Clipmarks | arifsali's clips

"Arab = Muslim = Terror = War"?

Thu, 22 May 2008 22:51:35 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Via Eboo Patel's blog

Many people mistakenly assume that all Arabs are Muslims or that all Muslims are Arab. Neither of these assumptions are correct.

Worse yet, Arabs and Muslims are continuously and incorrectly associated with terror and war.

[Video]

Tags: arab, islam, muslims

See what Arab women are up to...

Thu, 22 May 2008 22:50:58 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Via Eboo Patel's blog

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

What are Arab women up to? Well, every day they're making bold choices. Their participation in the workforce is increasing, and the fields that they are going into are sometimes even groundbreaking...

[Video]

Tags: arab, islam, muslims, women

Blogging for change in Saudi Arabia

Thu, 22 May 2008 21:32:51 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.menassat.com

Saudi Jeans is one of the most influential blogs in the Gulf region. It is run by pharmacy student Ahmad Al Omran, who through his blog hopes to "be a part of the change that is taking place in Saudi Arabia."

Saudi Jeans focuses on topics such as freedom of expression, human and women's rights, as well as democracy and justice. Al Omran also runs the yawmyat blog in Arabic and is one of the co-founders of Saudi Blogs. In addition to that, he regularly appears in mainstream media through interviews granted to outlets ranging from CNN to the Saudi Gazette or Agence France-Presse.

Tags: saudi arabia, blogging

Ancient flint tools, animal remains found in Galilee cave

Thu, 22 May 2008 21:05:31 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: So now can we return the land to its rightful owners?

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Archaeologists say bears and buffalo once roamed, and prehistoric men chipped flint into tools, in what later became the Holy Land, Israel's Antiquities Authority said Thursday.

They found the evidence in a huge cave in the Galilee in Israel's north.

Israel's Antiquities Authority released a statement saying the cave was discovered by accident. Workers were excavating for a sewage line when they came across it.

Experts date the cave to the Upper Paleolithic Period, which began 40,000 years ago. They found ancient flint tools used by early man, as well as remains of animals that are no longer in the region, including bears, buffalo and red deer.

The antiquities authority said it's the first cave with artifacts from that period to be found in more than 40 years.

Tags: archaeology, israel

Indian children burn toy guns in protest

Thu, 22 May 2008 20:53:36 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.newsvine.com

Hundreds of children from a village in India's insurgency-wracked northeast have burned their toy guns in a symbolic protest against the violence that surrounds them, activists said Thursday.

The children, all younger than 13, held their protest Wednesday, carrying placards reading "We hate toy guns, We love football" as they marched to the local high school playground to light the bonfire.

"The children happily threw their toy guns, mostly look-alikes of AK-47 and M-16 rifles and 9mm pistols, and clapped as they went up in flames," said Amarjit Yumnam, one of the local peace activists who organized the event in Keinou, a village in Manipur state.

Keinou is some 25 miles south of state capital of Imphal.

Villagers said the protest was a reaction to the violence in Manipur, where at least 17 rebel groups have been fighting for independent homelands or autonomy. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the fighting in the past 10 years.

Tags: india, guns, children

Where Are Those Iranian Weapons in Iraq?

Thu, 22 May 2008 20:39:12 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.ipsnews.net

The U.S. military command in Iraq continues to talk about an alleged pipeline of Iranian weapons to Iraqi Shiites opposing the U.S. occupation, implying that they have become dependent on Iran for indirect-fire weapons and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

But U.S. officials have failed thus far to provide evidence that would support that claim, and a long-delayed U.S. military report on Iranian arms is unlikely to offer any data on what proportion of the weapons in the hands of Shiite fighters are from Iran and what proportion comes from purchases on the open market.

When Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner was asked that question at a briefing May 8, he did not answer it directly. Instead Bergner reverted to a standard U.S. military line that these groups "could not do what they're doing without the support of foreign support [sic]." Then he defined "foreign support" to include training and funding as well as weapons, implicitly conceding that he did not have much of a case based on weapons alone.

Tags: iraq, iran, united states, politics, weapons, war

11-Year-Old Wins National Geographic Bee

Thu, 22 May 2008 20:24:25 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

Eleven-year-old Akshay Rajagopal knew, and with the answer—Bolivia—he won the 20th annual National Geographic Bee today in Washington, D.C.

The national finals tested the geographic knowledge of 55 U.S. students in fourth through eighth grade—each contestant was already a winner at the state or territory level. Each finalist is allowed one wrong answer.

Asked what country lies east of Iran and holds the city of Balkh—the supposed birthplace of the ancient 13th-century Persian poet Rumi—Rajagopal wasn't sure.

With magic marker, he wrote "Afghanistan" on his card. His guess was right.

(Watch video of the final tense minutes of the bee.)

Tags: knowledge, geography