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For the record, I have no interest in promoting (or opposing) any claim to this status, as I lack the knowledge to evaluate it. In the case of HY, for example, I don’t know him well enough to say with any certainty either way, though I certainly have my suspicions (and they’re not in his favor in this regard). To the c... |
Thanks to a complicated background and a lifelong interest in prophecy and eschatology, I think I’ve pondered this topic more than most Muslims. I’ve never viewed it as a purely abstract, academic question. |
madness, etc. I don’t think you should treat a claimant to being the Mahdi the same way one would treat a claimant to, say, prophethood (i.e., after the Holy Prophet). Thus, I think criticism of such a person should be based on the person’s character, actions, and proofs for his claims, not the fact that he made such a... |
I think there is more to this question than meets the eye. |
I wouldn’t want to encourage all sorts of claims (or for Muslims to cease being critical of those claims). |
1) If we really do believe in the ahadith mentioning the Mahdi,Dajjal, etc., in some form–I don’t assume these traditions are meant to be taken literally–I don’t think we can talk about the idea as if it were inherently absurd. That’s just inconsisent; either we believe in it or we don’t. |
2) Isn’t it presumptuous and potentially disrespectful to the Prophet upon whose words these beliefs are based to mock the idea? Unless we believe we have reason to repudiate those ahadith–and if we’re willing to do so openly–I think we must treat the question of the Mahdi etc. arriving in modern times as a possibility... |
3) Finally, I think many Muslims unconsciously reinforce a mechanistic and overly rationalistic worldview in the way they scornfully discuss this question. I think the same reasoning that leads one to laugh at the idea of the Mahdi arriving today in the modern world naturally leads to the denial of Allah’s continuing i... |
or at least giggling. Westerners in other religious traditions have just "advanced" to a point where they can discuss these matters more consistently (read: they can openly repudiate the authority of the sacred in their lives). |
Allahu `alim. I don’t know who the Mahdi is/will be, when he’ll arrive, or how he’ll arrive, but until I do, I intend to approach the topic with a modicum of humility. Far too often, that seems to be a rare trait among the Muslims who choose to participate in these debates. |
Note: The Modern-day Moor at Planet Grenada was kind enough to link to this posting. A really interesting discussion ensued over there that’s worth reading. |
Police are appealing for information following a collision on the outskirts of Gisburn which left a motorcyclist with serious injuries. |
The accident which happened on Sunday, May 29th, at around 3-30 pm on the A59 near the Stirk House Hotel left the motorcyclist with fractures to his ribs, shoulder and spine. |
A Vauxhall Vectra was travelling towards Clitheroe when it was involved in a collision with a Honda ST1300 motorcycle. |
The air ambulance was called to take the motorcyclist to Royal Preston Hospital, where he is currently being treated for multiple fractures and is described as being in a “comfortable” condition. |
The driver of the Vauxhall – a 21-year-old Burnley man – was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving while under the influence of cannabis and has been reported for summons. |
Police would now like to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision or has information about how it unfolded. |
Ribble Valley Police Sgt John Jennings-Wharton said: “This was a nasty collision on a rural road which has left a motorcyclist with several serious injuries. |
“We would like to speak to anyone who saw either of the vehicles in the moments prior to the collision, or who witnessed the crash itself. |
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting log number 950 of May 29th. |
UPDATE: The Tucson Police Department has confirmed 42-year-old Jason Patty was located deceased inside a home on August 23 following a standoff. He appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. |
Multiple agencies responded to a standoff in the 5800 block of North Edenbrook Lane on Wednesday evening where Pima County Sheriffs confirmed with KGUN 9 that they were looking for a suspect wanted in relation to a deadly traffic incident that took place earlier this month . |
The landlord of a nearby home confirmed the suspect's name with PCSD. |
Tucson Police say the suspect inside the home that TPD has been searching for is 42-year-old Jason Patty, wanted for a crash last month where he was on a motorcycle with a woman who died at the scene. |
Upon entry, one person was found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot would. |
The identity of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. |
GAROUA, Cameroon - Two soldiers and an airman started a French class here to make it easier for servicemembers and locals to communicate. |
Service members here are serving in a support role for the Cameroon military's fight against the violent extremist organization Boko Haram. |
The ongoing classes were originally started by Senior Airman Melissa Sharpe an airman serving here in the finance office. |
"I started the French classes because of the locals," said Sharpe. |
"We interact with them every day and they would always try to speak to us in their language," she said. "Since we're a guest in their country, I wanted to be able to speak with them or be able to let them know that we're trying to get to know them better too." |
Sharpe then recruited Sgt. Nathan Pelletti, of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 11th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, and Spc. Oumar Coulibaly of 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, who both speak fluent French. |
"I was born in Paris and I was raised there for ten years," said Pelletti. |
"As a result of simply going to school I learned French as a first language. Then later on when I moved to the U.S., that's actually when I learned English," Pelletti said. |
Coulibaly, in contrast, learned French from his mother. |
"When I was young, my mother who is from Mali, would speak to me in French," said Coulibaly. |
Coulibaly and Pelletti chose to teach students French phrases that would allow them to complete everyday exchanges with more ease. |
"We try and focus on practicality because it wouldn't actually be reasonable to teach someone the whole language of French in a couple of weeks,' said Pelletti. |
"So we teach them common phrases, market interactions, how to ask for directions," Pelletti said, "something that can be used when they go out as opposed to teaching them the entire language." |
Sharpe, who is also a student in the class, says she now finds communicating with the locals to be simpler. |
"It's all basic but I can kind of talk to them a lot easier. They really appreciate when we do that," said Sharpe. |
With minimal recognition, Kirsten McAslan has just written out one of Scotland's longest-standing records. |
At Manchester's Sportscity earlier this month, she clocked 1min 26.22sec for 600 metres, eclipsing by more than a second Linsey Macdonald's mark, set more than 33 years ago at Cosford. It's the fastest-ever 600m, indoors or out, by any Scottish woman. |
Macdonald is an iconic figure: UK senior 400m record-holder and an Olympic relay bronze medallist at just 16, she still holds several Scottish sprint bests across several age groups. Beating the Pitreavie athlete's senior record at 21 flags up McAslan's enormous potential - a third generation internationalist of a fami... |
Kirsten's parents were friends and contemporaries of Macdonald at Edinburgh University, and both were fine athletes. Kirsten's mum (the former Fiona Hargreaves) raced Macdonald frequently and they were in the same semi-final at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. Hargreaves beat her Scottish rival, but both were nur... |
Fiona topped the Scottish one-lap rankings that year, gained her only GB vest the week after the Games, and succeeded Linsey as British Student 400m champion. Kirsten's father, Ewan, was twice British student triple jump champion; uncles Stewart and Kenneth competed for Scotland, and Kirsten's grandfather, Jim McAslan,... |
Despite almost two seasons battling a stress fracture (her 400m best, 52.85, dates back to 2013) and then a hamstring injury, Kirsten made Scotland's Commonwealth 4x400m quartet last year at Hampden. "Missing an individual place was a big disappointment," she says, "but after I suffered a foot injury, I was just glad t... |
The 600m is rarely run competitively but is a significant marker for coaches. With injury problems behind her, McAslan's coach, Trevor Painter, suggests it points to a future at 800m. "I can still see her breaking the Scottish 800m record, if she sticks at it," he says. He was "not surprised" at Kirsten breaking the 60... |
McAslan is already faster at both 400m and 600m than European and Commonwealth 800m silver medallist Lynsey Sharp. Painter is husband and coach of double world bronze medallist and European indoor champion Jenny Meadows, and points out that McAslan now ranks second at 600m in Britain only to his GB record-holder wife. |
Kirsten will race for Scotland against Germany, France, and Great Britain on Saturday at the Emirates in the Sainsbury International - the first appearance of the Scottish athletics team since the Games. |
It will be a demanding assignment. McAslan has been focusing on biochemistry finals at Bath University and was unable to join Painter and Meadows who are currently warm-weather training in South Africa. Consequently she has done little speed training. "My last exam is on Friday, so I will fly north later in the day, an... |
It is the kind of schedule to which her mother can relate - her 1986 Commonwealth appearance meant she had to delay her inaugural appointment as a junior houseman. A week after the Games, Fiona was awarded her only GB vest, in the relay at Gateshead. It was sandwiched between shifts at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Having... |
The demands of her career, and injury, heralded a premature end to athletics. Gone at 24, she knows she did not fulfil her potential. |
McAslan has already taken the BUSA one-lap title which her mother won, and was in the relay squad for the European Team event, the fore-runner of which her mother raced in. When Britain won relay gold at the 2011 European Under-20 Championships it was McAslan who anchored the team to victory with a 52.4 leg which was t... |
No Scots ran the individual event in Glasgow. "I think I'd have benefited from a race before running the relay, getting used to the crowd, the track, and the atmosphere," says McAslan. "It would have made the relay a lot easier. It's a shame, seeing we were there anyway. It would not have been much hassle having one or... |
This year's target is the European Under-23 Championships in Estonia. "I hope to make the team and be in the hunt for a medal." |
She is not obsessed about the Rio Olympics, but neither will she repeat mother's early exit. "I don't know what I am going to do, but want to give athletics a shot for a couple of years, and get a part-time job." |
She has no UK lottery support, but "some help from scottishathletics. To get a scan on the NHS would have taken me a while, and set me back a lot". |
Comparisons with Sharp's 400m and 600m times won't go to her head. "The 600m time excites me, but as an 800m runner you don't run that many 400s." |
Her talent excites Painter, who believes a move home to Manchester after graduation will help. "She had nobody to run with in that 600," he says, "so I think she can go quicker still. But I believe she should focus on 400, try for an individual Olympic place in Rio, before any switch. A four-year cycle would be easier ... |
McAslan is uncertain. "I always thought my best potential was at 800m, but injuries stopped me training properly at 400. I feel I've unfinished business there. I'd like to see what my full 400m potential is. Maximising speed will help at 800. The hurdles? That's just for a bit of end-of-season fun, really. |
"Developing 400m speed would be to my advantage when I move up. Different athletes have different strengths. Lynsey Sharp has an amazing sprint finish, as she has shown." |
There are remarkable comparisons, but no certain formula. Sharp's first success was at cross-country, aged 11. Macdonald's first national title was under-13, at cross-country, before any sprint success. And McAslan won the Northern Counties Under-13 cross-country crown, before moving to sprints. |
Macdonald and Hargreaves both went on to become general practitioners, in Hong Kong and Manchester respectively. |
Cosford was a primitive concrete oval on an RAF station. Sprinters sprinkled soap powder to aid adhesion on the bends. It seems light years removed from today's customised tracks and medical resources for elite athletes. Macdonald's 600m came in the week of Muhammad Ali's final fight (he lost to Trevor Berbick), when A... |
But athletics is not really so different: still about optimising potential, about coaching nous helping make dreams reality. For McAslan it's a family tradition. |
Hummingbirds flock to flowering maple's dainty bell-shaped blooms. |
The Abutilon pictum “Thompsonii," commonly called flowering maple, gets its yellow-and-green mottled foliage from the abutilon mosaic virus. This virus, however, has no harmful effects. Without it, the flowering maple's leaves wouldn’t provide such a striking backdrop for its profuse clusters of orange-flushed, pink fl... |
Select a wind-protected planting site with room to handle the flowering maple's full size. Give it partial or morning sun in coastal and mild-summer areas and full shade in very hot climates. An ideal soil is well-draining, fertile sand or clay. |
Water the flowering maple well before planting it. While it drains, dig a hole two or three times the width and equal to the depth of its root ball. Angle the sides of the hole so the base is narrower than the top. Break up clumped soil with the edge of a spade. |
Tap the container’s bottom and sides to loosen the soil. Grasp the shrub’s lower trunk and lift it slowly from the pot, brushing away excess soil. Separate matted roots manually, and cut those wrapped around the root ball with a sharp knife or pruning shears. If the root ball resists untangling, cut three evenly spaced... |
Set the plant in the center of the hole with the top of the root ball 1/2 inch above soil level. Begin backfilling around the roots, stopping at the halfway point to tamp the soil with your hands to get rid of air pockets. Tamp again when the hole is two-thirds full, then finish backfilling. |
Surround the edge of the hole with a 3-inch mound of the remaining soil. The resulting reservoir directs water directly to the shrub's roots. Water the plant thoroughly. |
Cover the basin with a 3-inch layer of organic mulch, such as compost or shredded bark. Start the layer 1 inch beyond the shrub's trunk. The mulch discourages weeds while retaining soil moisture. |
In the absence of rainfall, water flowering maple frequently enough to keep the soil consistently moist. Spray the foliage from late spring to mid-autumn to raise the humidity around the plant. |
Support the plant's extended bloom with a monthly, March-to-October dose of water-soluble fertilizer for acid-loving plants. Apply the fertilizer according to the manufacturer's specifications. |
Wolfe, Judy. "How to Plant Abutilon Thompsonii." Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/plant-abutilon-thompsonii-38622.html. Accessed 23 April 2019. |
BlackBerry has finally given in to demands from the Indian government to access its consumer messaging services, although enterprise communications will remain safe from prying eyes. |
An internal Department of Telecommunications document seen by Economic Times apparently declared that the “lawful interception system for BlackBerry services” is now ready. |
The lawful access capability now available to BlackBerry's carrier partners meets the standard required by the Government of India for all consumer messaging services offered in the Indian marketplace. We also wish to underscore, once again, that this enablement of lawful access does not extend to BlackBerry Enterprise... |
Enterprise customers will remain safe from India’s spooks after BlackBerry presumably persuaded the authorities that it doesn’t have – and indeed never did have – the BES encryption keys for individual corporates to hand over. |
BlackBerry BIS and BBM communications will now presumably be made available through Indian's controversial Central Monitoring System (CMS), when it finally comes online. |
BlackBerry will be hoping it can now put the long-running dispute with the Indian government behind it and concentrate on turning the company around. |
Coz...you are special my friend! |
Hope you have a real cozy weekend! |
Ivy S. (2169) Jodee, I really am sorry I missed your birthday. Hope it had been a special one, as special as you my friend. But I believe it's always "better late than never" though - what do you say? |
Ivy S. (2169) My dearest friend, why not turn your worries and cares of this world into dancing! |
Be happy always! Have a beautiful Autumn! |
May joy, peace & good health reign forever in your heart. |
May peace, good health & happiness be yours forever. |
May Feb 14 be a special day - as special as you are my dear. |
Sorry, I messed up the first one! |
Ivy S. (2169) Merry Christmas! May you have a bright and prosperous New Year Jodee & may all your wishes and your dreams be fulfilled in 2007. Thanks for being a friend. Cheers!! |
Ivy S. (2169) Jodee you are a lovely friend. |
You are such a lovely person. Thanks for your friendship, which I will always cheirsh it deep within my heart. |
Scientists for the Food and Drug Administration have determined that a kind of cosmetic breast implant that hundreds of thousands of American women have received over the last two decades breaks down in the body to produce a substance that has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals. |
Word of the finding, confirmed in interviews with scientists in and out of the Government who are familiar with the data, follows hearings before a House subcommittee last month at which F.D.A. officials first raised the possibility of a cancer risk from the implant. |
This implant is made by Surgitek, a subsidiary of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and is sold under the trade names Meme and Replicon. Like many other breast implants, it is essentially a blob of silicon. But it is also coated with a polyurethane foam that is intended to prevent development of a painful and unsightly... |
It is this coating that dissolves in the body, the F.D.A. scientists have now found. As it does so, it produces a chemical, 2-toluene diamine, or TDA, which has been shown to cause liver cancer in rats and other research animals. |
A spokeswoman for Surgitek, which is based in Racine, Wis., said the company's tests had found that dissolution of the polyurethane was minimal. She said Surgitek continued to believe that its product was safe. |
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