... in other news today [UK ex-PM returns to Cabinet]

[EiE]

36 minutes ago, Haji 2003 said:

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/10/india/dalai-lama-apology-kissing-boy-video-intl-hnk/index.html

 

 

What a disgusting man.

[Haji 2003]

8 hours ago, EiE said:

What a disgusting man.

 

Fidel Castro said:

 

[Haji 2003]

 

[Haji 2003]

TikTok hints at potential legal action to oppose the bill

Quote

Montana became the first US state on Friday to pass legislation banning TikTok on all personal devices, sending a bill to Gov. Greg Gianforte prohibiting TikTok from operating within state lines and barring app stores from offering TikTok for downloads. 

The legislation marks the furthest step yet by a state government to restrict TikTok over perceived security concerns and comes as some federal lawmakers have called for a national ban of TikTok.

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/14/tech/montana-house-tiktok-ban/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2023-04-15T11%3A25%3A42&utm_term=link

[Ashvazdanghe]

U.S. arrests 21-year-old National Guardsman for online intelligence leaks

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - The FBI on Thursday arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard, over the leaks online of classified documents that embarrassed Washington with allies around the world.

Quote

Federal agents in an armored car and military gear swooped in on Teixeira, dressed in gym shorts, a T-shirt and trainers, at his home in Dighton, Massachusetts, a mostly wooded town of 8,000 about 50 miles (80 km) south of Boston.

Aerial news video showed Teixeira with his hands laced behind his head, walking backward toward the armored car with one officer watching from the turret. He was handcuffed and placed in the back of the vehicle. Garland said he was taken into custody "without incident."

 

Teixeira was an airman 1st class at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, according to his service record. He joined the Air National Guard in 2019 and worked as a "Cyber Transport Systems Journeyman," or an IT specialist.

Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters Teixeira was wanted "in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information."

 

The leak of documents, posted largely on social media sites, was believed to be the most serious security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010.

Quote

Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor now with the law firm Morrison Foerster, said the likely charges could carry up to 10 years' imprisonment, even if Teixeira did not intend to cause harm.

 

Quote

Eddy Souza, 22, said he grew up nearby and that he knew Jack Teixeira when both attended Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School several years ago.

Souza said Teixeira had expressed no extremist sentiments when they were last in touch several years ago.

"He's a good kid, not a troublemaker, just a quiet guy," Souza said. "It sounds like it was a stupid kid's mistake."

A number of countries have questioned the veracity of some of the leaked documents, including Britain, which said there was "a serious level of inaccuracy" in the information.

The leaks revealed information about allies including Israel, South Korea and Turkey.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-air-national-guardsman-suspected-leaking-intel-be-arrested-thursday-source-2023-04-13/

[Haji 2003]

Protests that you never heard about ...

 

Quote

After four nights of anti-government protests in Amman and other cities, Jordan's King Abdullah II summoned Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki to the palace, where Mulki tendered his resignation.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/06/04/616917869/jordanian-prime-minister-resigns-after-large-anti-government-protests

 

Quote

The demonstrations were the biggest since the Arab Spring seven years ago, when people across the region demanded reform. Discontent in Jordan never quite boiled over during those protests as it did in other countries in the region.

 

[Haji 2003]

 

 

[Haji 2003]

 

 

[Haji 2003]

I photographed my Shiachat profile banner at this mosque

This is the painting up for sale and if you follow the link the auction is currently live. Price £25,000 - £35,000. (add 25% for the US$ equivalent).

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28748/lot/53/edwin-lord-weeks-american-1849-1903-the-steps-of-the-wazir-khan-mosque-lahore/

 

The sale notes are as follows.

The two most famous mosques in Lahore are the Badshahi Mosque and the Mosque of Wazir Khan. The latter was completed forty years after the former, commissioned by Hakim Aliuddin Khan, a nobleman at the court of the Emperor Shah Jahan, who promoted him subadar of the Punjab. 

The extensive inscriptions around the gateway include:

This edifice, which, like the sanctuary of heaven, is the source of bounty.
Has, like the temple of Ka'ba, for its object the benefit of mankind.
To the congregation may its gate ever remain open with prosperity until the day of resurrection.
When I asked of Reason the date of the foundation of this magnificent mosque, it answered: 'This is the place of worship of the pious' [that is, AH 1044/AD 1634].
When I asked of Reason the date of its foundation, it answered: 'Say the founder of this Mosque is Wazir Khan'.

It was well known for the many shops and stalls surrounding it, which included both booksellers and bookbinders, as well as the barbers and other tradespeople depicted here by Weeks - in fact, Wazir Khan had specifically decreed that the revenues from the shops were to be used for the upkeep of the mosque.

Emily Eden, the sister of the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, visited in December 1838 during her time at the court of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, and found it splendid but dilapidated (and surrounded by crowds of people, who appear to have laughed at how she was dressed). Around forty years after that, J. Lockwood Kipling (the father of Rudyard), and first Principal of the Mayo School of Art in Lahore, was also lamenting that 'year by year less attention seems to be paid to its maintenance, and the painted work is in a dilapidated state of neglect'. He was regretful because 'This beautiful building is in itself a school of design', and 'it seems of the highest importance to secure careful copies for preservation in the Museum and School, and there could be no better training for our young decorators' (quoted in Aijazuddin, op. cit. below, p. 113).

It was also sketched and painted more than once by William Simpson in 1860 (Aijazuddin, nos. 60 and 61), and it appeared in engraved illustrations in Original Sketches in the Punjab (1854) and the Illustrated London News, as well as numerous photographs in the 1870s. See F. S. Aijazuddin, Lahore: illustrated views of the 19th Century, Middletown 1991, pp. 106-115, nos. 57-64.

It was doubtless this picturesque character, as well as the tile-work and the imposing nature of the building, which attracted Weeks. He produced a number of variations on the scene, with different street-vendors, and a wider focus, drawing back and showing more of the street in front of the gateway (as in the large 62 by 96-inch canvas An Open-Air Restaurant, Lahore, India), but then also - as here - up close (for another instance, see Christie's New York, 19th Century Art and Orientalist Art, 24th October 2007, lot 108). 

Weeks first encountered the great city of Lahore in 1888, on his second expedition to India. He travelled widely in India in 1882-83, and later in 1888 and 1893, and published an account of his journey in From the Black Sea through Persia and India (1895). Of the mosque he wrote (pp. 176-178): 

The entire front of the gateway is a brilliant mosaic of the kind known as 'kashi-work,' and the four massive towers, as well as the facade of the inner court, repeat the same scheme of blue and yellow and faded green. Age has but mellowed the tone of the whole edifice, and the great Persian letters of the inscription over the main entrance are still resplendent in vivid turquoise blue, which translates as 'Remove thy heart from the gardens of the world, and know that this building is the true abode of man'.

The frescoed walls within the niche, of which the ornamentation above is less deeply indented than in the Persian examples of similar work, have taken on a rich bituminous and smoky tone like an old painting; and the dado above the square platform on each side of the steps, which is of marble, once white, threaded with slender black lines forming interlaced stars and hexagons, has been toned by age and the contact of many garments to a golden brown. The venerable Mussulmans [Muslims] privileged to pass their lives on the steps and the lounging-place on either side may be seen there at any time of the day [...] When not asleep or otherwise employed they appear to be absorbed in vague speculations upon the infinite, but, like their European imitators, are doubtless dreaming of mere material things. It is their custom to begin the day with a sort of dress parade-a minute investigation of their tattered raiment.

Having completed their inspection, they proceed to select a, sunny exposure if in winter, or when the hot winds blow they retreat into the dim brick-vaulted corridor provided for their comfort by the munificence of an imperial Vizir, and proceed to do nothing. A few of the elect, whose heads are well thatched with a shock of black hair, and with faces tanned to the colour of burnt sienna, have literally gone to the dogs, and grovel in the dust at some distance from the steps among the canine frequenters of the sacred spot; their unique garment being of the same colour as the ground, they are scarcely distinguishable from it.

There is, in truth, a good deal of life and movement to be seen from the crumbling steps of Vazir Khan.

[Haji 2003]

Statement by various Muslim leaders in the United States

Quote

Public discourse on sexuality over the past few decades has presented challenges to faith communities. Today, Islamic sexual and gender ethics are at odds with certain recently popular societal views, causing tension for Muslims between their religious beliefs and societal expectations. At the same time, public disapproval of LGBTQ practices, beliefs, and advocacy is increasingly met with charges of intolerance and unwarranted accusations of bigotry. More troubling still, there is an increasing push to promote LGBTQ-centric values among children through legislation and regulations, disregarding parental consent and denying both parents and children the opportunity to express conscientious objection. Such policies subvert the agency of Muslim parents to teach their children their religiously grounded sexual ethics, violate their constitutional right to freely practice their religion, and contribute to an atmosphere of intolerance toward faith communities.

Full statement here:

https://navigatingdifferences.com/clarifying-sexual-and-gender-ethics-in-islam/

 

Signatories to the statement include the following:

[Laayla]

Please please tell me there isn't a Shia who signed this deviant statement.

Daniel Haqiqatjou has spoken against these so called sheikhs who don't condemn ABC mafia.

https://youtu.be/APEAU5kuYgk

 

 

 

Edited May 24 by Laayla

[Haji 2003]

https://youtu.be/Ta9O7xxkQTo

[Ashvazdanghe]

Iftar at Mosque in China | Ramadan 2023 - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oLPC02i2Eg

Ramadan 2023 in China - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdEem7LzF-o

How Chinese Muslims Prepare before fasting | 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIVAyUBtPnE

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 5/24/2023 at 3:12 PM, Laayla said:

Daniel Haqiqatjou has spoken against

Salam nobody cares about which he clearly supports Salafism under guise of non violent wahabism so therefore his statement has no value about any Shia scholar.

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 5/29/2023 at 12:52 AM, Haji 2003 said:

Salam ironically a week ago a report has been made by "The New York Times"  about Vibrant Culture of China's Hui Muslims  & enjoy greater religious freedom- The New York Times" so now all western meida & wahabi /salafi media coherently talk about attacking to a Hui mosque by China's police for removing a Hui's mosque dome.

 

Quote

Vibrant Culture of China's Hui Muslims - The New York Times
www.nytimes.com › video › world › asia › vibrant-cult...
Hui Muslims form a 1200-year-old community in northern China and enjoy greater religious freedom

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=video&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwig0Ya5y5z_AhUqIMUKHcbqDE0QtwJ6BAgCEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fvideo%2Fworld%2Fasia%2F100000004177407%2Fvibrant-culture-of-chinas-hui-muslims.html&usg=AOvVaw33_XtPT6WviVJPJ5MuYGL-

https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/100000004177407/vibrant-culture-of-chinas-hui-muslims.html

[Haji 2003]

Top for something

[Haji 2003]

 

[realizm]

On 5/24/2023 at 10:12 PM, Laayla said:

Please please tell me there isn't a Shia who signed this deviant statement.

Daniel Haqiqatjou has spoken against these so called sheikhs who don't condemn ABC mafia.

https://youtu.be/APEAU5kuYgk

 

 

 

Unless I completely misread, the statement aims at preserving Islam's strict position regarding homosexuality. 

[Haji 2003]

Poppy production in Helmand

[rkazmi33]

2 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

Poppy production in Helmand

Sure! All women have lost opportunity for education and employment. Their hopes and dreams shattered, they are faced with forced early marriages, and all kinds of abuses but all we care about is poppy production. Why are you being so cruel? If a woman from Afghanistan sees your post, do you have any idea how she will feel? You have talked a lot about your daughter's education.  Shame on you for bragging about your daughter's education and rejoicing about millions of women losing opportunity for education. If you think Taliban are so great, then treat your daughter the same way Taliban are treating women. 

Edited July 2 by rkazmi33

[Haji 2003]

7 hours ago, rkazmi33 said:

Their hopes and dreams shattered, they are faced with forced early marriages, and all kinds of abuses but all we care about is poppy production.

Well, there are two ways of framing this.

You have focused on the losses to Afghan women.

Another way of looking at it is the massive gain men and women around the world will make as a result of a reduced supply of heroin. Most obviously, there are way more women in Pakistan and Iran who'll suffer much less due to this.

 

[rkazmi33]

3 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

Well, there are two ways of framing this.

You have focused on the losses to Afghan women.

Another way of looking at it is the massive gain men and women around the world will make as a result of a reduced supply of heroin. Most obviously, there are way more women in Pakistan and Iran who'll suffer much less due to this.

 

Total number of heroin addicts in Iran and Pakistan combined is around 2.5 million. Since 2021 Taliban takeover, there hasn't been any improvement in the lives of irani and Pakistani women. In Iran, protests happened just last year which were mostly women. This proves that Iranian women's lives didn't improve. And Pakistani women also haven't seen any improvement in their lives. 2.5 million vs 20 million afghani women. The number of afghani women suffering is 7 times more. 

Edited July 3 by rkazmi33

[Haji 2003]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:31 AM, rkazmi33 said:

In Iran, protests happened just last year which were mostly women. This proves that Iranian women's lives didn't improve.

Poppy production has only just fallen, and there is enough opium in the supply chain not to cause problems at the consumer end for the time being.

Remember that it's not just neighbouring countries, but also further afield etc. who are affected. Also, the removal of poppy production means that the men involved in Afghan agriculture can now resume more halal activities.

[rkazmi33]

45 minutes ago, Haji 2003 said:

 

Remember that it's not just neighbouring countries, but also further afield etc. who are affected. Also, the removal of poppy production means that the men involved in Afghan agriculture can now resume more halal activities.

 

An educated woman doesn't just benefit herself, she benefits her whole family. Educated women can improve country's economy, they can raise better children benefitting future generations. They can do innovations and end the overall oppression of women. I really don't understand why people hate drug addicts so much. In a culture, where victims of abuse don't get sympathy, drug addicts' wives get moral support and sympathy from people. They can get divorce whenever they want. Honestly, drug addicts suffer more than their family members. Their wives just get become entitled due to people's support and create unnecessary drama.

Edited July 3 by rkazmi33

[notme]

In the real world, things are rarely black and white.  

[kadhim]

20 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

Poppy production in Helmand

So a roughly 25 percent collapse even in terms of cultivated land area over a three year period. That’s to say nothing of the reduction in income for the farmers, which is dramatic. Wheat doesn’t bring remotely as much profit per hectare. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65787391.amp

This is also likely to just be substituted with Chinese-made synthetic fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. 

[Haji 2003]

Having a narco-state is not a sustainable solution to developing women's rights or economic development.

Worth noting also that Afghanistan has had very high levels of opium addiction itself.

While not everyone who comes into contact with the drugs becomes addicted to them, they certainly become corrupted by them. And that's not just in a moralistic way, the corruption makes halal sources of income seem a waste of time.

The last discussion @kadhim and I had was about tobacco sales by First Nations in Canada, so looking at the points you make here, at least you are consistent.

 

Speaking of the First Nations I think it's worth observing at this point the following which some may regard as a non-sequitur, but which I think helps develop a theme. The following is an observation by the United States National Bureau of Economic Research, which concludes the following about casinos on Native American lands:

Quote

Casinos do, however, come at some cost. Four years after a casino opens, bankruptcy rates, violent crime, and auto thefts and larceny are up 10 percent in counties with a casino.

https://www.nber.org/papers/w9198

My takeaway is this.

If you want to destroy impoverished people, give them an economic lifeline which will eventually kill them either physically or morally.

[kadhim]

5 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

Having a narco-state is not a sustainable solution to developing women's rights or economic development.

Worth noting also that Afghanistan has had very high levels of opium addiction itself.

While not everyone who comes into contact with the drugs becomes addicted to them, they certainly become corrupted by them. And that's not just in a moralistic way, the corruption makes halal sources of income seem a waste of time.

The last discussion @kadhim and I had was about tobacco sales by First Nations in Canada, so looking at the points you make here, at least you are consistent.

 

Speaking of the First Nations I think it's worth observing at this point the following which some may regard as a non-sequitur, but which I think helps develop a theme. The following is an observation by the United States National Bureau of Economic Research, which concludes the following about casinos on Native American lands:

https://www.nber.org/papers/w9198

My takeaway is this.

If you want to destroy impoverished people, give them an economic lifeline which will eventually kill them either physically or morally.

Cutting opium/heroin production sounds like a great goal.

However, abruptly banning production by dictat and destroying the crops without any sort of mechanism in place to subsidize the farmers or otherwise support them in transitioning into an equally lucrative alternative is just a recklessly stupid way to go about it. And a predictable failure — the Taliban did the same thing in its last incarnation. 

One would think a reader of — Financial Times, is it? — would be aware of such basics. But clearly some people are quite creative at “forgetting” things they know when it suits the moment. 

Edited July 4 by kadhim

[Ashvazdanghe]

18 hours ago, rkazmi33 said:

In Iran, protests happened just last year which were mostly women. This proves that Iranian women's lives didn't improve

Salam I don't know about other countries but Iran it has been just anti Iran propganda by MSM which majority of rebels have been men  in opposition to MSM propganda which just has focused on rebeling of women also  so called three women leader of them between Iranian opposition outside of Iran have been a fraud & two another have been  puppets of CIA from low level actresses of hollywood. which one one of them is apo star & Nazanin Boniadi has been a member of scientology  cult which her biggest achievment in her life has been cleaning toilets of scientology church with her toothbrush.

[Haji 2003]

 

[Haji 2003]

White Flight from Asian Immigration: Evidence from California Public Schools

Quote

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the US but we know little about how Asian immigration has affected cities, neighborhoods and schools. This paper studies white flight from Asian arrivals in high-socioeconomic-status Californian school districts from 2000-2016 using initial settlement patterns and national immigrant flows to instrument for entry. We find that, as Asian students arrive, white student enrollment declines in higher-income suburbs. These patterns cannot be fully explained by racial animus, housing prices, or correlations with Black/Hispanic arrivals. Parental fears of academic competition may play a role.

https://www.nber.org/papers/w31434

I have made some text bold.

[Haji 2003]

US calling for a return to the democratically elected government

 

[Haji 2003]

Hospitals turfing out patients who don't need medical care

Quote

This story began December 1 at 5 p.m. with a phone call to our newsroom from a horrified University Hospital employee. The employee claimed security had just wheeled an elderly woman all the way out to the corner of Hancock and Ali, just off hospital property, dumped the woman out of the wheelchair on the sidewalk and left.

https://www.wave3.com/2023/06/29/its-like-im-worthless-troubleshooters-investigate-patient-dumping-allegations/?outputType=amp

[Haji 2003]

After industry de-regulation in 2018

Quote

Americans have bet $245bn on sporting events since restrictions were loosened in 2018. But many fear a surge in gambling addiction is coming

https://www.ft.com/content/2e1a235a-8a46-47f3-b040-5ca21a04ebf4

[Haji 2003]

UAE hires a PR firm for the COP28 summit

The FT reports:

Quote

The contract also said the consultancy “could also activate or mobilise our connections inside the ‘US Jewish Establishment’ to help support the campaign’s overall objectives”, as well as using its influence to set up meetings with key members of the US Congress and the administration of US president Joe Biden.

I think the first PR job that PR firm will need to do is explain the above.

https://www.ft.com/content/6c207836-a26c-4960-888c-bea2890a2835