[إيليا]

أهلين بنات وشباب وكباب بعد كيفكم؟
انا عندي مواضيع writing حقت الجامعة و انا مستعد اعطيكم اياها
و اذا كمان عندكم موضوع او بحث ما لقيتوه هنا


الله يعينكم وتبحثوا في النت وتجيبوه هنا ؛؛:1 (21):

[إيليا]

Lung Cancer.

There are two kinds of cancer that can affect the lungs. Non-small cell cancer and small cell cancer. They are identified by how they look under a microscope, and are distinguishable by how they grow and spread. Treatment programs differ, depending on which cancer a person has. First, Non-small cell lung cancer is more common than small cell cancer, and grows and spreads more slowly. This cancer is divided into three types. They are named after the cells affected squamous cell carcinoma, Aden carcinoma and large cell carcinoma. Second, Small cell lung cancer, also sometimes referred to as oat cell cancer, is less common than non-small cell cancer. It will often spread to other parts of the body, creating secondary tumors. The causes for lung cancer have been identified through research. Most of them involve the use of tobacco and cigarette. Cigarette smoke contains many carcinogens, as well as a whole host of other toxins. The smoke which is breathed into the lungs damages the cells, and over time, those cells can become cancerous. The factors which appear to influence whether a person will develop lung cancer are, age of the person when he/she started to smoke, how long the person has smoked, number of cigarettes smoked per day, how deeply the smoke is inhaled. Finally, quitting smoking will greatly reduce the chance of a person getting lung cancer

[إيليا]

bungee jump

The feeling of standing on that platform, so close to the ground you can see every detail, yet high enough for the horizon to be many miles away. There's a rope tied to your feet and your head knows that to jump off is madness, your heart tells you to go for it.
Summon up enough courage and jump, drop like a stone and your fall will gradually be slowed by the cord until finally you stop falling down, the bungee recoils and you start to 'fall' upwards! Bounce a couple of times and come to rest, the crane lowers you to the ground having had the thrill of your life, and ready to do it all again.
Bungee jumping is probably the easiest of all adrenaline sports to get started with, there is virtually no training required, just turn up at a site and get going. There are many traveling bungee experiences, but some of the best can be static cranes because they are often higher. Remember - the higher the crane, the longer you fall, the bigger the thrill.
Training normally only consists of an explanation of the procedure; you will be weighed, and the length of the bungee cord adjusted appropriately. A trained operator will attach the padded ankle straps, making sure they fastened correctly, you then step into the crane, accompanied by the operator, and are hoisted up and up. When the crane stops you turn to face outwards and quite simply just jump off.
Some sites have the facility to jump over, and with care, into water. You will drop further than normal, past the normal safety limit for jumping over dry land, past ground level where the crane is standing and down towards the surface of the water. If the cord length has been judged accurately you should enter the water head first, maybe down to your waist, before being thrown back into the air, dripping wet, as the elastic recoils.
Travel the world and jump from more extreme places.
Try Goliath, the highest bungee jump in Canada, where you can fall 200 feet from a huge limestone rock that surrounds a deep, blue lagoon. Or Costa Rica, where jumps are possible from a bridge rising 265 feet above tropical forest. Or even jump from the bridge spanning Victoria Falls in Africa.

[إيليا]

A Place to Visit.

A tourist to Saudi Arabia should not miss a visit to Makkah. When you visit Makkah perhaps the first thing that you notice is the hotels and buildings that surround the Holy Mosque. A short walk from your hotel can take you to many small shops that are overflowing with clothes and materials. Also, you can enjoy eating food at the restaurants that are full of delicious foreign smell of fresh exotic food.
After enjoying these sights, visitors can spend the rest of the day performing Omrah. When you enter the Holy Mosque, you can actually hear the people that surround you pray. Not to mention, the amount of foreign people you see from all over the world that come to pray and perform Hajj or Omrah. As you come further, you can see a big cube covered in black, heavy, expensive satiny fabric that is embroidered with gold verses of the Holy Qura'an. As you walk through the crowd, you can see the huge footsteps of the Prophet Ibrahim. When you get tired from walking, there is a lot of refreshing, cool, pure water from all different areas in the Holy Mosque. This fresh water is called Zamzam. When you are in the Holy Mosque, you should not miss the scene of the dark blue sky fill with millions of bright shining stars among it. You can almost smell and feel the fragrance of the fresh air running through you. The beautiful scenery is just unforgettable. That is why Makkah is the number one tourist attraction in Saudi Arabia

[إيليا]

Air Pollution.

Air pollution is made up of many kinds of gases, droplets and particles that reduce the quality of the air. Air can be polluted in both the city and the country. In the city, cars, buses and airplanes may cause air pollution. In the country, trucks and cars driving on dirt or gravel roads, rock quarries and smoke from wood and crop fires may cause air pollution. Air pollution can cause some symptoms for example; irritate the eyes, throat and lungs, burning eyes, cough and chest tightness. Different people can react very differently to air pollution. Some people may notice chest tightness or cough, while others might not notice any effects. Because exercise requires faster, deeper breathing, it may increase the symptoms. People with heart disease or with lung disease, such as asthma, may be very sensitive to air pollution exposure, and may notice symptoms when others do not. Air pollution is bad for your health. Fortunately for most healthy people, the symptoms of air pollution exposure usually go away if the air quality improves. However, some people are more sensitive to the effects of air pollution than others. Children probably feel the effects of lower levels of pollution than adults. They also experience more illness, such as bronchitis and earaches, in areas of high pollution than in areas with lower pollution. People with heart or lung disease also react more severely to polluted air. Their condition may come to the point that they must limit their activities. To protect yourself and your family from the effects of air pollution you must follow these following steps. First, stay in your house as much as you can during days when pollution level is high. Second, if you have to go outside, try to limit your outside activities to the early morning or after sunset. This is important in high ozone conditions because sunshine increases ozone levels. Third, don't exercise outside when air quality is unhealthy. The faster you breathe the more pollution you take into your lungs. In conclusion, people must know about what's going on in this world. If we keep on polluting the air, our children might not breathe normally. Life on earth might not be possible. Earth will be just like any other planet. Human can't live without air, without healthy clean air there will be no life on earth. Save the planet, save the environment, but mostly save the future

[إيليا]

How to Be a Good Student?

Knowledge is the most powerful gift God has ever given to mankind. That is why there are schools and universities all over the world so that they could educate people. Any student must attempt strenuously in order to reach his/her goal. When I was in high school, I used to get low grades and skip classes. After applying the following tips I realized that I can reach any goal I set my eyes on by being a good student. First, do not procrastinate. If you put off your assignments until the night before they are due, it makes it harder and more stressful to complete it. Believe me, you will feel much better if you did your assignments on time. Second, it is important to attend class as much as possible. It is hard to know what the teacher expects from you on certain assignments if you are not present when they teacher gives out directions. Many students skip classes for one reason or another. There are reasons why you should attend all your classes: sitting in the classroom and listening to the lectures will help you absorb the materials. Plus, you can have a direct impact on your grade simply by attending. Third, you should be spending at least three hours studying. And for some classes, you’ll find you need a lot more time than that. Study early and often. Try to make studying a habit you can enjoy doing anytime. Know how you can study. Some people need complete silence to concentrate while others like a little noise. Find what works for you and stick with it. Study with friends to gain support, but do not turn it into a party. A study buddy can be a great tool, as long as you actually get some studying accomplished. Make sure work is done before doing anything. Studying is critical to learning, which is critical to better grades, so do the work before heading out to have fun. Forth, do all of your homework right after school. This is a great tip that I didn't learn until the last few years of high school. When I found this out, I was so excited to do this that I did it everyday and life was so much easier. After your homework, you can do anything you want. Finally, there is another tip. Remember to think of your teachers as your friend not your enemy. I hope that by following these tips will help you to be a good student and accomplish your aims and goals.

[إيليا]

Cosmetic Operations in the Arab World.

Cosmetic operations in the Arab world are not restricted to women anymore. In fact, men entered this field and became a noticed number, increasing day after day. People in the Arab world thought that cosmetics operations are against their religion. Now people approached this field, and cosmetic centers began to spread all over the Arab countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.

After the majority of cosmetics seekers use to approach Harley street in London or Beverly Hills in Los Angeles California, or Paris, seeking the best results and trying to protect their privacy for this sensitive subject. They began now to approach clinics and hospitals that spread all over the Arab countries without fear or hesitation or shyness. In addition to high cost they used to pay, and spending most of their vacations in treatment. The Author of "Everything Women Should Know about Cosmetic Surgery" Dr. Jan Adams said "Although many patients think of plastic surgeries as a quick and permanent fix, it's likely that few understand its risks and frequently temporary results."

According to the statistics of the International Society of Cosmetics Doctors in 2001, which had been counted from about 850 members all around 30 countries, the U.S ranked first according to total numbers of cosmetics operations performed there for 21%, followed by Brazil 14%, then Mexico 8%. As for the Arab countries that participated in this statistics, Jordan came in the 22nd place with 0.47%, Egypt 24th for 0.33%, and last U.A.E 26th for 0.27%.

Cosmetic operations include two important types: the first are the corrective operations and the other one are operations done for good look such as lipo suction and others. The first cosmetic operation in the Arab world had been done in Libya, as a face lifting at the 70's. From where cosmetics operations find large success and great admiration in Libya during the last three years. Currently there are about 200 abdomen make up done in Libya every year for both men and women. More people from Arab countries are approaching Libya seeking this kind of operation for less money, which represent about 5-15% of the cost of similar operation in Europe.

Some Saudis think that cosmetics operations cope to the scientific, social, cultural and civil progress in any society, which leaded to substantial progress in this field especially during the last 15 years, while on the other side numbers of Saudi surgeons who obtained postgraduate study certificates in the field of cosmetics operation are increasing. The cost of cosmetics operations in the Kingdom depends on the type of the operation's difficulty and the experience of the performing surgeon. However, there are those kinds of cosmetics operations that deal with accidents results, burns and scratches, and the costs of such operations are moderate and affordable to all. As for the cosmetics operations that are aimed to beauty and appearance, they're more costly, including lipo suction to improve the body. In addition to stable the stomach and its result of weight increase and frequent pregnancies for women, and reform to breast enlargement for men, that cause them great embarrassment, so they're forced to go to these cosmetics operations.

On of the main cosmetics operations that both men and women approach so many cases are nose reform operations. Generally, the cost is between 8000-20,000 riyals. As for face tailor it can cost up to 12,000 riyals and will hold till more than 10 years. The most interesting in Saudi cases is that a large numbers of Saudi women go to the clinics secretly and they request their noses to be reformed to be like their star idol. Jeddah cosmetics hospitals receive more than 120 women weekly so they can be like their idol. In the U.A.E cosmetics operations also wide spread especially during the last five years, and more people are approaching cosmetic centers in Dubai. The most interesting is that men are approaching these kinds of operations like hair implanting, removing excess fat and nose operations. That represents the majority of cosmetics operations and reached about 60%.

Breast operations witnessed great progress in Egypt, which is the most famous operation on the country, and total number of operations might reach till 25,000 each year. According to Sayidaty magazine issue 8937, 35% of Egyptian women are between 17 and 50 years old, are considered obese, and 45% are under the excess weight.

Nose and ear operations fever shifted to Qatar, where men and women are crowding in the cosmetics centers, which assured women obsession on these operations weather they're in the face, chest or abdomen. Nose operations are witnessing great attraction from both men and women. The costs of such operations are between 8,000-20,000 SR, depending on length and difficulty of the operation and the surgeon's reputation


As for Lebanon it is known that around 10,000 operations are done annually in this field, 30% of which aren't for Lebanese, and most of them are from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. The first specialized hospital in cosmetics affairs had been established in 1999, and it receive about 140 operations every month, which means more than 1680 operations annually, 40% of which are for visitors who come from outside Lebanon and most of them are from the Gulf. It is noticed that total number of males who approach such kinds of operations are increasing while they represent about 30% of people who seek to have operations and most of them are doing nose operations.

Despite the large numbers of operations, cosmetics operations aren't yet considered a phenomenon against traditions, especially if we know that in the USA total number of women who performed operations reached more than 23 million last year. This issue isn't simple, as cosmetics operations veil so many risks, the most important which are the elements used in it, especially those used to enlarge lips or breasts, that are done through silicon or through water and salt.

Silicon is known for its toxic, especially its relation to breast cancer, as reports had been published in New York Times last month, which leaded to failure to some of companies that deals with this stuff. During 1998 Daewoo chemicals, the largest silicon manufacturer paid about 3.2 billion dollars to a large number of people who had suffered from their product. "Another competitive inhibitor is botox. We recognize that one way to cause wrinkles on the skin is muscle contraction and what botox does is essentially smooth out those wrinkles by paralyzing the muscles. "Said Dr. Adams

To sum up, people now are not satisfied with what God has given them. Instead of thanking Him, they torture themselves and pay fortune just to look beautiful, not knowing that beauty is the confidence that comes from the heart and soul not just a phony figure

[إيليا]

How to Repair a Broken Heart?

If you are suffering from a broken heart, do not worry, you are not the only one. A lot of people fall into relationships that are not suitable for them. The end of a relationship means the beginning of a period of healing for both people. If the break up was not mutual the person who ended things may be dealing with guilt and feelings that made a mistake. The person being broken up with will definitely have to adjust to being rejected and to live a life without their lover. How do you get through those first few weeks? Here are a few things everybody must do in the early days of a break up to let the healing begin.
First, start a journal. This will help you sort out your thoughts; feelings and emotions like writing a list of all the things that bugged you about him/her, focus on all the things about your past lover that drove you crazy. Think about these things often and replay them in your mind over and over. Then write it down and post it by your mirror. It will make you feel better to remember that your past lover was not perfect and that there are things you won’t really miss. Or talk out your feelings with close friends. Get everything out so that you won’t hold it inside. Your friends may get sick of hearing you talk about the situation but you need to let out all your feelings and thoughts. Cry if you want to. It’s alright to cry over a loss. Don’t hold back, let the tears roll. Their purpose is to cleanse you of any pain.
Second, distract yourself by doing something you've never done before every day. This could mean walking the neighbor's dog or playing Scrabble with your mom. You can learn sign language or learn a card trick and then impress your friends with your new magic skills. Plus, you can volunteer for your favorite cause. There are bigger things out there than anyone. If you can't then go on an adventure by yourself: see a movie, or to the beach. It's good to remember how to hang out just with yourself. Go to the zoo. The monkeys might remind you of him/her which in the end helps you to recognize why it's best you're not still a couple.
Third, move the furniture around in your room. Redecorate your space. You might just need a fresh look on things to cheer you up like planting some flowers in the yard, or in a pot for your windowsill. Change your look by dying your hair a funky temporary color like purple.
Forth, let go of mementos. Put away or give away anything and everything that reminds you of the relationship. Hide them out of sight so they will be out of mind until you are able to remember the relationship without longing for it to still be going strong or a better idea Have a garage sale and sell all of the presents he/she gave you during your relationship.
Finally, mending a broken heart is not easy but it can be done. Just stick to the notes above and before you know it you’ll be just fine and even better than you were in a relationship. Good luck!

[إيليا]

Causes and Effects of Stress in Students.

Stress is an enormous problem for students. Students can not function properly because of stress. Stress can effect their studies, social life and even their life itself. In addition, stress can lead to nervousness and mental break down. So, when a student is under stress, he/she must deal with it and find a solution for their problem. In the following lines, I will analyze the causes and effects of stress in students.

On of the main causes of stress is dead line pressure that is to hand in assignments and projects for many courses in a certain time. This causes confusion for the students to remember what to hand in at what time. Another cause of stress is parent's expectation for their son/daughter to be the best in class. The student will do anything to be accepted in the same college as his /her parents were, even in the same major just to satisfy their parents. In addition, when the student is accepted in college, he/she will try anything to be the best. This causes competition between the students. Not to mention the discouragement from doctors or teachers to devastate the students when they shout at them.

As a result of these causes, students may start felling overwhelmed because they have too much to do in little time, they can not possibly do everything they feel they must to. They may feel angry, unfairly judged and lack of patience with everything. They may feel that they don't have enough time to have fun or to be with their family or friends. They may cry and get upset about small things, even they worry about everything. There different symptoms of stress. It includes headaches; stomach aches; chest pains, diarrhea, sweating, sleeplessness, increased heart rate and it may lead to alcohol and drug addiction.

To prevent stress, avoid cigarette. Smoking can cause illness and death; students tend to smoke more when under stress. Exercise regularly helps students to look and feel better and provides health benefits. Get plenty of rest to help students to maintain health and deal better with their problems. Do not drink too much caffeine, because it speeds up the body and can exaggerate the effects of stress. Finally, learn to manage stress and to keep a perspective on things that are important and those are not.

[إيليا]

Shocking news: UFO in Jazan!!!!


On June 3rd, 2003. There were an alien landing marks in Jazan. This issue brought up a lot of questions weather it was true or not. On the other hand, many eye witnesses saw it and they confirmed it looked like a UFO. Security resources said it this object might be a spy airplane that went through Saudi Arabia. A lot Amoud Valley people noticed the landing of this awkward object at 9:00 AM on Monday morning, which it caused a collective panicking to the people and the animals of the valley who saw everything.

Abdul Rahman Al-Ousaimi, the mayor of the valley talked to one of the newspaper reporters while he was on his way to check on scene. The mayor heard from the people about this weird event that scared them. He added that the size of the UFO was not that big, but it shape and form was frightened. Al-Watan newspaper founded out from its resources that a specialized unit went to check the scene and investigate the people.

One of the local newspapers went to check the scene of the landing of this object, and met few of the people to get more information about this matter. Salman Al-Raithy (one of the witnesses) said that he actually saw this weird object flying on a low altitude. Then, it landed on the ground, and it stayed nearly half an hour, then it flew again. An old woman suffered from inflexibility in her feet from how much she was afraid after she saw that flying object. She said that she couldn't move, and stayed next to the object. She described it as a circular flying object, and it was on the size of an eagle.

Since this bizarre event, the Amoud Valley witnessed a lot of weird events. One of it was the appearance of sulfuric poisonous water in one of the people's well. This caused a lot of curious people (even from the Gulf countries) to demand from the Farming Ministry for tests on the well for answers. However, the ministry had to fill up the well after it was confirmed that it contained a poisonous elements.

The question is, is there any connection between the mysterious death of animals and the appearance of this flying object in the area? Is it possible that Jazan might be a secret base for aliens? Could it be that these sudden deaths was caused by exposing to radiation or virus from outside the solar system? How come Jazan area? Will Saudi Arabia witness more future activity of UFO's?

[إيليا]

Aggression.

The source of aggression within humans is a long summative list, but before trying to understand its source one must apply a working definition of aggression. Aggression in Oxford dictionary means hostile behavior that launches attacks and initiates unprovoked hostilities. Aggression first started in the behavior of animals, and it transferred to human beings. Aggression is a critical part of animal existence, which is an inherent driving force to humans. In this essay, I will analyze the major sources of aggression in humans, expose its effects and provide some solution.

The first cause of aggression is the environmental factors. For example, parental pressure for their child to seek perfection in his/her life can cause aggression. In addition, children can be aggressive by being exposed to negative media like action movies or violent video game. Also, another main cause of aggression is stress in the social life. For example, a person is exposed to pressure at work can be aggressive, or a student who is filled with home works, assignments and studying for exams can feel the pressure and might lead to aggression.

To sum up, the causes of aggression are very awful and sad. However, the effects are even more tragic, hideous and horrible.

Aggression can effect in more than one way. First, youth can be more violent, and harm themselves and the people around them. Second, it can affect their grades by getting distracted from studying. And they might turn into criminals. In addition, it can develop psychological problems, and individuals might become incompetent, alienated and isolated. And it could lead to break up a marriage and divorce. That has a negative effect on children.

So what can we do to reduce aggression? Well, the best answer is to try hard to control anger and to change life style. However, the media should also stop exposing visual violence. Last but not least, people must start supporting themselves and the unfortunate people or groups

[إيليا]

The Causes and Effects of Divorce

From the past to present, people all over the world have determined to live together, which is called “get marriage” in another word, so that they depend on for living each other. Nevertheless, some couples are unable to maintain their relationship; therefore they choose divorce, which is one of the solutions to cope with problems between husband and wife. Furthermore, most people think carefully before they get marriage. However, the divorce rates trend to continually increase nowadays, thus it might be argued that divorces can be taken place easier than the past. There are three main causes of divorce: changing woman’s roles, stress in modern living and lack of communication, which are highlighted below.
The first significant cause of recent rise in the rates of divorce is that women completely change in roles. In the past, men have to earn whole money to afford the expense of family, whereas woman only do housework, hence women have no money leading to depend on husbands’ money. Because of these situations, it is too difficult for most women to separate from their husbands. Nonetheless, these situations entirely change nowadays. The equality between men and women in roles are very clear at the moment, thus women can work outside to earn money, while men share the household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing as well as caring for children. It can be clearly seen that women are independent from money as they can earn money by themselves to support their living cost. Accordingly, the divorce rates recently rise.
Another cause to confirm the recent increase in divorce rates is stress in modern living. Many people, who live in globalization, have considerable pressures to earn money. It can be obviously seen that the stress has occurred since they are children. For instance, in Thailand, students generally want to go to famous school so that they take advantage to go to well-known universities. Studying in celebrated universities mostly causes having a good opportunity to find a job or earn a lot of money. This circumstance not only happens in Thailand, but also occurs in many countries. Some people are laid off from their companies; consequently the stress occurs in their family, which leads to divorce. Some families can earn money, but inadequate for covering their expenses, therefore it is easy to think about divorce. Nevertheless, the rates of unemployment trend to continually increase as a result the divorce rates can also rise. It is no doubt that the stress in modern living may lead to recently increasing divorce rates.
The final cause of recently increasing divorce is lack of communication. Owing to financial status in each family, many people are fairly busy. For this reason, they have inadequate time to talk to the problems with their partners, which produces the likelihood of divorce. Some couples are often quiet when they have problems each other, as a consequence little problems can be expanded to probably become huge problems, resulting in divorce. It is quite clear that the more communications are used, the more divorce rates are reduced.
Although, these three cause of the recent rise in divorce rates are expressed above, there are also two effects of the recent increase of divorce rates: negative effects and positive effects
Firstly, the effects of recent enlargement in divorce rates are negative effects. Most couples normally have children when they get marriage. Accordingly, divorces can directly effect on children. Children living in single parent families are more probably to get pregnant as teenagers, drop out of high school, abuse drugs and have aggressively emotional and behavioral problems, which lead to social problems. Some children decide to go out of their home when their parents separate each other, and subsequently they become homeless children. They do not have good opportunities to find a job due to shortage of education. Consequently, crime may likely be the end result. These are significantly negative effects of recent expansion in divorce rates.
Secondly, on the other hand, another effects of rise in divorce rates are positive effects. People, who divorce by consent from their partners, want to have better quality of life, since they are unhappy with their spouses. Accordingly, they can work efficiently, which results from fine mental condition. They not only have more free time to do many things, but also free from their spouses’ murmurs. In addition, divorces also get rid of the violence of quarrel between husband and wife, hence everybody in family get better in physical and mental healthy, particularly for children. These are the advantageous effects of increasing divorce rates.
In conclusion, a family is one of the important parts of society, thus many people had better aware of the significance of relationship in family. At the moment, divorce have become the substantial problem because of changing women’s roles, stress in modern living and lack of communication. Nevertheless, there are also the two different ways in effects, which are negative and positive effects. Some couples, which have no children, divorce by consent, therefore divorce should be good solution for couples to deal with this problem. On the other hand, some couples having children in their family should think deliberatively before they end their marriage in divorce; otherwise innocent children probably become victims for this situation. Although people trend to think carefully before they get marriage, the rates of divorce continuously rise nowadays.

[إيليا]

Schools in Kenya.

As one of the many different developing countries in Eastern Africa, Kenya is unique in its own way. With its mangrove swamps, thick forests, crystal lakes, towering mountains, and vast deserts; this is all wrapped up in a country the size of Texas. It attracts millions of visitors in seek for an African Safari which is much appreciated by the government as a source of foreign capitol for this poor region. In this essay I will demonstrate the description of schools in both Kibera and Nairobi and comparison between public and private schools and the facilities in Kenya.

First, Kibera is the largest slum in all Africa. Kibera has anywhere from 500,000 to 800,000 crowded people, smaller than Manhattan’s Central Park. Mud-walled, corrugated iron-roofed settlements. There are 76 private elementary and high schools, enrolling more than 12,000 students. The schools are typically run by local entrepreneurs, a third of who are women who have seen the possibility of making a living from running a school. Again, many of the schools offered free places to the poorest, including orphans.

Second, in the slums of Nairobi, private schools are made from the same materials as every other building: corrugated iron sheets or mud walls, with windows and doors cut out to allow light to enter. Floors are usually mud, roofs sometimes thatched. Children will not be in uniform and will usually be sitting on homemade wooden benches. In the dry season, the wind will blow dust through the cracks in the walls; in the rainy season, the playground will become a pond, and the classroom floors mud baths.






Third, comparison between public school and private school. In Kenya, where free elementary education had just been introduced to much acclaim. How would this affect private schools for the poor, should they exist? In Kenya, where the raw test scores showed students in private and public schools performing at similar levels, the fact that private schools served a far more disadvantaged population resulted in a gap of 0.1 standard in English and 0.2 standard in math The adjusted differences between the performance of public and private sectors in each setting were highly statistically significant.

In conclusion,though elite private schools do exist in impoverished regions of the world, private schools are not only for the privileged classes. From a wide range of settings to the urban periphery areas, private education is serving huge numbers of children. Indeed, in those areas where we were able to adequately compare public and private provision, a large majority of schoolchildren are in private school, a significant number of them in unrecognized schools and not on the state’s radar at all. Above all, the evidence should inspire those who are working for school choice in the world: stories of parents overcoming all the odds to ensure the best for the children in Kenya, stories of education entrepreneurs’ creating schools out of nothing, in the middle of nowhere. The question still remains, why can not we help them by drawing a smile into their innocent faces, and give them hope and future?

[إيليا]

Was Cosmetic Surgery Worth the Risk?

In today's society the picture of beauty is a rail thin super model with the body of a goddess posted on billboards all around the world. Children are brought up playing with Barbie dolls with the body measurements of would be 39, 18, 38. Because of these pictures and other figures of beauties projected all over, a person is convinced to believe that to be beautiful and happy, one must look like these images. To most, the easiest way to achieve this is my having cosmetic surgery performed. With the change of times, also has come the advancement of medical procedures, yet how safe can a person be who is having cosmetic surgery performed on their body. No matter how good the technological advancements, there is always the risk of not only the surgery resulting in unwanted outcomes but in some cases death.
Society today has brain washed not only today's women, but also the men to believe that in order for a person to look beautiful they must look like the images seen on television, in movies and on the cover of magazines. These images portray grotesquely thin women and muscular men with the infamous six-pack abs. The Hollywood figures that are so famous for their looks and bodies also encourage the belief that thin is beautiful. These images are plastered all over billboards, television show and commercials and magazine advertisements. With all these visions of beauty seen everywhere in a person's every day life, a person feels compelled to look just like those images.
Busy lifestyles of many people keep most of exercising daily in order to receive the fit and trim bodies to look beautiful. This then leads many to resort to cosmetic surgery. This however, can be a dangerous choice. Many fatalities have been reported as a result of surgical procedures. One report stated that over an 18-month period, 69 fatal outcomes of surgery were reported. (Foreman, 2) Yet, many who are looking into having a surgical procedure performed do not take this risk into account.
Although the technological advancements of today may seem to have improved the results of cosmetic surgery today, more complications can also arise from improper training of the surgeon. (Hilton) Many "discount" price plastic surgeons that claim to offer professional service for a low price have begun to show up all over the country. Most of these doctors not even properly trained to perform such drastic cosmetic surgeries. A doctor can attend a seminar at a hotel and in a few hours, learn how to perform liposuction. (Davis)
With the increase of untrained surgeons performing these procedures, the risk of death and improper results also increases greatly. Low-income people that are attracted to the visions of beauty on the magazines are caught in the lure of these "fake" surgeons. These doctors promise perfect results at half the price of experienced surgeons. Some of these doctors may even produce fake credentials, such as fake PhDs, for customers to view. Customers see these and without doing any research on the doctor, pay the money for the surgery to be performed. Any doctor can perform procedures such as liposuction; even dentists have been doing it. (Davis) Many fatalities of cosmetic surgeries in recent years have been as a result of unlicensed doctors performing highly technical surgeries. "It's especially risky if it's done in a doctor's office, if the doctor is not properly trained and certified..." (Foreman, 1)
A current issue in Miami, Florida involves a plastic surgery "doctor" named Reinaldo Silvestre who is believed to have fled the country as a result of the charges of aggravated battery and practicing medicine without a license. Silvestre, practicing out of a small office, is accused of using a kitchen-type spatula to force female breast implants in to a male bodybuilder's chest. In two other surgeries, Silvestre performed breast augmentation on two females that resulted in the deformation of both women's chests.
Most of these doctors also perform their surgeries in unsanitary conditions such as office-based procedures. As a result of this, infections can occur after the surgery has been performed. Mycobacterium can cause skin or wound infection to the patient after the surgery. (Hilton) Since many doctors performing cosmetic surgery are not all licensed by the American Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and mandatory testing is not performed on their surgical tools and area, many infections can occur as a result. Dirty tools can cause bacteria to be present in the body after the surgery, resulting in infection and sometimes death. To many doctors, the patient is not a person; they are merely money in the doctors' pocket. (
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons acknowledged in a 1998 press release that there have been five reported deaths of patients who had lipoplasty. (Liposuction, 1) In 1997, a 47-year-old California woman died after a 10-1/2 hour liposuction surgery. An administrative law judge ruled that her plastic surgeon gave her too much tumescent fluid. In a second surgery, a 43-year-old women went in for a "lunchtime lipo" and was dead soon after. An obstetrician-gynecologist who hadn't even completed a two-weekend course had performed her surgery. A third death occurred to a 51-year-old Florida man who died as a result of vavular heart disease due to diet drugs and complications of plastic surgery.
(NOTE: People Magazine- Special Report: A Body to Die for...) Because mandatory reporting of cosmetic procedures is not in existence, the actual number of deaths and unsatisfactory results is unknown. With the increasing number of untrained doctors also performing cosmetic surgery, data reporting may also be inconsistent, as these surgeries are not reported to the Board. 172,000 liposuction surgeries are performed each year by Board-certified plastic surgeons. Yet since unlicensed doctors can perform the operation, the total number could be more than double that. (Davis)
Many cases have been reported of deaths as a result of cosmetic surgical procedures. (Find examples) Yet, many people are still drawn into the lure of looking beautiful. They don't care about the price they have to pay, which could ultimately be their own life. People are only concerned with the fact of being beautiful. Most importantly, society accepts this desire; even producing television shows dedicated to the televising of plastic surgery procedures. The Learning ******* has recently produced a television series aptly titled "A Personal Story" in which people voluntary appear on the show. They are followed by cameras a couple of days before the procedure and then appear again several days or even months later to let the world view the results of the surgery.
However, the series has never shown a surgery that has produced negative results. This fact encourages people to have procedures performed on themselves. If they are never informed of the fact that serious complications can occur, then they will never know to worry about checking out the doctors and procedures before the surgery is performed.
Other factors must also be taken into account when viewing risks of a cosmetic procedure. Smoking for instance can greatly increase the risk of complications for anyone having surgery. (State why... find source) Another complication can occur from the local anesthetic given to the patients while undergoing the surgery. People allergic to the local anesthetic can have very severe reactions to the drug. One example is a person waking up during surgery. This can cause the person to feel every pock and prick performed during the surgery yet the person is not able to speak or move. Therefore, the patient has no way of informing the doctors or nurses that they are not "asleep" for the procedure.
Many people believe that to be happy in life and be beautiful to all that see them, they must have the beautiful bodies of runway super models or the muscles of Mr. America. With the advertisement of products today and the idolization of actors and actresses also comes the repercussions. Not only will older generations begin to have a distorted view of what a person should look like, the new generations of tomorrow will also be more likely to have more problems as a result of low self-esteem and poor body image. We should not only cut back on the use of cosmetic surgery for safety reasons but also because it is destroying the simple beauty of a person being who they are. The American society will change its view of people in the years to come. Generations to come will grow up feeling that they are being judged on not who they are as a person, but how they look. If they don't look like the super model they have come to believe as perfect beauty, then they will not believe in themselves, causing psychological problems.
People considering plastic surgery should be informed of all the risks. They should not be concerned with trying to live up to society's standards and by the price of the operations. They should most be concerned with the real price, their lives.

[إيليا]

My Future.

My life will be very different ten years from now. Even though I cannot predict it, because God is the only one who gives us our destiny and fate, I do not think my life will be the same after ten years, and I may have some predictions which I hope will happen. Firstly, I think that Saudi Arabia's government will change their rules about women's rights, so I hope that I can be the first queen or president of Saudi Arabia. I believe that I will make a difference in this small world that I am in, mostly by making people believe in God and themselves and that they can do anything they want if they set their minds to it. Secondly, I hope I will raise my future family according to Islam and our traditions, and that we will have a big faith in Allah the Almighty, and in God's will. I hope that we will stay together and never be apart from each other. We will support each other, solve our problems, and mostly share our times together, because someday these times will turn into happy memories that we will hopefully end the chapter of our lives with. With God's will, I will try my best and dedicate my life for my future family so we can live happily ever after in God's obedience. Thirdly, after I give birth to my three to five children, hopefully I will still be in shape. If I am not, I guess I will exercise more and eat healthier, so I can still look beautiful to my husband. Last but not least, I hope that all of the Muslim nations will enter paradise through their good deeds, and God will have mercy to all of us. Amen.

[إيليا]

My Worst Job.

The worst job I ever had was being the President of the United States of America for four years. It was hard and difficult for four reasons. Firstly, when I first started this job, everyone wanted to know more about me, so I had a lot of meetings and interviews from the publicity and press in the White House. Not to mention the amount of rumors from the press. Of course none of them were true. Plus, they had no respect for my privacy. Secondly, I was thrilled when I first got this job, but I did not realize that the president could not sleep until he/she makes sure that everyone is safe. Plus, every time I talked on the phone with other presidents or kings, I got a headache, and it was all because of the arguments. I had so many headaches that I even opened a pharmacy store in the White House that was filled with aspirin! Thirdly, I was the first female president of the United States, so I was always worried that someone may assassinate me, because some people thought that women are not good or responsible enough to be a president. Finally, I had to travel at least three times a week across the countries or the states to make sure that my policy runs well. I had so much to do that I could not see my family or my friends. Not to mention the amount of people that I am surrounded with, asking me questions or for my signature. In the end, I had to fire myself, but I did not regret my decision. Even though I missed being at the White House with everyone at my command, I realized that I gained something from this experience, which is that there is no place like home.

[إيليا]

Water

Water is the most important liquid in the world. Without water, there would be no life, at least not the way we know it. This source of life makes up about three quarters of the human body. Water contains various minerals - some good for your health, others less so. Explore the different ingredients of bottled waters. Some 70% of the earth is covered with water. But nearly all is unavailable for human consumption without being processed first. The oceans make up for 97% and the polar ice shields hold another 2%. Only about 1% is soft water from lakes rives and underground sources, but even from that tiny amount an increasing part is unsafe for human consumption. Water is of major importance to all living things; in some organisms, up to 90 percent of their body weight comes from water. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70 percent water, and the lungs are nearly 90 percent water. About 83 percent of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature. Each day humans must replace 2.4 liters of water, some through drinking and the rest taken by the body from the foods eaten. The unique qualities and properties of water are what make it so important and basic to life. The cells in our bodies are full of water. The excellent ability of water to dissolve so many substances allows our cells to use valuable nutrients, minerals, and chemicals in biological processes.
About 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered. But water also exists in the air as water vapor and in the ground as soil moisture and in aquifers. Thanks to the water cycle our planet's water supply is constantly moving from one place to another and from one form to another. Things would get pretty stale without the water cycle! Even though you may only notice water on the Earth's surface, there is much more freshwater stored in the ground than there is in liquid form on the surface. In fact, some of the water you see flowing in rivers comes from seepage of ground water into river beds. Humans are happy this happens because people make use of both kinds of water. In the United States in 2000, we used about 323 billion gallons per day of surface water and about 84.5 billion gallons per day of ground water. Although surface water is used more to supply drinking water and to irrigate crops, ground water is vital in that it not only helps to keep rivers and lakes full, it also provides water for people in places where visible water is scarce, such as in the desert towns of the western United States.
Earth's water is always in movement, and the water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above, and below the surface of the Earth. Since the water cycle is truly a "cycle," there is no beginning or end. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and ice at various places in the water cycle, with these processes happening in the blink of an eye and over millions of years. Although the balance of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, individual water molecules can come and go in a hurry. The water in the apple you ate yesterday may have fallen as rain half-way around the world last year or could have been used 100 million years ago by Dinosaur.


Total water use in the United States for 2000 was determined from estimates of water withdrawals for the eight categories of public supply, domestic, irrigation, livestock, and aquaculture, industrial, mining, and thermoelectric power. Total freshwater and saline-water withdrawals for 2000 were estimated to be 408,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d), or 457,000 thousand acre-feet per year. Freshwater withdrawals were 85 percent of the total, and the remaining 15 percent was saline water. Estimates of withdrawals by source indicate that for 2000, total surface-water withdrawals were 323,000 Mgal/d, or 79 percent of the total withdrawals for all categories of use. About 81 percent of surface water withdrawn was freshwater. Total ground-water withdrawals were 84,600 Mgal/d, of which 99 percent was freshwater. Nearly all (98 percent) saline-water withdrawals were from surface water.

The top row of cylinders represents where America's water came from (source) in 2000, either from surface water or from ground water. You can see most of the water we use (262,000 million gallons per day (Mgal/d)) came from surface-water sources, such as rivers and lakes. We used about 83,400 Mgal/d of ground water (from wells). The pipes leading out of the blue and brown cylinders on the top row show where the water was sent after being withdrawn from a river, well, etc. For example, the blue pipe coming out of the surface-water cylinder and entering the Public supply grey cylinder shows that 27,300 Mgal/d of water was withdrawn from surface-water sources for public-supply uses. Likewise, the brown pipe shows that public-suppliers withdrew another 16,100 Mgal/d of water from ground-water sources. Each green cylinder represents a category of water use. The Industrial cylinder, for instance, shows how much water the United States used, each day, by industries. In 2000, about 18,500 Mgal/d of water was used for industrial purposes, with about 14,900 Mgal/d coming from surface water and about 3,570 Mgal/d coming from ground water. So, now you maybe see how the two "Source" cylinders on the top row show how much water was withdrawn from the environment, and, for each water-use category (the green cylinders), the water arrives via the pipes

[إيليا]

Keep Clicking to Get Fit

Maybe you're looking at your sedentary lifestyle the wrong way.

All of the time in front of a computer, like right now, doesn't have
to work against your fitness regime.

According to a new study, all of the motivation you need is right at
your fingertips.

Web-based intervention programs are just as effective as more
traditional print-based programs in changing the habits of sedentary
adults, a new study published in Monday's issue of the Archives of
Internal Medicine found.

A team of researchers studied 249 healthy, sedentary (less than 90
minutes of physical activity per week) adults. Participants were
divided into three different programs: tailored Internet, standard
Internet and tailored print.

The tailored print and Internet groups had exactly the same features,
including personalized feedback that the standardized group did not
have. The researchers wanted to be sure the tailored groups had
exactly the same features in order to test the method of delivery.

This meant that there were a lot of features that were left out of
the Internet group, such as chat rooms and blogs, because there was
no way to replicate those in a print format.

The standard Internet group, however, accessed what the researchers
felt were the six best physical activity sites available to the
public. Marcus said the American Heart Association' s "Just Move" was
the most popular website.

The other five included Shape Up America, the Mayo Clinic Fitness and
Sports Medicine Center, American Academy of Family Physicians,
American Council on Exercise, and American College of Sports Medicine
Health and Fitness Information.

All three groups kept logs of their activities and filled out monthly
questionnaires.

The tailored Internet group posted the biggest gains in physical
activity after six months, averaging 120 minutes per week. The
tailored print group was not far behind with 112.5 minutes per week,
and the standard Internet group reported 90 minutes.

The difference was not as notable after 12 months, with the groups
reporting 90, 90 and 80 respectively.

The three programs only focused on increasing physical activity, and
did not take eating habits into account. Marcus said many of the
people in the program reported zero activity at the beginning of the
program, making the gains by all groups even more impressive.

The researchers were surprised that the tailored Internet group did
not have stronger gains over the standardized Internet group. They
suspect that the reason may be that while they offered more
personalized feedback to the tailored group, Marcus said it did not
have the "bells and whistles" usually associated with Internet
fitness and weight-loss programs.

This study shows that the Internet is a more cost-effective way to
reach the 55 percent of Americans who do not meet the Surgeon
General's minimum requirement of 150 minutes a week of moderate-
intensity physical exercise.

And since motivation is key, the Internet offers a 24-hour
smorgasbord of options to keep people clicking for more.

If you're the sort of person who occasionally ventures off your couch
to get moving, you may have the smoothest transition into an active
lifestyle. Marcus said for the people in the study who were already
doing something - as long as it is in at least 10 minute intervals -
had the easiest time getting into a regular routine of exercise.

The key to get moving out of your office chair or recliner, Marcus
said, is to take baby steps instead of walking lunges. She
recommended that with low expectations, it is much easier to exceed
those goals.

Starting small is even easier than you think, according to Marcus. If
you're heading out to lunch or dinner, because all this thinking
about activity has you famished, try walking to your dining spot,
carry your lunch to a park, or at least park your car a short walk
away from the restaurant.

[إيليا]

12Rules for Marriage

My sister asked me, as part of her wedding ceremony, to Say Something
About Marriage. I've been married for over two years, so obviously I
have way too much insight on this issue than could reasonably be fit
into the middle of an otherwise fairly compact service, but with some
effort, and some help from my wife Bethany, I got the list down to
twelve potentially useful pieces of advice. These probably aren't the
most useful twelve pieces of advice, but I think they're better than
nothing. As delivered at the wedding last weekend:

1. Your world is getting bigger today, not smaller! More history,
more friends, more possibilities. Marriage is not the end of the
search, it's the beginning of all the searches that are more fun to
do together.

2. Be the guardians of each other's solitudes. Not only do you need
to give each other space, you need to make each other space.

3. No difficult conversations after 10pm. Not only is it harder to
solve problems when you're tired, but at least half the time being
tired is the problem.

4. The Dutch principle of Total Soccer means that any player can
attack when there is an opportunity, and any player can defend when
there is a need. In Total Marriage you only have two players, so this
is even more important. Both of you should be able to do everything
your team needs. You'll have your preferences and strengths and
habits, but if one of you goes down, the other one has to be able to
cover.

5. Wedding rings don't really come with magic powers. You will learn
how to take care of each other one insight at a time. And even when
you're not sure how, show up and you'll think of something.

6. Headphones; separate closets.

7. If you aren't already the world's leading experts on each other,
you will be soon. It is thus your responsibility to be not only the
world's biggest fans of each other's best qualities, but also the
world's staunchest fans of each other's weaknesses and flaws.

8. Get pets. By far the easiest way to remember that you have to feed
your shared life together is if part of it comes and stomps on you
every morning.

9. No ultimatums. Ever.

10. Travel. Surprise and challenge yourselves. It's easier to have a
world together if you have a world to compare it to, and part of the
fun of getting to know each other is putting yourselves, together, in
positions where neither of you know what you're going to do
yourself.

11. Committing yourselves to one another is one of the most mature,
responsible, focused decisions you can make. Balance it out by being
immature, irresponsible and playful together as often as possible.

12. When people, especially your relatives, offer you long lists of
marriage advice, just smile politely and nod until they finally shut
up.

[إيليا]

Women Driving in Saudi Arabia? Why Not?

Readers who do not know Saudi Arabia well couldn't understand or
appreciate the reasoning against women driving. Saudis and residents
who are familiar with the issue cite logistical and practical
problems and concerns. No one claims the ban is Islamic. In
Prophet's (peace be upon him) time, women rode their horses and
camels. In other Islamic countries, women didn't have to compromise
their modest dress code to drive. And they drive as well as men, if
not better and safer.

Many readers fear that men, especially the young, will harass or
chase female drivers.

This is blaming the victim. If men are the guilty party, then let's
ban them.

Some suspect that if we allow women driving, it will make it much
easier for dating. They say it is bad as it is. Girls pretending to
be out for school and social events go for dates! Give them cars and
see what happens!

I say if they decide to date they will find a way. If you don't
trust your kids, boys or girls, don't give them cars. But if you
brought them up well, trust them. Besides, why do we assume girls
would be less observant and conservative than boys? If both are as
much suspect, then nobody should be allowed to drive. What
difference does it make who sits on the driving seat?

Other arguments focus on practicalities, like traffic jams,
accidents, car breakdowns, driving in remote areas, etc.

I say, we should plan and prepare. We could go gradually, allowing
women over thirty to drive first, and then schedule other age
groups. If they get in trouble they could use their cell phones.
Mobile car service operators would help in case of breakdowns. We
must take extra security measures and harsher punishment for
harassers, like publishing offenders' names and photos in the
papers. They did that in Dubai and it worked.

We have to start by educating the public with media campaigns and
encourage preachers, teachers and parents to contribute and
participate. Solutions are there if we just look for them. As the
Americans say, if there is a will, there is a way.

I like the following e-mail message I received from a Western
teacher in a girls school. It very much sums up the problem from
women's perspective. It says:

I am a female teacher here in the Kingdom and I teach Saudi girls
English. I was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of females I have
come in contact with. I listen to their frustrations on a daily
basis of the restrictions (mainly of not being able to drive) placed
on them. The majority are perfectly capable human beings who just
need their country to stop underestimating them and their abilities
and the possibilities are limitless to what they will be able to
offer this society.

Of course I can also understand the hesitation in allowing women to
drive but I would place the fault of this completely on the men of
this country. I could just imagine a car full of teenage Saudi boys
hitting a woman's car just for flirting purposes and this would make
me personally more apprehensive about driving in this country. The
problems are structural and deep-rooted. You can't just lift the
ban, but on the other hand, the longer you wait the harder it will
get to change it.

A suggestion would be to fill the streets with competent, well-
trained and prepared police, and have them clean up the act on the
streets here. Maybe after a few months of over ticketing and tight
restrictions you may have a situation where women will feel
comfortable driving. You will also have to have driving schools for
women and then, maybe, the country can conceptualize driving for
women.

Another thing that needs to change is the attitude some men have
toward women in this country. If the laws are there to make women
feel more comfortable when in public then they are retroactive.

This can only change when men begin to see women as having a more
independent role in society, for example, by driving. But women
can't drive until this attitude is curbed. What comes first, the
chicken or the egg? It's quite the dilemma. All I can say is the
situation needs to change so better to start now and deal with the
problems head on, rather than just watch things become more
difficult to unravel. Bite the bullet, as we would say.

[إيليا]

Why Is It A Good Idea To Study Abroad?

Besides the excitement of travel, one reason to study abroad is that
you will experience new customs, holidays, foods, art, music, and
politics firsthand.
"Obviously, I learned the language and am now fluent, but perhaps
more importantly was how much I learned about cultures, people, and
myself. I learned this from the viewpoint of an active member of the
community and my [host] family, not from the tourist's point of
view," says Andrew, who studied in Poitiers, France.
Another reason for studying abroad is that you'll gain self-
confidence. Christina studied in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 10
million people and a huge change from her hometown of 35,000!
Christina says she learned how to better stand up for herself and
her beliefs and to express herself in another language. What could
make you more confident than that?
Living away from home can also help you adjust in the transition to
college and adulthood. Matthew says he returned from studying in
Australia with confidence, social savvy, and a genuine interest in
international affairs that really set him apart from his
peers. "After having gone abroad in high school, I found the
transition to college to be a breeze - moving 560 miles from home
didn't seem particularly daunting after having lived thousands of
miles away."
And speaking of college, improving your language skills might help
you get into choice colleges and even land future jobs. Colleges and
employers know that studying abroad provides leadership skills in a
world that is increasingly globally interconnected.
Most of all, it's fun! You're not likely to suffer from sophomore
slump or general boredom while you're studying in a different
learning environment

[إيليا]

Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery is also often called cosmetic surgery and has become
a widespread method to reshape the body and to help to improve the
appearance, it includes absolutely different operations starting
with abdominoplasty and ending with eyes surgery and face lifting.
Besides plastic surgery deals even more vitally important spheres,
like for example repair damages caused by some accidents or
injuries. It is well promoted and rather expensive but still
carriers certain risks, like any other type of operation. For
example, patients, who decide to make some dental operations, are
put at great risks. People who go through a number of plastic
operations are often still not satisfied with the result and start
doing other procedures, which is of course not the best way to
influence the state of the body: many people, who are overweight
turn to special operations, but after the fat is gone they face the
problem of lots of hanging skin.
Besides most people who have done it once, will return to these
operations again and again, even with the same problem, as they feel
constantly not satisfied with the result and are ready to give huge
sums of money, which they by the way could have used for some better
needs, like really supporting their health. "Plastic surgery junkies
need to think about why they keep wanting more work done. Obviously
it's much easier to change your outlook on life than it is to change
your external look…" (Rosen Christine, The Democratization of
Beauty, 2004, p.2). So this constant seeking for perfection can be
considered more of a psychological problem than real problems with
appearance. To avoid such result of plastic operations, the doctors
are to provide sufficient amount of explanation for the potential
patient concerning the results and reasons of this operation. Some
may need just a psychological help instead of this operation. And
this is of course a task of the society to work out the "rules" for
dealing the people, who want to make plastic surgery and do the best
to defend the clients of the plastic surgery clinics.
All these is a good basis for the surgeons to build their businesses
upon, they can use the week sides of a person, as almost every
person feels not absolutely sure about his/her appearance and would
love to look better, and earn good money. People are surrounded by
advertisements of "absolutely safe" and prestigious methods of
changing the appearance. As any other branch of medicine, plastic
surgery can have its field for development and application, but
there are still certain rules or restrictions to be made about it.
From the very beginning there should be a strict division between
cases of application of plastic surgery, a person who was burnt or
injured as a result of some accident or war or any other conflict
has to make such kind of operation under the circumstances, even he
doesn't want to, and a person, who watches too much television and
wants to get the same face Britney Spears or Tom Cruise have,
chooses to make this operation on his own free will. It is
absolutely not right to make these two people pay the same price for
the plastic operation.

[إيليا]

The Power of God

All power of decision belongs to God before and after. And on that
day the believers will rejoice in God's support. He grants support
to whomever He wills. He alone is Almighty, Merciful. This is God's
promise. Never does God fail to fulfil His promise; but most people
do not know it. They only know the outer surface of this world's
life, whereas of the hereafter they remain unaware. All power of
decision belongs to God before and after. And on that day the
believers will rejoice in God's support. God's promise was certainly
fulfilled as stated, and the believers rejoiced at the victory
granted by God. He grants support to whomever He wills. He alone is
Almighty, Merciful. Thus the decision is His while His support is
granted to whom He chooses. Nothing opposes His will. Indeed His
will, which determines the results, is the same as the will that
brings about the elements and the causes that leads to these
results. Thus, there is no conflict between the desired results and
the prevailing circumstances. The laws that operate the whole
universe are devised by the same free will. It is this will that has
determined that there should be laws of nature that operate without
fail, and systems to ensure stability. Both victory and defeat are
the results of certain factors that work in accordance with the laws
set in operation. The Islamic faith is very clear and logical. While
it makes clear that all power of decision rests with God, it does
not exempt people from taking the measures that are normally
necessary to bring about practical results. Whether these results
take effect is not part of people's responsibility, because it
ultimately belongs to God's overall design. A Bedouin left his she-
camel untied and went into the mosque to pray. As he entered, he
said: "I fully rely on God." The Prophet said to him: "Tie your she-
camel and then rely on God." (Related by Al-Tirmidhi. ) Thus, Islam
makes true reliance on God conditional on taking all the necessary
measures in any particular situation, knowing that ultimately all
decisions are left to Him. He grants support to whomever He wills.
He alone is Almighty, Merciful. Victory is thus the result of the
power that makes it a reality and the mercy that fulfils what is in
the best interests of people. In this way, such a victory is an
aspect of mercy for both the victors and the vanquished. God says in
the Qur'an: "Had it not been for the fact that God repels one group
of people by another, the earth would have been utterly corrupted."
(2: 251) That the earth should remain free of corruption is
ultimately good for all, including those who are defeated. This is
God's promise. Never does God fail to fulfil His promise; but most
people do not know it. They only know the outer surface of this
world's life, whereas of the hereafter they remain unaware." Such
victory has been promised by God, which means that it will certainly
come about in real life. For, "never does God fail to fulfil His
promise." The facts of the matter are that His promise issues from
His free will and absolute wisdom; He is able to fulfil it, as no
power can repel His judgment. Indeed, nothing takes place in the
universe except as he wills. Thus, the fulfilment of God's promise
is part of the overall universal law that is subject to no
alteration. Yet, "most people do not know it," even though they may
appear to be great scientists who have a firm grasp and wide scope
of knowledge. The fact is that their knowledge is superficial,
related to what is apparent in life. It does not extend to basic
laws and rules, and cannot comprehend their interrelations: "They
only know the outer surface of this world's life. They cannot
penetrate any deeper than this outer surface or fathom what lies
beyond it. This outer surface of the present life is very limited,
even though it may appear to us to be wide and vast. Only a small
part of it occupies all their efforts. They cannot learn all that is
related to that small part even when they devote their entire lives
to it. Still, this world's life is only a small part of the great
universe that is run in accordance with laws and rules operating
throughout it all. A person who cannot relate to the depths of the
universe and its operative laws will inevitably fail to see even
though he looks. He will only see the outer shape and movement, but
will fail to recognize the wisdom behind it or interact with it.
Most people fall into this category, because it is only true faith
that links what appears on life's surface with universal secrets. It
is only that which gives knowledge its spirit that can look into
these secrets. Believers who have such true faith are few among the
world's population. Hence, the great majority of people are
incapable of acquiring true knowledge. Whereas of the hereafter they
remain unaware." The hereafter is another stage in the chain of
creation; it is one of the many pages of the universe. People who do
not understand the wisdom of creation or the law governing the
universe remain unaware of the life to come, unable to give it its
true measure and value. They do not realize that it is a part of the
way of the universe and, as such, will never fail. To be unaware of
the hereafter makes all measures such people use inaccurate, and
their values suspect. They cannot correctly appreciate life's events
and values. Their knowledge of life remains superficial, incomplete.
When anyone takes the hereafter and its life into account, his
perspective and the way he looks at all events in this life changes.
He realizes that his life on earth is but a short stage in his
journey through the universe, and his lot in this present life is
but a small portion of his share in the universe. He feels that all
events that take place on earth are no more than a brief act in a
long play on the universal stage. To base one's judgment on a short
stage, a small portion or a brief act is unwise and can only lead to
error. The person who believes in the life to come and takes it into
account will not be able to see eye to eye on anything with someone
whose cares and interests are only for this present life, so much so
that they will not be able to agree in judging a single event or
question. They have two different viewpoints and perspectives; they
look at things in different lights. One of them sees only the outer
surface of this present life and the other looks at the bonds, laws
and rules that are behind things, taking into account not only what
we see in our world, but what lies beyond our perception, life and
death, the present life and the life to come, and the universe
stretching into the limitless. It is to such a great horizon that
Islam wants humanity to look up. It is this broad perspective that
befits man, the creature God has honoured when He placed him in
charge of the earth

[إيليا]

A Visit to Italy

The capital city of Italy is a very extraordinary place to visit. The population of Rome is well over two-million. The people there are very friendly and are extremely proud of their country. Rome is a beautiful bustling city that has a moderate cli mate. The temperature usually stays around eighty degrees. The main way of transportation is by bus.

The side walk cafes are very popular in Rome. The cafes were always populated with happy Italians and a few curious tourists. The most preferred cafe was the Cafe S. Petro. this cafe was in perfect walking distance from the Vatican city. The Vatica n city is were the pope lives. The main meals served at the cafes varied from pizza to tortillini. The pizzas were not exactly like Pizza Hut's pizza. They were crispy thin with very few toppings available. Most pizzas came with cheese, pepperoni and a watery tomato sauce. The tortillini had soft, medium-length, hollow noodles with more watery tomato sauce. Another favorite at the cafe was the lasagna which was unbelievably delicious. After having tasted the pizzas and the tortillini, I was not exp ecting the lasagna to be so tasty. The lasagna was packed full of hot meat, zesty cheese, and a tangy tomato sauce. It was not out of the ordinary to see Italians, instead of eating at the cafe, talking with their friends and sipping on hot cappucino.

The streets in Rome were always swamped with motor scooters, three-wheeled cars, and buses. Although, the main way of transportation are buses, Italians also scooted around on their motor scooters. The scooters were more convenient because the scoote rs could easily slip through traffic jams. The parking was very hazardous for people because some cars would be blocked in by a small car that was parked vertical between two horizontally parked cars. Car accidents were very common in Rome. When two pe ople had a car accident, they would just wave or yell at each other and drive hurriedly away. The police were not notified and there was no question of who would pay for the damages.

The worst part about Rome were the buses. These buses were jammed tight with people who were sweaty and excessively vulgar. The buses were small in size, the color was a dull blue, and they contained only a few seats that were rarely available. The men on these buses were extremely vulgar in their actions. Because we had to stand so close, the men had chances to pick my pockets or place their hands on my bottom. Once this incident happened, I had to practically shove them off. This did not bother them, they would just move on to the next woman.

Over all, Rome is an exciting place to visit because it has so many attractions to offer. This trip will always be special to me because I got to see a different culture and had many entertaining experiences. I would advise anyone who was going to ta ke a trip to go to Italy because it is surely an amazing place to visit.

[إيليا]

Saudi Telecom Company (STC)

Saudi Telecom is determined to deliver results on their journey to become a Customer centric and Competitive Company that their Customers will choose over the competition, Investors will confidently invest in, and Employees will be proud to work for. They are working to become a company where staff and managers are a confident TEAM working together to deliver what the customers want, need and expect.
Saudi Telecom since its establishment in 1998 has delivered a range of positive results that have delivered a better service to more customers. This has been achieved through an ambitious Transformation & Restructuring Program compound with an extensive expansion of their network and infrastructure.
By the end of 2002, the Saudi Government announced that 30% of Saudi Telecom Shares will be released for sale to Saudi citizens & organizations; Saudi citizens (20%), General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) (5%), and Pension Fund Organization (5%). By the end of the subscription period, requests for shares exceeded the number offered by 3.5 times. This is a clear indication that Saudi people are confident of Saudi Telecom’s success and trusts in its future. The General Assembly Meeting of Saudi Telecom new shareholders held at the end of April 2003, elect new board members for the first time.
Product & Services
1) At Alhatif are working to fulfill their customers' aspirations by offering a basket of diversified telephone services and aiming to achieve world class quality and customer care while adhering to their community customs and traditions.Alhatif landline phone service is the main service offered by Alhatif. The landline services operates through a huge and complex network of fiber optic and copper underground cables that covers the whole Kingdom and extends globally via armored submarine cable network. The landline service offers their costumers the ability to remain connected 24/7 with friends, family, relative and businesses within and outside the Kingdom. Upon installation of the Alhatif landline service at his/her home or office the costumer can choose from amongst two different Price plan – HATIF 30 and HATIF 45 – based on his/her need.
2) AFAQ DSL Service
Service Description:
to-enjoy surfing the internet, visiting your preferred sites, download files in matter of seconds, view the high resolution picture, keep up-to-date with the latest audio programs, view the newest sports and news clips, play online games or online trading and keeping track of stock markets around the clock ? AfaqDSL is the best solution!
- Service Benefits:
• Continuous high speed connection to the internet with no disconnection or tying up the phone line, in addition, you can choose your desired speed starting from 128 kbps up to 1 mbps.
• The ability to make your telephone calls send / receive Fax while you are surfing the internet from the same phone line without any interference to either.
• Connecting more than one computer at the same time in order for each user of the whole family to enjoy his favorite internet application by using multiple connections or a wireless connection.
3) Prepaid Calling Cards
Description: Prepaid calling cards enable the customer to make a local, national, mobile or international call by dialing the listed service provider Free phone number from any Alhatif telephone
Service features: Prepaid cards offers the flexibility and ease to make a call to any national and international destination using the credit available in the prepaid scratch card and not on the telephone used to make the call.
Service providers: Alhatif Prepaid Calling Cards are offered through five companies which sell their cards under the following brand names: Zajoul, Allo, Marhaba, Interkey and Salam
Service price: There are several categories of prepaid cards, and the calling fees as the same as fixed phones for local and international calls.
Selling points: Super markets, grocery stores.
Investor Relations Six years characterized by perseverance and development that have Placed Saudi Telecom’s roots deeper and deeper in their prosperous nation, growing to reach all areas of this soil, and all members of its community.
This stems from a promise that STC placed upon itself to continue its path of growth and modernity, a growth that is in line with their religion and traditions. This promise is being lived as you read; it is to build our investment towards a better future.
STC values its relationship with its vendors/partners and is always working on improving this relationship with the objective of maximizing its efficiency and effectiveness. Achieving that will increase the benefits gained by both sides and will reflect positively on improving the products and services STC provides to its customers.

The Vendor Relationship Management System (VRMS) is a step forward in that direction. It lays down the foundation for strong and transparent relationship built on vendors' good performance and efficient communication *******s. It is the tool for bridging the distances between STC and its Vendors/Partners.

(http://www.stc.com.sa/)

[إيليا]

Dear Maria
I'm writing this letter to inform you what I have bought clothes from the mall.
I went shopping in the mall last weekend with my family.
I bought almost everything. For example, I bought black long silk leggings , I can wear them basicaly with anything like a dark or light jean, short or long skirt, but right now the big style is leggings with a long dark shirt or a mini light dress.
Also, I bought layering cororful t-shirts from Zara. They have tons of colors and they're really cheap too. For instance, I bought baby blue average t-shirt that cost me 10$. A layer T with a short tube top over it looked cute on me when I tried it on .
On the other hand, my sister bought light pink Ballet flats for shoes that was so cute on her small feet. She bought this shoe because it goes with almost any outfit.
The cashier man told us that the most popular colors this year are gray because it looks awesome with blue jeans, bright and bold colors.
So, we immediatly bought gray tink tops.
As for jewlery, I tried big golden chunky jewelry like gradiant , and i really liked it, so I bought it. Plus, my sister bought gumball neclaces with large bangles.
Finally, we both bought big shining golden hoops, or 80's style earrings.
When we came back to the house, our father saw the bills and was shocked that we spent so much money on clothes and accessories. So, he punished us by not letting us go shopping for 2 months.

[إيليا]

Offics VS Open Space.

Experts agree that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for designing the ideal workplace. However, they fall into two deeply divided camps when it comes to a fundamental aspect of apportioning space: One group proselytizes for a return to private offices, the other promotes completely open offices.

Interestingly, these groups are united in their disdain for what some might consider a compromise position—cubicles, the office environment most commonly used by employers. Currently, an estimated 70 percent of workers spend their time in cubicles.

“They provide pseudo-privacy at best, and are terrible for spontaneous communication,” says Franklin Becker, director of the International Workplace Studies Program at Cornell University.
“Cubicles are acoustic sieves that intrude on your thoughts and conversations,” agrees Michael Brill, president of BOSTI Associates, a workplace planning and design consultant in Buffalo, N.Y., and founder of the School of Architecture at the University of Buffalo.

But that’s where the agreement ends for these two experts.

Becker believes cubicle walls should come down. “Usually, you can’t see the person in the cube next to you unless you stand up,” he says.

Currently, 10 percent of offices are completely barrier-free, with no partitions separating workstations, estimate experts. In these environments, everyone—including the bosses—sits in the open on rollable chairs arranged in clusters or rows in bullpens.

In some workplaces, the private office still reigns as the primary means of allocating space—especially for those higher in the hierarchy. Overall, however, offices are becoming less common as companies squeeze funds from their facilities budgets. But Brill believes that private offices—even small ones—pay dividends for all workers by creating a more productive work environment.

HR professionals and facilities administrators caught between these two diverging opinions can easily become confused about whether one setup is generally better suited than another to their workplace. Ultimately, you’ll need to take a close look at your organization’s needs, processes and culture and decide for yourself.

Privacy vs. Collaboration
Brill studied the impact of the work environment on work satisfaction and performance for more than two decades. Working from a database of 13,000 people in 40 organizations, he’s identified the 10 most important predictors of job performance. The top two are:

The ability to do distraction-free work for teams and individuals.
The ability to have easy, frequent, informal interactions.
On average, when these factors were addressed at the 40 organizations studied, individual performance jumped 4 percent to 5 percent, team performance 23 percent. Job satisfaction rose 23 percent.

For Brill, the equation is simple: Workers spend the majority of their time in private or near-private activity. As a result, he advocates giving each person a private office, no matter how small.
In addition, most meetings—unscheduled, usually involving two or three people—occur at the workstation. Private spaces encourage impromptu, confidential conversations—which are the “backbone” of an organization, according to Brill.

“We’ve been experimenting with acoustically private offices that are 50-60 square feet with sliding glass doors—substantially smaller than the traditional private office. These new ‘cocktail’ offices are interspersed with or surround an open team area just outside the individual doors. The design permits people to do distraction-free work by keeping the door shut. If they choose, they can keep the door open, or step right outside to the collaborative space.”
Collaboration Trumps Privacy
Though privacy is important, Becker believes that promoting collaboration is at the core of good office design. Becker’s studies reveal that workers spend most of their time with their teams and go to private places only as needed.

As a result, he recommends a series of small-scale four- to eight-person “war rooms” or team offices. They can be in a room fully enclosed or clustered in a larger space. “There are times when someone needs total privacy, but no one works eight hours a day in the total concentration mode. You work in spurts; so you need to have the chance to get privacy when you need it.”

He cites a University of Michigan study in which two teams of software developers at Ford Motors were separated. One team was given private offices, the other assigned to war rooms. The group in the war rooms was twice as productive.

He also cites research showing that private offices can kill inter-group collaboration. “In a survey of 2,000 employees, we found that the likelihood that you’ll have contact outside your group drops dramatically when you have a private office,” he says.

Reading Between the Lines
In an attempt to decide if public or private spaces are best suited to their particular business and workforce, some employers have adopted an intuitively logical approach: They ask workers what they prefer.

However, if you take this tack you may need to take the responses you receive with a grain of salt. The office is a complex organism, with many interrelated forces—cultural, physical and psychological. To understand what’s really happening, you sometimes have to read between the lines.

Workers’ near-universal call for more privacy is an example. In surveys, workers’ No. 1 complaint is lack of privacy; the top request is for a private office, no matter how small.

Grousing about privacy, however, often is a smoke screen. Such complaints sometimes involve nothing more than status. “We’re working in an environment where vice presidents have been moved out of their private offices,” Becker says. “They feel they’ve been devalued. But it’s easier for them to complain about the noise than to admit to their real sentiments.”
Still, whatever their reasons, aren’t happy workers more productive? Not necessarily, says Becker. Sometimes an environment that’s not the most personally comfortable does a better job of enhancing group productivity.
“Creative tension can be healthy,” Becker says. “People who are asked about privacy usually respond from a personal perspective. Even if a private office would make them more productive, it’s not always the best option. When people discover that a hindrance of their personal productivity may help the team move along, they tend to accept the open office.”

Brill counters that office design must satisfy both the needs of the organization and the individual. “You have to accommodate both—they’re not tradeoffs,” says Brill. “We have watched the physical environment go from private to open offices. But it doesn’t increase interaction and doesn’t make for an open organization. When you do a serious investigation, you discover … it’s really a myth.”

He bristles at the suggestion that private office designs promote individual status over team performance. “The idea that status comes from the physical trappings of isolation, size and splendor is a kind of lunatic vision of what’s important to a business. People get status from a whole series of *******s. The big ones are good colleagues, challenging work and intelligent management.”
Down the Road
When the dust settles, will private offices re-capture the turf they have ceded to cubicles in the past 25 years? Or will the partitions that divide cubicles be cast aside, opening offices even more dramatically?

Whatever the outcome, it’s clear that HR, as monitor of culture and measurer of satisfaction, productivity, health and safety, needs to be involved.

“HR should be thinking broadly about the physical environment and how it impacts employee satisfaction and productivity,” concludes Lisa Bender, vice president and director of HR at the MITRE Corp., Bedford, Mass. “Space is a people issue. When decisions are made, we need to be in the middle, helping employees say what they need to do their job. We need to be advocates for having an inclusive, participative process.”

[إيليا]

The History of Pizza


The root word of Pizza in Latin is PICEA, which describes the
blackening of the crust caused by the fire underneath.

It's impossible to date the first pizza, since it was never
made as such, but rather evolved over thousands of years. Considered
a peasant's meal in Italy for centuries, modern pizza is attributed
to Raffaele Esposito of Napoli (Naples). In 1889, Esposito baked
pizza especially for the visit of Italian King Umberto I and Queen
Margherita. He covered the humble rounds of dough with tomato sauce,
mozzarella cheese and basil. The pizza was very patriotic and
resembled the Italian flag with its colors of green (basil), white
(mozzarella) , and red (tomatoes), and was favored by the Queen. This
pizza was named Pizza Margherita. Now Naples is known as the pizza
capitol of the world. In 1830 the world's first true pizzeria,
Antica Pizzeria Port' Alba, opened and is still in business today in
Naples!

[إيليا]

The Truth about Chocolate

Crazy for chocolates but scared of eating it? No more
compromises with your taste buds needed. Chocolate lovers can now
enjoy their favorite treat subtracting the guilt of being unfair to
their health. Surprised? But that's true!

Recent studies have revealed that chocolates are not only your
taste bud's favorite but a supporter of good health too. In fact,
this brown wonder has far more advantages than you can smell and
taste. For example, it is found that Cocoa enhances the appearance
and texture of skin and helps protect it from sun damage … from the
inside out. Additionally, chocolate has not been proven to
contribute to cavities or tooth decay. Cocoa butter may in fact coat
teeth and help protect them by preventing plaque formation. Although
the sugar in chocolate contributes to cavities, it does so no more
than the sugar in other sweet foods
Now that you've grasped the theory of chocolate, it's time for
the practical work!

[إيليا]

nice story

This is really a beautiful story.
Why do we read Quran, even when we can't
understand?
An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the
mountains of
eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was
up early
sitting at the kitchen table reading his Qur'an.
His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried
to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson
asked, "Grandpa, I try to read the Qur'an
just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I
forget as soon as
I close the book. What good does reading the Qur'an do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal
in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river
and bring
me back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, but all the water
leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed
and
said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him
back to the river with the
basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket
was empty before he returned home.
Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was
impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket
instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water;
I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he
went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show
his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water
would leak out before he got back to the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when
he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"
"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the
basket was different. It had been transformed from a
dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
"Son, that's what happens when you read the Qur'an. You might not
understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will
be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our
lives." The best way to learn is to share what you have
learned and practice it in your life

[إيليا]

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Geography
Saudi Arabia occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba to the west and the Persian Gulf to the east. Neighboring countries are Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman, Yemen, and Bahrain, connected to the Saudi mainland by a causeway. Saudi Arabia contains the world's largest continuous sand desert, the Rub Al-Khali, or Empty Quarter. Its oil region lies primarily in the eastern province along the Persian Gulf.

National name: Al-Mamlaka al-'Arabiya as-Sa'udiya

Sovereign: King Abdullah (2005)

Land area: 756,981 sq mi (1,960,582 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 27,019,731 (growth rate: 2.2%); birth rate: 29.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.8/1000; life expectancy: 75.7; density per sq mi: 33

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Riyadh, 3,724,100

Other large cities: Jeddah, 2,745,000; Makkah (Mecca), 1,614,800

Monetary unit: Riyal

Language: Arabic

Ethnicity/race: Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

Religion: Islam 100%

Literacy rate: 79% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.): $340.6 billion; per capita $12,900. Real growth rate: 6.5%. Inflation: 0.4%. Unemployment: 13% male only (local bank estimate; some estimates range as high as 25%) (2004 est.). Arable land: 2%. Agriculture: wheat, barley, tomatoes, melons, dates, citrus; mutton, chickens, eggs, milk. Labor force: 6.76 million; note: more than 35% of the population in the 15–64 age group is non-national; agriculture 12%, industry 25%, services 63% (1999 est.). Industries: crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals; ammonia, industrial gases, sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), cement, fertilizer, plastics; metals, commercial ship repair, commercial aircraft repair, construction. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper. Exports: $165 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): petroleum and petroleum products 90%. Imports: $44.93 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, motor vehicles, textiles. Major trading partners: U.S., Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Germany, UK (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3.9 million (2002 est.); mobile cellular: 2.9 million (2002 est.). Radio broadcast stations: AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2 (1998). Radios: 6.25 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 117 (1997). Televisions: 5.1 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 22 (2003). Internet users: 1.453 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 1,392 km (2002). Highways: total: 151,470 km; paved: 45,592 km; unpaved: 105,878 km (1999). Ports and harbors: Ad Dammam, Al Jubayl, Duba, Jiddah, Jizan, Rabigh, Ra's al Khafji, Mishab, Ras Tanura, Yanbu' al Bahr, Madinat Yanbu' al Sinaiyah. Airports: 209 (2002).

International disputes: nomadic groups on border region with Yemen resist demarcation of boundary; Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been negotiating a long-contested maritime boundary with Iran; because the treaties have not been made public, the exact alignment of the boundary with the UAE is still unknown and labeled approximate.


Government
Saudi Arabia was an absolute monarchy until 1992, at which time the Saud royal family introduced the country's first constitution. The legal system is based on the sharia (Islamic law).

History
Saudi Arabia is not only the homeland of the Arab peoples—it is thought that the first Arabs originated on the Arabian Peninsula—but also the homeland of Islam, the world's second-largest religion. Muhammad founded Islam there, and it is the location of the two holy pilgrimage cities of Mecca and Medina. The Islamic calendar begins in 622, the year of the hegira, or Muhammad's flight from Mecca. A succession of invaders attempted to control the peninsula, but by 1517 the Ottoman Empire dominated, and in the middle of the 18th century, it was divided into separate principalities. In 1745 Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab began calling for the purification and reform of Islam, and the Wahhabi movement swept across Arabia. By 1811, Wahhabi leaders had waged a jihad—a holy war—against other forms of Islam on the peninsula and succeeded in uniting much of it. By 1818, however, the Wahhabis had been driven out of power again by the Ottomans and their Egyptian allies.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is almost entirely the creation of King Ibn Saud (1882–1953). A descendant of Wahhabi leaders, he seized Riyadh in 1901 and set himself up as leader of the Arab nationalist movement. By 1906 he had established Wahhabi dominance in Nejd and conquered Hejaz in 1924–1925. The Hejaz and Nejd regions were merged to form the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, which was an absolute monarchy ruled by sharia. A year later the region of Asir was incorporated into the kingdom.

Oil was discovered in 1936, and commercial production began during World War II. This oil-derived wealth allowed the country to provide free health care and education while not collecting any taxes from its people. Saudi Arabia was neutral until nearly the end of the war, but it was permitted to be a charter member of the United Nations. The country joined the Arab League in 1945 and took part in the 1948–1949 war against Israel. Saudi Arabia still does not recognize the state of Israel. On Ibn Saud's death in 1953, his eldest son, Saud, began an 11-year reign marked by an increasing hostility toward the radical Arabism of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1964, the ailing Saud was deposed and replaced by the prime minister, Crown Prince Faisal, who gave vocal support but no military help to Egypt in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Faisal's assassination by a deranged kinsman in 1975 shook the Middle East, but it failed to alter his kingdom's course. His successor was his brother, Prince Khalid. Khalid gave influential support to Egypt during negotiations on Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Desert. King Khalid died of a heart attack in 1982, and he was succeeded by his half-brother, Prince Fahd bin 'Abdulaziz, who had exercised the real power throughout Khalid's reign. King Fahd chose his half-brother Abdullah as crown prince.

Saudi Arabia and the smaller oil-rich Arab states on the Persian Gulf, fearful that they might become Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's next targets if Iran conquered Iraq, made large financial contributions to the Iraqi war effort during the 1980s. At the same time, cheating by other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), competition from nonmember oil producers, and conservation efforts by consuming nations combined to drive down the world price of oil. At the time Saudi Arabia had one-third of all known oil reserves, but falling demand and rising production outside OPEC combined to reduce its oil revenues from $120 billion in 1980 to less than $25 billion in 1985, threatening the country with domestic unrest and undermining its influence in the Gulf area.

At the start of 1996, King Fahd passed authority to Crown Prince Abdullah, after suffering an incapacitating stroke. In 1998 the country's oil income fell by 40% because of a worldwide decline in prices, and it entered its first recession in six years.

In 2000, Saudi Arabia, along with other OPEC nations experiencing a recession, decided to reduce production to raise oil prices. In 2001, OPEC cut oil production three additional times.

Saudi Arabia's relations with the U.S. were strained after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—15 of the 19 suicide bombers involved were Saudis. Despite the monarchy's close ties to the West, much of the extremely influential religious establishment has supported anti-Americanism and Islamic militancy. In Aug. 2003, following the U.S.-led war on Iraq in March and April 2003, the United States withdrew its troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. had maintained troops in the country for the past decade, a source of great controversy in the strongly conservative Islamic country. One of the major reasons given for the Sept. 11 attacks by Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden was the presence of U.S. troops in the home of Islam's holiest sites, Medina and Mecca. On May 12, 2003, suicide bombers killed 34, including 8 Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh. Al-Qaeda was suspected. Saudi Arabia's commitment to antiterrorist measures was again called into question by the U.S. and other countries. In July, the U.S. Congress bitterly criticized Saudi Arabia's alleged financing of terrorist organizations. While the Saudi government arrested a sizable number of suspected terrorists, little was done to quell Islamic militancy in the kingdom. Several attacks against Westerners took place in 2003 and 2004.

In Feb. 2005, Saudi Arabia held its first elections ever: municipal council elections to choose half of the new council members in Riyadh. The other half continued to be appointed, in keeping with the previous Saudi system. Women were not eligible to vote, and less than a third of eligible voters registered.

In Aug. 2005, King Fahd bin 'Abdulaziz died. His half-brother Abdullah, who had been the de facto ruler of the country for the past decade, assumed the throne.

[إيليا]

William Shakespeare


William Shakespeare was a great English playwright, dramatist and poet who lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time. No other writer's plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in so many countries as his. Shakespeare was born to middle class parents. His father, John, was a Stratford businessman. He was a glove maker who owned a leather shop. John Shakespeare was a well known and respected man in the town. He held several important local governmental positions. William Shakespeare's mother was Mary Arden. Though she was the daughter of a local farmer, she was related to a family of considerable wealth and social standing. Mary Arden and John Shakespeare were married in 1557. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford in 1564. He was one of eight children. The Shakespeare's were well respected prominent people. When William Shakespeare was about seven years old, he probably began attending the Stratford Grammar School with other boys of his social class. Students went to school year round attending school for nine hours a day. The teachers were strict disciplinarians. Though Shakespeare spent long hours at school, his boyhood was probably fascinating. Stratford was a lively town and during holidays, it was known to put on pageants and many popular shows. It also held several large fairs during the year. Stratford was a exciting place to live. Stratford also had fields and woods surrounding it giving William the opportunity to hunt and trap small game. The River Avon which ran through the town allowed him to fish also. Shakespeare's' poems and plays show his love of nature and rural life which reflects his childhood. On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway of the neighboring village of Shottery. She was twenty-six, and he was only eighteen at the time. They had three children. Susana was their first and then they had twins, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, Shakespeare's son, died in 1596. In 1607, his daughter Susana got married. Shakespeare's other daughter, Judith, got married in 1616. In London, Shakespeare's career took off. It is believed that he may have become well known in London theatrical life by 1592. By that time, he had joined one of the city's repertory theater companies. These companies were made up of a permanent cast of actors who presented different plays week after week. The companies were commercial organizations that depended on admission from their audience. Scholars know that Shakespeare belonged to one of the most popular acting companies in London called The Lord Chamberlain's Men. Shakespeare was a leading member of the group from 1594 for the rest of his career. By 1594, at least six of Shakespeare's plays had been produced. During Shakespeare's life, there were two monarchs who ruled England. They were Henry the eighth and Elizabeth the first. Both were impressed with Shakespeare which made his name known. There is evidence that he was a member of a traveling theater group, and a schoolmaster. In 1594, he became an actor and playwright for Lord Chamberlain's Men. In 1599, he became a part owner of the prosperous Globe Theater. He also was a part owner of the Blackfriars Theater as of 1609. Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1613 where he wrote many of his excellent plays. There are many reasons as to why William Shakespeare is so famous. He is generally considered to be both the greatest dramatist the world has ever known as well as the finest poet who has written in the English language. Many reasons can be given for Shakespeare's enormous appeal. His fame basically is from his great understanding of human nature. He was able to find universal human qualities and put them in a dramatic situation creating characters that are timeless. Yet he had the ability to create characters that are highly individual human beings. Their struggles in life are universal. Sometimes they are successful and sometimes their lives are full of pain, suffering, and failure. In addition to his understanding and realistic view of human nature, Shakespeare had a vast knowledge of a variety of subjects. These subjects include music, law, Bible, stage, art, politics, history, hunting, and sports. Shakespeare had a tremendous influence on culture and literature throughout the world. He contributed greatly to the development of the English language. Many words and phrases from Shakespeare's plays and poems have become part of our speech. Shakespeare's plays and poems have become a required part of education in the United States. Therefore, his ideas on subjects such as romantic love, heroism, comedy, and tragedy have helped shape the attitudes of millions of people. His portrayal of historical figures and events have influenced our thinking more than what has been written in history books. The world has admired and respected many great writers, but only Shakespeare has generated such enormous continuing interest. My source states explanations rather than opinions on why Shakespeare's contributions to literature are so vast. My source devoted thirty pages to William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's plays are usually divided into three major categories. These are comedy, tragedy, and history. Three plays which are in the category of comedy are "The Comedy of Errors", "The Taming of the Shrew", and "The Two Gentlemen of Verone". Three plays which are in the category of tragedy are "Romeo and Juliet", "Titus Andronicus", and "Julius Caesar". In the category of history, three plays are "Henry V", "Richard II", and "Richard III".

[إيليا]

Trust in Self-Reliance

Trust yourself, your intuition, and your nature. According to Emerson's Self-Reliance, these qualities are essential to contentment and harmony with one's self. Self-reliance is an appeal to the individual to obey his instincts and to challenge tradition and conventional wisdom. According to Emerson, those who are truly self-reliant have the ability to mark their place in history as great and genuinely creative men.

Emerson urges the reader to live by his instinct and listen to his intuition, "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string." Don?t fear your original thoughts, trust them and live accordingly. Great men and artists appeal to us because of their creative nature, "In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts." If we don?t live according to our nature we are not men. Be bold and brave about your convictions, "And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not pinched into a corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but redeemers and benefactors, pious aspirants to be noble clay plastic under the Almighty effort, let us advance and advance on Chaos and the Dark." Recognize your nature whether it be good or bad, "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature."

Emerson instructs the reader to avoid the common pitfalls that tend to hinder man's virtue. Emerson identifies consistency as being an enemy of the creative thinker, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds", "With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do". Emerson isn?t implying that we live erratically but that we should be introspective about our positions and ideals. We should not hold the same position simply because it is the one we have always taken. We shouldn?t be preoccupied with the impression we leave on others, "What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think." According to Emerson, our inconsistency should be our testimony. Your inconsistent actions will explain to others what you are, "The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks."

Emerson also points out man's fear of being misunderstood. We often fail to present or discuss our original thoughts and ideas in fear of being misunderstood. Emerson asks, so what? Weren't all great innovators misunderstood? Emerson says: "Misunderstood! It is a right fools word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh."

According to Emerson, "imitation is suicide". When we imitate we cheat our nature. Imitation is not ours, "Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life?s cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous, half possession." Emerson teaches us to rejoice in our uniqueness.

Emerson notes the advances of society. According to Emerson, society never makes true progress, "Society never truly advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other." Advancement of society is a give and take relationship. When society makes progress, it regresses in other aspects, "The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. He is supported on crutches, but loses so much support of muscle. He has got a fine Geneva watch, but he has lost the skill to tell the hour by the sun."

To Emerson self-reliance is the embodiment of principle and integrity. The ability to trust your own thoughts and conviction is virtue, "Nothing can bring you peace of mind but the triumph of principles."

[إيليا]

TV Violence and Children


Children from the ages 6-11 spend more time watching television than

they do in the classroom. The level of violence that they see on prime time

television is about five violent acts per hour and the level of violence on

Saturday that includes cartoons morning programming is about 20 to 25 violent

acts per hour. At this rate, the average American child will see 8,000 murders

before they finish elementary school!



As a child sits in front of baby-sitting television, her eyes are glued

to the viewing of shoot em' up rip em' up kind of entertainment. We have to

remember that the entertainment media plays an extremely powerful role in the

formation of values and morals, to all youngsters' minds of all ages, all

socioeconomic levels, and all levels of intelligence. These programs "play"

with kids' minds; these programs have a tremendous negative effect on our

children. We, as a society, must save our future and take an active role in

protecting our children from the violence on our television.



Television cartoons often feature dehumanized characters, such as

Transformers and the Ninja Turtles, who engage in the destructive acts of

violence by fighting our real life social problems. With acts of violence, kids

learn to think that's how they should solve their problems. MTV's Beavis and

Butt-head encourages fire, smoking, foul language, drinking and stealing. With

these bad attitudes seen depicted as normal on TV shows kids are lead to

believe it is cool be have that type attitude Is this what we really want our

society, especially our younger generation, to believe?



If we truly thought that television had no impact on viewers, why would

companies spend billion of dollars on television advertising? If commercials

have an effect, then so do the shows that the children watch. For example,

youngsters mimic many of the violent acts that they see such as Beasvis and But-

head. One day, a five year old boy watch his favorite cartoon, Beavis and Butt-

head, and sees the characters pull one of their famous arson stunts. And the

result, he sets his own house ablaze and his younger sister is killed.



Children do learn from television especially when they lack direct exposure

or first hand experience with violent grotesque acts. These do take a toll on

children and the way they will view life as they grow up. I know some who that

are sweet, innocent, full of dreams, hopes, laughter, and life. These kids have

learned about there environment from their parents, not by watching television.

When I am a parent, I will not show programs with bodies flying around the room

and blood spurting ever where. At this point, the parents' role must be to

watch television with their children so they can help children understand that

violence hurts people physically and emotionally.



Our society should take a long hard look in the mirror; the values of

today's youth are reflections of the values of their elders. We should remember

the words of the father in Harry Chapin's song "Cat's in the Cradle" when he

comes to realize his son "He's grown up just like me. My boy was just like me."



Violence on the television is a very real problem is our culture. We

most see that it only causes negative effects on our society. It is hard to

tell if the problem is the media or if the problem is in our values as a culture.

We must help turn back the growing culture of violence as quickly as possible.

The human toll on our society is too great to look the other way.

[إيليا]

The Preparation For and Ceremony of Marriage in Islam

In Islam, marriages are a very important event most Muslim weddings
are arranged, in order for an arranged marriage to take place both the
boys/girls side must give consent, with arranged marriages both
families make sure that the boy's/girl's (and their family's)
reputation and history is accepted in society and that they have no
flaws which would bring a bad name on their family all this is checked
before the husband/wife enters into their family.

A Muslim boy/girl have to choose their partners very carefully as it
is an arranged marriage and they are expected to spend their whole
life with a stranger they have to get to know them and know all their
ways of living and habits etcâ?¦ before they agree to marry them
although sometimes the parents of the girl/boy are very strict and may
not allow this to happen they may just decide for their son/daughter
to get married to someone without asking their opinion this may be a
problem sometimes as the married couple may not get along or there may
be other problems, another problem with arranged marriages is that if
the parents of the Muslim girl/ boy agree to the marriage without the
daughters or/ sons consent then it is like they are deciding the fate
if their child without the child having a say in it, but mostly this
is not the case and the girl/boy is asked their opinion about the
person they are going to marry because Muslims believe that a marriage
which is forced is doomed to failure. In Islam getting married to a
member of your family whether its intermediate or distant family is
very common.

The majority of Muslim marriages are arranged although there are a few
love marriages but in the Muslim community love marriages are not
really an option and it seen as a very dangerous thing to do sometimes
muslims regard being under the influence of love' as a intoxicating
state of mind that could easily cloud judgement. Parents are thought
to find good compatible partners for their children and sometimes they
do no agree to give consent to love marriages.

Muslims are encouraged to have an arranged marriage although sometimes
people have a mixed marriage this is allowed as long as it is a Sikh,
Indian, or a Christian person. If an Muslim gets married then the wife
has to follow the husbands religion and convert the children have to
follow their fathers religion but it is preferred to get married to
another Muslim because this way their community expands and Islam as a
whole expands.

When the marriage is decided upon (arranged) before the wedding many
other celebrations and ceremony's have to take place. Such as the
engagement where both the girls and boys family gets together and have
an engagement ceremony where the bride and groom get together and
exchange rings the other event is the Mahr (dowry) The Mahr is the
dowry paid by the husband to the wife. It is a sum negotiated by the
husband and wife, which she can keep when or if they later get
divorced, if the wife wants to get divorced without the consent of her
husband she can but only if the mahr is returned. It is against, the
sunnah of the prophet to demand high dowries or not give to give a
dowry at all or pay the brides father in compensation for his
daughters services at home.

After this follows the actual Nikah (wedding) the Nikah is a simple
affair the ceremony is plain and simple consisting of readings from
the Qur'an and vows are exchanged in front of witnesses. There are
also a few prayers recited for this happy occasion the imam is present
and no religious official is necessary. The bride does not have to be
present as long as she sends her 'wali' or marriage representative and
also two witnesses of agreement to the wedding and she can be at home.
The signing of the Nikah (wedding) contract's can be changed the
original date by weeks or even months or years just like with the
prophet and his wife Aishah. If the girl is at home they declare three
times that she accepts the wedding. Nikah is not considered to be a
sacred contract or 'made in heaven' but is a binding contract giving
the husband and wife both equal rights and responsibilities. Due to
the fact that ' love' is not necessarily present at the time a bride
can include into the contract certain conditions that would help her
if she later wished to have a divorce she could also make it clear
that she does not give permission to allow her husband to have a
second wife.

After the Nikah follows the Walimah this is the actual wedding party
the bride may not dress up for the Nikah but she will certainly dress
up for the Walimah. The walimah usually consists of the actual wedding
feast it can take place within three days of the couple living
together. Presents are usually given presents given are usually money.
It is a tradition to have huge expensive parties in some societies but
this is not religious or part of Islam, the prophet disapproves of
lavish especially if it causes problems between the husband and wife.

In Islam the only compatibility that matters is the piety. The prophet
said' a woman should only be married to a person who is good enough
for her or compatible to her

[إيليا]

Water Pollution



Water pollution is increasingly becoming a large problem that we as humans need to confront. Water is our most valuable resource. Just think of how much we humans are dependent upon clean water. Water is way more valuable than gold, what can you go a day, week, year with out, gold or water? Besides the fact that we drink the water, we use it for irrigation of farm fields, cooking, washing clothes, flushing toilets, etc. and every industrial process requires water to function. Everyone knows that the Earth's surface is covered by 70% water, so why fuss of protecting water? Only 3% of all water is fresh and drinkable and of that 3%, 75% is frozen, which leaves a grand total of only 1% of the Earth's surface water that is readily available for consumption. After taking that fact into account, one can see why the conservation and protection of our remaining water supply is so vital. Before water pollution can be stopped, the sources of the pollution must be known.



The major sources of water pollution are organic pollution, agricultural pollution, runoff, toxic waste, and thermal pollution. Organic pollution is becoming more and more pressing on the environment, because of the growing population of the world. It's a simple concept, the more people there are in one area, the more waste they will produce. For example, in a city there are so many people that the sewage plants and the environment can't take care of all of the waste and function in its usual manner. The sewage plants do their best, but the secondary discharge that gets into the water supply causes great problems. The excess waste acts as a fertilizer or food source for algae and the growth rate is uncontrollable. Everyone has been in a lake where there is a lot of dead algae on the shore and the water is clouded with algae. This situation is known as eutrophication, where algae growth is out of control and the water becomes oxygen depleted. There are natural cycles of eutrophication in the spring and fall, but the body of water can deal with those amounts. When excess waste is added to the water the body of water can no longer control the growth of the algae and the water soon becomes algae ridden and oxygen depleted. The water becomes oxygen depleted, because the dead algae goes to the bottom and uses the oxygen in the deeper water to decompose, but if there is too much dead algae all the oxygen is depleted. Oxygen from the surface doesn't reach the bottom, because the warmer water is less dense than the deeper cooler water, therefor the warmer water floats on the colder water and they never mix, much like oil and water. Soon the dead algae piles upon itself and makes the lake shallower, until it totally fills in and dries up.



Eutrophication effects all bodies of water, great and small. In the summer of 1971 at the Chicago South Water Filtration Plant on the coast of Lake Michigan, the filters were clogged with so much algae it had to be removed by hand. In the winter the turbidity(sediment in the water) was so high that the water wasn't drinkable. In a third case, the water smelled and tasted like dead fish and huge amounts of chlorine had to be added to make the water drinkable. If eutrophication can happen in lakes like Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, than no lake is safe. When eutrophication become extreme the water isn't usable any more. To stop the eutrophication of our lakes we need to devise a better system to treat sewage so it can be reused or released back into the environment without a catastrophic reaction. Currently there are some new systems that take raw sewage and convert it into usable water through biological means. The plant takes the water and feeds it to various plants. The nutrients are taken from the waste and used to grow plants. The excess water becomes clean after a four day operation. This idea is like controlled eutrophication where the plants are feed the excess nutrients to get plant growth instead of algae growth. This has only be attempted on a small scale. In the future if this could be done on a large scale the plants that are feed the waste to clean the water could be used as a food source. This idea isn't very new, infact, it is millions of years old. Basically the new sewage plant is an artificial wetland.
There are many main cause of pollution, which come from many different ways are lakes are being polluted. (Lakes have been used as dumping grounds for refuse for centuries.) (Edward F. Dolan) An author said, ?Oceans are like humans, they can absorb small amounts of contaminants but get sick when it is too much to handle.? (Edward F. Dolan) Part of why are lakes and oceans are being so polluted, is that people didn?t realize the effect it would have in the future. Only know people are realizing how important it is to take care of lakes and oceans. (Another way of are lakes and oceans are getting polluted is traffic on water.) (Dick Hecock, president of the P.R.W. district) Besides running motors, worm containers/ bedding and broken tackle are thrown into are lakes and oceans. Humans are not the only thing that pollutes are lakes, natural has different ways of polluting are waters. ?Acid rain (snow sleet) comes from burning fossils fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) which give off sulfur and nitrogen dioxides that convert into sulfuric and nitric acids by the action of sunlight and moisture.? (Authors Name?) Oil Spills have a huge factor on are waters. (Between 10,000 and 16,000 oil spills take place in U.S. waters. Only the more serious spills are reported though.) (Edward F. Dolan) From the most visible pollution, floating objects, containers, cans, and ect. (A test moved more than 125 pounds of floating materials were collected in less than five hours.) (Ian Mcnutty) Another major factor are water runoffs. (Runoff comes from streets, rooftops, and parking lots which contain sewage, chemicals, and garbage that seeks into are lakes and oceans.) (Dick Hecock)




A wetland as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, "a lowland area, such as a marsh or swamp, that is saturated with moisture, especially when thought of as the natural habitat for wildlife." Wetlands perform a very important function in nature. First off they provide habitat for a high percentage of endangered and threatened species of plants and animals. The survival of the species depends upon the survival of the wetland. When wetlands are reduced the population of water foul, fish, and animals reduces drastically. Not only are they just a home for the animals, they serve as a purification system. Water moves slowly through the wetland and the soil and the plants pick up the nutrients and contaminants and clean the water. They serve as a large filter, dirty water passes into the wetland and clean water is the final result. Wetlands also serve as water retention and flood prevention areas. If there were no wetlands all the water that is in the wetlands and the rain and snow would flood into our cities and neighborhoods. All the excess water is held in the wetlands were it is purified and slowly dispersed. Wetland act as an erosion control along coastlines and prevent wind erosion. They also safeguard that the soil will keep its nutrients. Wetlands are economically important also. Over 95% of the fish and shellfish that the US commercial industry harvest are dependent on the wetlands. Sport fishermen spend large amounts of money on fishing equipment and licensees. Valuable timber is harvested from the many forested wetland. Fur bearing mammals and alligators are harvested in wetlands. The vegetation of the wetlands can also be harvested. The US hasn't taken advantage of this option yet, but other countries such as China do. As one can see there are countless reasons for the preservation of wetlands. Wetlands need to be protected and preserved for the future. Another type of water pollution is one most people don't really think about, runoff.



Rainfall, snowmelt and irrigation cleanse the surface of the Earth. Any pollutants that are on the ground will eventually come in contact with water. So what? The water is just cleaning the streets and everything it comes in contact with, right? Wrong, the water picks up everything that is in it's path. This can range from pieces of food to motor oil to fertilizer or any pollutants that might lie on the millions of roads and expressways of the US. Now the polluted water makes its down fall into the ground water, which intern ends up in nearby streams, rivers, and lakes. This means that any pollutant left on the ground will eventually end up as contamination of the water supply. We need this water to drink and we use the rivers and lakes as recreation. Water runoff presents a major problem.



Polluted water runoff is hard to calculate, but some attribute as high as 80% to runoff. Most people think that only the big companies are to blame for the poor quality of water, but that isn't so. The large companies are regulated by the Clean Water Act. There is no way to control the amount of pollution that is taken by water runoff. Police can not find everyone that has spread their old motor oil on their driveway to keep the dust down or keep track of how often people fertilize their lawn. This is much more difficult to detect and prevent. This comes down to each persons own values and environmental values. Each individual is responsable for their actions and there is no way to police that. The average person doesn't cause any large quantities of water pollution, it comes from an unlikely source.



Larger sources of runoff pollutants come from farms and pastures. On the farms all the excess fertilizer gets into the streams and ends up in the lakes. When the fertilizer reaches the lake or stream, it cause eutrophication to occur. This means that less fish can survive and the water will go from clear to cloudy. No one wants to swim in water that you can't see your feet in. Another problem farms present is the loss of soil and sediment in rivers. The precious soil is stolen by erosion and carried off in the rivers. The lose of the soil is bad enough, but the horrible part is that along with the soil goes all of the fertilizer, pesticides and herbicide used on the fields. In other words, any chemical put on the crops to prevent animals or bugs from eating them ends up in the water we drink. In the 1960's and 1970's the pesticide DDT was heavily used. This chemical was applied on the farms and runoff took it to the lakes. The plants absorbed the DDT and then the herbivores ate the plants. The carnivores ate the herbivores and the second carnivore(Humans or birds) eat them. As the DDT moves up the food chain it intensifies and the concentration is very dense by the time it reaches the carnivores. What goes on the farm ends up in our food, one way or the other.



On ranches the problem becomes the excess of excretion from the cattle.(25,000 cattle produce 300,000 gallons of waste a day) All of this urine and manure goes straight to the ground water and right back to the rivers and lakes. At least the human waste is sent to a sewage system, which does some good. This cattle waste is being sent straight to the water supply, untreated. In Oregon, Tallamook Bay is closed to oyster growing at certin times of the year, because of the high levels of contamination from the cattle. Where do we draw the line?



Polluted runoff is hard to control. Currently there are efforts being taken to stop polluted runoff from entering the water supply, but they are all on a voluntary basis. Most people will help, but what of the others? Legislation needs to be made to enforce what some will not do. Runoff water pollution is serious and it effects everyone. Thermal pollution is simmilar to runoff in the fact that no one ever gives it any thought.



Thermal pollution occurs when the water is heated up by power plants. Fossil fuel power plants, Neucular power plants and hydrolic dams heat the water. The industrial process requires large quanities of cooling water and water runnign through danm turbines is heated. After the water is heated, it is then discharged into lakes and rivers. Certin types of fish, animals, and plankton die if the water temperature is raised to much. Fish can't spwan when the water temperature is to high. If temperatures are hot enough the life in the water becomes minimal. Also, when the water is warmed, it promotes the growth of algae. With high concentratiuons of algae, the problem of eutrophication is introduced again. Neucular power plants cause thermal pollution, but they also cause radioactive waste. Little is known about radioactive waste, but it is know that small amounts of this material can destroy life in large quanities of water. There is one last source of pollution, toxic waste.



Toxic waste comes form a great variety of industrial plants. In mining opperations and many industrial processes heavy metals such as lead, copper, cadium, iron and others are released into the water. These heavy metals accumulate in fish and make them harmful to anything that eats them and to the fish itself. In pulp-mill paper production, a combination of organic waste and toxic waste combind to cause horriable effects. As mentioned before, DDT is a toxic waste that ravashises any environment it comes in contact with. PCB's are anothe rtoxic waste that are byproducts of many industrial processes. PCB's work in the same way as DDT by concentrating as it moves up the food chain until it is highly toxic by the time it reaches Humans and other animals high on the food chain.



Water is a necessity of life and it needs to be conserved and protected. >From all of the above pollutants, our water supply is in peril. If we value life as we know it, we need to change our way of life and look at water in a different way.

[إيليا]

[إيليا]

جرائم الشرف
Honor killing
An honor killing is a murder, nearly exclusively of a woman, who has been perceived as having brought dishonor to her family. Such killings are typically perpetrated by the victim's own relatives and/or community and unlike crimes of passion or rage-induced killings, usually planned in advance.

In societies and cultures where they occur, such killings are often regarded as a "private matter" for the affected family alone, and courts rarely become involved or prosecute the perpetrators.

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that the annual worldwide total of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000 women.
Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as follows:

Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a ***ual assault, seeking a divorce — even from an abusive husband — or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a specific way to "dishonor" her family, is sufficient to trigger an attack.[1]

For example, honor killings can sometimes target those who choose boyfriends, lovers or spouses outside of their family's ethnic and/or religious community. Some women who adopt the customs (or religion) of an outside group, may also be more likely to be victims.[2] Furthermore, in certain cultures a raped single woman will garner no bride price if she marries, and thus be considered "worthless" to the family. There is some evidence that homo***uality can also be grounds for honor killing by relatives. Several cases have been suspected but not confirmed. There is also a documented case of a gay Jordanian man who was shot (but not fatally) by his brother.[2]

Many hold the practice to be self-contradictory, since an honor killing is sometimes justified by its participants or supporters, as an attempt to uphold the morals of a religion or a code, which at the same time generally forbids killing as morally wrong.

Honor suicides occur when, in an effort to avoid legal penalties for killing, a woman is ordered or pressured into killing herself. This phenomenon appears to be a relatively recent development. A special envoy for the United Nations named Yakin Erturk, who was sent to Turkey to investigate suspicious suicides amongst Kurdish girls, was quoted by the New York Times as saying that some suicides appeared in Kurdish-inhabited regions of Turkey to be "honor killings disguised as a suicide or an accident."[3][4]

The historic practice of sati, or widow-burning, in parts of India and south Asia can be considered a form of honor suicide in those instances when (at least theoretically) the act is voluntary, with a deceased man's widow immolating herself on his funeral pyre as an act of pious devotion and to preserve her and her family's honor. The justifications for sati, as well as its actual prevalence and acceptance, are subject to much historical and religious debate, however

Honor killings, generally considered premeditated, are typically held to be distinct from crimes of passion, which occur throughout the world. Crimes of passion are different from honor killings, in the sense that they are spontaneous acts that are not planned. Indeed a crime of passion must not be premeditated and is treated as a type of temporary insanity. Furthermore, many honor killings (along with some crimes of passion) are based on sheer suspicion as opposed to (what appears to be) factual proof, in relation to the idea that an individual has committed or been involved in an "undesirable act", in the mind of the perpetrator(s).

As of 2004, honor killings have occurred at the hands of individuals within parts of various countries, such as Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel (within the Arab, Druze and Bedouin communities)[7], Italy, Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States. According to the UN:

"The report of the Special Rapporteur ... concerning cultural practices in the family that are violent towards women (E/CN.4/2002/83), indicated that honour killings had been reported in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Yemen, and other Mediterranean and Gulf countries, and that they had also taken place in such countries as France, Germany and the United Kingdom within migrant communities."

The practice of honor killing is over-whelmingly associated with certain Muslim cultures and the peoples influenced by those cultures.[8] Honor killings are more common among poor rural Muslim communities than urban ones. Arab Christians living within parts of the Near East, such as sections of Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, sometimes carry out the crime as well.[9] (citation to unbacked source) Many cases of honor killings have been reported in Pakistan. In December 2005, Nazir Afzal, director of Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, stated that the United Kingdom has seen "at least a dozen honor killings" between 2004 and 2005.[4]

In 2007, the Associated Press reported on an apparent honor killing in Jordan, when a father fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of being ***ually active despite a medical exam performed before her death that proved her virginity, according to a government forensic pathologist from Jordan's National Institute of Forensic Medicine.[5] [6] Previously, the young woman had apparently "run away from home several times for unknown reasons." She returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors "vouched for her virginity" and her father signed a pledge not to harm her. The pathologist reported that an autopsy also demonstrated her virginity.

On May 18, 2007, four Yazidi men were arrested for killing 17-year-old Du’a Khalil Aswad in Bashiqa, Iraq for being seen with a Sunni Muslim .[7] The attack was recorded on a cell phone camera and broadcast around the world, bringing international attention to practice of honor killing.


قصة سندريلا
Cinderella
Cinderella is a popular fairy tale embodying a classic folk tale myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known around the world.

Once upon a time... there lived an unhappy young girl. Unhappy she was, for her mother was dead, her father had married another woman, a widow with two daughters, and her stepmother didn't like her one little bit. All the nice things, kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. And not just the kind thoughts and love, but also dresses, shoes, shawls, delicious food, comfy beds, as well as every home comfort. All this was laid on for her daughters. But, for the poor unhappy girl, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters' hand-me-downs. No lovely dishes, nothing but scraps. No nice rests and comfort. For she had to work hard all day, and only when evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. That is how she got her nickname, for everybody called her Cinderella.Cinderella used to spend long hours all alone talking to the cat. The cat said, "Miaow", which really meant, "Cheer up! You have something neither of your stepsisters have and that is beauty."
Cinderella sighed at the cat, "Oh dear, I'm so unhappy!" and the cat murmured "Miaow".
Suddenly something amazing happened. In the kitchen, where Cinderella was sitting all by herself, there was a burst of light and a fairy appeared. "Don't be alarmed, Cinderella," said the fairy. "The wind blew me your sighs. I know you would love to go to the ball. And so you shall!"
"How can I, dressed in rags?" Cinderella replied. "The servants will turn me away!"
The fairy smiled. With a flick of her magic wand... Cinderella found herself wearing the most beautiful dress, the loveliest ever seen in the realm. "Now that we have settled the matter of the dress," said the fairy, "we'll need to get you a coach. A real lady would never go to a ball on foot! Quick! Get me a pumpkin!" she ordered.

"Oh of course," said Cinderella, rushing away. Then the fairy turned to the cat. "You, bring me seven mice!"

"Seven mice!" said the cat. "I didn't know fairies ate mice too!"

"They're not for eating, silly! Do as you are told!... and, remember they must be alive!"

Cinderella soon returned with a fine pumpkin and the cat with seven mice he had caught in the cellar. "Good!" exclaimed the fairy. With a flick of her magic wand... wonder of wonders! The pumpkin turned into a sparkling coach and the mice became six white horses, while the seventh mouse turned into a coachman, in a smart uniform and carrying a whip. Cinderella could hardly believe her eyes.
"I shall present you at Court. You will soon see that the Prince, in whose honour the ball is being held, will be enchanted by your loveliness. But remember! You must leave the ball at midnight and come home. For that is when the spell ends. Your coach will turn back into a pumpkin, the horses will become mice again and the coachman will turn back into a mouse... and you will be dressed again in rags and wearing clogs instead of these dainty little slippers! Do you understand?" Cinderella smiled and said, "Yes, I understand!"

When Cinderella entered the ballroom at the palace, a hush fell. Everyone stopped in mid-sentence to admire her elegance, her beauty and grace. "Who can that be?" people asked each other. The two stepsisters also wondered who the newcomer was, for never in a month of Sundays, would they ever have guessed that the beautiful girl was really poor Cinderella who talked to the cat!

When the prince set eyes on Cinderella, he was struck by her beauty. Walking over to her, he bowed deeply and asked her to dance. And to the great disappointment of all the young ladies, he danced with Cinderella all evening. "Who are you, fair maiden?" the Prince kept asking her.
But Cinderella only replied: "What does it matter who I am! You will never see me again anyway."

"Oh, but I shall, I'm quite certain!" he replied.

Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball... But, all of a sudden, she heard the sound of a clock: the first stroke of midnight! She remembered what the fairy had said, and without a word of goobye she slipped from the Prince's arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound... oh... what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into the night.

The Prince, who was now madly in love with her, picked up her slipper and said to his ministers, "Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this slipper fits. I will never be content until I find her!" So the ministers tried the slipper on the foot of all the girls... and on Cinderella's foot as well... Surprise! The slipper fitted perfectly.

"That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the ball," snapped the stepmother. "Tell the Prince he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can't you see how ugly Cinderella is! Can't you see?"

Suddenly she broke off, for the fairy had appeared. "That's enough!" she exclaimed, raising her magic wand.

In a flash, Cinderella appeared in a splendid dress,shining with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and stepsisters gaped at her in amazement, and the ministers said, "Come with us, fair maiden! The Prince awaits to present you with his engagement ring!" So Cinderella joyfully went with them, and lived happily ever after with her Prince.

And as for the cat, he just said "Miaow"!

The End

[إيليا]

التفرقة العنصرية
Racism
Because racism carries connotations of race-based bigotry, prejudice, violence, oppression, stereotyping or discrimination, the term has varying and often hotly contested definitions. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another race or races. The Merriam-Webster's Webster's Dictionary dictionary defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, and that it is also the prejudice based on such a belief.[1] The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism thus: the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others.

As an ideology, racism first appeared during Early modern Europe in Spain during the Reconquista,[citation needed] and then during the 19th century, where "scientific racism" ideologies, which attempted to provide a racial classification of humanity, became very common[citation needed]. Although such racist ideologies have been widely discredited after World War II and the Holocaust, the phenomena of racism and of racial discrimination have remained widespread all over the world.

Racism has been a motivating factor in social discrimination, racial segregation, hate speech and violence (such as pogroms, genocides and ethnic cleansings). Despite the persistence of racial stereotypes, humor and epithets in much everyday language, racial discrimination is illegal in many countries. Some politicians have practiced race baiting in an attempt to win votes.
In practice, racism takes forms such as racial prejudice, segregation or subordination (subjugation). Racism can more narrowly refer to a legalized system of domination by one ethnic group over another, such as in institutional racism. Racial prejudice refers to a pre-formed notion of individuals based on their perceived racial heritage. It involves hasty generalizations about members of a group based on the perceived characteristics of one or more members of the group. Generalizations include beliefs that every member of a group has the same personality traits, interests, language, culture, ideas, norms and attitudes. Racial prejudices are sometimes promoted by the mainstream media. Racism has started wars and slavery. It is, however, interesting to note, that racism can be so influential, that even the victim can learn to hate his own group, thus we see what is called "self hatred" which leads to many in the oppressed group oppressing themselves and thoughts of freedom. Once the physical chains are removed, the mental chains may still remain.

Organizations and institutions that put racism into action discriminate against and marginalize a class of people who share a common racial designation. The term racism is usually applied to the dominant group in a society, because it is that group which has the means to oppress others.

Racism can be both overt and covert. Individual racism sometimes consists of overt acts by individuals, which can result in violence or the destruction of property. Institutional racism is often more covert and subtle. It often appears within the operation of established and respected forces in the society, and frequently receives less public condemnation than the overt type.
In the late 20th century, the notion of "biological race," popularized by scientific racism theories spawned in the 19th century, has been challenged by geneticists and biologists. The latter have demonstrated that it is not possible to divide humanity into several, strictly delimited, populations called "races" (for example, in Blacks, Whites and Asians, or "Negroid", "Caucasoid" or "Mongoloid"). Modern genetics have proved that there are no genes which are specifics to only Blacks, or only Whites, etc.[2] Furthermore, they show that intra-group differences exceed inter-group differences: members from the same geographical population may biologically differ more than members from geographically separate populations (blood types differences are one popularly known example).[2]

Thus, race has been redefined as a social construction embedded in history, tradition and self-perception and perception of others. This social meaning is constructed by a variety of means, among which judicial means

الرومانسية في حيانتا
Romance
Ah, romance, that wonderful and exciting feeling, that most glorious intertwining of two hearts. So intense, such a high, but so fleeting, and so often for so many once gone never to return. But does it have to be that way? Can we intentionally create and sustain more romance in our lives?

Most folks profess to want more romance in their lives. Indeed, for some, romance is a goal unto itself, or at least high on the list of goals for their love relationships.

But if having romance in our committed love relationships is a highly prized goal, and if so many people want more of it in their lives, how can we create, cultivate, and encourage it? What concrete steps can we take to make sure that romance takes seed and flourishes?

The purpose of this article is to explore the idea that romance begins in your heart-center and grows outward, and is, to some significant degree, a reflection of how you feel about yourself. In other words, by romancing yourself first you can create the conditions that allow you to experience and express romance with another more easily.

Listen: your capacity to love and accept yourself is the measure of your capacity to love and accept others. The same can be said for romance: your ability and willingness to create romance within is the measure of the romance you can help create in a committed loving relationship.

True romance isn’t just about flowers and poems. Flowers and poems are great, of course, but are really just an extension of a feeling that comes from within, something that starts in, and flows from, the heart. Without that heart-felt feeling, flowers and poems are but an attempt be to romantic, not an expression of true romance.

So how do you create more romance in your life? Begin by romancing yourself. Love, accept, and forgive yourself on a deep level. Treat yourself with respect and understanding. Buy yourself flowers. Write yourself a poem. Treat yourself with respect and dignity. And remember: if you don’t love yourself first, you can’t truly love another.

And remember that it is far more important to be the right person than to find the right person. Our relationships are a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves. Romance, too, is a reflection of that inner state. By first creating romance within, you’ll be well on your way to creating more romance in your life.

[إيليا]

الحمل والمشاكل الصحية المصاحبة للحمل
Pregnancy symptoms
During pregnancy a woman's body undergoes a number of changes to allow the fetus to develop inside the womb. These changes can cause various symptoms, but these are not usually serious and tend to disappear without any treatment during pregnancy or soon after the birth.

Nausea and vomiting
Widely known as morning sickness, feeling or being sick during pregnancy normally occurs from about the sixth until the fourteenth week of pregnancy. However it can start as early as the first missed menstrual period and continue until later into the pregnancy. Although the name suggests nausea and vomiting occur only in the morning, they often occur throughout the day.

The exact cause is unknown, but it is thought to be linked to hormone changes. It is rare for vomiting to cause a serious medical problem.

Nausea and vomiting usually stops by about week 14 of pregnancy, without the need for any medical treatment. There is evidence that taking ginger capsules can help. Ginger tea or ginger biscuits may also be helpful. Some women find that eating dry crackers before getting out of bed in the morning can be effective.

Any woman with severe sickness that does not stop should seek medical advice. Severe vomiting can interfere with nutrition and can cause dehydration. The medical term for it is hyperemesis gravidarum, and it may require hospital treatment.

Urinary symptoms
In the first three months of pregnancy, many women find that they need to pass water more often than normal. This is a result of hormonal changes, and because the enlarging womb pushes on the bladder resulting in a smaller bladder capacity. This frequent need to urinate is also common in the four weeks before the birth, as the baby's head enters the pelvis and further presses on the bladder.

During the rest of pregnancy, there is an increased risk of developing a urinary infection. This is because hormones and the enlarging uterus can slow the passage of urine out of the body.

To help prevent urinary infections, women should drink plenty of fluids and not delay when they get the urge to pass water. Drinking cranberry juice may also help.

If a urinary infection is not treated, it may spread upwards to the kidneys and damage them, so it is important not to ignore any pain or burning sensation on passing water. If the symptoms continue, a doctor may need to prescribe antibiotics.

Fatigue
Extreme tiredness is very common in pregnancy, especially during the first 12-15 weeks, because the woman's body is under extra strain.

To help cope with this, women may want to take naps whenever possible, and try to go to bed earlier.

Extreme fatigue can sometimes be a symptom of anaemia. Any woman who is worried about this should speak to her doctor, midwife or obstetrician.

Constipation
Constipation is common in pregnancy for several reasons. Hormone changes slow the passage of food through the gut, while the growing uterus can put pressure on the rectum. Iron supplements, often given to prevent or treat anaemia in pregnancy, can also make constipation worse.

Drinking at least six to eight glasses of water per day, and eating a diet rich in fresh fruit and wholegrain foods can help prevent or relieve constipation. For more information on diet during pregnancy, please see the separate factsheet on Antenatal care.

Breast soreness
Sensitive, tender or sore breasts are commonly one of the first signs of pregnancy. This usually improves after the first trimester. Wearing a comfortable, supportive maternity bra should help.

Itchy skin
About 20% of pregnant women get some kind of skin itchiness. When this occurs over the abdomen, it is probably caused by the skin stretching. But it's also common to have itchy palms and soles of the feet, which is thought to be caused by increased hormone levels.

Itchiness can usually be relieved by applying a simple moisturiser such as aqueous cream, which is available inexpensively from pharmacies.

In rare cases, generalised itchiness in the third trimester can be a sign of a liver problem called obstetric cholestasis. Any woman with widespread itching should consult her GP or obstetrician.

Backache
Backache can occur in pregnancy owing to the increasing size and weight of the womb and the breasts, and because pregnancy hormones loosen the ligaments that attach the spine to the pelvic bone.

Backache may be relieved by resting, having warm baths, or massage. If pain is severe, a doctor may prescribe painkillers (such as paracetamol) that are safe to take in pregnancy.

Leg cramps
Leg cramps can occur during pregnancy. The exact cause of these is unknown, but doctors think they may be related to changes in the blood circulation in the legs, and the extra weight being carried. Leg cramps are most likely to happen in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

Leg cramps may be relieved by stretching, walking, warm baths and massage.

Swollen ankles
Swelling (oedema) can affect the extremities, especially the ankles and toes, often later in pregnancy. The swelling happens when the enlarged womb presses on the veins that come up from the legs, leading to accumulation of fluid around the ankles.

Swollen ankles may be relieved by elevating them when sitting, wearing waist-high support tights and exercising.

Pins and needles
Pins and needles, especially in the hands, can be accompanied by some pain or numbness and occasionally weakness in the fingers. Usually this is caused by fluid build-up around the wrists, which compresses the nerves that run to the hand muscles and skin. This is known as carpal tunnel syndrome and tends to occur when there is also swelling in the ankles. For more information, please see the separate BUPA factsheet on Carpal tunnel syndrome.

If finger pain or numbness is an ongoing problem, a doctor may suggest wearing a moulded wrist splint, especially at night.

Varicose veins
These are enlarged veins, usually in the legs. They often develop or become worse during pregnancy because the growing uterus puts extra pressure on the veins in the pelvis and legs, and because hormones cause the walls of blood vessels to relax.

Pregnant women can help to relieve the symptoms or reduce the risk of getting varicose veins by getting regular gentle exercise, not crossing their legs when sitting, putting their feet up when possible, and putting on support tights or stockings before getting out of bed in the morning.

Varicose veins often improve or disappear after the baby is born. For more information, see the separate factsheet on Varicose veins.

Piles
Piles (haemorrhoids) may first appear or become worse during pregnancy and result from changes in the circulation of blood around the pregnant woman's body. They may also develop during labour when the woman is pushing.

Women can reduce the risk of getting piles by making sure they don't become constipated, and not ignoring the urge to open their bowels. Piles can be relieved with over-the-counter creams, available from pharmacies. Taking warm baths is helpful for some women.

Like varicose veins, piles often improve or disappear completely after the baby is born, but occasionally surgery is needed. For more information, please see the separate factsheet on Piles.

Medical problems
The symptoms described so far are common in a normal pregnancy and generally clear-up without medical treatment. However, there are a number of less common pregnancy-related conditions that may need medical treatment. For more information, please see the separate factsheets on Anaemia, Pre-eclampsia, DVT and Diabetes in pregnancy.

Identifying problems
Pregnant women should attend regular antenatal appointments so that any problems with the pregnancy are picked up. The GP, midwife or obstetrician will ask about any symptoms, and conduct a number of tests. These include:

monitoring blood pressure
monitoring weight, which can increase more than expected if a woman retains a lot of fluid
taking a urine sample - a simple dipstick can immediately indicate any sugar, protein or blood in the sample, which can help identify an infection
a blood test, which is taken at the start of pregnancy and then as required during pregnancy to check for anaemia
For more information please see the factsheet Tests in pregnancy.

Any woman who is worried about her symptoms can seek advice from her antenatal care provider at any time.


مرض البوليما والأنوركسيا
What are anorexia and bulimia?
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two main eating disorders. People with anorexia have extreme weight loss as a result of very strict dieting. Some people may also make themselves sick, abuse laxatives or do excessive exercise to try and lose weight. In spite of this extreme weight loss, people with anorexia believe they are fat and are terrified of becoming what is in fact a normal weight or shape. About four out of ten people with fully established anorexia make a full recovery, and others improve. Only about three in ten continue to have major long-term illness. Untreated, about 15 per cent of all sufferers will die from the disorder within 20 years of its onset.

People with bulimia nervosa crave food and binge eat, though they are not emaciated. Afterwards they make themselves sick or misuse laxatives to get the food out of their bodies. Sufferers are very afraid of becoming fat.
Who has anorexia or bulimia?

Anorexia nervosa most commonly starts in the mid-teens. About one in a hundred 16 to 18 year olds has the illness. It is much more common in girls. Bulimia nervosa usually starts when people are a little older, but is again more common in girls. Bulimia is more common than anorexia, although people with anorexia in particular do not always ask for treatment.

Occasionally men develop eating disorders, but anorexia nervosa is rare. Male development in puberty is very different from that of females. Related bodily concerns are different and less often lead to the extremes of dieting which commonly precede anorexia nervosa.

What causes eating disorders?
Eating disorders may develop partly in response to difficult life experiences such as abuse or social pressures arising in puberty and in growing up. They are also more common in cultures where it is considered desirable to be slim. Genetic factors seem to be important, especially in anorexia. Sometimes people with an eating disorder are depressed, and they may have obsessions.

What treatments are available?
Mental health professionals need a variety of skills to treat people with eating disorders. A doctor can help diagnose the illness and any associated physical problems resulting from it. In both anorexia nervosa and bulimia, self-help strategies can be very helpful. If this approach does not work, health professionals may suggest a course of psychotherapy. If someone has lost a dangerous amount of weight, the first step will be to help the person start to regain that weight in order to survive. Some people with anorexia may need to be admitted to hospital and the nursing staff has an important role in supporting the patient in the early stages of treatment. Psychological and psychotherapy skills are also necessary at this acute stage, so that the mental health team can begin to understand why the illness developed and how to help the person to overcome it.

In anorexia, this talking treatment will involve the individual with the illness and sometimes other family members. The long-term aim will be to help that person change their attitude, behaviour and ways of thinking, and enable them to cope with the strains of life without the illness as a protection. Shorter-term expert talking treatments and also specific cognitive behavioural treatments are often effective with bulimia nervosa.

What can society do?
We can strive better to understand the distress that underlies and drives these disorders. We can provide access to such information and develop health promotion campaigns aimed at teenagers and young people. Information on how to cope with feelings and fears about growth or about being too fat is useful. We can offer more support in secondary schools and user-friendly services for troubled teenagers.



تعدد زيجات الرسول صلي الله عليةواله وسلم
The several marriages that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) contracted have been much misunderstood and subjected to derogatory remarks beyond all limits of justice and decency. Notwithstanding the fact, that the institution of polygamy existed before the advent of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and a majority of Biblical prophets were polygamous, our critics single him out "heaping abuses, calumny and derogatory epithets, upon him." 1 The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) contracted a number of marriages after the age of fifty-three. The accusation of being licentious is nothing but a product of their own fertile imagination. Dr. Besant refutes this assertion: "But do you mean to tell me that the man who in the full flush of youthful vigour, a young man of four and twenty (24), married a woman much his senior, and remained faithful to her for six and twenty years (26), at fifty years of age when the passions are dying married for lust and ***ual passion? Not thus are men's lives to be judged. And you look at the women whom he married, you will find that by every one of them an alliance was made for his people, or something was gained for his followers, or the woman was in sore need of protection." 2

The famous author of the book called "Mohammad and Mohammedanism", Bosworth Smith explains: "It should be remembered, however, that most of Mohammad's marriages may be explained at least, as much by his pity for the forlorn condition of the persons concerned as by other motives. They were almost all of them with widow who were not remarkable either for their beauty or their wealth, but quite the reverse." 3 The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) contracted marriages either for the protection of the females whose husbands had died for the cause of Islam or for cementing the bonds of love with those who could by their position and influence be of service to Islam or for the benefit of humanity at large. "In every single case it was a personal sacrifice on the part of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to have contracted the marriage, or circumstances obliged him to do so whilst there was as yet no law limiting the number of wives." 4 The ladies who married the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did so of their own volition. None of them was forced into marriage.

The youthful days of the Prophet prior to the beginning of revelation, "were free from every blemish; neither his worst enemies during his life nor the mud-slinging critics of the later times have ever been able to find the slightest fault with this critical period of his life. His veracity, chastity, innocence and pureness of heart were proverbial for he never indulged in anything unbecoming of a true should youth like him." 5 From twenty-five years up to the age of fifty he remained with a wife older than him. During this period of his age he remained devoted to his wife and even after her death he remembered her with love and compassion." 6

It is narrated on the authority of Jabir ibn Abdullah that Abu Jahl and some of the chiefs of the Quraish approached the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: "If you are anxious for leadership, we are prepared to declare you our leader, if you need riches we would collect for you an enormous amount of wealth that will suffice not only for you but even for your descendants; if you are impelled by ***ual urge, you may chose ten beautiful damsels out of the whole tribe of Quraish. The Holy Prophet kept silent and did not utter a word. When their talks concluded, the Holy Prophet recited the following verse of the Qur'an : "Beneficent God! A revelation from the Beneficent, the Merciful : A Book of which the verses are made plain, an Arabic Qur'an for a people who know – good news and a warning. But most of them turn away, so they hearken not" (41 : 1.4).

The Holy Prophet concluded his reply on the verse : "Then if they turn away, then say: I warn you of a scourge like the scourge of 'Ad and Thamud, (41 : 13)." 7 This solitary event is enough to refute the charge of licentiousness. The worldly pleasures had no significance for him. "His was a life of perfect sublimity and single-minded devotion to Allah, absolutely free from the taints of base desires." 8

A Western biographer of the Holy Prophet pin-points the common weakness of the occidentals who try to bring in a verdict on the marriages of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him): "Muhammad's married life must not be looked at from an occidental point of view or from that set by Christian conventions. These men and women were not occidentals and they were not Christians. They were living at a period and in a country where the only known ethical standards were theirs. Even so, there is no reason why the codes of America and Europe should be considered superior to those of the Arabs. The people of the West have many things to give to the people of the East. They have much to glean, too, and until they can prove that their way of living is on a higher moral standard than any body else's, they should reserve judgements on other creeds and castes and countries." 9

The Holy Prophet lived a simple and modest life. Being the Head of State, the Chief Justice, the Commander-in-Chief, the instructor etc., he was the most busiest man of his time, still he spent considerable part of his nights in prayers and meditation.10 His furniture was simple (i.e. mats, jugs, blankets etc.). His life was so simple that his wives did not have worldly comforts. Could this be a life of a lustful and passionate man? At the advent of Islam in Arabia the practice of polygamy was common and deeply rooted in the social life." 11 He contracted various marriages in accordance with the custom of the country.

The limitation of the number of wives was fixed at the end of the eighth year of Hijrah and the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) had married all his wives before that period. He was commanded by Allah to keep those whom he had already married but was forbidden to marry any more.12 The Quranic verse, "It is not allowed to take wives after this, (33 : 52) implies that the Holy Prophet, like all his other acts contracted those marriages perfectly in accordance with the will of the Lord. There was a divine purpose behind them and when it was achieved a restriction was placed upon him." 13

The above facts clearly belie the wrong notions that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) contracted these marriages in response to physical needs or biological pressures. Those who doubt moral integrity or spiritual excellence of our Prophet, (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) should answer questions such as: "Why did he start his first marriage at the age of 25 years after having had no association with any female? Why did he choose a twice-widowed older lady who was 15 years senior to him? Why did he remain with her until her death when he was over fifty? Why did he accept all those helpless widows and divorcees who possessed no particular appealing qualities? Why did he lead such an austere and hard life, when he could have had an easy and comfortable course? Why did he con-contract most of his marriages in the busiest five years of his life, when his mission and career were at stake? How could he manage to be what he was, if the harem life or passions overtook him

[إيليا]

الأتكيت
Etiquette, one aspect of decorum, is a code that governs the expectations of social behavior, according to the conventional norm within a society, social class, or group. Usually unwritten, it may be codified in written form. Etiquette usually reflects formulas of conduct in which society or tradition have invested. An etiquette may reflect an underlying ethical code, or in may grow more as a fashion, as in eighteenth century Britain where apparently pointless acts like the manner in which a tea cup was held became important as indicators of upper class status. Like "culture", it is a word that has gradually grown plural, especially in a multi-ethnic society with many clashing expectations. Thus, it is now possible to refer to "an etiquette" or "a culture", realizing that these may not be universal. In Britain, though, the word etiquette has its roots in the eighteenth century, becoming a universal force in the nineteenth century to the extent that it has been described as the one word that aptly describes life during the reign of Queen Victoria

Etiquette fundamentally prescribes and restricts the ways in which people interact with each other, and show their respect for other people by conforming to the norms of society.

Modern etiquette instructs people to greet friends and acquaintances with warmth and respect, refrain from insults and prying curiosity, offer hospitality equally and generously to guests, wear clothing suited to the occasion, contribute to conversations without dominating them, offer assistance to those in need, eat neatly and quietly, avoid disturbing others with unnecessary noise, follow the established rules of an organization upon becoming a member, arrive promptly when expected, comfort the bereaved, and respond to invitations promptly.

By way of contrast, Roman etiquette varied by class. In the upper strata of Roman society, etiquette would have instructed a man to: greet friends and acquaintances with decorum, according to their rank, refrain from showing emotions in public, keep his womenfolk secluded from his clients, support his family's position with public munificence, and so on.

Violations of etiquette, if severe, can cause public disgrace, and in private hurt individual feelings, create misunderstandings or real grief and pain, and can even escalate into murderous rage. Many family feuds have their beginnings in trivial etiquette violations that were blown out of proportion. In the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, the entire world-destroying conflict between the armies of two clans begins when one ruler, Duryodhana, commits a couple of minor faux pas at his cousin's castle, and is impolitely made fun of for it. One can reasonably view etiquette as the minimal politics required to avoid major conflict in polite society, and as such, an important aspect of applied ethics.

In the West, the notion of etiquette, being of French origin and arising from practices at the court of Louis XIV, is occasionally disparaged as old-fashioned or elite, a code concerned only with "which fork to use". Some people consider etiquette to be an unnecessary restriction of freedom of personal expression; others consider such free spirits to be unmannerly and rude. For instance, wearing pajamas to a wedding in a cathedral may be an expression of the guest's freedom, but may also cause the bride and groom to suspect that the guest in pajamas is expressing amusement or disparagement towards them and their wedding. Etiquette may be enforced in pragmatic ways: "No shoes, no shirt, no service" is a notice commonly displayed outside stores and cafés in the warmer parts of North America. Others feel that a single, basic code shared by all makes life simpler and more pleasant by removing many chances for misunderstandings.
Manners involve a wide range of social interactions within cultural norms as in the "comedy of manners", or a painter's characteristic "manner". Etiquette and manners, like mythology, have buried histories especially when they seem to have little obvious purpose, and their justifications as logical ("respect shown to others" etc.) may be equally revealing to the social historian.

Etiquette is dependent on culture; what is excellent etiquette in one society may shock in another. Etiquette evolves within culture. The Dutch painter Andries Both shows that the hunt for head lice (illustration, right), which had been a civilized grooming occupation in the early Middle Ages, a bonding experience that reinforced the comparative rank of two people, one groomed, one groomer, had become a peasant occupation by 1630. The painter portrays the familiar operation matter-of-factly, without the sarcasm this subject would have received in a nineteenth-century representation.

Etiquette can vary widely between different cultures and nations. In China, a person who takes the last item of food from a common plate or bowl without first offering it to others at the table may be seen as a glutton and insulting the generosity of the host. Similarly, amongst older Australian women, a woman who takes the last item of food is called the old spinster, whilst in most European cultures a guest is expected to eat all of the food given to them, as a compliment to the quality of the cooking.

Etiquette is a topic that has occupied writers and thinkers in all sophisticated societies for millennia, beginning with a behavior code by Ptahhotep, a vizier in ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom during the reign of the Fifth Dynasty king Djedkare Isesi (ca. 2414–2375 B.C.). All known literate civilizations, including ancient Greece and Rome, developed rules for proper social conduct. Confucius included rules for eating and speaking along with his more philosophical sayings. Early modern conceptions of what behavior identifies a "gentleman" were codified in the sixteenth century, in a book by Baldassare Castiglione, Il Cortegiano ("The Courtier"); its codification of expectations at the Este court remained in force in its essentials until World War I. Louis XIV established an elaborate and rigid court ceremony, but distinguished himself from the high bourgeoisie by continuing to eat, stylishly and fastidiously, with his fingers. An important book about etiquette is Galateo, overo de' costumi by Monsignor Giovanni della Casa; in fact, in Italian, etiquette is generally called galateo (or etichetta or protocollo).

In the American colonies Benjamin Franklin and George Washington wrote codes of conduct for young gentlemen. The immense popularity of advice columns and books by Letitia Baldrige and Miss Manners shows the currency of this topic. Even more recently, the rise of the Internet has necessitated the adaptation of existing rules of conduct to create Netiquette, which governs the drafting of email, rules for participating in online fora, and so on.

In Germany, there is an "unofficial" code of conduct, called the Knigge a book of high rules of conduct written by Adolph Freiherr Knigge in the late 18th century entitled exactly Über den Umgang mit Menschen (On Human Relations). The code of conduct is still highly respected in Germany still today and is used primarly in the higher society.

Etiquette may be wielded as a social weapon. The outward adoption of the superficial mannerisms of an in-group, in the interests of social advancement rather than a concern for others, is a form of snobbism, lacking in virtue.


أنتشار الأمراض النفسية والأنتحار
Suicide is more widespread than you think
Maybe you know someone who committed suicide, and maybe not, but teen suicide is a serious issue that hopefully you can help prevent!

Fact 1:
It is the third leading cause of death among teenagers — almost 2,000 teens kill themselves each year.

Fact 2:
Many teens attempt suicide. A recent survey of high-school students found that:

Almost 1 in 5 had seriously considered attempting suicide;
More than 1 in 6 had made plans to attempt suicide; and
More than 1 in 12 had made a suicide attempt in the past year. (By the way, this means that in a class of 25 students it is likely that at least two have tried to kill themselves!)
Fact 3:
Female teens are much more likely to attempt suicide than males, but male teens are four times more likely to actually kill themselves.

Fact 4:
Over sixty-percent of teens who kill themselves use guns.

Fact 5:
About 877,000 people die by suicide every year.

Fact 6:

For every completed suicide, an estimated 8-25 attempts occur.

Fact 7:
Over 3 million youth are at risk for suicide, yet only 36% receive treatment

Mental illnesses including anxiety disorders and depression are common and under-treated in many developed and developing countries, with the highest rate found in the United States, according to a study of 14 countries.

Based on face-to-face diagnostic surveys in the homes of 60,463 adults, the study found that mental ailments affect more than 10 percent of people queried in more than half the countries surveyed.

Rates ranged from 26.4 percent of people in the United States to 8.2 percent of people in Italy. While Nigerians appeared to have the lowest prevalence of mental illness — 4.7 percent — the researchers think the actual number is likely much higher since residents of the violence-prone West African nation may be hesitant to confide in strangers.

[إيليا]

فضل رعاية اليتم وفضل الصدقة والصلاة والنوافل
Charity, preached by every religion of the world, is a way of bringing justice to society. And justice is the essence of religion, Islam has therefore made charity that is Zakah, obligatory and binding upon all those who embrace the faith; it has been made into an institution in order to give in permanence and regularity.
A society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth to fulfil their own desires but reserve a portion of it for parents, relatives, neighbors, the poor and the debilitated. As the saying goes: Charity begins at home. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of his family, to assist other people in need of his help.

Thus the spirit of kindness and well wishing is the essence of charity. The giver is not to expect any reward from the beneficiary as there awaits for him an abundant reward from God - material, moral and spiritual - what God deems it best to confer on His servant.

Charity should be lawfully earned or acquired by the giver. It should include such things as are of use and value to others.

"Charity is for those in need." This is general principle which enjoins us to help people in need, be they good or bad, on the right path or not, Muslims or non-Muslims. No one should judge in these matters. The foremost ends in charity should be God's pleasure and our own spiritual good. The concept of charity in Islam is thus linked with justice. It is not limited to the redressal of grievances. It implies apart from the removal of handicaps, the recognition of the right that every human being has to attain the fullness of life.
The spirit of helping others to earn God's pleasure is best reflected in Muslim society in the field of education. The greatest charity for a Muslim is to learn something and then teach it to other Muslims in large numbers. Thus Muslims have devoted themselves to other's education generation after generation. Knowledge is the most wonderful thing in the whole universe. That is why there is nothing greater then knowledge being imparted by one human being to another. Muslims on a large scale have engaged themselves in receiving education and imparting it to others, individually as well as by establishing maktabs and madrasas, that is, primary schools and Colleges. These educational institutions established in the house of the teachers or in separate buildings, generally made no charges for instruction. During the medieval period, these madrasas flourished in tens of thousands throughout the Muslim world. The wealthy people helped in running these madrasas, not only though Zakah, but also by making endowments (wakf), of their properties as these madrasas. The income from these properties met the needs of these schools. The orphans and poor people were given stipends over and above free board and lodging.

Prayer and supplication -1

Prayer means "calling on, addressing, making a fervent request, asking for help." In the Qur'an, prayer is also described as "turning to Allah with all one's soul" or the "acknowledgement of one's weaknesses and limited power before Allah's infinite might, and asking for help from Him." (Yahya, 2005)

As for supplication, it is the basis of worship of God and servitude to Him. In order to secure a desire or wish he cannot obtain, a child will either cry or ask for it, that is, he will supplicate through the tongue of his impotence either actively or verbally, and will be successful in securing it. In the same way, man is like a delicate, petted child in the world of all living creatures. He has to either weep at the Court of the Most Merciful and Compassionate One through his weakness and impotence, or supplicate through his poverty and need, so that the things he wants may be made subject to him, or he may offer thanks for their being made so. Otherwise like a silly child who creates a fuss over a fly, saying:"With my own strength I subjugate things it is not possible to subjugate and things a thousand times more powerful, and I make them obey me through my own ideas and measures," he displays ingratitude for the bounties. And just as this is contrary to man's innate nature, so too he makes himself deserving of severe punishment (Nursi)

In one verse from Quran, Allah directly addresses "And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me that they may walk in the right way. (Bakara 2, 186)"

There are many hadith (Prophet Muhammad 's sayings) on prayer and supplication Once he said: Allah loves those who insist on praying (Kenzû'l-irfân), "Praying is worshipping itself" , "(Especially)Three prays are not rejected:
The praying of the mazlum (opressed)
The praying of the guest
The praying of the father to the child."

Prophet Muhammed also said (pbuh)
"The dua can change our life, our outlook, and our fate. It is the most potent weapon of a believer."

The most important aspect, the most beautiful aim, the sweetest fruit of this is this: “The one who offers the supplications knows that there is Someone Who hears the wishes of his heart, Whose hand can reach all things, Who can bring about each of his desires, Who takes pity on his impotence, and answers his poverty.” (Said Nursi)

According to the Qur'an, prayer cannot be confined to any particular time and place. Because the wishes and needs of people never abate, their prayers never end. That is, prayer has no time limitations.
However the Qur'an mentions when are the best times to pray, such as the nighttime and the morning prayers, when one distances himself from daily tasks in order to concentrate on prayer. One verse stresses the importance of the dawn prayer: "... those who seek forgiveness before dawn." (Surah Al Imran: 17)

In recent years there has been some controversy on the issue of fostering and adoption. Confusion has prevailed as to the exact do’s and do not’s for Muslims that wish to foster.



A brief study of the subject may enlighten us as to the true nature of this matter. This article is designed to give the community a better understanding of the issue so that more people may get involved in this noble responsibility.

The most famous orphan in Islamic culture is, without doubt, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. His father died before he was born and by the time he was eight he had lost both his mother and the grandfather who named him. He was subsequently raised by his uncle Abu Talib who continued to be his protector until his own death, when Muhammad was an adult of almost fifty years of age.

When Muhammad's wife Khadijah gave to him a slave named Zaid, Muhammad freed the boy and raised him as if he were his own son. The importance of taking homeless children to care for them is well-established in Islam.

The Islam form of "adoption" is called kafâla, which literally means sponsorship, but comes from the root word meaning "to feed." It is best translated as "foster parenting."’

As can be seen, foster care is well established in Islam as a means of providing care to children. Fostering allows a child to benefit from the care of a good home, while at the same time not losing his/her rights from birth parents.
In the light of this historical fact, Muslims are no strangers to the concept of adoption and foster care. In fact, they have before them lofty examples of these practices right from the life of the Holy Messenger himself.

Having been brought up as an orphan himself, it placed the Holy Messenger in a position where he was able naturally and instinctively to identify with the plight of orphan children more than others. His teachings are therefore replete with the teachings and directives towards the orphan, of treating them with utmost kindness and compassion. The list of such teachings is lengthy and enumerating them in this brief article would be inappropriate. It is sufficient to quote but one saying of his: 'The home wherein the orphan is ill-treated is the worst home on earth.'

In the time of the Holy Messenger, there was hardly a home which had not taken in and adopted an orphan child. This was a normal practice in the society of his companions. Muslims should by virtue of the lofty examples and teachings of the Holy Messenger, be in the very frontline in efforts to secure the adoption and fostering of 'abandoned' children. In fact they aught to be setting the trend for the rest of society in this matter. At the least, it is expected of them to co-operate closely with groups and bodies that are promoting these efforts.

Due to the high standards of morality and conduct required of Muslims by their religious laws, Muslim homes and families are ideally positioned to imbue and impart these exhalted values to adopted children - values that will be of life long consequence to them. A word of caution to prospective adoption families though; the humanitarian and noble practice of adopting children should never be motivated by material or pecuniary interests or intensions at all. This will destroy and demolish the very spirit of this gracious deed, leaving it as a lifeless corpse

[إيليا]

طب الأعشاب وطب البديل ومخطاره
Herbalism

Herbalism, also known as medicinal Botany medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, botanical medicine and phytotherapy, is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. The bioinformatics related to this subject could be referred to as MedBotanics (Seshagirirao). Sometimes the scope of herbal medicine is extended to include fungi and bee products.

Plants have an almost limitless ability to synthesize aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. Most are secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated, a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total. In many cases, these substances (esp. alkaloids) serve as plant defense mechanisms against predation by microorganisms, insects, and herbivores. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans to season food yield useful medicinal compounds.
Utilizing the healing properties of plants is an ancient practice. People in all continents have long used hundreds, if not thousands, of indigenous plants for treatment of various ailments dating back to prehistory. There is evidence that suggests Neanderthals living 60,000 years ago in present-day Iraq used plants for medicinal purposes (found at a burial site at Shanidar Cave, Iraq, in which a Neanderthal man was uncovered in 1960. He had been buried with eight species of plants)[1] These plants are still widely used in ethnomedicine around the world.

The first generally accepted use of plants as healing agents was depicted in the cave paintings discovered in the Lascaux caves in France, which have been radiocarbon dated to between 13,000 - 25,000 BC.

Anthropologists theorize that over time, and with trial and error, a small base of knowledge would have been acquired within early tribal communities. As this knowledge base expanded over the generations, the specialized role of the herbalist emerged. The process would likely have occurred in varying manners within a wide diversity of cultures.

Indigenous healers sometimes claim to have learned by observing animals. According to folklore sick animals change their food preferences to nibble at bitter herbs they would normally reject. Similar animal behavior has been reported by farmers, travelers and outdoorsmen. Unfortunately such reports are largely anecdotal. Nevertheless, field biologists have provided corroborating evidence based on observation of diverse species such as chimpanzees, chickens, lambs and butterflies. Sick animals tend to forage plants rich in secondary metabolites such as tannins and alkaloids. Since these phytochemicals often have antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antihelminth properties, a plausible case can be made for self-medication by animals in the wild. [2] It must be remembered that some animals have digestive systems especially adapted to cope wth certain plant toxins. An example is the koala that can live on eucalyptus, a plant that is dangerous to most animals. It can never be assumed that a plant that is harmless to a particular animal is safe for humans to ingest.

The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Pharmacologists, microbiologists, botanists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and leads that could be developed for treatment of various diseases. In fact, approximately 25% of modern drugs used in the United States have been derived from plants (citation needed).



أهمية اللغة الأنجليزية وتعلمها
The Importance Of The English Language
Frankly speaking, it is highly essential to know the language for communication. In general, the most popular language is English. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings. First, we have to learn the language and then we have to gain fluency in the language. Unless we have the fluency in English language, it would not be possible to work with the computer. If you do not know English, then you would be in need of a translator to do the job.

The first stage of learning this language would be very interesting. Once you are fluent with the alphabets, slowly you can learn many words. It would always be better to follow the method of reading first, then writing. You can use the picture books for this purpose. When you feel that you are familiar with the words, you can form sentences. This is the most interesting stage to learn. You just think of a sentence in your mother language, and try to write the same sentence in English. There could be some mistakes. But you should not bother about it. But, you have to write the same sentence using many different words till you are satisfied with your sentence. If you follow this way, very soon you can create sentences of your own.

The next step is learning the grammar of the language. It is quite simple and very systematic compared with other languages. There are certain rules and regulations for each and every topic in grammar of this language. As long as you follow the rules and regulations, it would be a difficult task to make mistakes. You would gain that much guidance from the grammar. The presentation is the most important factor in communicating your feelings. So, naturally you must be sure while you are presenting. what you really wish to say. At any point, do not try to write or speak, beyond your capability. Even if it is a small and simple sentence, it would reach the receiver perfectly. This is our basic idea. Slowly, you can improve the standard of your language by practice. If you know to form the sentences, it is more than enough to go deep into the subject. Though this only an article about the importance of the English Language, we have to learn some of the basic points in presenting the sentences. There are three different types of sentences: They are, 1. Statements. 2. Interrogative sentence. 3. Imperative sentence. 4. Exclamatory sentence. To begin with, you must know the difference between a phrase and a sentence.

Phrase is a group of words, which gives meaning, but not complete meaning. A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense.
1. Statement: The sentence starting with nouns or pronouns is known as statement.
Example: Rome is a church city.
2. Interrogative sentence: There are two types of interrogative sentences.
a. “wh” type question. The sentences starting with the following fords are “wh” type question. What, When, Where, Who, How many, How long and etcetera. Example: Why did you come late? 2. What are you doing there?
b. “yes or no” type question. For which sentences you get the reply either with yes or no they are called yes or no type question. Example: Is your father a doctor? The answer: No sir.
3. Imperative sentence: The sentence that gives command, request, and advice is known as Imperative sentence. Example: Walk on the pavement. 2. Eat regularly.
4. Exclamatory sentence: The sentence that expresses the sudden feelings or strong emotions is known as exclamatory sentence.
Example: Alas! He is dead. 2. Oh! What a beautiful sight.

When you are familiar with the above points, it would be very interesting to you to create many wonderful sentences. In general, the sentences are divided into three different kinds. They are, 1. Simple sentence. 2. Compound sentence. 3. Complex sentence.

Though it very essential to have knowledge in handling the above sentences, we have to study them separately. In this essay, we are talking about the importance of the language. Many people make mistakes even with the usage of articles. It is a pity that even scholars may make mistakes. So, you should not get dejected with your style of writing.

There is a lot of difference between these two. 1. a few 2. few When you want to say that you have friends, you have to say that,” I have a few friends.” When you want to say that you do not have friends, you have to say that, “I have few friends.”

This is the opposite meaning of the word, many. Apart from these, there are many points to be discussed later. When you feel that you are already strong on the above subjects, you can develop your knowledge for betterment of your knowledge. As long as you educate yourself, you will come across many new things. There is no end for learning. All the above points are used in the normal usage of English. The literature value of the English Language is entirely different and should be dealt separately.

[إيليا]

التعامل مع المراهقين
How to Deal With Teenagers
Congratulations, you are a parent and your child is now a full grown adolescent/teen/monster. What are you to do when the only words from both your mouths are yelled out and your teen slams her/his door in your face. Or he/she ignores you. Tells you to be quiet or even Shut up. Or the classic, "No one understands me!" or "I hate you." or "Leave me alone!"

Can you remove his/her allowance? Sob in front of them? Try to make them understand with words like "When I was your age..." or "You have no right to..." or "I'm older than you so..."

I am an older sister at home and have just recently phased out of my rebellious teenage years. I remember the tears shed with my mother and wondering if I'm even my father's daughter. These days, now that I'm an adult, I still feel like a kid at home. Why? Because mothers will always be worrisome and naggy and fathers are... just fathers.

How can you deal with your teen? Here are some tips:

1) Do not invade their privacy and read their diary. If you must, make sure he/she never finds out. Their diaries may have traps-- my own diary had strands of hair on certain pages so when they were gone, I knew someone had opened my diary.

2) Respect him/her. If you expect him/her to respect you, show him/her respect so you play the part of a role model.

3) Accept the fact that their friends and their life outside matters more to them than life at home. No matter how much you slave for them, how much time you spent on dinner or breakfast, at the office with a bitch-ass boss-- your teen will always think of him/herself first and his/her friends, popularity, dating, and the latest gadgets, doo-das they want you to buy for them.

4) Don't yell. The more you yell, the more they yell back. If they ignore you, you can try to ignore them.

5) If all else fails and you are a mother, and your teen is out of control, have a sob-session. Cry in front of him/her. Explain to him/her your feelings and why you are worried. If you have a daughter, she might cry along with you.

6) Do not resort to violence. I am sick of seeing parents slapping around their children-- from three year olds to 18, 19, 20. Sickening.

7) Sit down and have a talk with him/her. Remember, there are always two sides or more to a story. Maybe you are the one at fault. Your teen may not be as stupid and immature as you may think. (though studies have shown people do not fully develop their brain to make wise decisions until after the age of 24)

8) Be involved but don't pry. Don't spoil him/her. Don't give in to far-fetched demands. Teach, show, and be patient.

Good luck! Hopefully, your teen won't grow into an adult who sends you to a nursing home and doesn't visit you unless you are near death. Or doesn't even call you on Mothers'/Father's Day. Or would rather go on vacation with his/her own family than spend one day at your home... Wait a second-- are you treating your own aged parents the same way? What comes around, goes around, my friend... Shameful... you and you expect your child to give a nut about you? Your monster is only a reflection of yourself.



السياحة في المملكة العربية السعودية
Tourism in Saudi Arabia
The Central Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia includes the capital, Riyadh, and a number of other important towns, north and west of the capital, such as Buraidah, Unaizah and Ha'il.
This is the heartland of the country, and in Arabic is known as Najd. It is also the most traditional and, in general, the most religiously conservative region of the country.
Outside Riyadh, in the towns and villages of the Najd, westerners are not as common as they are in the east or in Jeddah and are therefore objects of interest. Also in the Najd is the town of Buraidah which is the only place in Saudi Arabia where even foreign women are required to be veiled.
Though Riyadh is the capital of the country, it has only in the past few years that it has become the real centre of the Kingdom's government. Technically Riyadh was always the capital but until the early 1980s, the ministries, embassies and virtually everything else were in Jeddah. They have now been moved to Riyadh and the embassies are all located in an area known as the Diplomatic Quarter.
As a matter of fact, until the embassies moved to Riyadh, the only airline allowed to fly into the city was Saudia. All that has now changed with many international carriers serving Riyadh as well as Jeddah and Dhahran.
Riyadh has predictably undergone a major transformation since the discovery of oil. In 1932 the city was only 8.5 square kilometres in area, but by 1994 it had expanded to over 1600 square kilometres. As a matter of fact, very little of what you see in Riyadh today is older than 50 years and a great deal is less than 20.
Riyadh (which is the plural of an Arabic word meaning garden) enjoys a winter climate that is cool and pleasant with moderate temperatures. Rain is not unusual in the winter, nor are sandstorms. Summer is dry and hot, but without the uncomfortable humidity of Jeddah or Dhahran.
It is important to note that permits for visits to all archaeological sites and forts in the country, except for those located in the Eastern province, are obtained at the Riyadh Museum. The exceptions to this rule are Dir'aiyah (pictured) -- the oasis town which is the ancestral home of the Al-Saud and which was restored in the early 1980s, some 30km from the capital's centre) and the Najran Fort. Permits are issued at no charge upon production of your passport or residence permit (iqama).

Things to see in Riyadh
Riyadh Museum --
Open Saturday to Wednesday from 8am to 2pm. Admission is free.
In the Ethnographic Hall is a large model of the Masmakh Fortress, which is central to the history of modern Saudi Arabia. This was the fort in Riyadh that Abdul Aziz and his followers captured in January 1902, thus returning the Al-Saud to a position of power in their homeland. (They had spent the previous 10 years in exile in Kuwait.)
Besides the model of the fort, the display includes carved and painted doors from Qaseem, the area north of Riyadh, and Qateef, a town which was once a major port on the Gulf. There are also clothes, musical instruments, weapons, traditional cooking utensils, woven bags and some jewelry.
The main hall is well organized with signs in both Arabic and English. The periods covered range from the Stone Age to early Islamic times. In one room, there is an interesting display of Islamic architecture.
Masmakh Fortress
The fort (pictured), built of dried mud, is open Saturday to Wednesday from 7.30am to 1.30pm. A permit is required which can be obtained from the museum.
This is the fortress which Abdul Aziz and his followers captured in 1902 and which begins the history of present-day Saudi Arabia. There is a well-restored traditional majlis on the ground floor. The courtyard contains a well, which is still functional. The courtyard is surrounded by six painted doors, which open into empty rooms. On the upper level, there are amazingly carved walls and three columns which support the wooden roof.
Murabba Palace
Built by King Abdul Aziz in 1946 as a home and seat of government, this combination palace/fortress is open from Saturday to Wednesday from 8am to 2pm.
King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies
Normally there is an exhibit on some aspect of Islamic art or culture. There is also a permanent exhibition on the treatment and preservation of old books and manuscripts.
King Saud University Museum
Open from Saturday to Wednesday in the mornings. To visit it, an appointment must first be made through the university's public relations office . Usually, a day is required to arrange a visit for a small group.
Displayed in the museum are objects from the university's archaeological excavations at Al-Fao and Rabdhah. The former is on the edge of the Empty Quarter (the vast sandy desert in the Kingdom's southeastern corner) and was a pre-Islamic city between 300BC and AD300. The latter is about 100km east of Madinah and was a station on the pilgrimage road linking Makkah and Madinah to Persia and Iraq.

Outside Riyadh is the historic area of Diriya, the capital of the first Saudi state dating from the 18th century. This area has also been restored and opened to tourists.
An annual cultural festival is held at Janadriya, called the Janadriyah Festival. It is organized by the National Guard and takes place at a special site some 45km outside Riyadh. It includes traditional dancing, camel races, lectures and poetry readings as well as traditional arts and crafts shows. It normally lasts about two weeks and takes place in the winter when the weather is cooler, usually in February.


Bordering the Arabian Gulf and containing the towns of Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Dammam, Qateef, Hafuf and Jubail, the Eastern Province is where oil was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s.
Before the discovery of oil, Dammam and Al-Khobar were tiny fishing and pearling villages. There was no Dhahran at all.
Dammam is the administrative centre of the province and one end of the Dammam-Riyadh railway. Trains leave daily for Riyadh at 7.30am and 4pm. The journey takes between four and five hours and the train passes through Abqaiq and Hafuf, the main town in the Al-Ahasa oasis.
Al-Khobar is more western in orientation than Dammam. The first recorded settlement was in 1923 and, because of its location next to the early ARAMCO camp, it grew rapidly. In the earliest days of oil shipment from the Kingdom, oil moved from a pier at Al-Khobar to Bahrain, where it was processed. Today, Al-Khobar is at one end of the King Fahad Causeway, a 25km feat of modern engineering that links the Kingdom to the island of Bahrain.
Dhahran is the town that ARAMCO built. The city consists of the ARAMCO compound, the airport (soon to be moved to a spectacular new site some 60km north), the US Consulate and the King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Some 13km north of Dammam is the town of Qateef; it was first settled about 3500BC and for centuries was the main town and port in this area of the Gulf. In fact, some early European maps label the present-day Arabian Gulf as the "Sea of Elqateef". Qatif and the nearby island of Tarut are historically some of the most interesting sites in the Kingdom.
About 90km north of Dammam is the town of Jubail (pictured). Until the mid-1970s it was a small fishing village but it then became one of the Kingdom's two newly created industrial cities. The other one is Yanbu on the Red Sea Coast. The industrial city is a complex of petrochemical plants, an iron works and a number of smaller companies, plus a Royal Saudi Naval Base.
Near Jubail are the ruins of what was unearthed in the mid-1980s by a group of people attempting to dig their vehicle out of the sand. The ruins are known as the Jubail Church and are acknowledged by the Saudi bureaucracy who will not issue permits to visit it because "the site is being excavated." In any case, the ruins originally contained four stone crosses, which later went missing though the marks where the crosses were are still visible. The ruins are thought to date from the 4th century, which make them older than any known church in Europe. Not much else is known but speculation is that it was in some way connected to one of the five Nestorian bishoprics which are known to have existed in this area of the Gulf in the 4th century.
The town of Hafuf is the centre of the Al-Ahasa oasis which is one of the largest in the world. Until about a century ago, most of the dates in Europe came from here and the area remains one of the world's largest producers of dates.
Hafuf itself contains an old fort and one of the most interesting souks in the Kingdom. Because of the enormity of the oasis and the number of picturesque villages scattered through it, a leisurely drive through the greenery is an entertaining way to spend an afternoon.

Other things to see in the Eastern Province
Both Dammam and Al-Khobar have an impressive Corniche along the Gulf.
The development at Half Moon Bay on the Gulf is a beautiful tourist and recreational attraction.
The towns of Qateef and the islands of Tarut and Darin near Dammam may be the point of a morning excursion. Both have been inhabited for thousands of years and both have old forts.
The oasis of Al-Ahasa with its springs and streams is one of the greenest and most delightful places in the Kingdom. It is well worth a day trip by car during which one drives slowly through the villages and the area.
The Thursday morning market in Hafuf, the main town of Al-Ahasa, is particularly interesting both for its traditional crafts and for the general feeling of an old marketplace.

As far as non-Muslims are concerned, Jeddah is the most important city of Saudi Arabia's western region, known as the Hijaz.
Jeddah is by far the most cosmopolitan city in the Kingdom, hardly surprising when you realize it has been the main port for Makkah since early Islamic times. Indeed, until well into the twentieth century thousands of pilgrims arrived at Jeddah seaport annually as the first step on their trip to Makkah and Madinah.
The Hijaz came under nominal Turkish control in the 16th century, though local rulers kept a great deal of power and influence. The first foreign consuls arrived in Jeddah in the first half of the nineteenth century. King Abdul Aziz and his troops took control of the city in 1925 and afterwards, foreign representatives to his court lived in Jeddah rather than Riyadh. The embassies remained in Jeddah until the mid-1980s when they were all transferred to the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh. Nonetheless, there are still a large number of foreign consulates in Jeddah as the city retains its importance as the commercial capital of the Kingdom and it is, of course, the main port of entry for the millions of pilgrims who visit the Holy Cities each year.
Most of Jeddah's historic sites are along the old city walls, which were demolished, in the late 1940s. The old city (pictured) is now a protected urban area in which buildings cannot be torn down unless they are absolutely beyond repair and, if they are torn down, they must be replaced with something of similar size and architectural style. Within the old city, many of the traditional houses are built of coral, taken from reefs in the Red Sea.
Within the old city, there is the Sharbatly House and the Naseef House. These are two old houses, the traditional homes of two of Jeddah's merchant families and both have been restored to their original state.
The Municipality Museum is opposite the National Commercial Bank headquarters in the old city. It is the only remaining building of several which comprised the British Legation in Jeddah during World War I. The museum is open in the mornings from Saturday to Thursday; admission is free but a permit from the Jeddah Municipality is required (telephone: +966 2 669-5556 or 660-7671). Once the permit has been granted, it is still necessary to make an appointment with the curator of the museum.
There is a Christian cemetery in Jeddah in a street in the old city named the "Street of the Cemetery of the Foreigners". It is no longer in use and the last burial had taken place in the early 1950's, but is kept up in turn by several of the foreign consulates in the city. It is walled and there is a large gate, but can be peered into from some of the buildings surrounding it.
Al-Balad district of Jeddah is a historic area. Houses have been reconstructed as they were 100 years ago and it is an interesting area to walk through and observe. These houses, which have been restored and are open to tourists, belong to various old Jeddah families.
About 70km east of Jeddah is the Holy City of Makkah where the Prophet was born in the 6th century AD. He began to preach in Makkah and it was to Makkah that he returned shortly before his death in AD632. Makkah and its environs are strictly off-limits to non-Muslims and there are checkpoints on the roads leading into the city.
Makkah is Islam's holiest city and it is to Makkah that all devout Muslims dream of coming at least once (the hajj) in their lifetime. The centre of the city is the Grand Mosque and the sacred Well of Zamzam beside it. The Kaa'ba to which all Muslims turn when they pray is in the central courtyard of the Grand Mosque and, according to Islamic tradition, it was built by the first prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael.
In the mountains above Makkah and Jeddah is the town of Taif. Its elevation gives it a climate far cooler and pleasanter than either Jeddah or Makkah and without the uncomfortable humidity of the former. Many families from both Jeddah and Riyadh maintain houses in Taif as an escape from the uncomfortable summers in those two cities.
Taif became a part of modern Saudi Arabia in 1924 when the soldiers of King Abdul Aziz took the city. Most recently, Taif was the seat of Kuwait's government-in-exile during the Iraqi occupation of that country in 1990-91. It is also well-known as a producer of high quality attar-of-roses from its roses, which have a particularly sweet fragrance.
There is a museum in the city in the Shubra Palace, open only on Thursday from 9am to 7pm.
Madinah is the holiest city in Islam after Makkah and was in fact the first to accept the Prophet's message. The Prophet fled to the city, then called Yathrib, from Makkah in AD622. (The Islamic calendar dates from His flight to Madinah.) The most important place in the city is the Prophet's Mosque, which contains His burial place. Everything of historical or religious significance is within the precincts forbidden to non-Muslims, although the outskirts of the city and the airport are open to all.
Located several hundred kilometres north of Madinah is the ancient -- and now uninhabited -- city of Madain Salih (pictured). It is the best known and the most spectacular archaeological site in Saudi Arabia. During its prime, it was an important stop on the caravan routes from the incense-producing areas of southern Arabia to Syria, Egypt, Byzantium and other points. The immense stone tombs, which have made it famous, were carved between 100BC and 100AD and the city itself was the second city in the Nabataean Empire, after Petra in modern-day Jordan.
The ruins at Madain Salih are in fact better preserved than those at Petra in Jordan, because of the hardness of the local stone. The Nabataeans became rich through their control of the incense route and their charging caravans tolls of up to 25%. They entered a decline in the first century AD when the Romans realized that the incense could be loaded onto ships and taken to Egypt. Less expensive items continued to move along the route and it was never totally abandoned. In Islamic times, the pilgrim route from Damascus to Makkah passed through Madain Salih.
For those who want to visit Madain Salih, a great deal of bureaucratic bother and hassle can be avoided by booking a tour through the Madinah Sheraton. Both the hotel and the airport are on the outskirts of the city and so are open to non-Muslims.
The hotel's tour is a weekend one -- covering arrival at the hotel on Wednesday evening with a slide presentation. The trip to Madain Salih with a guide begins on the Thursday at 6.30am, and returns to the hotel in the evening. Friday is a free day and the price of around SR700 or SR750 includes the trip to the site, two nights at the hotel, all meals from dinner on Wednesday evening to lunch on Friday and airport transfers.
Normally the hotel needs three weeks to arrange the tour, which is for groups of 10 or more and which only operate when there are enough people.
To anyone standing on its shore and gazing out across its dazzling waters, the Red Sea may seem to be a misnomer. Anything less red cannot be imagined; its blueness is palpable, indisputable and infinite. Yet this is the name which seems to predominate over those it has borne in the past; the Sea of Hejaz, the Arabian Gulf, the Coral Sea or, less romantically, Tanker Alley.
Poets among us who extol the scarlet beauty of the setting sun as it dips below the watery horizon, will feel no further need to justify the aptness of its name, but scientists take more convincing. They will doubtless tell you of the red coral on the famous reef, or the planktonic algae, which leave a dull red tidal scum at the edge of the water. So -- is it to be coral, scum or sunsets? Take your pick.
Oil tankers, cargo vessels, passenger liners and fishing boats all ply their trade across the surface of this great waterway, but for many, the true fascination of the Red Sea is hidden just below its surface. Here lies the diver's paradise; one of the world's most impressive reefs, containing more than 200 species of multi-coloured coral.
For enthusiasts in Jeddah, dive shops abound. Equipment may be bought or hired, and most shops offer courses with qualified diving instructors. These courses range from elementary tuition for beginners to recreational dives for the more experienced. Several of Jeddah's large hotels offer weekend diving packages and some have their own private, man-made beaches with dive shops and easy access to the reef.
Snorkeling is a popular way to view the edge of the reef, especially for those with limited confidence in their swimming ability. However, most divers will tell you that there is nothing to beat the thrill of experiencing the depth of the reef and the teeming marine life to be found there. Sharks, manta rays, turtles and eels will take pieces of bread from your hand, and brilliantly coloured schools of fish teem all around, in bewildering variety. Such is the lure of the reef that many novice divers become totally 'hooked' and cannot imagine why they have never joined in the fun before.
The arts of boat-building and navigation have a proud, centuries-long tradition in the Red Sea region. Sadly, however, ancient boat-building skills are lapsing into obscurity, with the advent of outboard motors and fibreglass hulls. The beauty of the houri, the sambuk and the dhow, carved without the use of plans by the craftsman's unerring eye -- all are rapidly vanishing and may even now belong to the past.
Fishing, however, is an art that still preserves time-honoured methods, mostly due to the difficulties imposed by the dangers of the reef. The hook-and-line method of fishing has been in use for more than four thousand years and is still going strong. Conservation of certain species of fish and the dangers of over-fishing are both important issues for the Saudi Arabian government -- as a result, the total catch is respectable, though not excessive. The Kingdom's fishermen land a total of 8,000 metric tons of fish per annum, which, although eight times as much as the Sudan, is less than half Egypt's total catch.
In addition to its marine life, the water of the Red Sea is also a vital commodity. The city of Jeddah is totally dependent on it for household and industrial supplies, and enormous desalination plants are in operation. These supply drinking water, which has been purified to a high standard, as well as non-potable domestic water. Seawater is also used in large quantities by oil refineries and cement works situated along the coastline.
The danger of pollution is always present in the Red Sea, particularly from oil spillage, and a Royal Decree forbids the discharge of any pollutant substances, including oil, within 100 miles of the Saudi Arabian coastline.
For swimmers, divers, traders, industrialists, fishermen and tourists, the Red Sea has its own kind of perfection. And even the idle gazer, pondering the impenetrable blue/red anomaly, can be said to have been given something to think about.

[إيليا]

العرب في عيون الأعلام الغربي
Foreign media scramble to win over Arab viewers

Western media outfits, most with public funding and partly political motives, are racing to add more Arabic TV *******s and websites to the mix, undeterred by scant advertising revenue

Rarely have Western news organisations wooed Arab hearts and minds so avidly - or with so little certainty of political or commercial reward.

Freed by satellite television and the Internet from the dreary monopoly of state media, Arabs already get news in their own language from a plethora of local and foreign sources.

Western media outfits, most with public funding and partly political motives, are racing to add more Arabic TV *******s and websites to the mix, undeterred by scant advertising revenue.

Jihad Ballout, spokesman for the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television, said competition was welcome, giving more choice to consumers, but argued that from a business perspective the TV market was saturated. “The pie is quite limited,” he said.

Ballout, whose own ******* was set up with Saudi financing, questioned why foreign media groups were planning big investments that were likely to take years to see a return.

“Is it purely to reflect a different perspective, and whose perspective will it be?” he asked.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) plans to launch an Arabic TV ******* in the autumn. Germany’s Deutsche Welle has aired three hours daily of Arabic news and features since 2002.

France’s planned CNN-style ******* expects to start an Arabic component next year. Even the Danish Broadcasting Corporation says it is contemplating news in Arabic.

Russia Today, a state-run English-language television *******, has announced plans for an Arabic version.

“It will definitely not be political,” asserted Akram Khuzam, the venture’s general producer, before adding: “Television is influence. Why should Russia ignore this instrument, especially in such a restive region?”

Media cacophony: A powerful tool it may be, but the challenge for any foreign news organisation will be to gain credibility in an area where distrust for Western policies is deep-rooted and flourishing - and where the airwaves are already brimming with alternatives.

“There’s a real cacophony of media in the region. Even poor neighbourhoods in Damascus have satellite dishes,” said Ali Abunimah, who runs Electronic Intifada (electronicintifada.net) to promote Palestinian views on the Middle East conflict.

“Even in a country as restricted as Syria, there is enormous access to media from elsewhere,” said the 34-year-old Jordanian based in Chicago. “That challenges the US stereotype of a controlled media where people don’t know any better.”

Polls show the ******* of choice in most Arab homes is still the Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which blazed to success after it went on air in 1996 with its combination of hard news, slick format and talk shows that broke taboos in the Arab world.

While its Arab perspective delighted an audience sometimes irritated - or simply not reached - by CNN or BBC World, Al Jazeera offended Arab governments by giving dissidents a platform and hosting often raucous political debates.

Saudi Arabia hit back with Al Arabiya. Now Arab governments from Abu Dhabi to Mauritania have their own satellite stations, as do some Lebanese factions such as Hizbollah.

Al Jazeera, which plans to launch its own English ******* this year, also upset Washington by airing statements from al Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks.

As Arab anger mounted over the Iraq war and US support for Israel, the Americans launched Al Hurra (the Free One) Arabic TV station in 2004 to cut through what President George W Bush called “the barriers of hateful propaganda” in the Middle East.

Least popular: A poll published by the University of Maryland last year showed Al Hurra was the least watched of eight Arabic networks. Hizbollah’s al-Manar ******* did little better. Al Jazeera led with 65 percent of viewers, trailed by Al Arabiya on 34 percent.

The survey, conducted in October with pollsters Zogby International, did its research in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Can new Western entrants add value for Arab viewers?

Lawrence Pintak, director of the American University in Cairo’s Adhem Center for Electronic Journalism, said BBC Arabic TV might be best-placed to win over an Arab public sceptical of Western “public diplomacy” and jaded by media overload.

“The BBC brings a lot of credibility,” he said, citing the track record of the BBC’s Arabic radio service, for decades a listening habit for Arabs seeking independent news.

Competitors suggest that the BBC’s Arabic venture, directly funded by the Foreign Office, may be tarnished by the British government’s decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Johannes Hoffmann, spokesman for Deutsche Welle, said Arab viewers perceived the German station, unlike the US or British media, as independent and objective. “After all, we were not one of the warring parties (in Iraq),” he said.

Abunimah said anything that smacked of propaganda would fall flat among Arabs tired of being treated as if they were stupid.

“We don’t need more documentaries about Denmark without addressing the political divides (between Arabs and the West).”

Foreign media eyeing the Arab world should complement their coverage with “an honest acknowledgement of what is at the root of the divisions - anger at the policy choices of Western governments and intolerance in Western societies,” he said. reuters


البنات وفضل تربيتهن
Girls are a blessing from Allah swt and a means of attaining Paradise. The love of boys and hatred of girls is a custom from the days before Islam, the Days of Ignorance, and are rejected by the Quran. We find on the contrary, that Islam encourages Muslims and believers to seek out the great rewards obtained for those who raise their daughters on love of Allah and love of the Prophet (s). The Prophet (s) said “If a person has a baby girl, teaches her, raises and trains her well, then gives her hand in marriage, Allah gives him a double reward.” [Bukhari and Muslim] The Prophet (s) said, “If a person has a baby girl and never humiliated her and never put her down and never put his son above her, Allah will grant him paradise.” [Abu Dawud and al-Hakim] The Holy Quran encourages the teaching of girls and called for women to be partners in interfaith debates when it says, “If any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge hath come to thee, say: ‘Come! let us gather together,- our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: Then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!’" [3: 61] In this verse, Allah mentioned the women in total equality with the men, as participants in a religious debate with unbelievers who refused to accept the faith in the time of the Prophet (s).



حقوق الأنسان في الأسلام ولجان حقوق الأنسان
The political system of Islam is based on the three principles of towhid(Oneness of Allah), risala (Prophethood) and Khilifa(Caliphate).

Towhidmeans that one Allah alone is the Creator, Sustainer and Master of the universe and of all that exists in it - organic or inorganic. He alone has the right to command or forbid. Worship and obedience are due to Him alone. No aspect of life in all its multifarious forms ¾ our own organs and faculties, the apparent control which we have over physical objects or the objects themselves ¾ has been created or a acquired by us in our own right. They are the bountiful provisions of Allah and have been bestowed on us by Him alone.

Hence, it is not for us to decide the aim and purpose of our existence or to set the limits of our worldly authority; nor does anyone else have the right to make these decisions for us. This right rests only with Allah. This principle of the Oneness of Allah makes meaningless the concept of the legal and political sovereignty of human beings. No individual, family, class or race can set themselves above Allah. Allah alone is the Ruler and His commandments constitute the law of Islam.

Risala is the medium through which we receive the law of Allah. We have received two things from this source: the Qur’an, the book in which Allah has expounded His law, and the authoritative interpretation and exemplification of that Book by the Prophet Muhammad (blessings of Allah and peace be upon him), through word and deed, in his capacity as the representative of Allah. The Qur’an laid down the broad principles on which human life should be based and the Prophet of Allah, in accordance with these principles, established a model system of Islamic life. The combination of these two elements is called the shari’a (law).

Khilifa means "representation". Man, according to Islam, is the representative of Allah on earth, His vice-gerent; that is to say, by virtue of the powers delegated to him by Allah, and within the limits prescribed, he is required to exercise Divine authority.

To illustrate what this means, let us take the case of an estate of yours which someone else has been appointed to administer on your behalf. Four conditions invariably obtain: First, the real ownership of the estate remains vested in you and not in the administrator; secondly, he administers your property directly in accordance with your instructions; thirdly, he exercises his authority within the limits prescribed by you; and fourthly, in the administration of the trust he executes your will and fulfils your intentions and not his own. Any representative who does not fulfil these four conditions will be abusing his authority and breaking the covenant which was implied in the concept of "representation".

This is exactly what Islam means when it affirms that man is the representative (khalifa) of Allah on earth. Hence, these four conditions are also involved in the concept of Khalifa. The state that is established in accordance with this political theory will in fact be a caliphate under the sovereignty of Allah.

Democracy In Islam

The above explanation of the term Khilafa also makes it clear that no individual or dynasty or class can be Khalifa: the authority of Khilafa is bestowed on the whole of any community which is ready to fulfil the conditions of representation after subscribing to the principles of towhid and Risala. Such a society carries the responsibility of the Khilafa as a whole and each one of its individuals shares in it.

This is the point where democracy begins in Islam. Every individual in an Islamic society enjoys the rights and powers of the caliphate of Allah and in this respect all individuals are equal. No-one may deprive anyone else of his rights and powers. The agency for running the affairs of the state will be formed by agreement with these individuals, and the authority of the state will only be an extension of the powers of the individuals delegated to it. Their opinion will be decisive in the formation of the government, which will be run with their advice and in accordance with their wishes.

Whoever gains their confidence will undertake the duties and obligations of the caliphate on their behalf; and when he loses this confidence he will have to step down. In this respect the political system of Islam is as perfect a dorm of democracy as there can be.

What distinguishes Islamic democracy from Western democracy, therefor, is that the latter is based on the concept of popular sovereignty, while the former rests on the principle of popular Khilafa. In Western democracy, the people are sovereign; in Islam sovereignty is vested in Allah and the people are His caliphs or representatives. In the former the people make their own; in the latter they have to follow and obey the laws (shari’a) given by Allah through His Prophet. In one the government undertakes to fulfil the will of the people; in the other the government and the people have to fulfil the will of Allah.

The Purpose Of The Islamic State

We are now in a position to examine more closely the type of state which is built on the foundations of tawhid, Risala and Khilafa.

The Holy Qur’an clearly states that the aim and purpose of this state is the establishment, maintenance and development of those virtues which the Creator wishes human life to be enriched by and the prevention and eradication of those evils in human life which He finds abhorrent. The Islamic state is intended neither solely as an instrument of political administration nor for the fulfillment of the collective will of any particular set of people; rather, Islam places a high ideal before the state for the achievement of which it must use all the means at its disposal.

This ideal is that the qualities of purity, beauty, goodness, virtue, success and prosperity which Allah wants to flourish in the life of His people should be engendered and developed and that all kinds of exploitation, injustice and disorder which, in the sight of Allah, are ruinous for the world and detrimental to the life of His creatures, should be suppressed and prevented. Islam gives us a clear outline of its moral system by stating positively the desired virtues and the undesired evils. Keeping this outline in view, the Islamic state can plan its welfare programme in every age and in any environment.

The constant demand made by Islam is that the principles of morality must be observed at all costs and in all walks of life. Hence, it lays down as an unalterable policy that the state should base its policies on justice, truth and honesty. It is not prepared, under any circumstances, to tolerate fraud, falsehood and injustice for the sake of political, administrative or national expediency. Whether it be relations between the rulers and the ruled within the state, or the relations of the state with other states, precedence must always be given to truth, honesty and justice.

Islam imposes similar obligations on the state and the individual: to fulfil all contracts and obligations; to have uniform standards in dealings; to remember obligations along with rights and not to forget the rights of others when expecting them to fulfil their obligations; to use power and authority for the establishment of justice and not for the perpetration of injustice; to look upon duty as a sacred obligation and to fulfil it scrupulously; and to regard power as a trust from Allah to be used in the belief that one has to render an account of one's actions to Him in the life Hereafter.

Fundamental Rights

Although an Islamic state may be set up anywhere on earth, Islam does not seek to restrict human rights or privileges to the boundaries of such a state. Islam has laid down universal fundamental rights for humanity which are to be observed and respected in all circumstances. For example, human blood is sacred and may not be spilled without strong justification; it is not permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick or the wounded; women's honour and chastity must be respected; the hungry must be fed, the naked clothed and the wounded or diseased treated medically irrespective of whether they belong to the Islamic community or are from amongst its enemies. These, and other provisions have been laid down by Islam as fundamental rights for every man by virtue of his status as a human being.

Nor, in Islam, are the rights of citizenship confined to people born in a particular state. A Muslim ipso facto becomes the citizen of an Islamic state as soon as he sets foot on its territory with the intention of living there and thus enjoys equal rights along with those who acquire its citizenship by birth. And every Muslim is to be regarded as eligible for positions of the highest responsibility in an Islamic state without distinction of race, colour or class.

Islam has also laid down certain rights for non-Muslims who may be living within the boundaries of an Islamic state and these rights necessarily form part of the Islamic constitution. In Islamic terminology, such non-Muslims are called dhimmis (the covenanted), implying that the Islamic state has entered into a covenant with them and guaranteed their protection. The life, property and honour of a dhimmis is to be respected and protected in exactly the same way as that of a Muslim citizen. Nor is there difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim citizen in respect of civil or criminal law.

The Islamic state may not interfere with the personal rights of non-Muslims, who have full freedom of conscience and belief and are at liberty to perform their religious rites and ceremonies in their own way. Not only may they propagate their religion, they are even entitled to criticize Islam within the limits laid down by law and decency.

These rights are irrevocable. Non-Muslims cannot be deprived of them unless they renounce the covenant which grants them citizenship. However much a non-Muslim state may oppress its Muslim citizens it is not permissible for an Islamic state to retaliate against its non-Muslim subjects; even if all the Muslims outside the boundaries of an Islamic state are massacred, that state may not unjustly shed the blood of a single non-Muslim citizen living within its boundaries.

Executive And Legislature

The responsibility for the administration of the government in an Islamic state is entrusted to an amir (leader) who may be compared to the president or the prime minister in a Western democratic state. All adult men and women who subscribe to the fundamentals of the constitution are entitled to vote for the election of the amir.

The basic qualifications for an amir are that he should command the confidence of the majority in respect of his knowledge and grasp of the spirit of Islam, that he should possess the Islamic quality of fear of Allah and that he should be endowed with qualities of statesmanship. In short, he should have both virtue and ability.

A shoora(advisory council) is also elected by the people to assist and guide the amir. It is incumbent on the amir to administer his country with the advice of this shooraThe amir may retain office only so long as he enjoys the confidence of the people and must relinquish it when he loses that confidence. Every citizen has the right to criticize the amir and his government and all reasonable means for the ventilation of public opinion must be available.

Legislation in an Islamic state is to be carried out within the limits prescribed by the law of the shari’a. The injunctions of Allah and His Prophet are to be accepted and obeyed and no legislative body may alter or modify them or make any law contrary to them. Those commandments which are liable to two or more interpretations are referred to a sub-committee of the advisory council comprising men learned in Islamic law. Great scope remains for legislation on questions not covered by specific injunctions of the shari’a and the advisory council or legislature is free to legislate in regard to these matters.

In Islam the judiciary is not places under the control of the executive. It derives its authority directly from the shari’a and is answerable to Allah. The judges are appointed by the government but once a judge occupies the bench he has to administer justice impartially according to the law of Allah; the organs and functionaries of the government are not outside his legal jurisdiction, so that even the highest executive authority of the government is liable to be called upon to appear in a court of law as a plaintiff or defendant. Rulers and ruled are subject to the same law and there can be no discrimination on the basis of position, power or privilege, Islam stands for equality and scrupulously adheres to this principle in social, economic and political realms alike.

Human Rights, The West And Islam

The Western Approach

People in the West have the habit of attributing every beneficial development in the world to themselves. For example, it is vociferously claimed that the world first derived the concept of basic human rights from the Magna Carta of Britain - which was drawn up six hundred years after the advent of Islam. But the truth is that until the seventeenth century of no-one dreamt of arguing that the Magna Carta contained the principles of trial by jury, Habeas Corpus and control by Parliament of the right of taxation. If the people who drafted the Magna Carta were living today they would be greatly surprised to be told that their document enshrined these ideals and principles.

To the best of my knowledge, the West had no concept of human and civic rights before the seventeenth century; and it was not until the end of the eighteenth century that the concept took on practical meaning in the constitutions of America and France.

After this, although there appeared references to basic human rights in the constitutions of many countries, more often than not these rights existed only on paper. In the middle of the present century, the United Nations, which may now be more aptly described as the Divided Nations, made a Declaration of Universal Human Rights, and passed a resolution condemning genocide; regulations were framed to prevent it. But there is not a single resolution or regulation of the United Nations which can be enforced if the country concerned wants to prevent it. They are just expressions of pious hopes. They have no sanctions behind them, no force, physical or moral, to enforce them. Despite all the high-sounding resolutions of the United Nations, human rights continue to be violated and trampled upon.

The Islamic Approach

When we speak of human rights in Islam we mean those rights granted by Allah. Rights granted by kings or legislative assemblies can be withdrawn as easily as they are conferred; but no individual and no institution has the authority to withdraw the rights conferred by Allah.

The charter and the proclamations and the resolutions of the United Nations cannot be compared with the rights sanctioned by Allah; the former are not obligatory on anybody, while the latter are an integral part of the Islamic faith. All Muslims and all administrators who claim to be Muslim have to accept, recognize and enforce them. If they failed to enforce them or violate them while paying lip-service to them, the verdict of the Holy Qur’an is unequivocal:
"Those who do not judge by what Allah has sent down are the disbelievers (Kafirun)." (5:44)
The following verse also proclaims:
"They are the wrong-doers (zalimoon)". (5:45)
A third verse in the same chapter says:
"They are the perverse and law-breakers (fasiqoon)." (5:47)

In other words, if temporal authorities regard their own words and decisions as right and those given by Allah as wrong, they are disbelievers. If, on the other hand, they regard Allah's commands as right but deliberately reject them in favour of their owns decisions, then they are wrong-doers. Law-breakers are those who disregard the bond of allegiance.

[إيليا]

Does Beauty Really Matter?
When this article is being written, what comes immediately to mind is a series of surveys done by a popular magazine called Psychology Today. The surveys, conducted over the past three decades, were on how people feel about the appearance of their bodies. The findings are what they should not have been. Letís wish so.

In 1972 twenty-three percent of American women were dissatisfied with their appearance but by 1997 that figure had risen to fifty-six percent. In 1972 fifteen percent of men were dissatisfied with their appearance but by 1997 that figure had risen to forty-three percent. Thirty-eight percent of men are now dissatisfied with the size of their chests compared to the thirty-four percent of women dissatisfied with their breasts. Men are getting pectoral implants.

Millions of women have had surgery to change the shape of their breasts or increase their size. A strange phenomenon!

Shall we presume that there were more good-looking men and women three decades ago than there are now, or shall we presume that while looks might have remained the same (or believe it, turned better) but it is the attitude of a man or a woman towards him or herself that has changed. Is it that we are constantly failing to understand the true meaning of beauty or the beauty is failing in getting us become good-looking? Something is missing somewhere. Let’s come to that later.

We always, and everywhere, try to be beautiful, and in the process a mirror becomes more personal to us than we are to ourselves. The process of becoming beautiful and looking good is so rapid that what we become is just an outward us. Is being beautiful so important? Even now we see the most popular people not so good-looking, and the most beautiful people next door not so popular. Does beauty really matter? Probably it does, particularly for people who have a dying preoccupation for the body and would go to any length to safeguard it. No wonder then, despite nearly thirty years of feminism, beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar a year business. Those who make money have a mind, and those who spend have forgotten they have it.

Least do we realize that we would look the way we are, and an expression on our face is actually the reflection of what we are from within? We can camouflage the exterior, but what can we do to the interior. Our goodness or badness, generosity or animosity, or love or hatred, all show somewhere here or somewhere there on our bodies. If we are good from within, our face reflects a mesmerizing state of goodness; if we are not, we clearly show it through our expressions.

It is this body we always give a helping, and not to what lies beneath it. This way we only answer some deep-rooted anxieties in our psychology, and do not provide a solution to them. We keep on spinning answers for these anxieties, until we run out of them as we advance in age. Try as you might, you canít camouflage old age.

We fail to achieve ageless beauty. The reason being that we failed to recognize it when we were young. Ageless beauty, says Ayurveda, comes from within.

Ayurveda values inner beauty as much as it does value outer beauty. Beauty, it adds, is based on good health. What is more important is that whenever Ayurveda recommends an external application to enhance your looks, it always has some degree of effect that it exerts internally on you. Henna, for example, is a hair-coloring agent and vitalizer for of us, but when it remains on the scalp and remains in contact for long, it does more to our internal health than what meets the eye. Lifestyle changes, another thing Ayurveda recommends, make you look good naturally than become good artificially. Haven't you ever come across simple-looking, down-to-earth people who impress upon, and look good to you, in the first very instance? They are the ones who carry an inner, positive influence as a beautiful mark on their faces. Beauty is nothing but a mindset, and you are actually a positive or a negative mindset when you look beautiful, or do not.

[إيليا]

صعوبات التعلم
Learning disability is a term used to denote various types of difficulties with learning.

Learning disability (U.S.) -- In the U.S., the term is used to refer to a learning difficulty that is unexpected given the general intelligence of the affected individual. That is, the academic performance of the affected person is much lower than the individual's general intelligence would predict.
Learning disability (U.K.)-- In the U.K., the term is used to refer more generally to developmental disability.
Disability means loss or lack of functioning, either physical or mental, such as blindness, paralysis, or mental subnormality—which, unlike illness, is usually permanent. Disabilities are usually stigmatizing . Moreover, disabled persons often need extra financial and personal support.

Learning disability means disorders characterized by substantial deficits in scholastic or academic skills, including reading disorder , mathematics disorder , and disorder of written expression . Also called academic skills disorders or learning disorders. Learning disability disorder that prevents students from learning as well as would be expected from their ability, as measured on an intelligence test. It covers a range of problems, including difficulties with reading, writing, mathematics, or communication.

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to protect qualified people with disabilities. The first article in this series focused on the requirement that a claimant under the ADA be otherwise qualified for the position, and able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation by the employer. This article discusses the ADA concept of disability. The statute defines a disability in three distinct and unique ways that broaden its impact in the workplace. For purposes of the ADA, disability means having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, having a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. Physical or Mental Impairment The first definition of a disability is "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual." A great amount of legal debate has centered around the terms "physical or mental impairment," "substantially limits," and "major life activities." The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), the body charged with enforcing the ADA, has defined a "physical or mental impairment" as any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one of the major body systems, or any mental or psychological disorder such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, or specific learning disabilities. In its interpretive guidance, the EEOC notes that it does not consider physical characteristics (eye and hair color, height, weight and muscle tone within normal ranges) as impairments. Similarly, predispositions to illness, pregnancy, and personality traits (poor judgment and quick temper) are not disabilities unless resulting from a psychological disorder. Advanced age is also not a disorder, according to the EEOC, although medical conditions associated with advanced age would be. The prevalence of learning disabilities is very apparent-early intervention is key to young children's success in school


الجشع والطمع
Greed
Greed is selfish excessive or uncontrolled desire for possession or pursuit of money, wealth, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others. It is generally considered a vice, and is one of the seven deadly sins in Catholicism. (People who do not view unconstrained acquisitiveness as a vice will generally use a word other than greed, which has strong negative connotations.)

Some desire to increase one's wealth is nearly universal and acceptable in any culture, but this simple want is not considered greed. Greed is the extreme form of this desire, especially where one desires things simply for the sake of owning them. Greed may entail acquiring material possessions at the expense of another person's welfare (for example, a father buying himself a new car rather than fix the roof of his family's home) or otherwise reflect flawed priorities.

Coveting another person's goods is usually called envy, a word commonly confused with jealousy. The two word denote opposite forms of greed. We may envy and wish to have the possessions or qualities of another, but we jealously guard the possessions or qualities we believe we have and refuse to share these with others. Greed for food or drink, combined with excessive indulgence in them, is called gluttony. Excessive greed for and indulgence in *** is called lust, although this term no longer carries as negative connotations as it once did.

Greed is sometimes represented by the frog.

A woodcut by Ugo da Carpi, is entitled "Hercules Chasing Avarice from the Temple of the Muses." [1]. Thomas Aquinas metaphorically described the sin of Avarice as "Mammon being carried up from Hell by a wolf, coming to inflame the human heart with Greed".

Proponents of laissez-faire capitalism sometimes argue that greed should not be considered a negative trait and should instead be embraced, as they claim that greed is a profoundly benevolent force in human affairs, as well as a necessary foundation for the capitalist system. Critics have argued this definition confuses greed with self-interest, which can be benign

أمثال
Proverbs are speech metaphors. Many of the widely known proverbs each tell a condensed story. In some cultures only elderly people use proverbs. It is not enough for one to know proverbs, one must also know how to use them in the right contexts.

Functions of Proverbs:

Proverbs often contain witty statements hence they serve as repositories of wisdom and wit.
Proverbs may sum up situations, pass judgements, recommend a course of action or serve as a past precedents for present actions.
Proverbs are used either for education, advice, counselling or criticism.
They could be used for social or moral training of children: to be honest, patient, kind, hard working etc.).
Examples of Proverbs:

Honesty is the best policy
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
Two heads are better than one.
One tree does not make a forest.
Rome is not built in a day.
Look before you leap.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
To err is human, to forgive is divine.
Better late than never.
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.
All that glitters is not gold.



أهمية تعليم الطفل لغات بجاننب العربية
Children have the capacity to develop new language more naturally than do adults. Children who learn more than one language before adolescence, will acquire those languages with more ease and "native-like" ability than they would trying to study those languages as adults. Most adults who began to seriously study a second language for the first time in junior high, high school or later, look at bilingual children with envy, realizing that even years of laborious study are not likely to render them "equal" or "balanced" bilinguals. It is true that many bilingual children are not balanced bilinguals, using each of their languages with equal ability, since assuring that they have equal exposure to both languages is quite a task--sometimes an impossible task--for the parents. However, bilingual children do acquire their dominant language (or both their languages if neither is dominant) to an ability equal of that of their monolingual peers. Additionally, they acquire a piece of a second language, generally learning far more of that language far more quickly than an adult could. How well a bilingual child develops their second language can vary from a child who only knows a few phrases and some very basic vocabulary in a second language, to a child who listens and understands, but cannot or perhaps will not speak, to a balanced bilingual child who communicates in both languages with the same command as monolingual peers in both languages.

Whether a bilingual child is just dipping their toe into a second language, or actually swimming in it, that child is experiencing to some degree the richness of another language. Children that are exposed to more than one language, even if they never fully learn that language as children, have a higher capacity for foreign language learning as teens or adults. Just playing foreign language cassettes in the home, and trying to speak whatever you know of a second language to your infants and young children will help their minds expand linguistically in a way that will give them an educational advantage later.

In addition to stretching their minds intellectually, learning two languages allows children to stretching their understanding of people beyond their dominant culture. Being able to step into another culture through its language is like being able to live a second life. Although some bilingual children do not have a lot of exposure to the culture of their second language, the language itself conveys much of the culture of the people who speak that language. Further, even if children are not living with native speakers of their second language (who are fully a part of the culture associated with the child's second language) in their house or community, they are still likely to be exposed to original songs and stories from that culture. Bilingual children have some experience seeing how different cultures cause different people to interpret completely differently the exact same circumstance. [Example] Seeing two different cultures internally helps bilingual children realize that much of what is considered universal human behavior within a culture may be unique to that culture. This awareness and understanding of differences between people prepares children to reserve judgment when they see someone respond "inappropriately" to a situation.

Bilingual children not only better appreciate what is human versus what is cultural, but they are also more inclined to have a deeper appreciation of language. They understand at an early age that their is more than one way to label or discuss something. They understand that different labels for the same object or idea in different languages can have different connotations. They are more likely to see the creative possibilities of language and explore their own linguistic creativity.

[إيليا]

جرائم الحرب
War crime
In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under international law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. Every violation of the law of war in an inter-state conflict is a war crime, while violations in internal conflicts are typically limited to the local jurisdiction. In essence, the term "war crime" represents the concept of an international jurisdiction as applicable to the most severe crimes, in areas where government is dysfunctional and society is in a state of turmoil.

The article "list of war crimes" summarizes war crimes committed since the Hague Conventions of 1907. In addition, those incidents which have been judged in a court of law to be crimes against peace and crimes against humanity that have been committed since these crimes were first defined (in the London Charter, August 8, 1945) are also included.

The article "list of war criminals" is a list of war criminals as according to the conduct and rules of warfare as defined by the Nuremberg Trials following World War II as well as earlier agreements such as Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, and the Geneva Conventions of 1929 and 1949.

War crimes include violations of established protections of the laws of war, but also include failures to adhere to norms of procedure and rules of battle, such as attacking those displaying a flag of truce, or using that same flag as a ruse of war to mount an attack.

Attacking enemy troops while they are being deployed by way of a parachute is not a war crime. However, Protocol I, Article 42 of the Geneva Conventions explicitly forbids attacking parachutists who eject from damaged airplanes, and surrendering parachutists once landed. [1]

War crimes include such acts as mistreatment of prisoners of war or civilians. War crimes are sometimes part of instances of mass murder and genocide though these crimes are more broadly covered under international humanitarian law described as crimes against humanity.

War crimes are significant in international humanitarian law because it is an area where international tribunals such as the Nuremberg Trials and Tokyo trials have been convened. Recent examples are the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which were established by the UN Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Under the Nuremberg Principles, the supreme international crime is that of commencing a war of aggression, because it is the crime from which all war crimes follow. The definition of such a crime is planning, preparing, initiating, or waging a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances. Also, participating in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any such act constitutes such a crime.


الحرب النووية
Nuclear, or atomic warfare, is a war in which nuclear weapons are used. Throughout the course of history, they have only ever been used twice in a state of war (the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki), and only by one side in the confrontation, the United States of America. Today the term usually refers to confrontations in which opposing sides are both armed with nuclear weapons.

The possibility of using nuclear weapons in war is usually divided into two subgroups, each with different effects and potentially fought with different types of nuclear armaments.

The first, a limited nuclear war (sometimes attack or exchange), consists of only the use of a small number of weapons in a tactical exchange aimed primarily at the opposing military forces. The effects of the weapons would still affect civilian locations. Many military bases are located near cities and nuclear fallout would be spread widely through the atmosphere.

Various nations developed relatively low-yield tactical nuclear weapons during the Cold War for use in such situations, though the explosive power of such weapons still vastly exceeds those of conventional (non-nuclear) arms.

The second, a full-scale nuclear war, consists of large numbers of weapons used in an attack aimed at an entire country, including both military and civilian targets. Such an attack would seek to destroy the entire economic, social, and military infrastructure of a nation by means of an overwhelming nuclear attack.

Some Cold War strategists argued that a limited nuclear war could be possible between two heavily-armed superpowers (such as the United States and the Soviet Union) and if so several predicted that a limited war could "escalate" into an all-out war.

Even the most optimistic predictions about the effects of a major nuclear exchange predict the death of millions of civilians within a very short amount of time; more pessimistic predictions argue that a full-scale nuclear war could bring about the extinction of the human race or its near extinction with a handful of survivors (mainly in remote areas) reduced to a pre-medieval quality of life and life expectancy for centuries after and cause permanent damage to most complex life on the planet, Earth's ecosystems, and the global climate. It is in this latter mode that nuclear warfare is usually alluded to as a doomsday scenario.

A third category, not usually included with the above two, is accidental nuclear war, in which a nuclear war is triggered unintentionally. Possible scenarios for this have included malfunctioning early warning devices and targeting computers, deliberate malfeasance by rogue military commanders, accidental straying of planes into enemy airspace, reactions to unannounced missile tests during tense diplomatic periods, reactions to military exercises, mistranslated or miscommunicated messages, and so forth. A number of these scenarios did actually occur during the Cold War, though none resulted in a nuclear exchange

[إيليا]

حقوق الحيوان أو حماية الحيوانات

Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the movement to protect non-human animals from being used or regarded as property by humans. It is a radical social movement[2] insofar as it aims not only to attain more humane treatment for animals,[3] but also to include species other than human beings within the moral community[4] by giving their basic interests — for example, the interest in avoiding suffering — the same consideration as those of human beings.[5] The claim is that animals should no longer be regarded legally or morally as property, or treated as resources for human purposes, but should instead be regarded as legal persons.[6]

Animal law courses are now taught in 87 out of 180 United States law schools, [7] and the idea of extending personhood to animals has the support of some senior legal scholars, including Alan Dershowitz[8] and Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School.[6] The Seattle-based Great Ape Project is campaigning for the United Nations to adopt a Declaration on Great Apes, which would see gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos included in a "community of equals" with human beings, extending to them the protection of three basic interests: the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture.[9] This is seen by an increasing number of animal rights lawyers as a first step toward granting rights to other animals.[10][11]

Critics of the concept of animal rights argue that animals do not have the capacity to enter into a social contract or make moral choices, and therefore cannot be regarded as possessors of moral rights. The philosopher Roger Scruton argues that only human beings have duties and that "[t]he corollary is inescapable: we alone have rights."[12] Critics holding this position argue that there is nothing inherently wrong with using animals for food, as entertainment, and in research, though human beings may nevertheless have an obligation to ensure they do not suffer unnecessarily.[13] This position is generally called the animal welfare position, and it is held by some of the oldest of the animal protection agencies.


وصف لأفراد عائلتك في يوم ما
Eid ul-Fitr
often abbreviated as simply Eid, is an Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Fiṭr means "to break the fast" and therefore symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. On the day of the celebration. As a family, we wake very early and then after praying the first normal everyday prayer, we are required to eat in a small quantity, symbolizing the end of Ramadan. Then, we attend special congregational prayers held only for this occasion in mosques, in large open areas, stadiums or arenas. The prayer is generally short, and is followed by a sermon (khuṭba). Worshippers greet and embrace each other in a spirit of peace and love after the congregational prayer. After the special prayers, festivities and merriment are commonly observed with visits to our home from relatives and friends to thank God for all blessings.

For us, Eid ul-Fitr is a joyous occasion with important religious significance, celebrating of the achievement of enhanced piety. It is a day of forgiveness, moral victory, peace of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood and unity. We celebrate not only the end of fasting, but also thank God for the help and strength that they believe he gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control. It is a time of giving and sharing, and many of us buy new dresses in this holiday

[إيليا]

تحريم الخمر والقمار ولحم الخنزير
The matter of Halal and Haram meat has consensus in the scholars through the history of Islam. The issue has been addressed completely through the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. May Allah guide us towards making the right choices for ourselves in this regard, and May He protect us from all Haram.
Food and drink, being the basic needs of human beings, have been discussed in detail and clearly explained in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. Especially, the issue of Halal and Haram meat is discussed quite extensively.

Unfortunately, we choose not to follow the established rules of Shari’ah based on the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. Instead, we make up our own rules to suit our needs and circumstances and do not seem to care if they are contradictory to the commands of Allah and His beloved Prophet (saws)

First of all, it should be kept in mind that in order to learn about any particular issue from the Holy Qur’an and Hadith, one muse be thoroughly well versed in the Arabic language. We must never attempt to understand and especially render a judgment about any issue of Shari’ah based on the translations of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. Since translations are never totally accurate and generally do not reflect the true spirit of the message, one takes the risk of misunderstanding an issue based on the translator’s perception of it. Thus, the whole foundation on which we would base our interpretation will be wrong and if the foundation is wrong then the structure we erect on it will be wrong as well.

Secondly, it is essential that one knows the rules governing the interpretation of Qur’an and Hadith. Without this knowledge we are also very likely to misinterpret the commands of Allah and His Prophet (saws).

Someone may argue that Allah has mentioned in the Qur’an, “We have made the Quran easy”; then how come we have to learn this and that to understand the true meaning of Quran? It should be borne in mind that whenever and wherever Allah says in the Holy Quran “We have made the Quran easy”. He has also added the word, “To take advice from and remember”, and not to deduce interpretations of your own liking. If the Holy Quran was made easy for everyone to interpret and to deduce the commands of Allah and the practices of Shariah, there would have been no need for sending a prophet and there could not have been any uniformity in the practice of Deen. As Allah says in the Quran:

“And we have also sent down unto you {O Muhammad (saws) the Dhikr, reminder and the advice (i.e. the Qura’n)} that you may explain clearly to men what is sent down to them, and that they may give thought.” (16:44)

Imam Ghazali and other scholars have mentioned fifteen branches of knowledge which one must acquire in order to gain insight into any particular issue from the Holy Quran and Hadith. One of these branches of knowledge, for example, is the knowledge of the background and circumstances under which Quranic verses were revealed. Without this knowledge, it would be impossible to understand the meaning and rationale of many of the verses in the Holy Quran. Consider the following verse:

“Those who believe and do righteous good deeds there is no sin on them for what they ate if they fear Allah and believe and do righteous good deeds, and again fear Allah and believe and one again fear Allah and do good deeds with Ihsan. And Allah loves the good doers.” (5:93)

If one looks at the literal translation of the above verse, one gets the impression that whatever one eats, whether it is Haram or Halal, will not make any difference as long as one believes in Allah, performs good deeds and is mindful of his/her duties. It is only when we learn the background of and the circumstances under which the verse was revealed that we truly understand the meaning of the verse.

Let us examine the background of this verse. When the verse forbidding alcohol was revealed, some of the companion expressed their concern about those who died before the revelation of this verse. The above verse was revealed to this concern and to ensure the companions that as long as the person believed in Allah and was pious, God-fearing and mindful of his/her duties of Allah, he/she will not be punished for his previous drinking; if he is punished, it will not be because of his drinking but because of his lack of faith and fear of Allah.

The above example clearly demonstrates how essential it is to have the knowledge of the rules dealing with the interpretation of the Holy Quran. Without this knowledge one can easily go astray.

There are many such examples in the Holy Quran and Hadith. Suffice is to say that one must acquire the knowledge of the fifteen subjects mentioned by Imam Ghazali if one intends to deduce the rules of Shariah himself from the Holy Quran and Haidth. If one renders judgments from the Holy Quran and Hadith without this knowledge, he/she will lead himself and other innocent Muslims astray. May Allah protect us and guide us to the right path!!

Thirdly, one should remember that when we investigate an issue through the Quran and Haidth, we should look at all the Quranic verses and Hadith relating to the topic. Only then will we be able to see the total picture of what Allah and His Prophet (saws) have taught us about this particular issue.

Take for example alcohol, if one reads the verse, “Do not pray when you are drunk” (4:43). One may easily misunderstand and claim that drinking is permitted in the Holy Quran as long as one is not praying while drunk, because drinking is forbidden only at the time of prayer. This person will not be able to understand the rules of Shariah about drinking because of his lack of knowledge of other verses of the Holy Quran and Hadith dealing with the commands of Allah about drinking. He may not realize that this verse was revealed at eh beginning of Islam and that another verse forbidding it altogether was revealed later on. The verse read as follows:

“ O believers, wine, gambling, (ungodly) shrines and divining devices are all abominable works of Satan; therefore refrain from these so that you may attain true success. Indeed Satan intends to sow enmity and hatred among you by means of wine, gambling to prevent you from the remembrance of Allah and from Salah. Will you not, therefore, abstain from these things?” (5:90-91)

since the intent of this short article is not to discuss the rules of interpretation of the Holy Quran and Hadith, we will not go into the details of the fifteen branches of knowledge described by Imam Ghazali. Those who are interested in learning more about them may consult Imam Ghazali’s writings such as, “Ihya-Al-Uloom”.

Let us now return to the main purpose for which I started to write this little article.

Allah has mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah,

“Those four things are forbidden from you: 1) Dead animal, 2) Blood, 3) Pork, and 4) any animal slaughtered in the name other than Allah.” (2:173)

As I have mentioned before, it is not enough to take only one verse from the Holy Quran to deduce the rules about an issue because we have to consider all the verses that may be directly or indirectly related to this issue. When we search the Holy Quran for verses related to the slaughtered animal (Zabiha) and Halal and Haram meat, we find that there are a number of other things, which are forbidden. Take for example verse #3 of Surah al-Ma’idah.

“ Forbidden for you are: 1) dead animal, 2) blood, 3) the flesh of pork, 4) any animal slaughtered in the name other than Allah, 5) or killed by strangling, 6) or through a deadly blow, 7) or by falling from a height, 8) or killed by (the goring of) horns, 9) or eaten by wild beasts, 10) or the one which has been sacrificed on altars (or at a shrine)” (5:3)

If we take only the first verse from Surah Baqarah mentioned above, we may believe that only three types of meat and blood are forbidden (Haram) and everything else is permitted (Halal). Even in the second verse quoted from Surah Ma’idah, all other forbidden animals, such as lion, dog, tiger, etc., have not been mentioned. Although every Muslim knows these beasts are also forbidden for consumption. We find these details only in Ahadith. For the animal to be Halal there are certain conditions that follow.

FIRST CONDITION: TO RECITE THE NAME OF ALLAH:

Similarly, according to the Holy Quran an animal slaughtered without reciting the Takbir (the Name of Allah) is also forbidden as stated in Quran:

“ And do not eat the flesh of an animal over which Allah’s name has not been mentioned at the time of Slaughter; this is indeed sinful. The Satan puts doubts and objections into the minds of their friends, so that they should dispute with you, but if you obey them , you are surely Mushriks.” (6-121)

It follows from this verse that it is essential to say the Takbir (reciting the name of Allah) when slaughtering the animal. If the Takbir was not recited, the meat becomes forbidden for consumption.

Imam Raghib Asfahani has mentioned seven verses from the Holy Quran in support of reciting the Takbir when slaughtering an animal for consumption.

1. “ So eat of that (flesh of the animal) over which Allah’s name has been mentioned, if you truly believe in His Revelations”. (6:118)

In this verse Allah clearly commanded us not to consume the animal upon which the Takbir was not recited at the time of slaughtering. It is; therefore, abundantly clear that if we believe in the Holy Quran, we must not eat of an animal that has not been slaughtered in the name of Allah.

2. “Why should you not eat of that over which Allah’s names has been mentioned, when he has already given you explicit knowledge of those things which He has forbidden for you except in a case of extreme helplessness? And surely many people lead others astray by following their own desires without any knowledge. Indeed your Lord best knows the transgressors.” (6:119)

In this verse Allah has once again made it very clear that those who eat the meat of animals not slaughtered in the name of Allah are ignorant, following their desires blindly.

3. “And do not eat the flesh of the animal over which Allah’s name has not been mentioned at the time of slaughter; this is indeed sinful..” (6:121)

In this verse it is clearly stated once again that the animal which has not been slaughtered in the name of Allah is forbidden for eating, and to do so is a great sin. It is further stated in the same verse:

“ And certainly, the Shayatin (devils) do inspire their friends (from mankind) to dispute with you, and if you obey them [by making al-Maitah (a dead animal) legal by eating it], then you would indeed be Mushrikun (polytheists);” [because they (devils and their friends) made lawful to you to eat which Allah has made unlawful to eat and you obeyed them by considering it lawful to eat, and by doing so you worshipped them; and to worship others besides Allah is polytheism]

Clearly Allah has warned us that Satan will inspire their friends in fabricating arguments and excuses to make Halal what Allah has made Haram for us. Obviously, these friends of Satan would be the ones who follow their own desires without knowledge. If we follow them, Allah says we would become Mushriks, because we associated these people with Allah in giving us commands.

4. “That they may witness the benefits made available for them, and mention the name of Allah on the appointed days over the cattle he has provided them”. (22:28)

In this verse where Allah has ordered us to sacrifice the animal, He has once again reminded us not to forget to mention the name of Allah when sacrificing the animal.

5. “And for every nation We have prescribed a way of sacrifice so that they should pronounce the name of Allah over the cattle which he has provided for them”. (22:34)

In this verse Allah has informed us of a very important fact, that He made it compulsory for the previous Ummahs as well to recite His name when slaughtering the animal. Therefore, it is also compulsory for the Jews and the Christians to recite the name of Allah when they slaughter an animal for consumption. This is whey we have been allowed to eat the meat of an animal slaughtered by the people of the Divine Books. This issue is discussed in more details in the next section.

6. "And We have included the camels (dedicated for sacrifice) among the Symbols of Allah, for there is much good for you in them. Therefore, mention the name of Allah over them when they are drawn up in lines (for sacrifice)." (22:36)

In this verse too, Allah impressed the need of reciting His name, when animals are slaughtered to offer sacrifice. Ordinarily a butcher slaughters an animal tor consumption, but during the Hajj season every one has to slaughter his own animal. This is why Allah is emphasising and reminding us not to forget reciting His name at the time of slaughter.

7. "They ask you what has been made lawful for them. Say, all the good and pure things have been made lawful for you. You may also eat of what the hunting animals, which you have trained lo hunt in accordance with the knowledge Allah has given you, catch and hold for you. You should, however, mention Allah's name over it and fear (to violate the Law of) Allah, for Allah is swift at reckoning." (5:4)

This verse deals with hunting for meat. Allah has commanded us to recite His name before letting loose the hunting animals (e.g., dogs, hawks, etc.) after the prey. Only then the hunted animal will be Halal; otherwise, it will be Haram. This law of hunting has been mentioned very clearly in many Ahadith as well. This is the only right way to make sure the hunt is Halal.

I will present the following two Ahadith as examples.

1. The Prophet (saws) said, "If you recited the name of Allah, then released one hound after the prey and another hound joined him, and the two dogs hunted the prey together; then the hunt will not be Halal because it is possible that the animal may have been killed by the dog on which Allah's name was not recited."

2. If an animal is hunted with an arrow and the prey fell in water after getting hit, then the animal will not be Halal because it is possible that his death may have been caused by the fall
or by drowning. There are many Ahadith on this subject in the authentic books such as Bukhari. Muslim, Abu-Daud, Tirmiz, Nasai, and Ibn-Majah etc. All of these Ahadith make it abundantly clear that an animal killed without reciting the name of Allah at the time of slaughter is Haram.

Therefore, reciting the name of Allah at the time of slaughter is the first condition for the meat to be Halal, Now, whoever tries to prove otherwise is ignorant and is following his own whims and desires; thereby, misleading himself and others.

SECOND CONDITION: SLAUGHTERING BY CUTTING THE THROAT

The second condition is that the animal should be slaughtered by cutting the throat, as it has been made clear in the following two Ahadith.

1. Abu Hurrairah (ra) narrated that the beloved Prophet (saws) once sent Budail bin Waraqah (ra) to Mina to announce and inform the pilgrims to slaughter their animals at the neck. (Dar Qutni. p. 544)

2. Abdullah bin Abbas (ra), Umar (ra) and Ali (ra) have all narrated that the Prophet (saws) instructed them to slaughter the animal at the neck. (Bukhari)

How and where should the neck be cut has been explained as well. Look at this Hadith:

1. Rafi bin Khudaij (ra) narrated that I asked the Prophet (saws) about slaughtering the animal: he (saws) replied, "That slaughtering the animal with any sharp object (with the exception of nail and teeth) makes it Halal." (Ibn Abi Shaibah, Zaila'i)

The word (Awdaaj) in this Hadith means the two blood vessels, the oesophagus and the windpipe. Out of these four, at least three must be cut for the animal to be Halal for consumption.

Now, regarding the question about the animals slaughtered by People of the Book, that is. the Jews and Christians, we find the following verse in the Holy Qur'an.

"This day We have made lawful (Halal) for you all the clean and pure things, and We have also made lawful (Halal) the food of the people of Scripture for you and your food for them." (5:5)

According to the above verse, we are allowed to eat the food of the people of the Book. But. does this mean that we are allowed to eat the meal of animals slaughtered by the Jews and Christian even if they do not follow the requirements of slaughter prescribed by Allah i.e., reciting the name of Allah and cutting the animal's throat as prescribed? Not at all. Interpreting the meaning of the verse in this manner will amount to abolishing these requirements, discarding all the verses in the Holy Qur'an and literally hundreds of Ahadith about them without any proof to the contrary.

. Under no circumstances are we allowed to discard, disregard any command of Allah in the Holy Qur'an and the Ahadith of Prophet Muhammad (saws) without any solid proof to the contrary.

Even a Muslim that kills an animal without the prescribed method, it will be rendered as Haram so how about the others. In this case, if we assume that the above mentioned conditions for the slaughter of animals are meant only for Muslims and not for Christians and Jews, then it means that no matter how they kill the animal, it will be Halal for them and for us. But if a Muslim slaughters an animal without meeting these requirements, the meat would be Haram for our consumption. Does this make sense? It may also mean that Allah 's more lenient with the Jews and Christians in this regard than He is with Muslims. Docs that make sense?

In fact, this is not the meaning of this verse. In order to understand the real meaning of this verse, we must first answer two questions.

1. What is meant by the word (Ta'aam)'?

And

2. Why did Allah make Halal for us the food of only the Jews and Christian and not of others?

Let us look at the first question. The Arabic word (Ta'aam) means "food or meal". Now if we take this literal meaning of the word, then, according to this verse, pork and wine will become Halal as well because both of these food items are regularly consumed by the Christians. And, no Muslim will ever agree to this interpretation of the verse because we know that both pork and wine have been clearly declared as Haram lor us by Allah. It, therefore, follows that lhe word "Ta'aam" here does not mean all types of food. In the
interpretation of this verse. Imam Qurtubi has explained, "all those food consumed by the Christian and the Jews, which are forbidden for Muslims, do not become Halal because of this verse." (Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, v.6, p.77).

There is a consensus among the scholars of the Holy Qur'an since the time of the Protphet (saws) that the word "Ta'aam" here means the meat of Halal animals slaughtered by Christians or Jews. Ibn-Kathir, Imam Jassas. Imam Aaiusi and others have derived this interpretation from the narrations by Abdullah bin Abbas. Abu-Darda, Abu-Umamah. Miijahid, Qatadah, Saeed-bin-Jubair, Ikrimah, Ala', Hasan Basri, Makhol Shami, Dhahhak, Ibrahim Nakhai. Imam Suddi, and Imam Muqatil, etc.)

Now then, why was the slaughtered meat of only Jews and Christians made Hala! for us and not of others?

The answer is quiie obvious. The Jews and the Christians used to slaughter their animals in exactly the same way as prescribed in Islam. They recited the name of Allah at the time of slaughter and cut the animal at the neck. So, their method of slaughter was exactly like ours. Allah had prescribed for them the same method of .slaughter as has been mentioned in Surah Hajj, verse 34. This can be confirmed through the Bible, Torah and the well established Jewish Dietary Laws. Look at the following quotations.

1. "You shall kill of your herd and your flock...as I have commanded you" (Deuteronomy 12.21)

2. The mammals and birds that may be eaten must be slaughtered in accordance with the Jewish law. (Dent. 12:21). We may not eat animals that died of natural causes (Dent. 14:21)
or that were killed by other animals. In addition, the animal must have no disease or flaws in the organs at the time of slaughter. These restrictions do not apply to fish; only to the
flocks and herds (Num. 11:22).

3. Ritual slaughter is known as shechitah and the person who performs the slaughter is called a shochet, both from the Hebrew root Shin-Chet-Tav, meaning to destroy or kill. The
method of slaughter is a quick, deep stroke across the throat with a perfectly sharp blade with no nicks or unevenness. This method is painless, causes unconsciousness within two
seconds, and is widely recognized as the most humane method of slaughter possible. Another advantage of shechitah is that it ensures rapid, complete draining of the blood, which is also necessary to render the meal kosher. The shochet is not simply a butcher; he must be a pious man, well-trained in Jewish law, particularly as it relates to kashrut. In smaller, more remote communities, the rabbi and the shochet were often the same person.

4. The humane laws of shechita probably go back to biblical times. The Torah itself implies knowledge of it: "You shall kill of your herd and your flock... as I have commanded you"
(Deuteronomy 12.21). And the moral basis of shechita was explained 800 years ago by Maimonides in his Guide of the Perplexed: "...the Law enjoins that the death of the animal
should be the easiest. It is not allowed to torment the animal by cutting the throat in a clumsy manner, by pole axing, or by cutting off a limb while the animal is alive. It is also
prohibited to kill an animal with its young on the same day (Leviticus 22.08). in order thai people should be restrained from killing the two together in such a manner thai the young is slain in the sight of the mother...."

5. In our time, the ethics of shechita were summarized by the noted Conservative rabbi. Samuel Dresner in the excellent booklet The Jewish Dietary Laws: "The laws of shechita
provide the most humane method of slaughtering animals. Great care is exercised that the knife to be used must be regularly examined before and after it is used to determine that it is perfectly smooth, without a notch that might tear the flesh. The cut severs the arteries to the head of the animal, thereby stopping circulation to the head and rendering the animal unconscious of all pain. This is not true when the animal is only stunned by a blow."

All of the above quotations have been taken from the web-page "Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws" on the internet at the site, whit.org/shofar/html/kosher.html/schechita.

It should be clear now why the slaughtered meat of the Jews and Christians was made Halal for us. If the Jews, Christians, or even a Muslim slaughter an animal without properly following the prescribed requirements; the meat will not be Halal for us.

There are lots of people these days who claim to be Jews and Christians, but their beliefs are not exactly in accordance with their faith. Can they be included in the definition of the People of the Book? Similarly, there are people who claim to be Muslims, but refuse to accept the basic tenants of Islam. Can they be considered Muslims? Certainly not. Besides, there are many Christians and Jews who do not even believe in God anymore.

In Summary, therefore, the first condition for their meat to be Halal for us is that they should be People of the Book (Jews or Christians), and secondly, they must slaughter according to their religious requirements (which are not different from Islam).

Generally, Jews and Christians do not slaughter their animals according to their religion with the exception of orthodox Jews who cat the Kosher; because they know that what is available in the market-place is not permissible for them to eat.

How unfortunate it is that there are Jews who still follow the commands of Allah , whereas the Muslims are looking for all kinds of excuses to violate them. May Allah give us the guidance.

It should also be remembered that all the butchers in the slaughter-houses may not necessarily be Jews and Christians: they could be persons from other faiths also.

Some people present the Fataawa (verdicts) of Islamic scholars from Saudi Arabia as a proof that we can eat the meat of an animal slaughtered by Christians and Jews. But this is merely another ploy to misguide the lay Muslims, because the fataawa of Saudi scholars deal with the packed meat they import from outside on which it is very clearly written that it has been slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic principles. Saudi Government has proclaimed a law that no Haram meat will be imported, and Saudi scholars keep this rule in mind when they render a Fatwa. Their faiaawa do not apply to the meat we get in the North American grocery stores and slaughter houses.

It is common knowledge that the meat sold in the grocery stores in North America and other western countries is neither slaughtered by the Jews or Christians necessarily, nor is it slaughtered in accordance with their religious requirement. It is, there-fore, clearly not Hlalal for our consumption.

By now, all doubts in our minds about which meat is permissible (Halal) and which is forbidden (Haram) should have been lifted. I pray to Allah for His protection from Satan and his human friends who are leading us astray from His straight path..

[إيليا]

ورق اليانصيب
lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments forbid it, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments.

The first signs of a lottery trace back the Han Dynasty between 205 and 187 B.C., where ancient Keno slips were discovered. The lottery has helped finance major governmental projects like the Great Wall of China.

The first known European lottery occurred during the Roman Empire, and was mainly done as a form of amusement at dinner parties. Each guest would receive a ticket, and prizes would often consist of fancy items such as dinnerware. Every ticket holder would be assured of winning something. The first European lottery to award money was held in Florence, Italy in 1530. As with the earlier Roman style lottery, all ticket holders would be eligible for a small prize, such as a trinket, for playing.

The Dutch were the first to shift the lottery to solely money prizes and base prizes on odds (roughly about 1 in 4 tickets winning a prize). The lottery proved to be very popular, and was hailed as a painless form of taxation. In the Netherlands the lottery was used to raise money for e.g. supporting poor people, building dikes, construction of defense works for towns and to buy free sailors from slavery in the Arab countries. The English word lottery stems from the Dutch word loterij, which is derived from the Dutch noun lot meaning fate. The Dutch state owned staatsloterij is the oldest still existing lottery.

Lotteries come in many formats. The prize can be fixed cash or goods. In this format there is risk to the organizer if insufficient tickets are sold. The prize can be a fixed percentage of the receipts. A popular form of this is the "50-50" draw where the organizers promise that the prize will be 50% of the revenue. The prize may be guaranteed to be unique where each ticket sold has a unique number. Many recent lotteries allow purchasers to select the numbers on the lottery ticket resulting in the possibility of multiple winners.

Lotteries are most often run by governments or local states and are sometimes described as a regressive tax, since those most likely to buy tickets will typically be the less affluent members of a society. The astronomically high odds against winning have also led to the epithets of a "tax on stupidity", "math tax" or the oxymoron "voluntary tax" (playing the lottery is voluntary; taxes are not). They are intended to suggest that lotteries are governmental revenue-raising mechanisms that will attract only those consumers who fail to see that the game is a very bad deal. Indeed, the desire of lottery operators to guarantee themselves a profit requires that an average lottery ticket be worth substantially less than what it costs to buy. After taking into account the present value of the lottery prize as a single lump sum cash payment, the impact of any taxes that might apply, and the likelihood of having to share the prize with other winners, it is not uncommon to find that a ticket for a typical major lottery is worth less than one third of its purchase price.

The fact that lotteries are commonly played leads to some contradictions against standard models of economic rationality. However, the expectations of some players may not be to win the game, but the thrill and indulgence in a fantasy of possibly becoming wealthy become the goal. Even ignoring the thrill factor, there is the theoretical possibility that the purchase of a lottery ticket could represent a gain in expected utility, even though it represents a loss in expected monetary value, thus making the purchase a rational decision. Insurance, for instance, represents negative expected monetary value but is not considered to be a tax on stupidity because it is generally believed to deliver positive expected utility to the individual.

Lottery tickets are usually scanned in big numbers using marksense-technology.



حب قرأة الحظ أو معرفة البخت
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain. It often conflates with the religious practice known as divination.

Common methods used for fortune telling include astromancy, cartomancy (fortune telling with cards), tarot card reading, crystallomancy (reading of a crystal sphere), and cheiromancy (palmistry, reading of the palms). The latter three have traditional associations in the popular mind with the Roma and Sinti people (often called "gypsies"). Various forms of fortune-telling appear throughout the world. Typical topics that fortune-tellers make predictions on include future romantic, financial, and childbearing prospects.

In contemporary Western culture, it appears that women consult fortune-tellers more than men: some indication of this comes from the profusion of advertisements for commercial fortune-telling services in magazines aimed at women, while such advertisements appear virtually unknown in magazines aimed specifically at men. Telephone consultations with psychics (charged to the caller's telephone account at very high rates) grew in popularity through the 1990s.

Chinese Fortune Telling better known as (Chinese: 算命, syun meng) have been through countless rituals and divination techniques throughout the dynastic periods. There are only 4 major methods still in practice between China and Hong Kong today due to accuracy and popularity by choice. Overtime, many of these concepts have gone into Korean and Japanese culture under other names. For example "Saju" in Korea is using the four pillar method.


Face reading - It is the interpretation of facial features of nose, eyes, mouth and other criteria within one's face. And convert those criteria into predictions of the future. This usually covers the phase of one's life, and reveal the type of luck associated with certain age range.
Palm reading - It analyzes the positioning of palm lines for love, personality and other traits.
Kau Cim - It requires the shaking of a bamboo cylinder, which results in at least one modified incense stick leaving the cylinder. The Chinese characters inscribed on the stick is analyzed by an interpreter. The prediction is short ranged as it covers one Chinese calendar year.
Zi wei dou shu - The procedure is sometimes loosely called (Chinese: 劈命, pik meng) or if someone seeks a advisor with a mastery of the Chinese calendar. The astrology is used in combination with Chinese constellation, four pillars of destiny and the five elements. The end result is a translation of one's destiny path. It is an interpretation of a pre-determined fate. The result of the details vary depend on the accuracy of the original four pillars information you provided. This method can also verify unique events that have already happened in one's life.

Scientists believe that several factors explain its popularity and anecdotal accuracy:

Predictions almost always use vague terms and do not lend themselves to falsification. Therefore, the prediction is never wrong, but a person's interpretation of it can always be wrong.
Confirmation bias predisposes people to look for cases where predictions can be interpreted as accurate more than they look to find inaccurate ones.
Consumers of fortune-telling services may also fail to realise that statements made about them might reflect reality, but would equally apply to most other people (for instance, the statement "you fought with your parents sometimes as a teenager" applies to a large majority of people). This is the Forer effect.
Fortune-tellers usually exhibit skills at reading people and telling them what they wish to hear (the technique of "cold reading").
A person who performs a divination for himself or herself may be using his or her reactions to the arbitrary stimuli (such as tarot cards) as a way of mentally organizing his or her own thoughts.
Predictions can be a source of amusement and diversion.
Predictions can reduce anxiety about the uncertain future.
When making a decision based on incomplete information, the fortune teller or oracle can reduce the anxiety associated with guessing.
It can be an external source of authority to invoke in support of a decision to be made, or in defense of a decision that was made.
The predictions themselves can cause the subject to alter his or her behaviour in a way that makes the predictions become true, see self-fulfilling prophecy.
Fortune-telling in the context of an individual's belief system has a good chance of being believed

[إيليا]

أهمية الأخلاق في تعاملنا

The Importance of Values and Morals
"The Importance of Values and Morals." Sounds like a no-brainer of an article for us, a people of faith. They are the code we live by in a civil and just society. They are what we use to guide our interactions with others, with our friends and family, in our businesses and professional behavior. Our values and morals are a reflection of our spirituality; our character. They are what we hope to model for our children and the children around us, because children do watch us as they develop their own sense of right and wrong. Everyone knows their importance, don't they?
Well, maybe not. One only has to watch Jerry Springer-type shows or the spate of "Reality TV Shows" to find evidence to the contrary. Every day in the news we hear about crooked politicians, greedy CEOs, insider trading, embezzling evangelists caught in "love triangles," "good Christians" doing very bad things. On talk-radio, news shows, at our churches, all around us, we hear about the decline of values, morals, ethics, civility, manners and, of course, common decency. People talk nostalgically about the "good old days" when Americans lived according to a set of standards of which they could be proud.

So have we really become a nation without values and morals? I don't think so. It's just that everyone has their own ideas about which values and morals are the ones we should follow. The choices are as varied as our country is heterogeneous. One only has to look inside the different church denominations to see the diversity of concepts regarding moral behavior. That realization doesn't stop each of us from believing that our particular values and morals comprise the "right" set-- the set everyone else should accept as well.

Another problem is that we, as human beings, are inconsistent in most things--including our morals and values. We tend to compartmentalize them; stressing one type while disregarding another. Some people seem willing to overlook unethical business practices while condemning ***ual behaviors and attitudes. Others overlook ***ual behavior and attitudes while crying foul over shady business practices. Turning a blind eye upon specific immoral activity seems to happen frequently in politics, sports and in the church. At times, it would appear that morals and values are morals and values of convenience.

But, as people of faith, aren't we supposed to have a clear sense of morals and values? Aren't we supposed to be above all that hypocrisy and compartmentalizing? After all, the Bible offers many examples of morals and values; behavior we should aspire to. But they, like us, often appear contradictory and inconsistent. Unfortunately, as flawed human beings, we often fall short in our pursuit of faith and "good, Christian conduct." The same can be said of our pursuit of consistency in our morals and values. It is a difficult task made more difficult by the world around us.

In the end, however, the importance of determining our values and morals is still imperative. They are reflective of our own sense of right and wrong, our character and, more importantly, our spirituality. While the world around us may spin out of control, children will continue to look to us for guidance in developing their own sense of what is important in life. And while we will never attain perfection and may never achieve consistency, a clear sense of moral and ethical standards is worth the effort.

After all, the children are watching

[إيليا]

مشاعر الحزن والسعادة
What is Happiness? What is Sadness?
Long ago in China there was a famous student of Zen Master Ma Jo named Han Ong. Everyone said to him, "You are lucky, you are happy." Then he said, "What is luck? What is happiness?" He always spoke like this.

He had a good horse, which he liked to ride every day. One day the horse disappeared, so everyone said, "Oh, are you unhappy? Are you sad?" He said, "What is sadness? What is happiness?" No feeling. His horse ran away, but he only said, "What is sadness? What is happiness?" Everyone said, "This man has no feeling.'' Usually, if someone is attached to something and it goes away, then he is very sad. But Han Ong only said, "What is sadness? What is happiness?''

A week later Han Ong got a very good horse; we say, jun me. This means it only has to see the shadow of the whip and it runs. This is a very clever horse. So everyone said, "You are happy. You are lucky." He said, "What is luck? What is happiness?" Only this. No feeling. Then everybody said, "This man is very lucky." His son liked the horse and rode it every day. He only had to mount the horse and it would go, so he rode around and around, very happy. Then one day while riding, he fell and broke his leg. So everyone said, "Ah, I am sorry your son broke his leg. Are you sad?" He said, "What is sadness? What is happiness?" No feeling.

Soon after this, there were many wars, with North China and South China fighting each other. All the young people had to go to the army. But Han Ong's son had a broken leg, so he could not go; he stayed at home and only helped his parents. His leg was not so bad, so he could work in the garden and help them with their chores. Everybody said, "You are lucky. You are happy." So he said, "What is luck? What is happiness?" This style speech.

This is Han Ong's famous, "What is happiness? What is sadness?" His whole life he used only this speech to teach other people. Outside, happiness appears, luck appears, sadness appears, but he is not moving. "What is true happiness? What is sadness?" Not moving. This mind is very important. Originally there is nothing. If you attach to something, then you have luck, happiness, sadness, suffering -- everything appears. If you don't attach, this is clear mind. Then there is no sadness, no happiness, no unhappiness -- they all disappear. So if you attach to name and form, if you attach to words, then your mind is also moving. Don't attach to anything. Then your mind is enough. Then appearing, disappearing, whatever happens outside doesn't matter. Then teaching other people is possible. So Han Ong's friends and all his students learned from him. Only one word: "What is sadness? What is happiness?" This means your mind moving is no good. If you make happiness, if you make sadness, that's no good. Don't make anything; don't attach to anything; don't hold anything. Then you are complete. This was his teaching.

So our Europe trip is almost finished. We too have had many kinds of happiness, appearing and disappearing. Put it all down, O.K.? Only go straight: "What is luck? What is happiness? What is sadness?" We have had a lot of luck, a lot of happiness, a lot of suffering, a lot of sadness. But what is happiness? What is sadness? What is luck? Only go straight.

[إيليا]

الاسترخاء واليوجا

The beauty of yoga exercise is that it can be enjoyed by all. No matter your age or fitness level, this gentle, yet powerful discipline offers a completely balanced workout, allowing you to develop strength with flexibility, while reducing stress and tension. Practicing yoga has been shown to improve overall health and cardiovascular fitness. And practitioners agree: this ancient art may slow and possibly even reverse the aging process.

First popular in the United States during the 1960s and '70s, yoga has now re-entered the mainstream. People today are rediscovering what yoga practitioners have known for thousands of years-that yoga's simple stretching exercises provide the opportunity for a lifetime of radiantly good health and inner peace. Health professionals now recognize that yoga's preventive, healing benefits can be the perfect antidote to the stresses of the modern world.

YOGA THROUGHOUT HISTORY

Yoga is an ancient philosophical system that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. Yoga means "to yoke" or "union" in Sanskrit-a bringing together to make whole the body, mind, and spirit. In approximately 2 A.D., the great Hindu sage, Patanjali, wrote down the principles of classical yoga in the Yoga Sutras. Since that time, yoga has evolved into four philosophical branches: Bhakti Yoga (cultivating devotion), Jnana Yoga (developing wisdom), Karma Yoga (the way of action), and Raja Yoga (inner concentration). The stretching exercises familiar to Westerners are hatha yoga, a small branch of Raja Yoga.

YOGA'S HEALTH BENEFITS

While a small dose of hatha yoga can result in a heightened sense of well-being, a regular regimen will reward you with a body that's lighter and more flexible. Scientific studies confirm many of yoga's benefits. In an article in Medicine, Exercise, Nutrition, and Health Journal, a team of Georgia Tech researchers concluded that a 32 minute yoga routine was a more efficient cardiovascular exercise than the same amount of time spent walking on a treadmill. According to the research team, yoga's cardiovascular value, along with its ability to enhance flexibility, strength, and coordination, qualifies it as an important form of exercise.

A plethora of healthcare providers, hospitals, and insurance companies confirm yoga's preventive benefits. Having a flexible lower-back and hamstring muscles can reduce your chances of becoming one of the millions of Americans afflicted with back pain, says physician and yoga teacher Mary Pullig Schatz, M.D. In her best-selling book, Back Care Basics, Dr. Schatz advocates a program of therapeutic yoga exercises for the prevention and rehabilitation of back pain. Studies on yoga exercise, relaxation and meditation techniques indicate that it can relieve high blood pressure, help chronic pain and illness, and neutralize the toxic stress of modern life. Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest healthcare providers, offers a therapy program that teaches patients how to incorporate yoga and meditation into their daily lives.

YOGA

Daily yoga practice, meditation, relaxation and breathing techniques, and a low-fat vegetarian diet, are key components of Dr. Dean Ornish's innovative program for the non-surgical treatment of heart disease, described in his book, Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease (Random House, 1990). Dr. Ornish's program has proven so successful that medical insurance companies now reimburse individuals who participate in it.

YOGA POSTURES (Asanas)

Yoga stretching for flexibility has been recommended by exercise specialists to prevent injury and improve sports techniques. Exercise physiologists Dr. Frank Katch, Ph.D., and Dr. William McArdle, Ph.D., authors of Introduction to Nutrition, Exercise and Health, strongly suggest that yoga stretches be performed slowly, with each position held for at least 10 seconds to fully extend the muscle.

Over the centuries, different yoga poses have been developed to efficiently stretch every muscle in the body slowly and gently as a type of moving meditation. While weight training improves dynamic strength--in which muscles become shorter and thicker as a result of moving the weight they work against-holding yoga poses develops isometric strength. Muscles with this kind of power turn long, lean, and limber from pushing against resistance from a fixed position.

There are hundreds of yoga postures, called asanas, which belong to one of five basic movement categories: forward bends, backbends, twists, standing and inversions, as well as meditation poses. A balanced yoga class should have a series of postures that includes all five movement categories. Although yoga can be practiced at home, it's a good idea for beginners to attend a class to learn how to safely and properly perform the postures. If you have a medical condition, always consult your health professional before beginning an exercise program.

Whether you're 9 or 90, you can enjoy the many benefits of yoga. Its requirements are minimal: all you need are 30 minutes each day, a mat or blanket, and a small exercise space. Yoga addresses a wealth of different needs: it can teach children to quiet their minds while promoting strength and flexibility; provide healthy ways for senior citizens to slow down the aging process; and serve as a natural beauty aid by creating a more limber, graceful body and serene demeanor. Hatha yoga practice provides each of us an opportunity to reach our full potential physically, mentally and spiritually.

BREATHING AND MEDITATION

In yoga philosophy, prana is life force energy. Pranayama breathing is the conscious regulation of the breath that circulates revitalizing prana throughout the body. Research indicates that breathing slowly and deeply sends a message to the body and mind that all is well, thereby interrupting the stress cycle. Many different controlled breathing exercises are available in hatha yoga.

The following simple exercises can be performed anytime to promote calmness--

Sit comfortably in a chair, or on the floor in a cross-legged or half-lotus position, keeping your back straight and your neck and head aligned with your spinal column. Gently place both of your hands, fingertips touching, below the bellybutton. Then slowly breathe in and out from your stomach. You should feel your belly calmly rise and fall with each breath. Continue this basic breathing technique for ten breaths, allowing yourself to derive a joyous serenity.

Triange-Standing Position: (stretches and strengthens legs and lower back) Stand with legs three feet apart, right foot pointing right, arms extended out to the sides. Reach out with the right arm extending torso until right hand reaches right leg. Grasp the right leg as far down as you can (between the knee and ankle) while extending left arm upward. Turn head to look up at left hand. Hold the pose for 30 seconds. Come up slowly and repeat on the opposite side.

Sphinx-Backward Bending Posture: (back and abdominal stretch) Lie on your abdomen with legs hip distance apart. Bend down elbows and place beneath your shoulders, arms straight forward. Keep the shoulders down from your ears while tightening the buttocks. Hold the pose for 5 seconds.

Pose of a Child-Forward Bending Posture: (stretches the back, neck and shoulders) Sit on your heels with knees bent touching the floor together. Slowly bend your torso forward until stomach rests on thights and forehead is centered to floor. Place arms alongside your body, palms upward, and hands close to ankles. Relax deeply, breathing comfortable. Hold pose for up to one minute.

Half Candle-Inversion: (stretches and strengthens the back, shoulders, and arms) Do not do this pose if you have high blood pressure or are menstruating. Lay on your back then slowly raise your legs into the air, lifting the hips. Support the back of your hips with your hands, while your elbows are securely braced on the floor as close together as possible. Keep the legs straight with your feet at a 45 degree angle above your head. Hold the pose for 30 seconds.

Simple Twist-Twist: (stretches and strengthens the back muscles and spine) Sit on the floor in a cross-legged position keeping the spine straight. Slowly rotate your torso to the right and place the right hand on the floor behind the right hip. Grasp the right knee with the left hand and look over the right shoulder. Hold the pose for 10 seconds. Repeat the twist to the left.

Meditation Posture-Half Lotus (stretches hips, knees and ankles, improves posture) Sit cross-legged, right leg in front of the left, keeping the spine straight. Do not force this position, or it may injure the knees. Gently grasp the right foot with both hands and slowly bring it high up on the left thigh. Extend arms out to sides of knees, touching index finger to thumb, palms facing up. Breathe deeply and hold the pose for 10 seconds. Repeat with the left foot.

[إيليا]

المرأة هل ممكن أن تصبح رئيسة
Why Can't a Woman Run for President?
With the tone and substance of national policy in the United States in a seemingly bottomless downward spiral, threatening both the peace of the world and the freedom of Americans, it may be fair to ask, why talk about a woman running for president?

The simple answer is that the best promise for improvement may well be in calling on the talents of humanity's other half, so largely ignored in American politics (actually, humanity's more-than-other half since males on average die much younger).

I sincerely believe America has scraped the bottom of the barrel for male leadership talent with George Bush. Indeed, in some ways this is true of both parties since Al Gore, while a far more intellectually-capable man, threw away the election with a fatuous, me-too campaign and insisted on blaming Mr. Clinton's past activities for his loss. Hardly the stuff of great leadership.

When will a woman run for president? When this question is posed in op-ed opinion pieces, the answer frequently offered is something along the lines of "when one decides to run." A very reassuring bromide that injects "choice," that most pliable word of American corporate-speak, into the discussion.

Of course, the reality is that an apron-strings, cookies-and-milk mind-set still dominates much of American society's attitudes about women. People abroad likely find it hard to appreciate the truth of this when they think of America as a place of rapid change and advanced technology.

But not everything is technologically advanced in America. You have only to recall the incompetent mess of Florida ballots in the last election for an example of how a technologically advanced nation can be backward even in areas of technology.

And rapid change certainly does not occur uniformly through American society. This is a nation where millions of people look for signs of Satan in children's books and attend religious revivals where folks are slapped on the forehead to cure cancer. One of the largest fundamentalist Christian denominations in the United States proudly declares that the little woman's place is to support her husband as patriarch of the family. The role for women amongst American fundamentalist Jews is pretty much what one would expect to find in the mid-17th century.

America's South, with its cloying ideals of belles, cheerleaders, baton-twirlers and cotillions, represents patriarchal values in the raw. After all, it is the place that spontaneously generates people who speak in tongues and handle poisonous snakes as part of divine worship. Almost the nation's entire supply of fundamentalist preacher-entrepreneurs, people who make a fine living out of refusing to recognize what century they live in, are incubated and developed in the South. And the South, due to changing trends in population, is the part of the country that has risen to great new influence in American politics.

The treatment of Hillary Clinton set a standard of viciousness no other society on earth, claiming to be civilized, could match. An intelligent and independent-minded woman was harassed and insulted for eight long years simply because she was intelligent and independent-minded. Undoubtedly, it all served as an effective warning that the Barbara Bush image, the smiling granny serving cookies and milk while overseeing ghost-written books about her dog Fluffy is the preferred one for the White House.

In a very real sense, Elizabeth Dole, who did make a weak attempt at the Republican nomination, despite the benefit of a syrupy Southern accent, was never a serious candidate. Comments on Ms. Dole's abilities, reported in the mainstream press, included her skill at descending from a podium and the fact that her shoes coordinated with décor.

She was always a weak candidate, having held appointed offices, with no genuine experience in politics, and someone who long played public cheerleader to her morose and plodding husband's political fortunes (some would say that alone disqualified her), a gracious man who returned the favor by publicly disparaging her campaign early on (What else does one expect from someone who actually bawled at Richard Nixon's burial?).

The strong, lingering smell of anti-feminism in America, kept alive by people who believe we should be guided by principles that predate the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, certainly helps explain why the most capable women don't run. Christine Whitman, former governor of New Jersey, is an outstanding example, now safely tucked into a lesser cabinet post (lesser as far as the Bush Boys are concerned - after all, what's the environment but a name for a photo-op?) where she is free to say virtually nothing - a very dynamic governor, whether you agree with all her policies or not, reduced to a cipher.

Perhaps, "can't run" is the more appropriate expression, since money, steam-shovels full of it, from private sources drives the entire American political engine. George Bush provided the definitive proof that a candidate most people never heard of and who had never taken any interest in national policy can win, provided only he started his journey through the primary campaigns with $70 million stuffed in his pockets and received frequent top-ups as he glutted the airwaves with numbing pictures of vacuous benignity. The sources of this money still do not see fit to trust women with command over resources in business, so it is not surprising they do not trust them with command over resources in politics.

Something is very wrong with national politics when a country of America's stature can't come up with a better choice than George Bush or Al Gore (incidentally, has anybody noticed the increased role of inheritance in the great republic?). America's rotten system for financing elections is at the heart of the matter. What other nation holds to a mindless equivalency between money and free speech? Presumably, if you pushed this legalistic, anti-democratic notion to its limit, big-money contributors would be entitled to do all the speaking in elections. Everyone would still have a vote, but only those with money could talk to them. George Bush's campaign hinted strongly at the future possibility.

The party system is also at fault here. Despite the countless chamber-of-commerce testimonials we hear about free enterprise in America, it doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone to institute it into politics. We have a virtual monopoly situation (actually, what economists call a duopoly) with two parties using countless dodges, gimmicks, and unfair rules to keep out competitors. Just a little room is left around the edges of all the high barriers to entry so that some suggestion of a free market is maintained, much the way small independent bottlers of soda receive a few square feet out of an entire aisle dedicated to Coke and Pepsi products in a supermarket. The restrictions against a third-party candidate's even getting on the ballots of all fifty states would fill a book.

New parties bring new ideas and new blood. Why does anyone believe that two parties are any more capable of this than if there were only two banks doing all financial transactions? Republicans in particular love to blather about "creative destruction" in the economy. Did it ever occur to them that the same Schumpeterian principle applies to institutions like political parties? The national parties have crotchety old establishments that do not contain many women or other fresh-thinking people in influential positions.

Methods of national debate also are part of the problem. So long as argumentative nonsense is regarded as debate, an immature and intellectually-dull national politics will continue. Negative advertising is only a small part of this phenomenon. Many talented people are repulsed at entering a contest where lung-power and attitudes play a far greater role than ideas or wisdom. This was certainly the case for General Powell, and I suspect former Governor Whitman. One could make a joke about this form of debate appealing more to hormone-driven males than thoughtful women, but in fact it does not appeal to the thoughtful of either ***. Yet it dominates American politics, just as dominates the airwaves with public affairs programs that don't inform.

Change in the way America does the business of politics offers the best chance for escape from the intellectual and moral sinkhole represented by the Bush administration. Such change would bring more excellent people forward, and I have no doubt that at least half of them would be women. And America would take a big step forward in its promise to be a democratic society, rather than one run by money with a semblance of democratic institutions. But in saying these things, I fear I may be pointing towards solutions whose very impossibility now leaves a sense of a settled and depressing fate

[إيليا]

My best friend

Probably my best friend is one of my schoolmates. Her name is ..... and we have known each other since we were ...... years old. If I were to describe how she looks, I would say she is very pretty. She has short brown hair, brown almond-shaped eyes, a small nose and a small pointed chin. She is not very tall but not short either and she is quite slim. She doesn't like to dress up so I usually see her wearing jeans and a T-shirt or sweater.

It seems like she and I are always talking or laughing about something. She has a very nice personality and a wonderful sense of humor, but she can also get a little depressed from time to time. I can always count on her to be honest and to give me the best advice.

We are interested in many of the same hobbies. We both enjoy music, playing the guitar and singing. We like going to the cinema but sometimes can't agree on which movie to see. Sometimes we just walk around, trying to find a new area of the city to explore. We both like traveling, reading, and swimming. Sometimes during the summer, I go with her and her family to their summer house which is located next to a large lake. We usually spend most of the day swimming or exploring the area but sometimes we take a small row boat and go fishing. In the evenings, we might walk into town and see a movie or stay at home and watch television. Whatever we're doing, it's always fun to be with her.

I know I can rely on her. Even when our lives get busy, we still make time to see each other. I can't imagine going to school and not having her there. Since I am better in math and science and she is better in English and languages, we can always help each other if we get confused about a difficult homework and assignments. We are lucky that we complement each other so well, and that we get along so well. I hope that our friendship will continue and be just as strong after we graduate from high school. We would like to study at the same university.

[إيليا]

برامج الواقع في التلفزيون
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming which presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Although the genre has existed in some form or another since the early years of television, the term "reality television" is most commonly used to describe programs produced since 2000. Documentaries and nonfictional programming such as the news and sports shows are usually not classified as reality shows.

Reality television covers a wide range of programming formats, from game or quiz shows which resemble the frantic, often demeaning shows produced in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s (a modern example is Gaki no tsukai), to surveillance- or voyeurism-focused productions such as Big Brother.

Critics say that the term "reality television" is somewhat of a misnomer. Such shows frequently portray a modified and highly influenced form of reality, with participants put in exotic locations or abnormal situations, sometimes coached to act in certain ways by off-screen handlers, and with events on screen sometimes manipulated through editing and other post-production techniques.

Precedents for television that portrayed people in unscripted situations began in the 1940s. Debuting in 1948, Allen Funt's Candid Camera, (based on his previous 1947 radio show, Candid Microphone), broadcast unsuspecting ordinary people reacting to pranks. It has been called the "granddaddy of the reality TV genre." [1] Debuting in the 1950s, game shows Beat the Clock and Truth or Consequences, involved contestants in wacky competitions, stunts, and practical jokes. In 1948, talent search shows Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts featured amateur competitors and audience voting. The Miss America Pageant, first broadcast in 1954, was a competition where the winner achieved status as a national celebrity.[2]

The radio series Nightwatch (1954-1955), which tape-recorded the daily activities of Culver City, California police officers, also helped pave the way for reality television.

First broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1964, the Granada Television series Seven Up!, broadcast interviews with a dozen ordinary seven-year olds from a broad cross section of society and inquired about their reactions to everyday life. Every seven years, a film documented the life of the same individuals in the intervening years, titled Seven Plus Seven, 21 Up, etc. The series was structured simply as a series of interviews with no element of plot. However, it did convey the individuals' character development over time.

The first reality show in the modern sense was the 12-part 1973 PBS series An American Family, which showed a nuclear family going through a divorce. In 1974 a counterpart program, The Family, was made in the UK, following the working class Wilkins family of Reading. In 1992, Australia saw Sylvania Waters, about the nouveau riche Baker-Donaher family of Sydney. All three shows attracted their share of controversy.

Some talk shows, most notably The Jerry Springer Show, which debuted in 1991, try to present real-life drama within the talk show format by hosting guests likely to conflict on the set
Reality television as it is currently understood, though, can be traced directly to several television shows that began in the late 1980s and 1990s. COPS, which first aired in the spring of 1989, showed police officers on duty apprehending criminals; it introduced the camcorder look and cinéma vérité feel of much of later reality television. Nummer 28, which aired on Dutch television in 1991, originated the concept of putting strangers together in the same environment for an extended period of time and recording the drama that ensued. It also pioneered many of the stylistic conventions that have since become standard in reality television shows, including a heavy use of soundtrack music and the interspersing of events on screen with after-the-fact "confessionals" recorded by cast members, that serve as narration. One year later, the same concept was used by MTV in their new series The Real World; Nummer 28 creator Erik Latour has long claimed that The Real World was directly inspired by his show. Changing Rooms, a British TV show that began in 1996, showed couples redecorating each others' houses, and was the first reality show with a self-improvement or makeover theme. The Swedish TV show Expedition Robinson, created by TV producer Charlie Parsons, which first aired in 1997 (and was later produced in a large number of other countries as Survivor), added to the Nummer 28/Real World template the idea of competition and elimination, in which cast members/contestants battled against each other and were removed from the show until only one winner remained.

أدمان النت
Internet addiction disorder (IAD) is a theorized disorder originally made as a satirical hoax[1] by Ivan Goldberg, M.D., in 1995. It is compared to pathological gambling as diagnosed by the DSM-IV. Dr. Goldberg, along with Kimberly Young, Psy. D. are currently lobbying for the inclusion of IAD into the DSM-V, the next edition of the DSM, which would open the doors for insurance companies to pay out for Internet addiction counseling. However many others argue that IAD is not an actual disorder and should not be classified as a mental disorder in DSM-V.

In June 2007, the American Medical Association declined to recommend to the American Psychiatric Association that they include IAD as a formal diagnosis in the 2012 edition of the DSM.[2] Instead, their toned-down response recommended further research of "video game overuse."[3] Members of the American Society of Addiction Medicine opposed calling overuse of Internet and video games a true addiction.[4] Among the necessary research is a way to define "overuse" and a way to differentiate an "internet addiction" from obsession, self-medication for depression or other disorders, and compulsion.

A pattern of Internet use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as manifested by three (or more) of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:

Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
A need for markedly increased amounts of time on Internet to achieve satisfaction.
Markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of time on Internet.
Withdrawal, as manifested by either A or B below:
(A) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome, 1, 2 and 3 below
Cessation of (or reduction in) Internet use that has been heavy and prolonged.
Two (or more) of the following, developing within several days to a month after Criterion:
(a) psychomotor agitation
(b) anxiety
(c) obsessive thinking about what is happening on the Internet
(d) fantasies or dreams about the Internet
(e) voluntary or involuntary typing movements of the fingers
The symptoms in Criterion 2 cause distress or impairment in social, occupational or another important area of functioning
(B) Use of Internet or a similar on-line service is engaged in to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Internet is accessed more often or for longer periods of time than was intended, causing the untreated addict to neglect responsibilities at work and the needs of the family at home.
There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control Internet use.
A great deal of time is spent in activities related to Internet use (for example, buying Internet books, trying out new WWW browsers, researching Internet vendors, organizing files of downloaded materials).
Frequent talks about the Internet in daily life.
Important family, social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced in duration and/or frequency because of Internet use.
Internet use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical, family, social, occupational, or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by Internet use (for example, sleep deprivation, marital difficulties, lateness for early morning appointments, neglect of occupational duties, or feelings of abandonment in significant others).
It should be noted however that these criteria were originally posted as a joke by Ivan Goldberg on www.psycom.net (http://www.psycom.net/) as a parody of the strict format of the DSM, Goldberg did not actually believe that IAD existed. Subsequent researchers such as Kimberly Young, Mark Griffiths and John Charlton have investigated the idea of IAD further and attempted to create more accurate diagnostic criteria for Internet Addiction Disorder

التأمين الطبي
Health insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the insured if the insured becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. The insurer may be a private organization or a government agency. Market-based health care systems such as that in the United States rely primarily on private health insurance.
The concept of health insurance was proposed in 1694 by Hugh the Elder Chamberlen from the Peter Chamberlen family. In the late 19th century, early health insurance was actually disability insurance, in the sense that it covered only the cost of emergency care for injuries that could lead to a disability[citation needed]. This payment model continued until the start of the 20th century in some jurisdictions (like California), where all laws regulating health insurance actually referred to disability insurance.[1] Patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case

A Health insurance policy is an annually renewable contract between an insurance company and an individual. With health insurance claims, the individual policy-holder pays a deductible plus copayment (for instance, a hospital stay might require the first $1000 of fees to be paid by the policy-holder plus $100 per night stayed in hospital). Usually there is a maximum out-of-pocket payment for any single year, and there can be a lifetime maximum.

Prescription drug plans are a form of insurance offered through many employer benefit plans in the U.S., where the patient pays a copayment and the prescription drug insurance pays the rest.

Some health care providers will agree to bill the insurance company if patients are willing to sign an agreement that they will be responsible for the amount that the insurance company doesn't pay, as the insurance company pays according to "reasonable" or "customary" charges, which may be less than the provider's usual fee. The "reasonable" and "customary" charges can vary.

Health insurance companies also often have a network of providers who agree to accept the reasonable and customary fee and waive the remainder. It will generally cost the patient less to use an in-network provider.

[إيليا]

عجائب الدنيا السبعة
The 'Seven Wonders of the World' (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a widely-known list of seven remarkable manmade constructions of classical antiquity. It was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. Later lists include those for the Medieval World and the Modern World

Seven Wonders lists about the Middle Ages are existing historical lists for which there is no unanimity of opinion about origin, content or name.[1] These historical lists go by names such as "Wonders of the Middle Ages" (implying no specific limitation to seven), "Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages", "Medieval Mind" and "Architectural Wonders of the Middle Ages". The lists are more properly seen as a continuing type or genre in the Seven Wonders tradition than a specific list.

It is unlikely the lists originated in the Middle Ages. Brewer's calls them "later list[s]"[2] suggesting the lists were created after the Middle Ages. This is supported because the word medieval was not even invented until the Enlightenment-era, and the concept of a "Middle Age" did not become popular until the 16th century. Further, the Romanticism movement glorified all things related to the Middle Ages, or more specifically anything pre-Enlightenment era, suggesting such lists would have found a popular audience in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Some items found on some of the lists are not technically from the Middle Ages (according to modern historical standards), but we know the lists were not created by modern medieval historians, so such standards did not apply.

Typically representative of the seven:[1][3][4][2]

Stonehenge
Colosseum
Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
Great Wall of China
Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
Hagia Sophia
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Other sites that have been mentioned include:

Taj Mahal[5]
Cairo Citadel[6]
Ely Cathedral[7]
Cluny Abbey[8]

In the tradition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, many other lists of wonders have been proposed, including both human feats of engineering and wonders of Nature. However, these lists are rather informal, and there is no consensus on any particular list.


Modern wonders
******* Tunnel
CN Tower
Empire State Building
Golden Gate Bridge
Itaipu Dam
Delta Works
Panama Canal
Tourist travel wonders
Noted travel writer Howard Hillman has compiled lists of the top man-made[10] and natural[11] tourist travel wonders of the world:


Man-made travel wonders of the world
Great Pyramids of Giza
Great Wall of China
Taj Mahal
Machu Picchu
Bali
Angkor Wat
Forbidden City
Bagan Temples & Pagodas
Karnak Temple
Teotihuacán

Natural travel wonders of the world
Serengeti Migration
Galápagos Islands
Grand Canyon
Iguazu Falls
Amazon Rainforest
Ngorongoro Crater
Great Barrier Reef
Victoria Falls
Bora Bora
Cappadocia

Natural wonders
Similar to the other lists of wonders, there is no consensus on a list of seven natural wonders of the world, as there has been debate over how large the list should be. One of the many lists was compiled by CNN:[12]

Grand Canyon
Great Barrier Reef
Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Mount Everest
Polar Aurora
Parícutin volcano
Victoria Falls

Underwater wonders
This list of underwater wonders is of unknown origin but has been repeated sufficiently often to acquire a degree of notability:[13] [14]

Palau
Belize Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
Deep-Sea Vents
Galapagos Islands
Lake Baikal
Northern Red Sea

[إيليا]

My Favorite Movie
My favorite movie is....., can I get back to you on that?

It's not that I don't know what my favorite movie is. That would be silly. No, I'm sure I can come up with one. Let's see. It's probably a comedy, because I generally like comedies more. I made a life decision long ago that I was generally pro-comedy.

It might be Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I'm pretty sure I've seen that movie more than any other. Except possibly for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but we don't need to get into that. I've seen Holy Grail hundreds of times, and I've worn out more than one videotape. But really, I've seen it so often that I don't have any need to see it again. So I don't see how it can be my favorite, really. I mean, yes, I've basically memorized it. But on the other hand, that means that I can just watch it in my head, and if it's a movie I never watch, is it my favorite?

As a side note, I don't go around quoting Monty Python everywhere I go. I used to, but I got over that, because I didn't want to be, you know, that guy. Actually, I still do a lot of Python quotes, but they're obscure ones and I try to make them unnoticeable. They're like a delightful surprise for people who have wasted as much of their lives as me.

So now I'm looking at my dvds, trying to decide which is my favorite. It might be Aliens. That's a great movie. Between it and Highlander, I've quoted my way through an awful lot of role-playing games. (That's right, ladies: Monty Python and role-playing games. I promise I'll get more highbrow tomorrow.)

Boy, this is hard. I don't understand how people do it. Some people can just rattle off their favorite food, color, and member of the Brady Bunch, but I don't seem to have ranked my tastes that way. I'm going to try to convince myself that means I'm complex and mysterious.

Oh! It could be His Girl Friday. Every time I watch it, I want to go find people and drag them over and start explaining how great this movie is. Sometimes I even go through with it, which doesn't always work. Apparently, not everybody appreciates great cinema. Or possibly they don't appreciate me nudging them in the ribs saying "Hah? Brilliant!" every few minutes. Either way, while it's worked a few times, introducing people to His Girl Friday has been more a tentative goal than an actual achievement.

I'm running through the rest of the alphabet, and there are a few good nominations. I have an irrational attachment to Kill and Kill Again, but I wouldn't say it was my "favorite." Maybe my "favorite martial arts movie set in South Africa." The Muppet Movie? Mmmmaybe. Popeye? Possibly, but it's right there on the shelf next to The Princess Bride, which is also a good choice.

Yaah, so I don't know. My favorite movie is probably His Girl Friday. Or maybe Help! which I've just noticed I don't even own. What's up with that?


Country Life versus City Life

Have you ever wondered how people live in ithe country versus how people live in the city? The country lifestyle and the city lifestyle have a lot of differences, so I saw them as work,. Let me tell about these The first difference is work. Both of them people usually work , but how they work different . To begin with, farmers work outside and harvest. Employee of the company work inside and work on machine. Second, the country has small markets and the city has big markets. The third way, is the people in country don't need more money. Everytime, they need to buy something , they can trade each other such as rice,potato.etc...But the people in the city make more money because they need more thing such as food, fish,etc... Some people argue that city life is better than country life. However, the authenticity of this statement is dubious. The interpretation of this statement maybe entirely biased depending on the individual. Not everyone suited to the city life and not everyone has the desire to reside permanently in the countryside. You may prefer to be better suited to one type of lifestyle than that of another. Even so, one cannot possibly make a general claim that city life is better than country life. It is really ones perspective whether city life is better than country life. Everyone has unique differences and requirements. Therefore, the better life would have to be the lifestyle that caters for ones necessities.


A dream that i had

yesterday i dreamt that i was in a big house with full of children and toys. i was very happy because the children were all around me and hugging me. Then, i told them to go to the back yard, so we can play with the sand. so, we went outside and we all happy playing with each other. then, suddenly the water sprinkler was on, and we all got wet. then, suddenly i felt something itching on my back. when i asked one of the children to see what's on my back, he replied that i have wings on my back!!
then, i found myself flying through the blue beautiful sky with the children too.

i woke up feeling great and weird at the same time because of my bizzare dream that i had.
معليش ترا الحلم من عقلي

[إيليا]

أحترام ألأديان
Should We Respect Religion? Does Religion Deserve Respect?

Religious Believers Demanding Respect:
An increasing source of conflict in the world today is centered around religious believers’ demands for respect. Muslims demand “respect” that would forbid criticism, satire, or mocking of their religion. Christians demand “respect” that would amount to something very similar. Nonbelievers are caught in a bind when it’s not clear what “respect” is supposed to entail and how it is supposed to be achieved. If respect is so important to believers, they need to be clear about what they want.
Respect vs. Tolerance:
Sometimes, a person who wants respect is simply asking for tolerance. The minimal definition of tolerance is a state where one has the power to punish, restrict, or make something difficult but consciously chooses not to. Thus I may tolerate the barking of a dog even if I have the ability to stop it. When it comes to non-violent, consensual behavior, religious believers’ demand for tolerance is usually reasonable and should be granted. It’s rare, though, that this is all that is desired.
Going Beyond Tolerance:
Respect and tolerance are not synonyms; tolerance is a very minimalist attitude whereas respect involves something more active and positive. You can think very negatively about something you tolerate, but there is something contradictory about thinking very negatively about the exact same thing you are also respecting. Thus, at the very least, respect requires that one have have positive thoughts, impressions, or emotions when it comes to the religion in question. This isn’t always reasonable.

Should Beliefs Be Respected?:
There seems to be a popular impression that beliefs deserve automatic respect, and therefore that religious beliefs should be respected. Why? Should we respect racism or Nazism? Of course not. Beliefs don’t merit automatic respect because some beliefs are immoral, evil, or just plain stupid. Beliefs may be able to earn a person’s respect, but it’s an abdication of moral and intellectual responsibility to automatically accord the same respect to all beliefs.
Should the Right to Believe be Respected?:
Just because a belief is immoral or stupid doesn’t mean that there is no right to believe it. Belief may be unwise or irrational, but a right to belief must cover such beliefs if it’s to have any meaning at all. Therefore, a person’s right to believe things and to hold their religious beliefs must be respected. Having a right to a belief, however, is not the same as having a right to not hear criticism of that belief. The right to criticize has the same basis as the right to believe.
Should Believers Be Respected?:
Although beliefs must earn respect and should not receive automatic respect, the same is not true of people. Every human being deserves some basic minimum of respect right from the beginning, regardless of what they believe. Their actions and beliefs may lead to greater respect over time, or they may strain your ability to maintain that minimum. A person is not the same as what that person believes; respect or lack thereof for one should not lead to the exact same for the other.
Respect vs. Deference:
The most significant problem with believers’ demands for respect for their religions and/or religious beliefs is that “respect” too often amounts to “deference.” Deferring to religion or religious beliefs means according them a privileged status — something understandable for believers, but not something which can be demanded from nonbelievers. Religious beliefs merit no more deference than any other claims and religions do not merit deference from nonbelievers.
How Religion Can and Should Be Respected:
The increasingly raucous demands from religious believers that their religions be accorded more “respect” in the public square and from non-adherents is a sign that something very serious is going on — but what, exactly? Believers apparently feel that they are being slighted and insulted in a significant manner, but is this true, or is it instead a case of mutual misunderstanding? It may be that both are occurring at various times, but we won’t get to the root of the problem without being clear about our terminology — and this means that religious believers must make it clear what sort of “respect” they are asking for.
In many instances, we’ll find that religious believers are not asking for something appropriate — they are asking for deference, positive thoughts, and privileges for themselves, their beliefs, and their religions. Rarely, if ever, are such things justified. In other instances, we may find that they aren’t being accorded the basic tolerance and respect which they deserve as human beings, and they are justified in speaking out.

Respecting religion, religious beliefs, and religious believers does not and cannot include treating them with kid gloves. If believers want respect, then they must be treated as adults who are responsible and culpable for what they assert — for better and for worse. This means that their claims should be treated seriously with substantive responses and critiques, if criticism is warranted. If believers are willing to present their position in a rational, coherent manner, then they deserve a rational and coherent response — including critical responses. If they are unwilling or unable to present their views in a rational and coherent manner, then they should anticipate being dismissed with little afterthought.

[إيليا]

Ramdan, the ninth month of the Islamic year, is a holy month of fasting ordained by
the Koran for all adult Muslims . According to the Koran, the fast of Ramadan has been
instituted so that believers will become more pieous. This particular month was designated
because it was the month during which Muhammad received the first of the Koran's
revelations.
The fast during Ramadan begins each day at dawn and ends immediately at sunset. During the
fast Muslims are forbidden to eat, drink, or smoke. Before going to sleep each night, special
congregational prayers are offered in which long passages of the Koran are read. The night
between the 26th and 27th days of Ramadan, the night of the first revaltion, is called the Night of
Determination, during which God determines the course of the world for the following year. The
day after the end of Ramadan is called the Fast-Breaking and is celebrated with special prayers
and festivities.




This marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, and is a festival of great celebration. In Islamic countries it is a public holiday. The first Eid was celebrated in 624 CE by the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) with his friends and relatives.

Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking Allah for the help and strength that he gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control.

The festival begins when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky.

Muslims in most countries rely on news of an official sighting, rather than looking at the sky themselves.

Eid ul Fitr is very much a community festival and people go out into the streets to exchange greetings, and visit friends and relatives.

The celebratory atmosphere is increased by everyone wearing best or new clothes, and decorating their homes. There are special services out of doors and in Mosques, processions through the streets, and of course, a special celebratory meal?eaten during daytime, the first daytime meal Muslims will have had in a month.

Eid is also a time of forgiveness, and making amends.

Eid ul Adha (10 Dhul-Hijja)
The Festival of sacrifice which marks the end of the Hajj or holy pilgrimage, which is one of the 5 pillars of Islam, however it is celebrated by all Muslims, not just those who are on the pilgrimage.

The festival remembers the prophet Ibrahim?s willingness to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to. God appeared in a dream to Ibrahim and told

[إيليا]

أخطاء الأطباء
Causes of Medical Mistakes
When a medical mistake happens to a patient, the question is always why did it happen. In many cases, the issue is not one of negligence by a doctor or other medical practitioner, but rather a systemic issue. On the other hand, there are many cases of malpractice brought against medical practitioners, alleging various levels of failings. In any case, let us attempt to categorized some of the possible causes of medical mistakes or errors.

Fundamental difficulties in medical care: Providing health care is a difficult undertaking and it is inevitable for some level of mistakes to occur.

Inherent difficulty in balancing the need to double-check to avoid diagnosis errors with the need to avoid over-testing.
Inherent impossibility of doctors, and even specialists, of staying up-to-date for every condition they face in their work.
Inherent impossibility of doctors to give totally accurate medical care when only a brief time is available for appointments for each patient.
General medical industry system problems: The medical industry overall contributes to higher than necessary rates of medical mistakes. Although some errors are unavoidable, the industry could do much better.

Under-funded medical care
Inefficiency leading to poorly used funds
Over-busy doctors and other medical staff
Over-tired doctors from excessive time schedules
Slow adoption of new technologies
Failure to report medical errors for fear of lawsuits, making errors hard to monitor and correct.
Unnecessary medical tests to double and triple-check, from fear of lawsuits
Individual doctor mistakes: Your doctor can obviously make a mistake in various ways.

Simple human mistakes: everyone makes them, even the best doctors.
Doctors who are drunk or on illicit drugs
Poor handwriting: can lead to errors in filling prescriptions or wrong hospital medications or tests.
Poor dosage instructions: difficult to read numbers, such as zeroes and decimal points, can lead to wrong dosages.
Patient mistakes: The patient can contribute to an error occurring in their health care. Patients should view achieving good medical care as something over which they have partial control.

Failure to report symptoms: some patients do not tell the doctor about all their symptoms for various reasons (embarrassment, thinking it will be irrelevant, the doctor didn't specifically ask about it, etc.).
Delay in reporting symptoms: this is a very common human tendency, a form of denial that something is wrong.
Failure to report other medications they are on, either prescription or over-the-counter medications.
Failure to report other alternative medicines they are taking
Non-compliance with treatment plan or medications: over-looked medications, financial troubles, laziness, etc.
Dishonesty of patients: certain hypochondriac and factitious syndromes, desire to obtain restricted drugs, malingering, insurance fraud, getting time off work, etc.
Fear of legal issues: e.g. failure to admit to taking illicit drugs
Fear of social issues: e.g. failure to admit to lifestyle or social habits.
Fear of doctor's scolding: e.g. failure to admit to not following treatments.
Patient pressure: the tendency to push the doctor for certain treatments, such as antibiotics, sleeping pills, or behavioral drugs, even when they may not be in the best interests of health. This creates a conflict between the doctor's desire to give correct medical care and keeping the patient happy.
Failure to read medication labels and instructions fully
Pharmacist mistakes: The dispensing of medications at the pharmacy can be the source of various mistakes.

Wrong medication dispensed
Similarly labeled or packaged medications wrongly given.
Similarly named medications confused (by doctor or pharmacist)
Wrong dosage dispensed
Failure to communicate instructions on taking medication
Pathology laboratory mistakes: The various laboratory tests used for diagnosis (and sometimes treatment planning) can have several types of errors:

Errors in labeling samples: mix-ups in patient samples
Cross-contamination during testing
Inherent known risks in various tests (false positives, false negatives)
Limitations of certain tests for certain patients
Human error in examinating visual slides (e.g. cell biopsy, Pap smears)
Pharmaceutical industry mistakes: The drug industry has contributed to certain medical mistakes such as:

Naming similarities in medication brand names
Inadequate safety testing of some drugs leading to drug withdrawal
Hospital mistakes: The hospital is a large institution that can make numerous types of mistakes.

Nosocomial infections: these are infections that are caught during a hospital stay, either from the environment or from surgery or other treatments.
Surgical mistakes
Errors in transferring and re-labeling medicines into smaller containers
Medication errors: wrong medication, wrong dosage, etc.
Surgical mistakes: Any type of surgical procedure has various risks and there are certain errors that can occur.

Wrong patient surgery
Wrong site surgery: e.g. surgery on the wrong organ.
Failure to suspend other medications before/during/after surgery: e.g. deaths from lactic acidosis due to Metformin usage in surgical recovery.

[إيليا]

المشاهير وهوس المعجبون
Celebrity Worship Syndrome is a newly identified psychological condition. A CWS sufferer is a person that is obsessed with a person in the public eye i.e. a celebrity. The condition is sometimes referred to as "Celebrity Obsession Syndrome" or "Mad Icon Disease

Objects of affection
Psychologists have indicated that though many people obsess over glamorous film, television, sport and popstars, others have unlikely icons such as politicians or authors. The only common factor between them is that they are all figures in the public eye i.e. celebrities.


[ Causes of CWS
Social psychologists agree that the reasons are complex. [1] However, some reasons recur.


[ Relationships
Researchers believe that in a media-orientated society, celebrities have taken the place of neighbors, relatives, friends and family for many people. They feel that the respect for family members has been replaced by worship of the famous, as this is the new method of associating with success. In modern cultures, there is less emphasis on the value of experience, but instead knowing the 'secret' of success, and celebrities are seen to hold this, since they often come from mediocrity.


[Clinical component
Researchers also indicate that there is a clear clinical component to behavioral patterns associated with CWS.


[ Darwinian evolution
Research indicate that evolution played a role in CWS.


[ Fan bases
Psychologists feel that fan bases resemble religious cults and can be a cause of CWS, because:

They often organize conventions and recruit new followers.
Fans pursue an interest in one celebrity and denigrate other stars.
Obsession resembles religious worship.
They make sure they watch all appearances made by their celebrity.
They try to collect items touched by their superstar.

[ Three types of CWS
Psychologists in the U.S.A. and UK. created a celebrity worship scale to rate the problems. U.S.A. psychologists Lynn McCutcheon, Rense Lange, and James Houran, (2002) (1)introduced the Celebrity Attitude Scale, a 34 item scales administered to 262 persons living in central Florida. McCutcheon et al (2002) suggested that celebrity worship comprised one dimension in which lower scores on the scale involved individualistic behavior such as watching, listening to, reading and learning about celebrities whilst the higher levels of worship are characterized by empathy, over-identification, and obsession with the celebrity.

However, later research among larger U.K. samples have suggested there are 3 different aspects to celebrity worship; Maltby, and the aforementioned psychologists(2) examined the Celebrity Attitude Scale among 1732 United Kingdom respondents (781 males, 942 females) who were aged between 14 and 62 years and found the following 3 dimensions to celebrity worship:


[Entertainment-social
This dimension comprises attitudes that fans are attracted to a favorite celebrity because of their perceived ability to entertain and become a social focus such as “I love to talk with others who admire my favorite celebrity” and “I like watching and hearing about my favorite celebrity when I am with a large group of people”.


[] Intense-personal
The intense-personal aspect of celebrity worship reflects intensive and compulsive feelings about the celebrity, akin to the obsessional tendencies of fans often referred to in the literature; for example “I share with my favorite celebrity a special bond that cannot be described in words” and “When something bad happens to my favorite celebrity I feel like it happened to me’”.


[ Borderline-pathological
This dimension is typified by uncontrollable behaviors and fantasies regarding scenarios involving their celebrities, such as “I have frequent thoughts about my favorite celebrity, even when I don’t want to” and “my favorite celebrity would immediately come to my rescue if I needed help

[إيليا]

الأخلاق
In sociology, manners are the unenforced standards of conduct which show the actor to be cultured, polite, and refined. They are like laws in that they codify or set a standard for human behavior, but they are unlike laws in that there is no formal system for punishing transgressions. They are a kind of norm. What is considered "mannerly" is highly susceptible to change with time, geographical location, social stratum, occasion, and other factors. That manners matter is evidenced by the fact that large books have been written on the subject, advice columns frequently deal with questions of mannerly behavior, and that schools have existed for the sole purpose of teaching manners. A lady is a term frequently used for a woman who follows proper manners; the term gentleman is used as a male counterpart; though these terms are also often used for members of a particular social class.


[edit] Purpose of manners
Manners ease the stress of communal living, and mannerly behavior recognizes the right of others to share communal space. Many of our daily expressions of politeness reflect this function. Saying "excuse me," for example, shows that you recognize that you have invaded another's space, and regret the necessity of doing so. It is a basic tenet in law that it is wrongful to cause damages to another (see norm). Since there cannot be a law for every slight, daily causing of damage to another, manners serve to at least acknowledge, if not make recompense, for the damage. Needless to say, the teaching of good manners should start early in life and show the value of respect and consideration for all parties.


[edit] Miss Manners
One thinker, Judith Martin, (aka Miss Manners -- see Further Reading below) regrets that in recent times the idea that one should be "assertive" has gained currency, holding that being assertive is simply another name for "the Impulse Rude," which is to be resisted at all times. She prefers "the withering look, the insistent and repeated request, the cold voice, the report up the chain of command, and the tilted nose." She also rejects the idea that manners is all about making people comfortable, "as if etiquette weren't magnificently capable of being used to make others feel uncomfortable, all in the name of preserving peace in the public arena. Manners are used in life for good people so that other people know that you were raised correctly and that you are civilized."

“ Manners are very important in life. Good ones that is. You can get attention if you use proper etiquette. Politeness is what most guests look for. If your parents raise you correctly, you will probably have fair manners.

[إيليا]

كيف تصبح مثقفا
How to Become a Sophisticated Adult
Do you want to be more sophisticated? Here's how.

[edit] StepsBe polite and charming. Being polite and charming is mostly about being aware of your companions and their feelings. Is your dinner companion an avid golfer? Then let him/her discuss golf. Express an interest in the subject. Respond intelligently with whatever knowledge you may have that relates. If you know nothing about golf, let them talk. Human beings like to talk; the best conversationalists let others talk and keep the conversation moving with leading questions and the occasional meaningful, insightful, or witty comment. A leading question is one that "leads" your conversation partner to speak at more length than a simple yes or no answer. Never interrupt and never forcefully assert your knowledge. Being selflessly aware of your companions' interests can give the impression of charm.
Understand etiquette. Etiquette is a system of manners and customs that each individual culture devises. The main purpose of etiquette in most modern cultures is to make those around you more comfortable or at ease. Be careful, however, because etiquette is different in each culture. It's important to study the rules of etiquette that your culture/society has adopted. There are plenty of online resources for that type of research. Use them. Study what is appropriate at various types of social functions, not just at the dinner table. And, when in doubt, ask yourself "What will make my companions more comfortable--behavior A or behavior B?"
Dress well. It's important to know what colors and what clothing styles suit you. By reading fashion magazines, you can get a better understanding of current trends but be wary of being too trendy--you can go broke keeping up with this season's latest. It's better to build your wardrobe on a solid foundation of classics that don't change much from season to season but that can easily be accessorized to keep them current. Do your research and find out what doesn't change much but also works for your personal style and body type. Get the advice of a professional if you don't know.
Know what you're talking about. It's important to be as knowledgeable about as broad a range of subjects as you can be. Read! Read everything, from newspapers to non-fiction books to magazines to scientific journals to literature. Being actually knowledgeable about a subject keeps you from appearing like that know-it-all buffoon who talks too much at parties and doesn't really know much about anything. You know who I mean. You've seen him/her before. Avoid that by actually being knowledgeable and by not speaking up when you don't know anything. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." If you want more specific direction, read up on your friends' interests. At least you'll be able to listen intelligently.
Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of material that one can read? Start with newspapers. Find a good national or local paper ,preferably one that covers international events. Good magazines like TIME are easy to read and entertaining. If you can't subscribe to a newspaper www.nytimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/) is a good place to start. Here's a secret to coming across as well read - read abridged ( shortened) versions of classics or read book reviews. Book reviews give you enough information to carry on conversations about famous or award winning authors. Find a category of fiction (not romance but historical, sci-fi,classics,etc.) you like and read up at the local library. If the size of books frighten you, read up short stories. Some of the best writers wrote stories a few pages long. I recommend O'Henry very strongly. Don't forget about poetry - start with a poet whose work you studied at school and go on from there. And one more final advice- if you are truly desperate and absolutely can't read the book- see a movie version of it!
Be respectful. First, it's important to respect yourself. Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Learn to appreciate your strengths and forgive your weaknesses while improving those that you can. From this base, you'll have the sensitivity and confidence to be respectful of others' feelings and needs.


البرمجة اللغوية العصبية
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an approach to psychotherapy and a "model of interpersonal communications"[1] based on the subjective study of language, communication and change. It was co-founded by Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder in the 1970s as a method of personal development. They developed a set of practices and techniques based on modeling successful psychotherapists of the time. However, its application was not limited to psychotherapy, rather they attended to the patterns of interpersonal communications that could be applied generally. Its theoretical foundations borrowed from a range of disciplines, including various psychological fields, linguistics, cognitive science and occupational therapy. NLP and its many variants are taught through seminars, workshops, books and audio programs. The field is loosely spread and resistant to a single comprehensive definition. There is also a great deal of difference between the depth and breadth of training and standards.

An important assumption of NLP is that emotion, thought and behavior consists of, and is influenced by, how the sensory-specific modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, gustatory) are organized and give rise to consciousness.[2] Further, the mode and limits to the underlying mental representations is revealed by unconscious choice of words, sensory-specific predicates (eg. visual language) and non-verbal cues (such as intonation; gesture; posture; facial expression and eye movements). A basic method in NLP involves asking specifying questions to help clarify the intended message in communication. It seeks to recover what has been left out and to reframe faulty thinking when the communication is distorted or over-generalised. These meta-model questions are often combined with suggestions for personal growth and potential.[3] Another technique seeks to alter sensory-specific submodalities (eg. brightness, size or location of visual imagery or sensory representations) to affect the intensity of mental states and affect changes in behavior. A classic format has people anchor resourceful mind-body states (eg. creativity, confidence, etc.) to make them available in situations where a person wants to act differently. Generally, the intent of NLP is to increase choice in the underlying representations so that the individual has more choice and flexibility in the world.

In the early 1980s, NLP was heralded as a important advance in psychotherapy and counseling.[4] Reviews of research in counseling psychology at this time found little empirical support for NLP assumptions or effectiveness in the literature, in particular the claim that matching sensory predicates improves rapport and influence.[5][6] The lack of support in the literature reviews marked a significant decrease in research interest.[7] There has been some ongoing research efforts and pleas for further empirical research.[citation needed] The developers of NLP tend to use analogies to understand and describe their models and tend to rely on intuition, anecdotes and personal experience as evidence as opposed to experimental research. NLP and its related techniques continue to be popular in books and workshops, especially in some areas of psychotherapy, management training, self-help, education and motivational training. NLP is criticized by some evidence based psychologists as a form of New Age psychotherapy that has little, if any, empirical support.[8][9][4]



محاكمة المشاهير
Do Celebrities Get Fair Trials?
Most Americans think celebrities get special treatment in the nation's legal system, but they also believe Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Martha Stewart will get fair trials, an Associated Press poll on celebrity justice found.

Blacks were less confident than whites that Jackson and Bryant will be treated impartially.

Nearly half the people surveyed said they think Stewart will be convicted, while far fewer believe Jackson and Bryant will be found guilty, according to the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

Jackson faces charges that he molested a child. Bryant faces ***ual assault charges in Colorado. Stewart is charged with lying about the sale of stock.

Some 60 percent of people surveyed said celebrities get treated better by the judicial system because they have a lot of money, while 12 percent think they are singled out for prosecution because they are high-profile. Only one-quarter of the public thought celebrities are treated like ordinary citizens.

"They definitely get special treatment," said Jake Minsinger, a 37-year-old welder from Hanover, Pa. "Usually, they're all out on bail. When they show up in court they're well dressed. And instead of a public defender, they have a team of the most expensive lawyers in the country."

Some said they think celebrities have it tougher in the courts.

"I think they get special punishment because they have money and people are jealous of them," said Ruth Gearin, a retiree from Milwaukee. "When they're up, people want to bring them down."

Most in the AP-Ipsos poll were aware of the three high-profile cases. But only one-fifth said they were closely following each of the trials.

Blacks were twice as likely as whites to be paying close attention to the cases against Jackson and Bryant, both of whom are black.

By a 2-to-1 margin, people said they thought the pop star would get a fair trial, and by a 3-to-1 margin they thought the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star and Stewart would get fair trials.

But there were sharp differences between whites and blacks on the question of whether Jackson and Bryant would or would not get fair trials.

Whites thought Jackson would get a fair trial by a 60-30 margin; blacks thought he would not by a 49-38 margin. Whites thought Bryant would get a fair trial by a 76-18 margin. Blacks were more divided; 54 percent said he would get a fair trial and 43 percent said he would not.

The differences in views recall the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The football Hall of Famer was tried and acquitted of the 1994 slayings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend, Ronald Goldman. A civil jury later held him liable and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.

The AP-Ipsos poll found 77 percent believe Simpson was guilty. When broken down along racial lines, 82 percent of whites thought he was the killer while only 35 percent of blacks felt that he was the killer. Similar differences in attitudes between whites and blacks were evident at the time of the verdict.

While most in the poll were familiar with the three current cases, many were not that familiar with their details. Still, they had opinions about the outcome.

By a 2-to-1 margin, people thought Jackson would be acquitted, and by a slightly larger margin, they thought Bryant would be acquitted. By 48 percent to 35 percent, people thought Stewart would be convicted.

"I don't think she's very well liked, people probably go harder on her," said Kim Beach, a 39-year-old mother from Roseville, Calif. "She does these things no women can do, and then she says 'Oh, it's just so simple,' and you say, 'No way."'

Even if the three celebrities are convicted, the vast majority of Americans say they will continue watching them and buying their products, the survey found.

The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults was taken Jan. 9-11 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points .

[إيليا]

THE IMPORTANT OF ENGLISH IN THE WORLD AND IN THE COMMUNITY

Frankly speaking, it is highly essential to know the language for communication. In general, the most popular language is English. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings. First, we have to learn the language and then we have to gain fluency in the language. Unless we have the fluency in English language, it would not be possible to work with the computer. If you do not know English, then you would be in need of a translator to do the job.
The first stage of learning this language would be very interesting. Once you are fluent with the alphabets, slowly you can learn many words. It would always be better to follow the method of reading first, then writing. You can use the picture books for this purpose. When you feel that you are familiar with the words, you can form sentences. This is the most interesting stage to learn. You just think of a sentence in your mother language, and try to write the same sentence in English. There could be some mistakes. But you should not bother about it. But, you have to write the same sentence using many different words till you are satisfied with your sentence. If you follow this way, very soon you can create sentences of your own.
The next step is learning the grammar of the language. It is quite simple and very systematic compared with other languages. There are certain rules and regulations for each and every topic in grammar of this language. As long as you follow the rules and regulations, it would be a difficult task to make mistakes. You would gain that much guidance from the grammar. The presentation is the most important factor in communicating your feelings. So, naturally you must be sure while you are presenting. what you really wish to say. At any point, do not try to write or speak, beyond your capability. Even if it is a small and simple sentence, it would reach the receiver perfectly. This is our basic idea. Slowly, you can improve the standard of your language by practice. If you know to form the sentences, it is more than enough to go deep into the subject. Though this only an article about the importance of the English Language, we have to learn some of the basic points in presenting the sentences. There are three different types of sentences: They are, 1. Statements. 2. Interrogative sentence. 3. Imperative sentence. 4. Exclamatory sentence. To begin with, you must know the difference between a phrase and a sentence.
Phrase is a group of words, which gives meaning, but not complete meaning. A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense.
1. Statement: The sentence starting with nouns or pronouns is known as statement.
Example: Rome is a church city.
2. Interrogative sentence: There are two types of interrogative sentences.
a. “wh” type question. The sentences starting with the following fords are “wh” type question. What, When, Where, Who, How many, How long and etcetera. Example: Why did you come late? 2. What are you doing there?
b. “yes or no” type question. For which sentences you get the reply either with yes or no they are called yes or no type question. Example: Is your father a doctor? The answer: No sir.
3. Imperative sentence: The sentence that gives command, request, and advice is known as Imperative sentence. Example: Walk on the pavement. 2. Eat regularly.
4. Exclamatory sentence: The sentence that expresses the sudden feelings or strong emotions is known as exclamatory sentence.
Example: Alas! He is dead. 2. Oh! What a beautiful sight.
When you are familiar with the above points, it would be very interesting to you to create many wonderful sentences. In general, the sentences are divided into three different kinds. They are, 1. Simple sentence. 2. Compound sentence. 3. Complex sentence.
Though it very essential to have knowledge in handling the above sentences, we have to study them separately. In this essay, we are talking about the importance of the language. Many people make mistakes even with the usage of articles. It is a pity that even scholars may make mistakes. So, you should not get dejected with your style of writing.
There is a lot of difference between these two. 1. a few 2. few When you want to say that you have friends, you have to say that,” I have a few friends.” When you want to say that you do not have friends, you have to say that, “I have few friends.”
This is the opposite meaning of the word, many. Apart from these, there are many points to be discussed later. When you feel that you are already strong on the above subjects, you can develop your knowledge for betterment of your knowledge. As long as you educate yourself, you will come across many new things. There is no end for learning. All the above points are used in the normal usage of English. The literature value of the English Language is entirely different and should be dealt separately

[إيليا]

differences between Saudi culture and Egyptian culture in Ramadan.

Ramadan is very important month to Muslims because its a month which they have to fast from sunrise to sunset.
Fasting is the fourth pillar of Islam. Saudis celebrate the month of Ramadan in a special way. During Ramadan Saudis fast for 30 days and offer all-night prayers in the mosques. It is a month of devotion and supplication for Muslims who believe that the gates of heaven are then opened, and all prayers are answered. People stay up all night and sleep after performing their dawn prayers. Ramadan is a season to foster family relations and good neighborliness too. Families break their fasts together, and many special meals are cooked for the occasion like "lokaimat". Restaurants prepare Ramadan dishes and cater to Ramadan timings. Muslims begin their fasts at dawn and eat after sunset. Shops and supermarkets are open all night, and it is the season for shopping, socializing and blessings.
On the other hand, What makes this month different in Egypt? A long time ago, Egyptians adopted certain social habits during this month that are not directly related to religion. Officially, the working hours are diminished to allow more time for prayers. People usually sleep very late and spend considerable time in the mosques. The traditional practice starts immediately after sunset, which is announced to people through all mosques by the ritual "azan", or the call for prayers. Once, beginning in the 16th Century, it was the habit of the Egyptian government to fire a canon which could be heard throughout Cairo (http://touregypt.net/cairo/) to announce end of the daily fast. This loud shot was fired from the Citadel (http://touregypt.net/citadel.htm) over the "el-Moqattam" mountains. Modern technology has replaced this habit so that now announcements are made on radio and TV."Iftar" is considered the main meal of the day during Ramadan and is often very rich. Any type of food might be served, but traditionally the desert almost always includes "konafa (http://touregypt.net/recipes/konafa.htm)" or "qatayef (http://touregypt.net/recipes/recipeweek11122002.htm)". The former is a cake-like food made of wheat with considerable sugar, honey, raisins and different types of nuts. The later is almost the same, but takes the shape of a small circular cake, which is folded to include nuts and raisins.
Since Ramadan is considered to be the most joyful month of the whole year, children also have their share of fun. The "fanoos" or lantern is a must for every kid. These are traditionally made of tin and colored glass, with a candle inside. More modern examples are battery operated, but really lack the spirit (though each year there seems to be a trend to see who can produce the most snazzy fanoos). All mosques and streets during the whole month are full of colored lights in a festival fashion, and in the past, children played in the streets with their lanterns (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramadanlanterns.htm), singing "wahawy ya wahawy". This tradition is still practiced, though rarely now in the streets, except in middle class or poor neighborhoods, and in the countryside.More than half of the serials produced by the Egyptian TV are broadcast during Ramadan for the first time. another traditional program is the "fawazeer", which is a daily riddle usually broadcast during a comedy or musical show. The family is usually gathered around the TV for long hours, if they do not go for prayers

[إيليا]

eid al fitr
is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Fiṭr means "to break the fast" and therefore symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. On the day of the celebration, a typical Muslim family is awake very early and then after praying the first normal everyday prayer, is required to eat in a small quantity, symbolizing the end of Ramadan. They then attend special congregational prayers held only for this occasion in mosques, in large open areas, stadiums or arenas. The prayer is generally short, and is followed by a sermon (khuṭba). Worshippers greet and embrace each other in a spirit of peace and love after the congregational prayer. After the special prayers, festivities and merriment are commonly observed with visits to the homes of relatives and friends to thank God for all blessings.
For Muslims, Eid ul-Fitr is a joyous occasion with important religious significance, celebrating of the achievement of enhanced piety. It is a day of forgiveness, moral victory, peace of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood and unity. Muslims celebrate not only the end of fasting, but also thank God for the help and strength that they believe he gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control. It is a time of giving and sharing, and many Muslims dress in holiday attire

[إيليا]

Compare and Contrast Cites where I have Lived



I have opinions of all the places I have lived. Each place has its advantages and disadvantages, and I am not sure if there is any place that really fits me well. In this essay, I will examine the bad and good aspects of some of the places I have lived. Then, I will compare what I consider to be "ideal" conditions with the good aspects of those places where I have lived. Lastly, I will choose the place that I think is best for me.



I was born in Taipei, and I lived there for a great part of my life. I consider it to be my hometown, and I cherish many of the memories I have form there. I like the people and places in Taipei, especially some of its unique characteristics, like the night markets. The pattern of the city is familiar to me, and the streets are always full of people shopping.



Taipei does, however, have some bad aspects. It was a severe air pollution problem, and heavy traffic jams are commonplace. The city just has too many people packed into too little space. Its many buildings are packed closely together, and this just makes the overcrowding problem worse.



After living in Taipei during ny childhood and teenage years, I moved to southern Taiwan to attend college. The town I lived in was much less populated than Taipei, and that was nice. But, it was very hot there and that was a big problem. They also did not have a large shopping center, so buying nice clothes was difficult. I felt like I could not look fine or pretty. Unlike Taipei, this town had no fine restaurants or shops either.



On the good side, this town was wide open. There was lots of space and the natural scenery was just beautiful. Because it was not so crowded, and traffic was not a problem, there was not much pollution either. I like this because it was easier to keep healthy.



When I finished my work at a hospital in Taiwan, I moved to the university of Woollongone, in Australia. I went there to study conversational English. I stayed for four months, but after a while I became very lonely. The territory was very open, I had no friends there, and because of that, I had no social life. Eventually, I had to leave because I could not find a job, and without a job, life for a foreigner was too hard. The one reason I stayed as long as I did was because of all the unique plants and animals native to Australia. I like to see them, and many of them were easy to approach.



Finally, I moved to Richmond, Virginia, in the United States. Of all the places I have lived, I think I like it here the best. It is nice here for several reasons. . Because the population is not too high, there are lots of natural places to visit, lots of job opportunities, and less crowded transportation facilities. I am not sure of all the reasons, but I think life here is just much more exciting.



Richmond does, however, have some problems. My family and best friends are not here so sometimes I get lonely. Also, the television and radio programs and the newspapers are not in my language, and they do not apply to my own culture. Because of this I cannot get news of my own country, and this disturbs me.



After living in all these place, I think I can honestly say which characteristics are most important to me, and which ones are not so important. I have though about this very much, and I now feel like I can rank these things in order from first to last. First of all, I would like to live in a capital city, because it is not boring and I can meet lots of people. This makes me feel needed, and I like that. Secondly, the place I live needs to give me a wide and varied social life, full of activities. I like this because it lets me experience an abundant of interesting life styles. The third condition is an appropriate mix of people and nature. Nature can meet people's spiritual needs only if there is enough of it. If a place is too populated, air, water, and noise population become a problem. Next on the list is a large number of shopping centers. I like to buy nice things, and if there are no shopping centers, it is difficult to find the nice things I want. If I have this things, I think I can be happy. But, it would be nice if the place I live also has a nice climate, lots of job opportunities, and plenty of news about my own culture. If a place has all these characteristics, I think I would love to live there.



So, after living in many places, I think Richmond is the one that best fits me. It meets all of my geographical preferences, and if I had to describe it in one word, I would have to say it's just "wonderful".

[إيليا]

The World of Football

He’s at the 20 the 10 touchdown! As you can tell my subject is football, the reason why I picked this subject is because for the last 2 years I’ve always picked basketball as my subject and I decided to do a sport that I also like to play and watch like FOOTBALL. Today I’m going to take you step by step into the wonderful world of football. Football is an exciting team sport played chiefly in the U.S.A and Canada. It’s played by elementary schools, high school, college, and professional teams. Millions of people crowd stadiums each football season to watch their favorite teams. Millions of people also watch it at home. The 2 biggest leagues for football is the (NFL) and the (CFL)

In the United States, 2 teams of 11 players play football on each team. Canadian football teams have 12 players on each team. Each team try’s to score their points by running the ball or passing the ball in order to get a touchdown. During the game possession the ball shifts from team to team. The team with the ball is the offensive team the other team is the defensive team, the defensive team try’s to stoop the offensive team from scoring

A good football team combines strength and speed. Physical contact, especially involving blocking and tackling, is a basic part of football. The game also requires quick reaction and thorough preparation for each game. In addition split second teamwork is necessary in order to have a winning team like the San Francisco 49ers(my favorite team) one of the best team in the (NFL). There are several variation of football one of the two I know is flag football the other is touch football both of those variations eliminate the need for physical violence flag football and touch football are mainly used for elementary and high school programs such as intramural

The uniform means a great deal in football it allows you to take harder blow without being injured or hurt. A player’s uniform is made of cotton and nylon so that the player can move and be flexible so that he can turn those tight turns when he has to. The ball also plays a big role in the game. The ball is an oval shaped ball that has stitching on the side to let the quarterback throw the ball in a spiral so that both the catcher and the quarterback both know where the football is going so that they can make a play and game some yards. Football is a confusing sport and everyday I also learn a new thing about the world of football and so far I told you most of the stuff and maybe next time I’ll know more and this essays will be much longer than this

[إيليا]

How to Start a Clothing Store

Are you fashion forward? Do you love working with the public? Then it might just be time for you to marry your fashion sense and your business sense with a retail clothing business.
Opening an apparel store is serious business. For some of you, it may mean giving up the safety of your corporate job with its steady income, paid holidays, vacations and the opportunity for advancement. All this, and guaranteed 12- to 14-hour days. "Running an apparel store is more than a full-time job," stresses Nancy Stanforth, professor of merchandising at Oklahoma State University. "Running an apparel store is something you do all day every day."
Always Room For More

Fortunately, there's always room for the right kind of apparel store. Although you might not guess it by the number of malls and outlet centers cropping up, we're mostly a nation of small, independent merchants. In fact, most retail stores, and that includes apparel stores, are small, both in size and in sales volume, compared to a Gap or Old Navy. The typical apparel store is a small operation, usually run by the owner alone or by a husband-and-wife team.

Here is a handy set of questions that will help you determine whether fashion is indeed your forte.
1. Is this a business in which you have experience? Maybe you've taken those merchandising classes; maybe you've watched your father, mother or grandparents run a business; maybe you spent a summer selling makeup over the counter at Macy's. In any case, your experience and business sense are as important as your interest in clothes.
2. Can you live with the inherent risk in the apparel business? This isn't meant to scare you; we're only trying to present a balanced picture. If you're serious about opening an apparel store, you need to know that, like the restaurant business, the apparel business is risky. You may pour your life savings into a business that goes bust within a year.
"Nothing is sure-fire, and there are risks attached to starting any kind of business," says Fred Derring, president and owner of D.L.S. Outfitters, a New York City-based apparel marketing and consulting company, "but you've really got to love the clothing business because you can make more money doing almost anything else. Even in the restaurant business--if you're successful--you can make more money in five years than you can in 15 years in the apparel business."
3. Do you believe strongly in the apparel industry? On a serious note, you really need to think about why you've decided to open an apparel store vs. a homeopathic pharmacy or an organic grocery store. Whatever your particular fashion passion, it has to be enough to carry you through the yearly holiday rushes as well as the slow summer lulls. It's like marriage: When times get tough, you need to remember why you took those vows in the first place.
4. Is your niche overcrowded or dominated by a few? It doesn't take a Ph.D. to see that the apparel industry is crowded. All you need to do is save all those catalogs stuffed in your mailbox or visit your local mall on the weekend. But there always seems to be room for more, particularly if you're offering consumers something they feel they're lacking.
5. Can you become a specialist? If you're opening an apparel store for the right reasons, you probably think you've got the corner on something someone else in your professional community doesn't. Maybe it's surf clothes; maybe it's chic plus-size fashions; maybe it's leather and jewelry imported from Turkey.
Specializing, or finding your niche in this business, is crucial to your success. And in many cases, all it takes is a little common sense. As Kira Danus, a buyer from D.L.S. Outfitters in New York City, says, "No apparel store should be stocking twill khaki shorts if there's a Gap within 10 miles."
6. Do you have a competitive advantage? In a word, this is called "marketing." For now, hear this collective quote culled from every apparel entrepreneur interviewed for this business guide: "Today the competition isn't two doors down the block; it's at the local mall. People can get everything we sell at their local mall, so we have to set ourselves apart other ways. Pay attention to the demographics in your area, to the location and available foot traffic, to television and movies and what people are wearing on the street."

[إيليا]

good nures

A good nurse must be compassionate, conscientious, and competent. Some people might think that that idea is an obvious one because the image of nurses portrayed in the mass media is almost uniformly sympathetic. Lurid stories of hospital nurses who become criminals and harm patients (Tresniowski, Grisby, and Klise 151) emphasize the stereotype of the nurse as a caring professional. Unfortunately, that concept is superficial because it does not capture the complexities that go into the practice of a helping profession. Nurses as much as or more than doctors have a significant impact on the quality and quantity of many people's lives. They are the main point of contact between patient and physician on one hand and between patient and health-care system on the other. The moral responsibility implied in such a position is great indeed, and that is why compassion, conscientiousness, and competence are so important.

Responsibility is, ironically, at the heart of why so many nurses experience burnout great enough to motivate them to leave the profession. Yet the need for nurses' special qualifications persists no matter how many nurses become disenchanted. This research will return to that point, but the qualifications themselves are also important. Compassion can be considered a fundamental prerequisite for anyone who enters a helping profession, but especially in the case of nurses, whose interaction with patients is literally a matter of life

[إيليا]

تعبير عن انقراض الحيوانات

Extinction is the disappearance, brought about by natural or unnatural means, of an entire species.
Some species of plants and animals die out naturally because newer species are more successful at competing for food and living space. Others have become extinct because of changes in the planet or because of natural disasters. Dinosaurs, for example, may have died out because the climate became cooler--maybe because an asteroid collided with the earth and caused a big cloud of dust that blocked out the sun.
In today's world, however, species mostly become extinct or are threatened with extinction because of humans. Humans hunt animals, destroy their habitats, and introduce other animals that prey upon the endangered animals or compete for their resources. Among these factors, the greatest threat to plants and animals is habitat destruction.
It is estimated that about 125 species of birds and 60 species of mammals have become extinct since 1600. Currently, there are approximately 1000-1100 species of birds and mammals that are facing extinction. If invertebrates and plants are included, the total number of species in imminent danger is around 20,000.
Sample these internet activities and complete the tasks for each one to learn about a few of the animals that no longer exist

[إيليا]

Learning Math
This essay is about my experience in learning math. I will write about my experience of learning it, my reasons of learning it, my current level and my learning style.


I started learning math when I was 7 years old in elementary school. I studied there numbers, division and add numbers. In fact, my father taught me numbers before I enter school. From year to year, math became difficult but I sill like it. From that time until now I have been studying it. I usually use math skills to count my money, specially when I go to shopping or when I travel to another country.


I have two good reasons to learn math. Firstly, I would like to be chemical engineer which I need math to study chemistry. Secondly, I hope to be manager for a factory which I have to know math skills to count money.

It is so hard to measure my level. However, I can say I am good with matrix problems, root problems and normal math problems, but I am not very well with triangle problems.

I think I am a deductive learner because I prefer to start revising my lessons by looking at rules and then try to solve problems.

[إيليا]

what is my favorite holiday?
Chinese New Year

my favorite holiday still was the Chinese New Year I celebrated in China because It was the time for me to achieve my dream in past year and to enjoy the holiday atmosphere.

The Chinese New Year is the time for me to achieve my dream in past year. When I was five years old, both my mother and my father were busy for their jobs, so they sent me to preschool. I had to stay at school six whole day and night and at home only one day and night per week. I
. . .
Finally, I could get much money when I said “Gong Xi Fa Chai” to my relatives and I could buy toys and books I liked in the money. Second, my family, relatives, and friends came together.

The Chinese New Year is the time for me to enjoy the holiday atmosphere. First, Preparations tended to begin a month from the date of the Chinese New Year (similar to a Western Christmas), when people started buying presents, decoration materials, food and clothing. really missed my parents and felt lonely, so my dream was that I could stay home whole week. I enjoyed the special happy holiday atmosphere. When the Chinese New Year came, my dream came true – I could stay with my family whole two weeks in the coming Chinese New Year, and I felt I am the happiest girl in the world.
In the Chinese New Year, my dream from last year came true, and I enjoyed the holiday atmosphere and plan the new hope for next year. A huge clean-up got underway days before the New Year, when Chinese houses were cleaned from top to bottom, to swept away any traces of bad luck, and doors and windowpanes were given a new coat of paint, usually red. What happy time I had? I really like this holiday. We have so many parties to meet together and talk each other. The doors and windows were then decorated with paper cuts and couplets with themes such as happiness, wealth and longevity

[إيليا]

King Abdul Aziz Al Saud1876-1953 (1293-1373 H)
Born in the city of Riyadh, King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Ibn Faisal Al Saud was brought up under the stringent care of his father. A group of contemporary scholars were assembled to teach him the fundamentals of Islam. He soon began to show an impressive array of qualities and talents, including shrewdness, courage, farsightedness and horsemanship. He was able to grasp both current and historical events. In 1891 and barely 12 years old, he traveled with his father, Imam Abdul Rahman Ibn Faisal Ibn Turki, to Kuwait. In ten years there, he acquired the necessary qualities of leadership and statesmanship. Consequently, hedecided to restore the rule of his forefathers, whatever the obstacles. A new epoch was launched when Abdul Aziz left Kuwait for Riyadh leading a small army of 60 men. This turned out to be "the small force that vanquished a big one, by God's Will."
The conquest of Riyadh occurred on the 15th of January, 1902 (5th of Shawal, 1319 H). Yet this was only the beginning of the "Jihad" campaign of King Abdul Aziz. Saddened by disintegration and the state of anarchy, ignorance, poverty and disease in the Arabian peninsula, he resolved to unify the ranks of his nation under the banner "There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah."
King Abdul Aziz Al Saud went on to unify the scattered parts and splintered tribes of the Arabian peninsula. He annexed Al Qasseem in 1904 (1322 H), Al Ahsa in 1913 (1331 H), Asir in 1916 (1334 H) and Hayel in 1921 (1340 H). He conquered Taif, and entered Makkah in 1924 (1343 H). When Jeddah was taken in 1925 (1344 H), the entire Hijaz Region submitted to his rule. Continuing his Jihad for 31 years, Abdul Aziz was gradually able to establish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, declaring its founding on the 22nd of September 1932 (21st of Jumad Al Awal 1351 H).
Soon after establishing security in the Kingdom and uniting the peninsula's scattered regions and feuding tribes, King Abdul Aziz began to organize the State. He developed the administrative and organizational systems needed to function properly. He delegated the State's responsibilities and set up an organized government in the Hijaz upon its annexation. In 1926 (1344 H), he established the post of General Prosecutor in Hijaz, which was assumed by his son, Prince Faisal. In 1926 (1345 H) he set up the Saudi Shoura Council, also under the chairmanship of Prince Faisal. On the 30th of September 1931 (19th of Shaaban 1350 H), a special system was instituted: the Council of Deputies came into being under the chairmanship of Prince Faisal Ibn Abdul Aziz.
During these early stages of rule, King Abdul Aziz also established several ministries as an advance administrative organization, departing from the traditional administrative system of the First and Second Saudi States. The modern state established diplomatic relations in accordance with officially recognized political representation, including the appointment of ambassadors.
King Abdul Aziz Al Saud passed away in the city of Taif, in the Western Region, in 1953 (1372 H). His body was transferred to Riyadh, where he was buried with his Al Saud ancestors.

[إيليا]

The Process of Making Coffee

Coffee is a beverage, which most Americans drink, and the majority of them do not know how coffee is made. The process of making coffee is a complex procedure, which make this beverage rich in flavor. The first step in the process of coffee making is picking up every cherry carefully. The picking of cherries has to be very precise because if the cherry is picked up to early it will lack of essential sweetness, but if the cherry is picked up to late it will be sour. The second step is the process in which they take out all the soft juicy fruit of the cherry and leave the coffee bean pealed. This is called “despulpado.” During this process the coffee is separated the by altitudes, and quality.

The next step to follow is fermentation, in this process they leave the coffee beans in long tanks for the coffee to release all the honey left from the pulp. The third step washing the coffee beans. During this process the beans are placed in large tanks filled with water pressure, which leaves the beans with no honey leftovers. It also separates the coffee beans by quality, the beans that float are the low quality beans and the ones that are in the bottom of the tank are the good quality beans.

During the drying process all the beans are arranged in a patio outdoors, the wind and the sun are in charge of drying the beans. The last step roasting the coffee, in this process is where the roaster will decide the taste of the batch of coffee being roasted. All these steps to follow are the steps coffee beans go through before consumers can actually drink it. It is important to have knowledge of things that are involved in our lives like coffee

[إيليا]

how to make kabsa?
This is one dish that everyone makes different. This is a traditional Saudi meal, some people eat it every day.This recipe below is the way i make kabsa.You can add finely chopped green pepper if u want. Alot of Saudi's put tabasco sauce or a home made salsa/tabasco on their kabsa individually.This meal is often eaten with the hands and everyone eats off of the same large platter.
ingredients:
Basmati rice-3 cups uncooked and washed1 finely chopped onion1/2 head garlic finely chopped1/2 cup pine nuts 3 chicken bouillon cubes1/4 -1/2 cup butter5 and 1/2 cups water
Recipe:
Sautee the onion, garlic and pine nuts in the butter. Once this mixture is browned add the water and bouillon cubes. Once the wateris boiling put in the rice, turn down heat to a low boil and leave for about 10-15 minutes. Let the rice sit for 15 minutes once you've turned off the heat, gently stir the rice in the pot, basmati isn;t suppose to be mushy like chinese rice so be careful when u stir, don;t really stir, kind of gently lift the rice with a large wooden spoon.You also don;t want to over cook basmati, this will take trial and error to get it perfect.Cook the chicken the way you prefer, i prefer to put it in a baking pan and sprinkle with seasonings and bake til its done, then broil so the skin is crisp. The way this dish is served by Saudi's is to put the rice first on a large platter, put all of the chicken on top of the rice. Kabsa is often served with a salad, and a stew called "saloona", saloona is also something that everyone makes different from the next person

[سيهاتي.]

الفكرررره مرررره خطيييييره

بس على التخصصات اكيد مش لازم يكون الجميع مثل بعض

الف شكر يالغاااااااااالي

[فدوك]

يسلموووووووووو وربي يوفقك يااارب

[ماروكو]

:1 (7):