Arrests of Iraqi Women Provoke Protest
Assalaamu alaikum,

Watch the video of the protest in Adhamiya, Baghdad, 25 June 2007.
Simply Stated by Ann at 8:56 AM
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Hooters in Dubai? Maybe Not...
Assalaamu alaikum,

Hooters plan for Dubai debut 'in doubt'

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- US restaurant chain Hooters, known for dressing its waitresses in revealing clothes, may face opposition in its bid to expand into the booming city-state of Dubai, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Kuwaiti investor who owns the franchise rights for Hooters hoped to open a restaurant in the emirate this year, the English-language Gulf News said.

But Dubai's department of economic development said that Hooters had not been registered with the department and that it would not allow restaurants that are in violation of the Muslim emirate's "religion, tradition, and culture..."
Simply Stated by Ann at 5:20 PM
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Daring necklines banned at Manila church services
Assalaamu alaikum,

MANILA: The Catholic Church has issued guidelines on what Filipinos should wear to mass in Manila after some parishioners complained about distracting skimpy attire...
Simply Stated by Ann at 5:31 PM
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Freedom of Religion? Separation of Church and State?
Assalaamu alaikum,

My ancestors were English Catholics who left there almost 400 years ago because of religious persecution. And they still have these laws? Did the U.S. put them in the list of violators in their latest human rights or religious freedom report?

Blair will become a Catholic

Tony Blair is "certain" to become a Roman Catholic shortly after he steps down from office next week, friends of the Prime Minister have told The Independent...

There have been persistent rumours that the Prime Minister would convert to Catholicism but Downing Street has always insisted that he remains a member of the Church of England...

They say his "spiritual guide" in making the decision has been his wife, Cherie. They have brought up their four children as Catholics.

Before he became Prime Minister, Mr Blair regularly took communion with his wife and children at a Catholic church in Islington, north London...

It is believed that Mr Blair decided to remain an Anglican while he was Prime Minister because of the possible legal and political difficulties of converting while in office.

Although Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister, the church has said there would be no constitutional bar to Mr Blair joining while he was still in office. But some lawyers believe the 1829 Emancipation Act, which granted civil rights to Roman Catholics, may still prevent a Catholic from becoming Prime Minister. It says that no Catholic adviser to the monarch can hold civil or military office.

Some constitutional historians have said a conversion could affect the relationship between church and state. As Prime Minister, Mr Blair makes recommendations to the Queen on the appointment of Church of England bishops - a role that Gordon Brown intends to hand back to the church when he succeeds Mr Blair as part of a raft of constitutional reforms. Church officials say this is a state role rather than a religious one and that the Prime Minister's own affiliations need not be a difficulty.

If he had converted while Prime Minister, Mr Blair might have faced questions about whether his religious views had affected his decisions...

Which seems stupid... if he's a Catholic at heart, wouldn't it affect his decisions as much as if he's a Catholic officially?
Simply Stated by Ann at 4:56 AM
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Kuwaiti backs first Hooters for Dubai
Assalaamu alaikum,

For those who might not know, Hooters is a American restaurant chain best known for having waitresses who wear tight shirts and short shorts. (If you care to, you can see some pictures of them here .) "Hooters" is a slang term for women's breasts. Even many Americans - especially feminists - hate Hooters because it promotes women as sexual objects. Now a Gulf businessman (a Kuwaiti) is planning to open one in Dubai. OK, I know Dubai has alcohol, pork and prostitutes, and will pretty much do anything for a buck (or dirham), but this still makes me angry. I hope he doesn't have plans to try one in Kuwait.

This article was on the front page of the Kuwait Times today, and they took this opportunity to print it next to a big, color picture of some Hooters girls in their skimpy uniforms.

DUBAI: Hooters, a US restaurant chain famous for its scantly clad, large breasted waitresses, may open this year in Dubai as it expands to the Arabic peninsula for the first time, the company's local partner said yesterday...

The moderate emirate, home to the $12,000-a-night (euro9,000-a-night) Burj Al-Arab Hotel, allows alcohol to flow in its trendy restaurants, bars and nightclubs that attract hordes of tourists and foreign executives.

Western expatriates choose Dubai in favor of larger but more restrictive Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, where Muslim laws ban liquor and require women to dress modestly.

Waitresses at Hooters, which describes itself as a "beach-theme" restaurant, wear tight revealing tank tops and skimpy shorts. The restaurant's name stems from an American slang term for women's breasts.

"The element of female sex appeal is prevalent in the restaurants, and the company believes the Hooters Girl is as socially acceptable as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader," Hooters of America Inc, says on its website...

Al-Shaheen, a partner in Kuwaiti firm Marketing Management Group, or MMG, doesn't expect any conservative backlash over Hooters' staff uniforms, saying the tight tops and shorts are no more revealing than normal outfits on the nearby Dubai beach.

The Dubai Hooters isn't the first one planned for the Middle East. One is due to open in Israel this year. Plans to open a Hooters restaurant in Lebanon have been shelved because of fighting in the country, Al-Shaheen said...
Simply Stated by Ann at 9:36 AM
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Look... Islamic Burials are Cool Now - Call them "Green"
Assalaamu alaikum,

I thought that Muslims sometimes had problems doing these burials, because the local jurisdictions had objections. But now that the environment groups are behind it, it will be considered progressive. (For those that don't know, what they're describing is exactly how Muslims are buried - except that the body is turned towards Makkah.)

Canadians Urged to Go Green Even When They're Gone

TORONTO - North Americans who spend their lives reducing, reusing and recycling can keep doing their bit for the environment after they die, if Europe's "green funeral" trend makes its way across the Atlantic.

Canadian activists say green send-offs could help the dead contribute to a sustainable environment, with funerals that use shrouds or biodegradable containers and involve no embalming, no headstones and no grave linings...

"Having a green burial is one more thing a person can do to lessen the impact we're having on our environment," said Dorothy Yada of the Memorial Society of British Columbia.

"Environmental organizations should take it on as something they could add to their list of things to do ... if people asked for it more often, (the cemeteries and funeral parlors) would do it..."

"Embalming does three things... It requires the body to be worked over, organs sucked out and replaced with carcinogens. Second, it requires workers to be exposed to two potentially toxic chemicals (formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde)," said Joe Sehee of the Green Burial Council in Los Angeles.

He reckons a million gallons of embalming fluid makes its way into North American soil each year.

And when bodies are cremated, mercury -- mostly from dental fillings -- can get into the atmosphere and into rivers, said Mary Woodsen, of Greensprings Natural Cemetery in New York...
Simply Stated by Ann at 10:00 AM
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They've Dicovered Miswak
Assalaamu alaikum,

It's used outside subSaharan Africa, too. Certainly in the Gulf - I don't know about the other Arab and Muslim countries.

African twig brushes offer all-day dental care

DAKAR (Reuters) - Brush your teeth every day, dentists say. In Africa, that can mean keeping your toothbrush in your mouth all day long.

Across the continent south of the Sahara, many people go about their daily business with a small stick or twig protruding from their mouth, which they chew or use to scrub their teeth.

Cut from wild trees and shrubs in the bush, this is the African toothbrush. Its users swear it is much more natural, effective -- and cheaper -- than the prettily packaged but pricey dental products on sale in pharmacies and supermarkets...

Dental experts agree they seem to clean teeth well and some up-market health stores in the United States have been selling chew-sticks as a natural form of dental care...

If chewed, most of the twigs fray into finer strands, which have the effect of "flossing" between the teeth, or if rubbed up and down, can scrub tooth enamel clean as well as any brush. But they can taste bitter compared with commercial toothpastes.

"There are several documented studies which suggest that the cleaning sticks are at least as effective as normal toothbrushes and paste in maintaining routine oral health," Christine D. Wu, Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry, told Reuters.

She said some laboratory studies indicated plants from which some of the sticks in Africa are cut contain protective anti-microbial compounds that act against the bacteria in the mouth which cause tooth decay and gum disease...

In holy Islamic writings known as the Hadith, the Prophet Mohammed recommends their use as part of cleaning rituals that are an essential element of daily prayers...
Simply Stated by Ann at 9:54 AM
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The Most Shocking Thing is that People Claim to be Shocked
Assalaamu alaikum,

'Shocking' racism in jobs market

...CVs from six fictitious candidates - who were given traditionally white, black African or Muslim names - were sent to 50 firms by Radio Five Live...

All the applicants were given the same standard of qualifications and experience, but their CVs were presented differently.

Almost a quarter of applications by two candidates given traditionally "white" names - Jenny Hughes and John Andrews - resulted in interview offers.

But only 9% of the "Muslim" applications, by the fictitious Fatima Khan and Nasser Hanif, prompted a similar response.

Letters from the "black" candidates, Abu Olasemi and Yinka Olatunde, had a 13% success rate...
Simply Stated by Ann at 8:12 AM
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