Tag Archives: islam

That Croissant You Eat Is a Political/Religious Statement

Most people do not realize that the Croissant is Austrian, not French.  It was made in the shape of a crescent to celebrate the Austrian victory over the Turks.  The Turks, being Muslims, had the crescent, or “croissant”, on their flag.  The bread was made as a mockery of them.

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Ottoman Empire Battle Flag during Vienna siege Era

History majors might know that the Muslims came close to conquering the world.  They took over part of India, moved and took over the Middle East, then North Africa, then the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).  They were stopped in Western Europe by an army of the Franks (now France).  They conquered most of Eastern Europe, fought Russia, took over the Byzantine Empire, changing Constantinople to Istanbul and changing the churches back to Islamic Mosques.  In the east, they were besieging the city of Vienna when they were finally stopped.

Over the years, Spain and Portugal were reclaimed in the “Reconquista” the Crusades in the west of Europe few Americans know about.  The famous character “El Cid” comes from this time period.  In Western Europe, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russians made some inroads but it was not until after European colonization in North Africa and the end of World War 1 that the Ottoman Empire was broken up.

So the next time you eat a croissant, remember, it is celebrating the defeat of Muslim invaders.  It is the same as if the Taliban started making cross-shaped Pita breads, or Iran made six-sided star pastries.  Isn’t history strange?

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The history of “Croissants”
The first production of a Croissant dates back to 1683. That year, Austria was under siege by the Turkish Empire. In Vienna, the Turkish assailant found that time was slipping past and decided to dig an underground tunnel to enter the city. The Vienna bakers, the majority of whom worked underground, heard noises and called in the army. The Turks were discovered and retreated. 

The bakers were thanked and honored and they decided to make bread in the shape of a crescent moon (the symbol of the Turkish flag) and the croissant was born. One hundred years later, Marie Antoinette (Austrian Princess who married Louis XVI), introduced the croissant to the French Aristocrats.

It was only at the start of this century that the butter puff croissant was created, and became the French national product in 1920. Source: http://www.lagourmandise.net/history.htm

 

 

 

 

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Ancient Complex Found Near Birthplace of Abraham

Ancient Complex Discovered Near Biblical Birthplace Of Abraham In Southern Iraq

The Huffington Post  |  By Posted: 04/04/2013 2:10 pm EDT  |  Updated: 04/06/2013 1:01 pm EDT

A huge complex uncovered near what some believe to be the Biblical birthplace of Abraham is exciting researchers who for years were unable to investigate the region.

The site was discovered by a team of British archeologists working at Tell Khaiber in southern Iraq, near the ancient city of Ur, according to the Associated Press.

Stuart Campbell, a professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at Manchester University and head of its Department of Archeology, told the AP that the site is unusual because it’s so large. (It’s about the size of a football field.)

“This is a breathtaking find and we feel privileged to be the first to work at this important site,” Campbell said, according to Phys.org. “The surrounding countryside, now arid and desolate, was the birthplace of cities and of civilization about 5,000 years ago and home to the Sumerians and the later Babylonians.”

Discovery of the site was first made via satellite, according to Phys.org, followed by a geographical survey and trial excavations. Campbell said the site is provisionally dated to 2,000 B.C.

In an email to The Huffington Post, Campbell said researchers will use modern technology to help better understand that time period.

“Because of the gap in archaeological work in this region, any new knowledge is important to archaeologists in this area – and this find has the potential to really move forward our understanding of the first city-states,” Campbell wrote.

National Geographic notes that Ur probably originated “sometime in the fifth millennium B.C.” and was discovered in the 1920s and 1930s after an expedition. Once a commercial hub, Ur is also believed by many Biblical scholars to be the birthplace of Abraham.

Abraham, a descendant of Noah, is often described as the “spiritual father of Jews, Christians, and Muslims,” Slate notes. The Old Testament includes references to Abraham’s family members and a place called Ur of the Chaldeans. Some scholars have pointed to this as evidence that Ur was once Abraham’s home.

Campbell notes that there are alternative theories to Abraham’s birthplace, although Ur is commonly identified as the site. The archeologist added that his team is still excavating the complex.

The fact that Campbell’s team was able to work at the site at all is good news for researchers. For decades, culturally rich sites like Ur lay untouched due to unrest. Some sites were looted, and others were damaged by war, according to USA Today.

 

Stuart Campbell / AP

 

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Two Sides To Educating Islamic Women

I have two articles reposted below.  One is about an Egyptian girl, age 19, named Aisha Mustafa who has, in theory, created a revolutionary theory of how to provide fuel free propulsion systems for space craft.  Egypt is in danger of becoming another theocracy with Sha’ria law, in which women are forbidden to learn, or even leave the house without a male family member’s permission and accompaniment.  The other story is about Malala Yousufzai, a Pakistani girl age 15 who was shot in the head, point blank range, by the Taliban for reading and for speaking out in  opposition to Sha’ria law against her being educated.   Malala is in Britain being cared for and is doing as best as can be expected considering she was shot in the head. British Islamists have issued a “Fatwa,” or holy decree, to have her shot and killed whenever possible for disrespecting Islam.

How many great scientists, philosophers, leaders, doctors…how many great achievements will be missed for mankind as long as we have so many women not allowed to participate in education?  Perhaps I will die of cancer or heart disease before my time because a girl like Malala cannot go to school.  This is a tale of two girls, one in Egypt, one in Pakistan.  Both Muslim.

Egyptian girl, Aisha Mustafa, invents new space propulsion system

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/325785#ixzz2DftSHeMk

JohnThomas

By JohnThomas Didymus

May 31, 2012 in Technology
Sohag – A physics student from Egypt’s Sohag University, Aisha Mustafa, 19, has patented a new type of propulsion system based on quantum theory that she says could propel space probes and artificial satellites without using any fuel.

According Gizmodo, Aisha’s new system exploits the quirky laws of quantum physics which state that in spite of appearances, space really is not vacuum but that it is a seething cauldron of fundamental particle interactions involving creation and destruction of “virtual particles.”

Mustafa believes it is possible to use vacuum energy fields to create propulsion and build spacecraft propulsion systems that need little or no fuel to travel in space. According to Fast Company, Mustafa is betting on exploiting quantum effects involved in dynamic Casimir effect and the Casimiri-Polder force. She uses two silicon metallic plates in a vacuum, “like capacitors placed a few micrometers apart.” The plates interact with the virtual photons in the quantum field and generate a net force that is either an attraction or a repulsion depending on their arrangement.

According to OnIslam.net, the invention is similar to a hypothetical concept of jet propulsion termed “Differential Sail,” proposed by NASA’s Marc G. Millis.

Fast Company reports that Aisha’s university was so impressed with her new invention that it assisted her with a patent application. OnIslam.net reports that Mustafa’s supervisor, Dr. Ahmed Fikry, who heads the physics department in Sohag University, said “I expect this invention to be highly beneficial in several fields and areas of industries.”

The President of Sohag University, Dr. Nabil Nour Eldin Abdellah, said the university facilitates “science clubs” for creative students. He said: “Once we knew about her (Mustafa’s) invention, we encouraged her and provided her with the budget needed through the Science Club for innovative students in the university. This is the case with any other creative student.”

According to OnIslam.net, with the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle program, the field of space vehicles propulsion is expanding and and growing in importance with ongoing search for new methods of space travel that are faster, safer, cheaper and easier. A rich variety of new ideas in propulsive systems are being proposed some of which are beyond current technological capabilities to implement.

Gizmodo reports that Mustafa intends to further study and develop the design so that it may be tested out.

In a popular Egyptian morning program “Sabah El kheir Ya Masr”(Good Morning Egypt), Mustafa expressed her appreciation to her faculty and university staff for providing materials, resources and support. She, however, lamented that there is no funding for a department of space science in her university and in Egyptian universities in general. She said this prevents development and research in the field of space technology. She said: “Departments of astronomy and physics are only available. Although they are related to space sciences but unfortunately they aren’t into the specific field of my invention and they can’t practically test or implement it.”

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/325785#ixzz2DfqCwrwS

 

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban “doing well”

A portrait of 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, is displayed during a candlelight vigil by a women's group in Hong Kong October 19, 2012. Yousufzai, who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, is 'not out of the woods' but is doing well and has been able to stand for the first time with some help, doctors at the British hospital treating her said on Friday. Yousufzai was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham to receive treatment after the attack earlier this month, which drew widespread international condemnation. REUTERS-Bobby Yip
Malala Yousufzai, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, who was wounded in a gun attack, is seen in Swat Valley, northwest Pakistan, in this undated file photo. REUTERS-Hazart Ali Bacha-Files
A protester carries a portrait of 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousufzai, during a candlelight vigil by a women's group in Hong Kong October 19, 2012. Yousufzai, who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, is 'not out of the woods' but is doing well and has been able to stand for the first time with some help, doctors at the British hospital treating her said on Friday. Yousufzai was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham to receive treatment after the attack earlier this month, which drew widespread international condemnation. REUTERS-Bobby Yip

LONDON | Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:08am EDT

(Reuters) – A Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen is “not out of the woods” but is doing well and has been able to stand for the first time, doctors at the British hospital treating her said on Friday.

Malala Yousufzai, who was shot for vocally opposing the Taliban, was flown from Pakistan to Birmingham to receive treatment after the attack earlier this month, which drew widespread international condemnation.

She has become a symbol of resistance to the Islamist group’s effort to deny women education and other rights.

Dave Rosser, medical director of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, said she was now able to write and appeared to have memory recall despite her brain injuries.

“It’s clear that she’s not out of the woods yet,” Rosser told reporters, saying she had sustained a “very, very grave injury”. But he said she was “doing very well”.

“In fact she was standing with some help for the first time this morning. She’s communicating very freely, writing,” he said.

Rosser said, however, that the teenager was not able to speak because she had undergone a tracheotomy so she could breathe through a tube in her neck, an operation that was performed because her airways had been swollen by the bullet.

Yousufzai was shot as she left school in Swat, northwest of Islamabad. The Taliban said they attacked her because she spoke out against the group and praised U.S. President Barack Obama.

The alleged organizer of the shooting was captured during a 2009 military offensive against the Taliban, but released after three months, two senior officials told Reuters.

In a detailed statement about Yousufzai’s injuries, Rosser said she had suffered fractures to the base of her skull and to the bone behind her left ear. Her left jawbone is also injured at its joint.

“POINT BLANK RANGE”

“Malala was shot at point blank range,” with the bullet hitting her left brow, Rosser said. But instead of penetrating skull it travelled underneath the skin, the whole length of the side of her head and into her neck.

Shock waves from the shot shattered the thinnest bone of her skull and fragments were driven into her brain.

Rosser said there was certainly physical damage to the brain but it was too early to tell whether that would affect any brain functions.

“She seems to be able to understand, she has some memory,” he said. “She’s able to stand, she’s got motor control … (but) whether there are any subtle intellectual or memory deficits down the line, it’s too early to say.”

The hospital unit is expert in dealing with complex trauma cases and has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan. It has the world’s largest single-floor critical care unit for patients with gunshot wounds, burns, spinal damage and major head injuries.

Rosser said Yousufzai’s treatment is likely to include reconstructive surgery to replace the damaged skull bone.

That surgery is unlikely to be able to be carried until for several weeks or even months, he said, since she is also fighting an infection that needs to be cured first.

“She’s going to need a couple of weeks to rehabilitate, to make sure the infection is cleared up,” he said.

(Reporting by Alessandra Rizzo and Kate Kelland; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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