim Litvinov ( USSR foreign Minister), David Marshal

( Singapore 's first chief minister), Issac Isaacs (governor-general of Australia ), Benjamin

 Disraeli (British statesman and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian PM), Barry Goldwater (US Senator),

Jorge Sampaio (president of Portugal ), John Deutsch (CIA director), Herb Gray (Canadian deputy PM),

Pierre Mendes (French PM), Michael Howard (British home Secretary), Bruno Kreisky (chancellor of Austria )

and Robert Rubin (American secretary of treasury).

In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer

(Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (editor-in-chief Time), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyveld (Executive editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).

The most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far

donated a colossal $4 billion most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world.

Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an

estimated $2 billion.

At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by winning seven gold medals; Lenny Krayzelburg is

a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

Spitz and Krayzelburg are Jewish.

Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Billy Crystal,

Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas,

Goldie Hawn, Cary Grant, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish?

As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg,

Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling ( Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina

(Rambo 1/2/3), Michael Man (Starsky andHutch), Milos Forman (One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest),

Douglas Fairbanks (The Thief of Baghdad ) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.

So, why are Jews so powerful?

Answer : EDUCATION 

Why are Muslims so powerless? 

There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa,

44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas . Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every single Hindu

there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims.

Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless?

Here is why: There are 57 member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them

put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has

5,758 universities and India has 8,407.

In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an 'Academic Ranking of World Universities' ,

and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top-500.

As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15

Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent.

A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is

no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent.

Some 98 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50

per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same.

Around 40 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent

of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same.

Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims.

The US has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million.

In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians

per one million Arabs. (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million).

Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian

world spends around five per cent of its GDP.

Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge!

Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge

is being diffused in a society.

In Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK ,

the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge. 

Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge

application. Pakistan 's export of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent.

The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait, Morocco, and Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent, while Singapore is

at 58 per cent.

Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge. 

Why are Muslims powerless?

.....Because we aren't producing knowledge,

....Because we aren't diffusing knowledge.,

.....Because we aren't applying knowledge.

And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.

Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion.

America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion;

China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and

Germany $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis).

Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services

(mostly oil) worth $500 billion;

Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion,

Catholic Poland $489 billion and

Buddhist Thailand $545 billion.

..... (Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining). 

So, why are Muslims so powerless?

Answer: Lack of education. 

All we do is shout to Allah the whole day !!! and blame everyone else for our multiple failures!!!!!

How to Not Get Kidnapped When Travelling to IRAQ

Deported for Being Too Handsome

 Crime of Passion: Three Men Forcibly Deported from Saudi Arabia for Being “Too Handsome”

Photographer, actor and poet Omar Borkan Al Gala from Dubai was one of the men kicked out of Saudi Arabia because he is ridiculously good looking. Saudi Arabian men feared that these men will steal their wives' hearts if they let them stay in the country ;)  According to Arabic language Elaph newspaper, the UAE nationals were taking part in a heritage event in the capital Riyadh on Sunday when they were thrown out by Saudi’s religious police. 

TV Emirates reported recently that three United Arab Emirates nationals were deported from Saudi Arabia for the crime of being “too handsome.”

This is certainly an uncommon criminal accusation, but one that we can relate to (some of our writers are banned in 26 countries for the opposite reason).

The three men were manning a booth representing the UAE at a cultural event in the Saudi capital city of Riyadh when the Saudi Mutaween (“religious police”) stormed the UAE booth and carried the men off, with women in the crowd presumably fainting left and right due to their sheer handsomeness.

Apparently, the Mutaween feared that women attending the event were likely to “fall in love” with the three men, prompting the arrest and forced deportation.

We can only assume that Brad Pitt is banned entirely from entering the country and that his face is covered by mosaic in all of his films in the Middle Eastern nation.

The World's Most Provocative Tourism Adverts

Tunisia defends 'provocative adverts' to woo tourists

Tunisia's advertising agency says it wanted to be provocative in its campaign to attract tourists

Tunisia has defended a controversial advertising campaign to attract tourists who deserted the country after its revolution in January.

It includes billboards in London of a woman getting a massage, next to the words: "They say that in Tunisia some people receive heavy-handed treatment."

At least 200 people were killed during the Tunisian uprising which began in December.

It led to the collapse of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's regime.

Tourism is crucial to Tunisia's economy. With a population of little more than 10 million people, the industry provides about 400,000 jobs and is worth about $2.5bn (£1.5bn) to the economy.
'Nothing but ruins'

Syrine Cherif, whose advertising agency Memac Ogilvy came up with the campaign for the Tunisian Tourism Board, said it was intended to create a "buzz" among potential tourists in the UK and other countries.

"The idea was to be provocative to address possible fears around the issue of the Arab spring," she told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

Other advertisements show ancient Roman ruins next to the words: "They say Tunisia is nothing but ruins."

She denied the campaign showed insensitivity towards Tunisians who had been jailed, tortured or killed during Mr Ben Ali's rule of 23 years.

"This unfair treatment was done by people who were in the dictatorship and now the dictatorship has gone. It's over. Today it's a new Tunisia," she said.

"The campaign is for foreigners, not targeting Tunisian people," she added.

Tunisia was the first country to be hit by the popular uprisings which have swept across North Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia in January after losing the support of the military.

His trial in absentia, for charges ranging from conspiring against the state to drug trafficking, starts on Monday.

The Devil On Earth - Mysterious Horned Man

7 Horned Man

Man with horns initially hard to believe, but many cases in different parts of the world. Some people, mostly elderly grow horns on their heads, even in other parts.

There are at least seven people grow horns. Mostly in China. Health experts are still investigating the growth of horns on the head man. Who are the people with horns on their heads? Here's his review.

 1. Yuan Fan

A grandfather named Yuan Fan of City Ziyuan, southern China, the talk of the medical world. He has a strange horn measuring seven centimeters. The man is 84 years tells horns on his head began to grow from five years ago until now. "I tried to cut it but it continues to grow. I can not change, the greater," he said

Fortunately it can not grow horns over seven inches. The doctors in China do not know what happened to him.

 2. Ma Zhong Nan

In 2007 my grandfather from China named Ma Zhong Nan became one of the horns in the world. From head 93 year old man was sticking a small object like a horn. Previous Nan middle comb my hair and was wounded in the head. At first he did not care about the little wound but over time a hard substance coming out of her head.

Nan has a horn with a length of 10 centimeters. He had tried to go to the doctor, but the medics said could not be helped.

 3. Granny Zhao

Still in 2007 the China Yang Cheng reported seeing a grandmother to travel from the city of Zhanjiang. How surprised that women 95 years it has horns on his forehead.

Curved horns like the pumpkin stem up to 15 centimeters in length. My grandmother was named Zhao said the mole, but in fact it grows longer.

 4. Saleh Talib

Yemeni Saleh Talib admitted horns growing from his dream. Men's 102 years felt there was something strange in the head. Turns out he has a horn and when she woke up little by little dream come true. He was considered a gift from God.

Despite claims uncomfortable, Saleh refused the gift of God is removed, according to doctors from hospitals, horn man is due to a layer of hard skin on the head. Horn has now been over 12 centimeters.

 5. Abdul Razak

Maybe this man most have horns on the head even under their lips. Abdul Razak is a retired police officer from the City Narasimharajapura, India, has been living with some horns on the back of his head, for over 20 years.

Actually this man was born to normal despite aneg growth in her head. But after retirement, antlers begin to grow.

In 2008, a horn Razak, like long fingers, a doctor from the local hospital said the case is very rare. Sometimes it happens because of the fat in the skin.

 6. Unicorn Lady

O An unnamed woman allegedly from Russia has horns out of his head. Horn length is up to 17 centimeters. Many people call Women Unicorn.

Initially she had a lump. For some reason it can not be cured lumps out circular horn.

7. Zang Ruifang

Zhan horrendous world Ruifang from China because it has a horn on the left forehead. This is similar to horns goat horns. About six inches in length and can grow again.

101-year-old woman was also felt his right brow horns would grow anyway. Note the black dots on his right forehead. When fully grown the Ruifang became the first woman with animal horn perfectly

The World's Longest Bus Route

Birmingham to Kashmir by bus

Plans have been announced to launch a bus service between Birmingham and Mirpur in Pakistan, known as "Little Birmingham".

It promises to be Britain’s longest bus route – all the way from Birmingham to Kashmir almost 4,000 miles away.

Plans have been drawn up for a bus service between the West Midlands and Mirpur, nicknamed “Little Birmingham” because of close historical and family ties between the two cities.

The Mirpur region’s transport chief Tahir Khokher says the route will span seven countries including Iran and Pakistan – and include stopovers in Quetta, near the Afghan border, and the Iranian capital Tehran.

Tickets for the 12-day trip are expected to cost £130, a saving of around £450 on the average air fare.

Birmingham is home to the world’s largest population of Kashmiri expatriates, many having emigrated from Mirpur in the 1960s after being displaced by the building of a dam.

Mr Khokher says he hoped the service would strengthen ties and tourism between the two cities. “We are proposing to run four luxury buses once a fortnight,” he said. “The Kashmir government will also set up a swift counter system to hasten the visa process for those who don’t have a British passport.”

The plans were welcomed last night by by Khalid Mahmood, a Birmingham Labour MP whose family originates from Mirpur. “It’s a great idea that will bring the two cities closer together and be a real life experience, particularly for younger people,” he said.

His views were echoed by Mohammed Nazam, a city councillor, who said earlier generations often made the trip from Britain to Pakistan by road. “In the 1970s and 1980s people would drive a van from the UK to Kashmir and it would take about 10 or 12 days of hard driving, day and night,” he said. “Even in those days it was a real adventure. But the world isn’t as safe a place as it used to be.”

Mr Khokher dismissed security concerns, particularly those surrounding the volatile city of Quetta, where top Taliban commanders are believed to be in hiding. “I don’t feel it will be a problem,” he said. “The government is responsible for security.

“Barring one or two instances in Quetta, the overall situation is good to go.”

How Christians and Muslims can Marry

Multi-ethnic couples reflect Bosnia's growing diversity

Rusmir Zaimovic and his wife Sandra enjoy an afternoon coffee at their apartment in Sarajevo.

SANDRA Zaimovic, a Catholic Bosnian Croat and her husband Rusmir, a Bosnian Muslim, are looking forward to celebrating both Eid and Christmas with their new baby this year.

Couples of different ethnicity like the Zaimovics were a rarity in the years following the 1992-1995 war which divided Bosnia along ethnic lines, but today they are slowly reappearing, reflecting the country's growing diversity.

Rusmir and Sandra, herself a child of a mixed marriage between a Bosnian Croat mother and Serb father, met in 2003 at a friend's party. They were married two years later, one of the rare ethnically mixed marriages in Bosnia to take place since the war. "Ours is a marriage of love we have never asked any questions about our ethnicity or our faith," says 33-year-old computer engineer Rusmir.

Their families had no objections, but many others have queried their relationship.

"I often meet people who ask me how my mother has reacted, how the two of us manage everything. Remarks like that remind me where we live," says Sandra.

Over the years, however, Sandra and Rusmir have made a tight network of friends, many of whom are also ethnically mixed couples, or those who find no fault with their life choices.

The former Yugoslav republic was once a shining example of diversity, but Bosnian society was torn apart during the war that pitted its three main ethnic communities Serbs, Croats, and Muslims against each other. Many mixed couples were unable to resist the pressures of the time and either split up or left the country. Most have never returned.

Today the country has a population of just 3.8 million, of which 40 per cent are Muslim, 31 per cent Serb (mainly Orthodox Christian) and 10 per cent Bosnian Croat. Over two million people were forced from their homes during the war, in which 100,000 died.

The ethnologist Ugo Vlaisavljevic confirms that the psychological scars of the war run deep. "As a consequence of the horrors of war that we experienced in the 1990s a deep distrust between the people emerged... and of course this has had a considerable impact on people's personal lives."

Neda Perisic, an anthropologist, points out that couples like the Zaimovics face more than societal pressure, highlighting the institutional discrimination inherent in the political system imposed by the 1995 peace accord.

"In Bosnia, there are no individual, but only collective rights," she says, explaining that almost all jobs in public administration or state-controlled companies are reserved for members of the three so-called constituent communities.

Arabs Want Gregorian Calendar

Saudis want Gregorian birthdates on national IDs

Spokesperson says dates available on passports and driving licences issued in Saudi Arabia

Manama: Saudi citizens have urged the authorities to add their Gregorian calendar birthdates on their identity cards, saying that it would help them whenever it is needed abroad.

The call was issued after several Saudi citizens were requested to fill in forms in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) where they were required to use their Gregorian birthdates, but they had only their Hijri (Islamic) calendar dates, Saudi daily Al Watan reported on Sunday.

“I felt embarrassed when I was filling in a form for a mobile chip in Dubai,” Umm Mohammad, a Saudi mother, said. “I needed a document that showed the date, but I did not have one since I travelled using my identity card that did not have the date, and not my passport,” she said, quoted by the daily.

However, Mohammad Bin Jasser Al Jasser, the spokesperson for civil affairs, said that there were no plans to add the Gregorian date.

“The identity card has a specific design where all essential information is clearly visible,” he said. “The card is used principally as an identity document inside the Saudi kingdom where there is no need for a non-Hijri calendar birth date since that is the official one. Those who are interested in knowing their Gregorian calendar birthdates can always refer to the Saudi birth certificate, passport and driving licence where they are mentioned,” he said, quoted by the daily.

In June last year, all Saudi government and private agencies were requested to use the Hijri calendar and Arabic language in their official dealings.

Arabic should also be to used to communicate, mainly in companies and hotels, Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, then Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, deputy premier and interior minister, said.

The decision was taken after the authorities said they noticed a violation of the royal orders governing the use of the Hijri calendar and Arabic language, while English was “massively” used in the receptions of hotels and companies, local Arabic daily Al Sharq said.

According to the Saudi authorities, the use of the Islamic calendar will help preserve the history of Islam while the use of Arabic will reinforce pride in the country’s national language.

However, they said that the Gregorian calendar could be used whenever it was needed, but it had to be associated with the corresponding Hijri date.

Saudis have often stressed that the Hijri calendar and the Arabic language had robust links with the status of their country in the Arab and Islamic world.

For many Saudis, the state had “a moral duty to preserve and protect the Arabic language”.

“We have started to feel like strangers in our own land, especially with the tsunami of foreigners who resort to marginalising Arabic in local and foreign companies and in hotels,” a Saudi blogger remarked. “They even try to impose their language at the university as part of a long-term plan to make the Saudi market wide open for foreigners and limit competition from Saudi nationals. A deep penetration of foreign language in the Saudi society will also marginalise its religion and culture,” he said.

Tunisian Naked Girl

Tunisian Woman Who Posted A Topless Picture Should Be Stoned To Death
Quarantine her!’ Top Tunisian Islamist says topless girl needs stoning

 

19 year old Amina poses topless and then posts her photo's on Facebook.

A Tunisian Salafi preacher has called for a 19-year old girl who posted her topless pictures on Facebook to be “quarantined” and stoned to death before she starts “an epidemic.”

Tunisian newspaper AssabahNews quoted Salafi preacher Alami Adel, who heads the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, saying: “According to God’s law, she deserves 80 to 100 lashes, but what she committed is worth much more than that. She deserves to be stoned to death and she must be quarantined because what she did is an epidemic.”

“She is like someone suffering from a serious and contagious illness and she must be secluded and treated,” he added.

The young Amina, who is part of a feminist movement and group called FEMEN can be seen smoking a cigarette topless with Arabic words written across her chest in black that reads in English “My body belongs to me.”

FEMEN is a Ukrainian based feminist group that gathers women together in Europe in topless protests in support of women’s rights.

Amina has been delivered by her parents to a psychiatric hospital in Tunis, according to reports received by FEMEN leader Inna Shevchenko in Paris and reported by the U.S. based magazine the Atlantic.

Tunisian media said that if Amina committed the offence in Tunisia, she could be punished by up to two years in prison and be given a fine between $60 and $600.

A petition and an international day of action on April 4 to highlight the threats against Amina have been organized by activists.

More than 10,000 people have signed the petition that called for those who threatened Amina’s life to be prosecuted.

On Thursday reports FEMEN’s Facebook account was hacked emerged. The page had reportedly been infiltrated with videos and pictures on the site being replaced by verses from the Koran.

“Thanks to God we have hacked this immoral page and the best is yet to come,” read one message signed by “al-Angour,” an apparent hacker.

FEMEN has released a statement condemning “barbarian threats of the Islamists about the necessity of reprisals against the Tunisian activist Amina.”

“We are afraid for her life and we call on women to fight for their freedom against religious atrocities” it added.

Last month, FEMEN brought together Iranian women in Sweden, who took to the streets of Stockholm demonstrating against the Hijab (Islamic headscarf).

Pakistani Girl Pretend to Be A Boy

Maria Toorpakai: The Pakistani squash star who had to pretend to be a boy

Maria Toorpakai Wazir is a star squash player with a promising international career. Born in Waziristan, a highly conservative region of Pakistan, she had to disguise herself as a boy when she took up the sport - and later received ominous threats for playing in shorts.

"I am a warrior, I was born a warrior, I will die like a warrior."

Maria Toorpakai is courageous - and she's had to be, to play squash in a region where many girls are denied more than a primary education.

When she was four, she put on her brother's clothes, cut her hair and took all her girly clothes outside and had them burnt.

"My father started laughing and said, 'Here we go, we have a Genghis Khan in the family,'" she says, referring to the Mongolian warlord of the 12th Century.

As she grew older, Toorpakai was often involved in fights. She says it was how she made friends. "My hands, elbows, knees were always bleeding - my eyebrows and face were always swollen."

So 10 years ago, when she was 12, her father decided to channel her energies towards sport - in particular, weightlifting.

"He was a bit shy to tell people that I was a girl, so he said, 'That's my son and his name is Genghis Khan,'" Toorpakai says.

After a couple of months, she was entered for a boy's tournament - and won.

"Giving her a false boy's name allowed her to take part in whatever games she wanted," says Toorpakai's father, Shamsul Qayyum Wazir.

"Then someone told me that if she carried on weightlifting, she would not grow taller, and she would become plump and heavy. So I encouraged the interest she had already discovered in playing squash."

Squash is a popular sport in Pakistan and the country has produced many world champions. Women play it too - although not in Waziristan or other highly conservative tribal areas.

Toorpakai says she fell in love with the game the first time she saw people playing it.

"I just liked how the kids had so much determination, the beautiful rackets and balls, and the kit," she says.

Her father took her to a squash academy in Peshawar run by the Pakistani air force.

In the first month or two of playing squash, people didn't know she was a girl. When the truth came out, other players started taunting her.

"They used to tease me, use bad language. It was unbearable and disrespectful - extreme bullying."

She didn't give up. She locked herself in the squash court and played for hours, from morning to evening.

"My hands were swollen, bruised and bleeding, but I still kept playing. I locked myself away, trying to create my own shots, my own drills."

The hard work paid off. She won several national junior championships and turned professional in 2006. The following year she received an award from the Pakistani president.

But the extra attention brought trouble to the family.

"In our area, girls are not even allowed to leave their family homes," explains her father.

"They wear a veil all the time and are always accompanied by male family members. When people saw Maria and realised that she did not wear a veil and that she played squash wearing shorts, they were shocked. They said she had brought dishonour to our tribe and they criticised me heavily for it."

A letter was pinned to the window of Wazir's car telling him to stop his daughter from playing squash because it was "un-Islamic and against tribal traditions".

It threatened "dire consequences" if he did not act.

But he maintained that if his daughters wanted to pursue a career in sport, he would support them.

The Pakistani squash federation provided Toorpakai with security, setting up a checkpoint next to her house. Snipers were positioning around the squash court, but she decided things had gone too far.

"A [modern] squash court has so much glass in it, so if there was a bomb blast inside, it would kill so many innocent people," she says.

Instead she started practising in her room.

"Playing in the hard surface of my room caused me many painful injuries. My father when he saw this spirit in me said, 'If you want to play squash, then the only option you have is to leave the country.'"

So every day, for three and a half years, Toorpakai sent emails to clubs, academies, schools, colleges and universities in the West - everywhere she could find squash courts. By the time she was 18, she had sent thousands.

One of her emails reached Canadian squash legend Jonathon Power. His signature was emblazoned on the first proper squash racket Toorpakai had owned, given to her by the director of the Peshawar squash academy.

Power had recently retired from the professional squash circuit and had set up a squash academy in Toronto.

"It was pretty peculiar," he says.

"I got this email from this young girl, saying where she came from, that she was just trying to pursue her dreams and become the best player she could be."

Power had spent a lot of time playing in Pakistan, and been heavily influenced by Pakistani squash players. But he also knew the difficulties faced by girls and women in the country.

"I just couldn't understand that there was a girl from this part of the world that was a squash player," he says.

But Power discovered that in 2009 she had come third in the World Junior Women's Championship. He was startled that Waziristan had produced a female squash player.

"I thought, 'Wow that's an incredible achievement.' So I thought I had to find a way to help her out."

He replied saying he would like to teach her squash in Canada.

At first, Toorpakai couldn't quite believe he was the real Jonathon Power. Several months later, in 2011, she arrived in Toronto and started training with him.

She is currently Pakistan's top female player and ranked the 49th best woman in the world. Power is convinced that she will go far.

"She absolutely has the talent and determination to become the best player in the world," he says.

"It's going to take time - she did have four years where she didn't get to progress, playing in her room.

"But now she's in a great environment, she's got great people around her helping her physically and learning the game of squash on a tactical level."

As for Toorpakai's father, he couldn't be prouder. "Pakistan and the whole Muslim world should be proud of her," he says.

"In our society people celebrate when a boy is born and they are aggrieved when a girl is born - this attitude must change. I want every tribal girl to have the same chances as other girls."

Toorpakai herself credits squash with giving her the opportunity to live a different life.

"I think people are tired of so much war and fighting and bombs and kidnapping, I think they want peace and they realise now that they need education.

"They are very shy. They need someone to represent them, someone who can raise the voice for them and I think we are the people and we will bring change to them."