The Sudanese Muslims want to execute the British teacher who allowed her class to affectionately name their teddy bear “Muhammad.”  There isn’t any rational argument for stating that Islam is a religion of peace.  This is the most outrageously stupid and dangerous thing.  Notice that the article mentions that people came out of the mosques after Friday sermons and started rioting.  I don’t know about you, but when I leave my Christian church, I feel more loving and charitable towards others.  My Christian religion makes me want to be kind and forgiving to others.  Jesus tells us to love others and to turn the other cheek.  Do you know of anyone leaving a Christian church bent on executing someone else - as a result of the sermon they just heard?  The whole Islam religion is crazy.

This whole story shows not only how full of hate and meanness the atmosphere of Islam is, but how stupid many of the followers are.  They are hurting their own cause in the eyes of the world - and I imagine they don’t care about their image in the world’s eyes.  They’re just so stupid and absurd, in fact, that this is the only case where a few of the reasonable minority of Muslims are actually speaking out against it… a very few anyway. 

Sudanese Call for Execution of Briton

By MOHAMED OSMAN,

AP

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Nov. 30) - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear “Muhammad.”

The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gillian Gibbons, the teacher who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.

They massed in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. They did not try to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour.

“Shame, shame on the U.K.,” protesters chanted.

They called for Gibbons’ execution, saying, “No tolerance: Execution,” and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad.”

The women’s prison where Gibbons is being held is far from the square.

Several hundred protesters, not openly carrying weapons, marched about a mile away to Unity High School, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed and under heavy security, then marched toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks away from the embassy.

The protest arose despite vows by Sudanese security officials the day before, during Gibbons’ trial, that threatened demonstrations after Friday prayers would not take place. Some of the protesters carried green banners with the name of the Society for Support of the Prophet Muhammad, a previously unknown group.

Many protesters carried clubs, knives and axes - but not automatic weapons, which some have brandished at past government-condoned demonstrations. That suggested Friday’s rally was not organized by the government.

A Muslim cleric at Khartoum’s main Martyrs Mosque denounced Gibbons during one sermon, saying she intentionally insulted Islam. He did not call for protests, however.

“Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. But we welcome imprisonment and expulsion,” the cleric, Abdul-Jalil Nazeer al-Karouri, a well-known hard-liner, told worshippers.

“This an arrogant woman who came to our country, cashing her salary in dollars, teaching our children hatred of our Prophet Muhammad,” he said.

Britain, meanwhile, pursued diplomatic moves to free Gibbons. Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke with a member of her family to convey his regret, his spokeswoman said.

“He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release,” spokeswoman Emily Hands told reporters.

Most Britons expressed shock at the verdict by a court in Khartoum, alongside hope it would not raise tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain.

“One of the good things is the U.K. Muslims who’ve condemned the charge as completely out of proportion,” said Paul Wishart, 37, a student in London.

“In the past, people have been a bit upset when different atrocities have happened and there hasn’t been much voice in the U.K. Islamic population, whereas with this, they’ve quickly condemned it.”

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of “gross overreaction.”

“This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve. It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities,” he said.

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was “abominable and defies common sense.”

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan’s government to free Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offense.

“We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a schoolteacher due to what’s likely to be an innocent mistake is gravely disproportionate,” said the group’s president, Ali Alhadithi.

The Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organization, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should pardon the teacher.

“The Ramadhan Foundation is disappointed and horrified by the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan,” said spokesman Mohammed Shafiq.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world’s 77 million Anglicans, said Gibbons’ prosecution and conviction was “an absurdly disproportionate response to what is at worst a cultural faux pas.”

Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador late Thursday to express Britain’s disappointment with the verdict. The Foreign Office said Britain would continue diplomatic efforts to achieve “a swift resolution” to the crisis.

Gibbons was arrested Sunday after another staff member at the school complained that she had allowed her 7-year-old students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. Giving the name of the Muslim prophet to an animal or a toy could be considered insulting.

The case put Sudan’s government in an embarrassing position - facing the anger of Britain on one side and potential trouble from powerful Islamic hard-liners on the other. Many saw the 15-day sentence as an attempt to appease both sides.

In The Times, columnist Bronwen Maddox said the verdict was “something of a fudge … designed to give a nod to British reproof but also to appease the street.”

Britain’s response - applying diplomatic pressure while extolling ties with Sudan and affirming respect for Islam - had produced mixed results, British commentators concluded.

In an editorial, The Daily Telegraph said Miliband “has tiptoed around the case, avoiding a threat to cut aid and asserting that respect for Islam runs deep in Britain. Given that much of the government’s financial support goes to the wretched refugees in Darfur and neighboring Chad, Mr. Miliband’s caution is understandable.”

Now, however, the newspaper said, Britain should recall its ambassador in Khartoum and impose sanctions on the Sudanese regime.

The question of the day:  Are you a spender or a saver?  I’ve been both.  During my first marriage, I was a spender.  Maybe not entirely, but I don’t remember being particularly worried about money.  I bought what I wanted without thinking much about it.  That changed, though, when I became single.  Being single for ten years taught me to be a saver.  There’s nothing like being solely responsible for mortgages, insurance, loans, bills and other responsibilities to learn quickly to change a spender into a saver.  I started listening to a radio money show and started following its thrifty advice.  Now, I’m married again, and my saving habits from my single years have carried over.  The best advice I could anyone is to make a budget and stick to it which ends up seeming like you got a raise.

An 83-year old woman had just gotten over a thousand dollars in cash from the bank in order to do her Christmas shopping and pay some bills.  Her purse was in a shopping cart as she put some packages in her car.  A gust of  wind caught the cart and pushed it into the back of a delivery truck where it got caught on the rear wheel well.  The delivery truck proceeded to leave the parking lot - eventually strewing (is that a word?)the cash along the way.  When the truck was finally stopped, there was little money left.  Now the question is:  Will the people of Montague, Massachusettes who grabbed some of the flying money keep it and thus be grinch-like,  or will they follow the golden rule and give the money back to the woman and thus be santa-like.

Click here for the whole story.

There are few items I enjoy more than my diamond rings.   There’s the “forever” symbolism, along with that undeniable sparkle that has no match.  A&W Diamonds is the leading wholesaler of loose diamonds, and now they have launched a diamond blog - Diamonds of the Day - where they offer two specially discounted loose diamonds every day.  They also have information and facts about diamonds.  That’s the website where you can find out all you need to know about Diamonds, Loose diamonds, Wholesale Loose Diamonds and much more.

A&W Diamonds, the leading wholesaler of loose diamonds, has launched www.DiamondsoftheDay.com, a diamond blog that offers 2 specially discounted loose diamonds every day along with diamond education and facts.  And, of course, diamonds make a wonderful gift for any woman.

I was working with a small group of fifth graders this afternoon, and we were discussing contractions and compound words.

We played a brief game in which they looked through their books to find five contractions and five compounds words.

Scott kept murmuring under his breath as he worked, “This is hard. I can’t find any contraptions. I can’t find any contraptions.”

Meanwhile when I asked James to tell me one of the compound words he’d found, he replied with, “plum meeting.”

“Plum meeting?” I said, looking perplexed.

“PLUM MEETING!” he replied - somewhat exasperated.  After all,  he HAD said it clearly the first time.

When I continued with my confused look, he declared, “It’s right here in my book,” and he held the book up for me to see.

The sentence was, “The arrow was plummeting to the ground.”

I have a lot of work ahead of me.  Contraptions and plum meetings….

There’s no doubt that the iPod and iPhone are two of the hottest items this holiday season.  I don’t have an iPod, but I’d really like one.  Of course when you get such an expensive toy as the iPod, you want to have the right ipod accessories to make sure that your investment is secure and treated well.   The PDO Store has every accessory for not only your iPod and iPhone, it has accessories for Blackberries and Treos, too.  There are screen savers and skins, armbands and cases.  Whatever you  need to protect you “i”, the PDO Store has it.

I was very sad last night to see Tyra Banks and the other judges on America’s Next Top Model send Heather home.  Heather is the contestant with Asperger Syndrome - a mild form of autism.  One of the characteristics of Asperger Syndrome is that the person has trouble with loud noises and crowds.  In last night’s challenge on the show, the contestants had to make their way through the large city to find modeling agencies for “go-sees.”  Heather kept getting lost and ended up only making one go-see while the other contestants made three or four.  

With Heather gone, the show has lost much of its appeal.  In the real world, Heather would have had help getting to the go-sees.  She wouldn’t have been stuck in an unfamiliar city where people didn’t speak her language.  The other contestants are beautiful, but they don’t have anything unusual or striking to bring to the table.  They’re of the “if you’ve seen one model, you’ve seen them all” mold.  I thought Heather’s photos were absolutely phenomenal, and it was a mistake to send her home.

Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but I really wanted Heather to win.  I want to see someone who overcomes obstacles and who doesn’t make excuses for her failures.  Heather has an unusual look, and she is versatile in her looks.  Yes, she wasn’t as socially adept as most of the other contestants - but not by much. And she more than made up for that awkwardness with her looks, her ambition and her attitude - especially her attitude.  It was surprising to me to watch some of the other contestants make fun of her.  Such immaturity should have disqualified them immediately.

America’s Next Top Model hasn’t exactly picked great winners in the past.  Just look at Jaslene, last year’s winner.  The girl can barely talk coherently in the “My Life as a Cover Girl” commercials.  It’s hard to understand what she’s saying.  And before her, there was Danielle who also had some serious voice problems.  I don’t understand why either of them were chosen as the winner in their respective seasons.  If a person can’t talk intelligibly, why make them a “top model” who must be a spokesperson for various products?  Although Heather needed her lines read to her, she was able to speak clearly and with expression and it was believable.  And her photographs were outstanding.

So good luck, Heather.  Hopefully there will be folks in the modeling world with greater vision than Tyra & her set of cronies.  You have the gumption and self-understanding to reach your dreams.  I think you will go far.

Apparently, some of the upscale hotels no longer provide a Bible in their rooms - even though the Bibles are provided free by Gideons International.

Here’s the story:

We’ve seen a lot of hotel trends over the years, plasma TVs, the rise of free wi-fi, pillow butlers, in-room fitness equipment and all sorts of adjustments as hotels adapt to the greening of America but the latest might just be the disappearance of an old favorite. ABC News has a story on the fact that luxury hotels are ditching the tradition of the Bible tucked in the bedside drawer. According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the number of luxury hotels that stock the Bible and other religious items has dropped 18 percent since 2001. Luxury chains taking part in the trend include Kimpton Hotels, the Borgata in Atlantic City and the Gansevoort Hotel Group. The hotels all offer various religious materials that are available by request.

This trend is on the luxury side. In other motels, hotels and inns, the number of in-room Bibles has increased from 79 percent in 1988 to 95 percent today. In fact, a survey from the American Hotel and Lodging Association reveals that the more you pay for a hotel room the less likely you are to see a Bible. A full 99 percent of economy hotels have a Bible in the room but just 73 percent of luxury hotels provide one. Also Bibles are least likely to be found in urban hotels and resorts and are most often at hotels near interstate highways or at airports.

I guess rich people don’t need anything to worship  other than their money.

If you’re looking for Search Engine Marketing, then you should definitely check out Apogee Search.   Apogee Search is one of the largest Search Engine Marketing firms in the world.  I had an informative and enjoyable time looking through their website.  I particularly learned a lot by reading some of the posts on the Apogee Search Blog.  There were articles such as “10 Tips for Holiday Paid Search Copy” - which provided some great advice and ideas.  Apogee also offers a free search engine marketing analysis.

Apogee’s roots are in the southwest - and Houston in particular.   They have been able to put their Houston SEO clients at the top of search engine results using key words.  Apogee Search designs solutions that will maximize leads, customers, revenues and profits.

A quickie meal - easy, only three main ingredients.

Easy Chicken Quesadillas

1 package grilled/diced chicken breast (or you can season, grill and dice your own)

6 large flour tortillas (more or less, depending on how hungry you are)

Grated or thinly sliced Mexican cheese (mixture of white and yellow cheeses)

Spray Pam in the bottom of a large frying pan and place a tortilla in the pan, fllat.  On one half, place some of the cheese and chicken.  Fold the tortilla in half.  Lightly brown each side.  I usually keep a pan in the oven to place the quesadillas when I’m finished with them.  It helps to finish melting the cheese and keeps them hot until I have enough prepared for everyone.  To serve, use a pizza cutter to slice each quesadilla into wedges.  Serve with sour cream and salsa.  Yummy!