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POPSGlobal Write-a-thon for Amnesty International
Dear Friends, I was detained for more than six years by the U.S. government, primarily in the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. In late 2001, I was a journalist with the news agency al-Jazeera, assigned to cover the war in Afghanistan. While on that assignment, I was detained at the border of Pakistan-Afghanistan, and transferred to U.S. custody. I found that I had entered into a nightmare that would claim six years of my life and place great hardship on my family. Fortunately, Amnesty International and other organizations called attention to my case and campaigned on my behalf. In December last year, my case was featured in Amnesty’s Global Write-a-thon. A few months later, I was released from Guantanamo in May 2008 without any charges. I received more than 20,000 letters from members and supporters of Amnesty International. I received letters from all over the world. These letters really encouraged me during my very difficult time. They made me feel as though I was
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POPSWAR ON TERROR I think Amnesty International is a great organisation that does a lot of work to support human rights. At least we can help by online activism if nothing else.
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POPSSaudi Arabia "Sleeping Giant" Tourist Destination I clipped a story yesterday about efforts to turn Haiti into a tourist destination. This story is about what's happening in Saudi Arabia. The situations are completely different in both countries, but what's interesting about Saudi Arabia is how they will attract Western tourists while communicating clearly about expectations, particularly where cultural customs are concerned. Would you go to Saudi Arabia?
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POPSWhat Would Reverend Jeremiah Wright Do? In an emotional testimony he tells the world how, as he was watching YouTube clips of the Reverend, a voice said "Follow this man." He then made his hajj to Chicago, joining Rev. Wright's congregation. Everyone is acepted under Jeremiah Wright's large tent as long as they accept a few simple dogmas and agree to repeat them five times a day during prayers: * Being White is immoral. Every White person is guilty of conspiring against the Blacks * Being rich is immoral. Every rich person is guilty of conspiring against the poor * America is the infamous product of conspiracy by rich White males to create the source of all evil. Later it turned even more evil under the rule of Zionist puppet masters. * Jesus was a homeless African-American male who fell victim to a conspiracy of the rich Whites against the poor Blacks that resulted in racial profiling, followed by torture and crucifiction * The 10 Commandments are optional.
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POPSMugniyah, Senior Hezbollah Commander Killed In Damascus Mugniyah, one of Hizbullah's founders and its operational commander, is believed to be the mastermind behind the attacks against the Jewish embassy and the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in1994. He is also wanted for the hijacking of a TWA airplane in Lebanon in 1985 and the abduction of westerners in the country during the 1980s. The statement did not say how he was killed, but the announcement came a few hours after a late night explosion in Damascus destroyed a vehicle. Witnesses in Damascus said at the time that a passerby was killed as security forces sealed off the area.
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POPSEid al-Adha - pilgrims all the way up In India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan it is also called Eid ul-Azha, goat is the animal most likely to be sacrificed in those countries. In Bangladesh it is called either ঈদ-উল-আজহা Id-ul-Azha or কোরবানী ঈদ Korbani Id. In South Africa it is also called Bakri Eid (or simply Bakrid in India). The Indonesian term is Idul Adha. In Turkey it is often referred to as the Kurban Bayramı or “Sacrifice Feast”. Similarly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Bulgaria it is referred as Kurban Bajram. In Kazakhstan, it is referred to as Kurban Ait. In Kurdish it is called Cejna Qurbanê . This Eid is for 4 days. Also known as the bigger Eid because it is a day longer than Eid-ul-Fitar
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POPSGeorge of Arabia What ever happened to all that retoric about "FREEDOM"... Saudi Arabia is the leader of the NON_FREE, SICK SOCIETY that is gushing money and trampling on any sense of freedom or human dignity. I hear that Bush has invited the King to his ranch for a little barbaque. Just a friendly kind of gesture. Right now I can't figure out who is sicker....them or us!
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POPSsheer unadulterated insanity-on your dime The government is now financing the PLO. They might as well just start donating to the Holy Land Foundation and send a card to Osama for the hajj (I gather it's that time of year). Silly me, I thought we were at war with Islamic terrorists.
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POPSPrimer on the Hajj for non-Muslims Interesting link (posted at SpeakingOfFaith.org, http://snurl.com/19v9h) giving some basic background information for non-Muslims on what the pilgrimage to Mecca is about. Primarily aimed at teachers.
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POPSPhotographer Fired: Overkill? Yesterday, Al-Jazeera published the photo (orginal and "doctored"), but now I can't seem to find it. Basically, it looks like Hajj got lazy with the photo and did a one-step photo fix or automatic saturation adjustment. The colors are all just much more present. I'm not saying that makes it okay or that the photo shouldn't have been pulled, but is this a legitimate reason to fire a photographer who has been reliably producing photos for 10 years? Or is this another blogger witchhunt?
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