Blog Archives
A glass half full
Source: eislam.co.za
By: Abu Muhammad Yusuf
From time to time we all experience challenges. It could be when we encounter some difficult situations in our life or business or we have problems with health or even just day to day issues. What is really important is how we face up and react to those challenges. Our attitude and Trust in our Creator will determine how much we succeed.
AMERICAN MUSLIMS AND THE TRAUMA OF ANTI MUSLIM BIGOTRY
Source: muslimmatters.org
By: Kameelah Mu’Min Rashad
In Aug 2011, Associated Press journalists Chris Hawley, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Matt Apuzzo began publishing a series of detailed reports exposing a decades long secret surveillance program. This program was engineered by the NYPD (with assistance from the CIA) to gather intelligence on entire Muslim communities. Operating under the auspices of the “Demographic Unit”, law enforcement spied on American Muslim citizens all along the Northeastern seaboard— from New Haven, CT to Philadelphia, PA. The extent and reach of this suspicion-less spying extended far beyond the boundaries of New York City; with local officials and police departments seemingly unaware that the NYPD was conducting such far-reaching clandestine activity outside of its jurisdiction.
This series of Associated Reports revealed the surreal and sordid details of a program that read more like a Hollywood Spy/Crime drama- filled with informants, undercover police officers (“rakers and mosque crawlers”), monitoring of masjids, bookstores, homes, cafés, halal meat markets, and other businesses. Muslim Students’ Associationswere also targeted for surveillance –including Yale MSA, City College of New York, Rutgers New Brunswick and UPenn MSA. NYPD informants infiltrated MSA student meetings, chat rooms, online forums and group outings. Based on information obtained by the Associated Press “Student groups were of particular interest to the NYPD because they attract young Muslim men, a demographic that terrorist groups frequently draw from. Police worried about which Muslim scholars were influencing these students and feared that extracurricular activities such as paintball outings could be used as terrorist training.”
Why pork is not only haram but downright dangerous
Source: spiritfoods.net
By: Michael Ravensthorpe
It is a well-known fact that several religious texts forbid the eating of pork. According to Leviticus, the third book of Judaism’s Torah and Christianity’s Old Testament, pork is an “unclean” meat since pigs do not “chew the cud.” Meanwhile, the eating of pork is condemned no less than four times in the Qur’an of Islam. While no direct reason is given for this condemnation, many Muslims believe that it is because pigs are disease-ridden animals.
Tips for a Healthy Winter
Source: onislam.net
By: Anisa Abeytia
Winter is upon us and it is officially flu season. So, how do you plan to stay healthy this winter? Most of us do not think about flues and colds until we already have one. Thinking about your strategy now will help you and your family stay well all winter. So how are you going to start and what are you going to do?
Documentary: TechKnow – Smoking out the truth (Video)
Are health claims for the new generation of e-cigarettes true, or are they a smokescreen?
More documentaries…
Consumer Reports: How much arsenic is in your rice? (Video)
Consumer Reports’ new data and guidelines are important for everyone but especially for gluten avoiders
Source: consumerreports.org
In late 2012 we released our original report on arsenic in rice, in which we found measurable levels in almost all of the 60 rice varieties and rice products we tested.
Our most recent testing and analysis gave us some new information on the risk of arsenic exposure in infants and children through rice cereal and other rice products. We looked at data released by the Food and Drug Administration in 2013 on the inorganic arsenic content of 656 processed rice-containing products. We found that rice cereal and rice pasta can have much more inorganic arsenic—a carcinogen—than our 2012 data showed. According to the results of our new tests, one serving of either could put kids over the maximum amount of rice we recommend they should have in a week. Rice cakes supply close to a child’s weekly limit in one serving. Rice drinks can also be high in arsenic, and children younger than 5 shouldn’t drink them instead of milk. (Learn thenew rice rules about weekly servings.)
In 2012, we recommended that babies eat no more than one serving of infant rice cereal per day, on average, and that their diets should include cereals made from other grains. We did not find any reason to change our advice based on our new analysis. When we shared our results with the FDA and asked for comment, the agency reiterated its recommendation that everyone, including pregnant women, infants, and toddlers, should eat a variety of grains. And they pointed out that parents should “consider options other than rice cereal for a child’s first solid food.”
Journalist shows Coca Cola boss how much sugar is in their drink (Video)
Calls are growing for high sugar drinks to be taxed in the same way as cigarettes to curb rising obesity. Does the drinks industry’s resistance echo that of the tobacco industry denial in the 1960s? Jeremy Paxman spoke to James Quincey, president of Coca Cola Europe.