It is this common belief in One God who created everything that has bound the varying races together into a perfectly woven nation called Israel.  It was the only nation on earth where strangers (foreigners) could become full fledged family members without ever being ostracized or reminded that they weren’t really blood brothers.  For no one was a blood brother!  That was the point!  Their blood tie was their common ancestry in Adam and Eve, and not the nation of their fathers.

Only one other nation on earth has taken the identical view toward his fellow man.  No matter what nation a person is born into, the United States of America adopted them, and they became full fledged citizens with all the rights of a home born son!

It is interesting to note the United States was founded during the days of the Spanish Inquisition of Rome.  The witch-hunts were conducted by the same people who protested a century before against the lies being taught by the Roman Church in Europe.  America began with the very same principles as Israel.

While other nations will let you come and join them, you will always be a foreigner amongst their ranks; and when the economy begins to slip, they will always blame you for it.  Although the United States was founded upon the same God of Israel, and the same principles of Israel, and the same Bible as Israel, it is beginning to show the earmarks similar to other heathen nations.

When this type of thinking emerges, let the Jews beware!  Most Jews who read this will be thinking, Not in America; I’m American!  Well the German Jews of the 1930’s had the same flaw in their reasoning.  It was their land.  They were German citizens.  Their families had lived in Germany for centuries.  They had just as much right to be there as anyone else.  I’ve heard every type of argument; but that didn’t stop Hitler’s ovens from consuming them.

Remember Abraham?  He had the sense to listen to God.  He believed what God told him.  He had the brains to get out of Babylon when the message came, before it was too late.  Even Jesus warned the Jews to get out of town when you see hatred on the rise (see Matthew Chapter 24).

Today’s Israel is seeded with Jews who couldn’t believe what I am telling you, until the citizens in their own countries turned against them.  This is similar to the days of Emperor Nero when he burned Rome to blame the Jews.

The Jews couldn’t understand it.  Their families had lived in those nations for centuries.  Yet, the Jews are always considered foreigners when trouble begins.  Scapegoats, because their belief in God differs from the other citizens of the land.

It is this difference that forged the new branch of the human tree known as the Jews; and it is this difference that continually causes the other branches of the human race, amongst whom Jews live, to vomit them out!

The first signal is poverty on the rise and a collapsing economy.  The last sign is the winds of war blowing on the horizon; when people begin to discuss the possibility of war.  This process is similar to the first heart transplants.  The operations were successful.  Everything functioned perfectly; but the body rejected the foreign part, and the patient died!

To be continued…

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve watched Grave of the Fireflies a couple of years ago, and to be honest, I totally didn’t expect what I got. I was watching it with a friend with whom I’d been watching a movie every two weeks, I had this anime movie DVD at home, so I brought it along. What I received was a heavy story, a depressing story, in anime form.

For those who do not know, I hail from Israel, and the state religion is Judaism. One of the dates commemorated in Israel is the Holocaust (and Bravery) Memorial Day, which is held each year a week before Independence Day. As a student in the Israeli school system, we’d get taught over the issue every year, at least during our younger years, and talk of the Holocaust permeated much of the public discussion in Israel, always in the background.

More than that, aside from the memorial day, when all TV broadcast were dedicated to the issue, we’d get films related to the issue at other times of the year. As such, when I say “Holocaust movie”, there’s a certain meaning to it.
Yesterday I’ve happened to watch a documentary film about the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s atomic bombing, but this post was coming for some time anyway.

When I call Grave of the Fireflies a Holocaust movie, I take it to mean that it has certain qualities, and if I spoil the movie a bit, then at least you’ll be prepared for what you will come to face in it.

This is not a war story, but a story about the indirect casaulties of war, it is a story of oppression, of children who lose their parents and must make do, in a society that does not have the resources to take care of them. You are faced with the seeming cruelty of their relatives, but you are forced to consider whether they are truly inhuman, or merely are trying to do their best in an impossible situation where their best, or anyone’s, is far from enough.

You will see children die, and it will be obvious to you that had someone made some sort of compromise, in attitude, in honour, some sort of compromise, they would have survived. It would be obvious to you but it would not necessarily be true.

This is a “Holocaust Movie”, even though you do not have some third party who is oppressing the characters directly, robbing them of their faculties. This is a “Holocaust Movie”, even though it does not take part in Europe and that the characters are not Jewish. This is a Holocaust Movie in its feel, in its gravitas. This is a Holocaust movie in the same way that The Pianist is, and Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful are; they do not focus on the war, but on abject poverty, despair, and the smaller people’s attempts to live in such a climate.

I wonder if any movies were made about the great exodus people had made during The Great Depression in the United States, and how similar a story that would be. Minus the war-torn bodies, of course.

A note, I am not sure if this is how it was originally made, or if the DVD was reconstructed from quite an old VHS Tape, but the animation quality in the movie is quite sub-par, though it may be a conscious choice.

I will not grade this movie, I’ll just tell you that it is good, and that you shouldn’t watch it unless you come prepared for a heavy, somber film. Forget that it’s anime, because that’d just throw you off.

Edit: I am not willing to entertain political discussions here, especially not ones where hate speech of pseudo hate-speech is uttered against any group. The reason I brought back my upbringing is because I wanted to give context to my experience watching this film, and my experience with “Holocaust movies”, which do not have to deal with the Holocaust, per se. I reserve the right to remove and modify any and all offending comments, and if that makes me a fascist dictator, well, it’s my blog.

PakAlert

By Sajjad Shaikh

The coming of the Mahdi is one of the major signs of Judgement Day. Unlike the minor signs his appearance will signal that the Final Hour is near and that believers must ensure that they are ready to endure its trials and tribulations (fitan).

The Mahdi will come at a time when Muslims will have become disunited and where tyranny and corruption will have prevailed.The situation will be so bad that a person would wish he was not born or that if someone died he would wish that it was him.

The story of al-Mahdi, as recounted in the sunnah, is a story of hope where the struggle between Haqq (Good) and Baatil (Evil) results in the believers gaining victory over the disbelievers, where the earth is filled with peace and justice due to the just rule of al-Mahdi. It is narrated by Abu Said al-Khudri (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) said: “At the end of the time of my ummah,the Mahdi will appear. Allah will grant him rain, the earth will bring forth its fruits, he will give a lot of money, cattle will increase and the ummah will become great.” (Reported by al-Haakim in his Mustadrak, 4/557-558).The story of mahdi is one that encourages the believers to work for the unity of Muslims and the justice of Islam via the establishment of the Khilafah and the application of the Shariah as the believer knows that one day the whole world will be enlightened by the light of Islam and falsehood shall vanish. But until that day comes he must take encouragement from the bashaarat (glad tidings) of the Messenger (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) and strive and work for Islam following the Sunnah of the Messenger (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam).

So it is sad to hear sometimes that some find in the story of Mahdi an excuse and justification for inaction, taking the fatalistic view that we as an Ummah cannot, and even should not, do anything about the corrupt situation until the Mahdi appears at the end of time and establishes the Khilafah. Clearly, this is not the message the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) took when they heard the story directly from the lips of the Messenger (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam). They heard this story and they took its lessons and they worked tirelessly, first in Makkah in order to establish dar al-Islam and then after its establishment in Madinah to consolidate and extend the influence of the Islamic state.After the death of al-Mustafa (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) the Sahabah appointed Khulafah who extended the authority of Islam even further until the light of Islam had spread to a large part of the world. So how can it be that the coming of the Mahdi has become an excuse for the resignation to the corrupt reality? Indeed, if we analyse the authentic reports about the coming of Mahdi from both a prophetic and legal point of view we can conclude the following:

The Khilafah will not be established by the Mahdi but he will be a Khaleefah coming after the death of the Khaleefah before him. In other words the Khilafah will have been established by the Muslims before the coming of the Mahdi.This can clearly be seen in the hadith narrated by Umm Salamah (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) said: “Disagreement will occur at the death of a caliph and a man of the people of Medina will come flying forth to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and give bay’ah to him between the Rukn and the Maqam. An expeditionary force will then be sent against him from Syria but will be swallowed up in the desert between Mecca and Medina. When the people see that, the God fearing people of Syria and the best people of Iraq will come to him and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. Then there will arise a man of Quraysh whose maternal uncles belong to Kalb and send against them an expeditionary force which will be overcome by them, and that is the expedition of Kalb. Disappointed will be the one who does not receive the booty of Kalb. He will divide the property, and will govern the people by the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace be upon him) and establish Islam on Earth. He will remain seven years…” (Reported by at-Tabarani in al-Awsat.According to Ibn Hajar in his Majma’ az-Zawaid the transmitters in at-Tabarani’s narration are sound and authentic.)

Notice the above hadith states that disputes will take place at the death of the Khaleefah and consequently a man will come forth who after being given bay’ah as the khaleefah will declare himself to be the Mahdi. So clearly Mahdi will not establish the Khilafah Rashidah that will return as foretold in the ahadith, and as well he will not be the first Khaleefah after the destruction of the Khilafah and nor will he be the last Khaleefah. Rather, he will be a just Khaleefah who will establish the justice of Islam on earth.This is from the perspective of the account of the story as prophesised by the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam).

From a shar’I or legal perspective the hadith which detail the emergence of the Mahdi do not establish any Shariah rules for the reality of Muslims of today, as they relate to a different situation when the Khilafah exists.A Hukm Shar’i or divine rule comes for a manaat (reality to which the hukm pertains) which requires a ruling, which is our current reality and not the end of time which will be signaled by the major signs of the day of judgment.A hukm shar’i essentially is a request to do an action or refrain from it whether by way of obligation (wujoob), prohibition (tahreem), encouragement (nadb) or discouragement (karaaha).Although the hadiths about the Mahdi do not request the obligation to establish the Khilafah, as they are largely ikhbari (informative) in nature and as the Khilafah will already exist when the Mahdi comes (which is why we say this reality is inapplicable), but they certainly do NOT say it is not obligatory to work for a Khilafah when it does not exist. Indeed the Shariah rules established at the time of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) are applicable till the end of time as long as they pertain to the reality for which they came. So not only must the Muslims abide by them, so must the Mahdi and so did ‘Isa (Alaihi as salam) who came not as a Prophet but as a follower of the Shariah of Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam). So if the coming of a great Prophet like Isa (as), after the prophethood of Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam), cannot suspend the rules of the Shariah, how can the coming of the Mahdi suspend them?

As for the hukm shar’i on what to do when the Khilafah does not exist, as we see in our situation today, we need to refer to the following hadith of the Messenger (Sallallahu alaihi wassalam) as it addressed that very manaat (reality): “Whosoever dies without a bay’ah on his neck dies the death of Jahiliyyah.” (Reported by Muslim in his Sahih).This hadith clarifies by its implied meaning (mafhum) that it is not permitted for a Muslim to live without the presence of a Khaleefah as it censures the one who dies without his presence. Consequently, it becomes obligatory on the Muslim to work for the presence of a Khaleefah who will rule justly and work to remove, through only da’wah and political struggle, the Ruwaibidah that are our current despicable rulers.This is our reality today and the work to establish the Khilafah is the vital issue that the Muslims cannot neglect.

Whilst the coming of the Mahdi is an important subject in the books of hadith, it is almost as though some have taken the subject as a “get-out” clause to not work for the return of the Khilafah and the giving of bayah to the next Khaleefah.As though the mere mention of Khilafah in the time of Mahdi in some way excuses Muslims from their obligation of removing the corrupt regimes of today.Yes, there will be a Khilafah again inSh’Allah, but will we all be of the ummah that lived in darkness and did nothing to change that situation? And wait for Allah (SWT) to bring a people that loved him and He (SWT) loved.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَلاَ يَخَافُونَ لَوْمَةَ لآئِمٍ

“O you who believe! If you ever abandon your faith, Allah will in time bring forth (instead of you) people whom he loves and who love Him – humble towards the believers, strong towards all who deny truth: [people] who strive hard in Allah’s cause, and do not fear to be censured by anyone who might censure them” [5:54]

This documentary was created by a Turkish Scholar which proofs that all major prophecies by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) have been fulfilled and we are living in the last age where we will witness the arrival of Mehdi and Jesus Christ (pbuh)

The Spiritual War

967, a report was issued under the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, “The iron mountain report” which was a global research study on the possibility and desirability of peace in US. This was the era of cold war, the time when US was in the middle of Vietnam war and both US and Soviet Union providing excuses to Egypt, and Jordan that they can’t help them for the upcoming invasion on Israel (the 6 day war). How funny it seems now that the biggest opponents of cold war were practicing same diplomacy tactics when it comes to the sovereignty of Israel and dealing with Muslims. One can say that this was the right time to look for world peace and this study was conducted just for that…. or not. This report has reached the conclusion that the worst thing that can happen to United States and its national security were if world peace were to come about. It said that “if lasting peace could be achieved in the world, it would almost certainly not be in the best interest of the society because war is an essential part of the system, war is an essential part of the economy”. Period.

The above concept refers to the teachings of Leo Strauss a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and who is known to be a political Zionist. It is widely believed that it was his teachings that fostered neoconservative foreign policy of George W. Bush’s administration. It was his teachings that resulted in the formation of Neo-cons or more accurately “Neo-con Evangelist Christian Zionists”. Among his famous students being Paul Wolfowitz, who was deputy secretary of defense during U.S. led Iraq war and William Galtson who was a senior advisor to President Bill Clinton on domestic policy. It is hence no surprise, that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld who are known for orchestrating the whole Iraq war, are among the well-known neo-cons who crave for war to fill their own interests.

The concept of keeping society intact by keeping them in a fear of constant war is not just a Western doctrine. Chanakya, who was an adviser and prime minister to the first Maurya Emperor, Chandragupta and who played an important part in the foundation and governance of Maurya dynasty used to say, that in order to gain control over the people of the country, always keep them in war with your neighboring dynasty or country. Hence it is not surprising at all that India has never been on good terms with it’s neighbours and these terms don’t seem to be on their way to improvement anytime soon..

Why global peace is such a dangerous phenomenon that it used to and still threatens the mightiest of empires and countries. If we dig deeper, the idea of world peace has been reduced to symbols from ancient mythology that are the very opposite of everything that reflects positive energy. For example, the sign of world peace (the dove) is in reality a ritualistic symbol for the Illuminati. Why the most powerful and influential people of the planet are scared of global peace? This is not a matter of imposing martial law on the people of the planet, the upraising of new world order. This has nothing to do with gaining more power or taking over the world or implanting RFID chips in humans as if they are “products” tagged with a number, these are just small pieces in the bigger picture. Believe it or not, even the most ritualistic or evil of mankind wants to get enlightened with satanic power, the power of evil, the power of their satanic god “Lucifer”.

The Satan challenged ALLAH (SWT):
“O My Lord, because Thy hast put me in the wrong, I will make (wrong) fair-seeming to them on the earth and I will put them all in the wrong. Except thy servants among them, sincere and purified (by Thy Grace)” (Al Hijr: 39-40)

And the war has been waged on mankind ever since. The question here is, who was purified by the will of God and how many dedicated their lives to serving the sinister plan of Satan, who thrives on anarchy, war and mayhem. The world peace is a threat to those who are the followers of satan. This is a war of spiritual values, the religious beliefs of the good and the evil, this is the war of the verses..

President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to invoke Gog and Magog, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse. The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God. During the Iraqi invasion in 2003, their out of office statement was that “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…the biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…this confrontation is willed by God … and this is necessary before the beginning of the new age”. Now all of a sudden the prophecies from the book of Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Jewish Books) are so important for them that they were willing to forget their very own New Testament which clearly tells us the downfall of their evil (read: satanic worship) in such a way that even their ultimate savior Jesus (PBUH) won’t help them.

But as Bible says:
“Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” (Matthew 13:13)

Even Quran tells us about Zulqarnain and the wall that he built to keep Gog and Magog from spilling onto the earth. Yes we allowed them to manipulate our ancient history by replacing Zulqarnain with Alexander the Great but this is just another example of our ignorance. We might have seen the movie “Alexander the Great” and admired it but we have no fear or knowing of the second coming on Gog and Magog prophesized in Quran:

“But when Gog and Magog are let loose and they rush headlong down every height (or advantage). Then will the True Promise draw near” (Al Anbiyaa:96-97)

There is nothing significant about Horus sharing same life events as of Jesus. What most of us don’t know this Egyptian methodology of Horus is same as the methodology of Nimrod with her mother Semiramis and the miraculous birth. Horus who was also known as the “war god” or the “god of war” is associated with the falcon. The great seal of United States which features the “falcon” on one side and “pyramid” on the reverse side, strongly reinforces their dogma of following the Horus and Egyptian gods. A detailed study of events occur in the Mesopotamian region (present day Iraq, with some parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran) will give you so much more that will change your point of view on macro level. The Operation Iraqi Liberation wasn’t about just OIL. For them Iraq (former Babylon) is the land of their serpent Gods. For them they are the new leaders of the planet. They will prove what once has been joked by Ronald Reagan on international media that “What is that we need to build world peace … an attack from some outer space, an alien attack that will unite us under one supervision” (New World Order).

You may call them evil beings or satan worshippers … you can see them worshipping and presenting sacrifices to Moloch every year in July (The Bohemian Grove) and still we don’t understand why they are doing this? Nimrod was the first monarch on this earth who wanted to take over the whole world. Today Nimrod statue is present in Israel with Nimrod being one of the most famous names among its inhabitants. He was a “fire-worshipper” and he’s been idealized in a country formed on the ideology of a monotheistic religion. It’s hard to imagine what kind of evil we are dealing with and knowing no evil makes you one of them. This is what they are trying to do to keep us ignored and in return we are becoming a devil within our ownselves.

No matter how much you talk about the Holocaust of World War II, no matter how much you yell over the legality of Belfour Declaration, blame Lawrence of Arabia, Mufti Amin Al Hussaini (the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem), Anwar Saadat anyone. According to Jews, creation of Israel is the fulfillment of the prophecy written in Torah (old testament).

“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth”. (Isaiah 62:6, 7)
Then say to them what Adonai Elohim says: ‘I will take the people of Israel from among the nations where they have gone and gather them from every side and bring them back to their own land”. (Ezekiel 37: 21)

If we dig history further, these verses are in conflict with each other and we will notice a pattern in them which will lead us to the present time, to the world we know today. The problem is we have forgotten our history our roots, we have been put into sleep deliberately and they, they have memorized history like no one’s business.

In the “book of Daniel” comes a story about a prophet of God named Daniel who, while explaining the meaning of a dream seen by the king of Babylon, ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ prophesiezed the upcoming world events. This was the time of Jewish exile into Babylon. It was here in Babylon the Jews started learning and practicing black magic known as “Kabbalah”. It was a time for the creation of Talmud and Mishnah, both being books of law that deviates Jews from the original commandments given to Moses and which govern the present day Israel. Prophet Daniel in the year 333 BC prophesized about the upcoming empires of the world. In the end of it he prophesized that, 2300 years from then on, an “evil empire” will emerge on the face of this earth and from that point we will enter into the end of times. Do your math and you’ll find out that the year is 1967. The year in which after the end of 6 days war with Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, Israel was able to capture the Sinai desert, Golan heights, West bank and Jerusalem. It was after this war that Israel emerged on the face of the earth as a superpower : An empire founded on murder and injustice: or in the words of Prophet Danile (PBUH), an ‘evil’ empire. He also prophesized that 45 years after the creation of the evil empire, the time for the coming of Antichrist or Dajjal will be very near. Do your math again and find out which year he is referring to.

This is a war initiated by Satan himself and it is a battle for our soul. Dajjal being the final of Satan’s weapon for inflicting unbearable pain on the sons and daughters of Adam, is about to be unleashed into this world. The Quran teaches that for Nimrod came Abraham, for Pharoah came Moses and for Dajjal will come Jesus (PBUH). So, the question that we need to ask is; are we ready for this war on the ground and more importantly within ourselves? The misinterpretation and manipulation of holy scriptures is nothing but a warfare technique chosen by satan and his followers. Those who understand this know that this is in every sense a ’spiritual’ war.

Random Bob Jones University Memories…

Judging from the feedback I’ve received, on and off the web, both positive and negative, there seems to be some interest in life at Bob Jones University – more specifically, my life at Bob Jones University.

Occasionally, and usually without warning, random BJU “flashbacks” will snap me out of the here-and-now and for a moment…I’m back walking the well-worn covered sidewalks of the Fortress of Faith.

Some recent forgotten BJU moments:

A group of master debaters -- Sam is far right.

1) The time I received 25 demerits for calling Sam Lamerson “The Master Debater” because Sam was a member of the University Debate Association. Someone more spiritual than I overheard me say “Master Debater” and “turned me in” to the proper BJ authorities.

2) Since you brought up masturbation, the memory of Mr. Tony Miller’s “Masturbation Lectures” still haunts me. At a “Men’s Dorm Meeting”, Mr. Miller would stand on a chair and preach to the assembled dorm occupants about the evils of masturbation. Some of his more disturbing quotes:

“Men, there are those here who will continue this and prefer it to sexual intercourse with their wives.”

“When you fantasize about a woman while masturbating, you not only harm your spirit, you sully hers.”

Mr. "M"

Hard to believe the wizards-of-smart at BJU later promoted this moron to Dean of Men where I believe he continued his “Big M” lectures via the on-campus radio station WBJU AM 620.

3) Listening to Dr. Katherine Stenholm go off on Tina Turner’s song, What’s Love Got to Do with It. Dr. Stenholm believed that art (whether a song, painting, photograph or motion picture) was immoral if it did not punish or condemn immorality. She spent an entire class hour explaining to us why Ms. Turner’s song was immoral.

4) As BJU Cinema students, we were required to plan our budget for our student film projects – the thing is we had to figure in another 15 to 20% to cover what we film students called “The Pachter Factor”. Fredrick J. Pachter was the cinema faculty member that processed our black & white 16mm motion picture film – and he had a habit of ruining a good bit of it. So, when we students would be shooting, we always shot more footage than we needed to cover “The Pachter Factor.”

5) Watching a film about the Holocaust during Cinema Lab, the supervising cinema instructor, Mr. Bruce Polhamus, covered the lens of the film projector during the scenes showing dead, naked, female bodies. Did Mr. Polhamus think those scenes were sexy?

6) Cinema faculty member, Mr. Ray Gahagen, a small be-speckled, Woody Allen look-a-like who spent an enormous amount of time trying to computerize our manually controlled ACME animation camera and stand. Mr. Gahagen spent weeks cooped up in a small, lime-green room in the Animation Department writing in machine code and BASIC. We’d ask him, “How’s it going, Mr. Gahagen?” His reply was always the same: “Still working the bugs out.”

Mr. Gahagen was later “let go” for reasons – well – let me just say he and Woody Allen had a lot more than looks in common…

We never did get that ACME stand computerized.

7) Spring time, in the back of the Concert Center (now called Stratton Hall), when I caught my speech teacher, Mr. Don Ryerson and his fiancé, Miss Rosa Miles “making out” – BJU style. All I said was, “Hi, Mr. Ryerson!” in a very cheery voice. He and Miss Miles could’ve been severely disciplined or fired, but I never said a word. My speech grades did improve, however.

Speaking of the Concert Center, I pooped on the roof in the spring of 1980. Some other time – it’s a long story.

9) Someone was smoking pot on first floor of Johnson (Dormitory) during the summer of 1981. Never found out who – dammit.

10) If you were a really good looking girl and you took Mr. Wade K. Ramsey’s Photography 101 class, you would get an “A”.

11) October 1984 – Dr. Bob Jones III convenes the first ever (and only) BJU “Ghost Busters Chapel.” Seems a student, James E. Witt, worked part-time for a taxidermist and managed to snag a set of bear paws and bear feet and brought them back to campus. Apparently, bear paws and feet, when stripped of their fur (pelt? skin?) look very similar to human hands and feet. Mr. Witt had the bright idea of leaving these human remain look-a-likes on the keyboard and pedals of a student piano located in the University’s “Practice Shacks”. Someone actually did think they were human and called the Greenville (South Carolina) police AND Dr. Bob III at approximately 2:00 AM. Later that same day, Dr. Bob III called a campus assembly and proclaimed any Halloween pranks or ghost stories “off-limits”. In other words – expulsion. Hence, the “Ghost Busters” Chapel.

12) Grady Stone from Wilson, North Carolina predicted the MP3 player, February 1980.

13) It was I, Ektachrome, who invented the first “Walkman” long before Sony ever did. Back in the late fall of 1978, I took my RCA 9-volt transistor radio and spliced together two sets of audio ear-plugs so I could listen to WFBC-AM after lights out (11:00 PM). Everything – the radio and the ear-plugs – could be hidden safely inside the stuffing of my pillow. Unlike the Sony Walkman, my radio wasn’t stereo, but at least I kept up with the Top-40 of the late 70’s.

Dr. G. Salter

14) Bob Jones University – the only place where I have met two people who actually met and shook hands with Adolf Hitler – and later came to work on faculty at BJU – Dr. Guenter Salter and Ms. Edith Long. Unusual, indeed.

15) The day in Child Psychology Dr. Walter Fremont walked from his desk to where I was sitting and rubbed his hands through my curly hair and said, “There’s a ni**er in the woodpile!”

To this day I have no idea what that had to do with class.

He, Dr. Fremont, was also the guy that declared it was “okay” to make fun of fat people because “they can help it.”

16) I experienced repeated episodes of “counseling” by various dormitory supervisors. First there was Mr. Craig Olsen, Dorm Supervisor of Reveal Dormitory – Mr. Olsen was fat, soft, effeminate and a total prick. Second, there was Mr. Doug Sprunger, a total creep. This guy played a major role in finally getting me “shipped” (expelled).

There is an addendum to Doug Sprunger – he later became pastor at a small church near the Ektachrome Family Compound in Illinois. My only hope is that Illinois treats him as well as he treated me.

17) I hate to admit it – the rice & gravy at the Dining Commons was divine.

18) 1981 – my roommate and I snuck off to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. Twice.

19) I got in trouble in Biological Science Survey for laughing at Mark Dutton and Dave Doran drawing “smiley faces” on pictures of male genitalia in our biology textbook. (The seating was alphabetical – Doran, Dutton, Ektachrome, etc.) I was fine until Dutton tilted the book in my direction and said, “Oh look! He’s happy!”

20) And last, a salute to the BJU Vintage (yearbook) Staff of 1981, who, when faced with a spacing problem on page 285, invented a student to fill the space – Cecil H. Sandersen of Zephryhills, Florida.

This event took place in the days long before Photoshop – they cut the head off of an underclassman and pasted it onto the body of an upperclassman. Brilliant.

Only problem was, “Cecil’s” face was the real face of a real student named Doug Haughton, Jr. (on page 297) – and friends of Doug’s pointed out the fact that he was also “Cecil H. Sandersen” – well, the jig was up. Dr. Bob Jones III came down hard on the 1981 Vintage Staff.

I’m sure they’re still suffering…

1981 BJU "Vintage" Staff

 Twenty Flashbacks – that’s enough for now.

//

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

At some point in our lives, we all need a little inspiration. Here are quotes on living, being, and doing. Share some of your favorite quotes to inspire others. Need more inspiration?

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What does justice sound like? What words evoke the fall of the judge’s gavel? If you ask me, they are the words of Hannah Arendt in her imagined death sentence of Adolf Eichmann.

Reading it sends shivers of awe down my spine- awe of what, exactly, I am not sure. The thought of the entire human race casting the same disapproving gaze, maybe: the epic scale of the walls that close in on Eichmann at that very moment, the force of the conviction behind the decision that this man’s life must end.

“For politics is not like the nursery; in politics obedience and support are the same. And just as you supported and carried out a policy of not wanting to share the earth with the Jewish people and the people of a number of other nations- as though you and your superiors had any right to determine who should and who should not inhabit the world- we find that no one, that is, no member of the human race, can be expected to want to share the earth with you. This is the reason, and the only reason, you must hang.”

Hannah Arendt

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry was another popular WWII title this year, with quite a few participants reviewing it.

Check out these excerpts, and if you want to read the full review, click on the links:

Age 30+ . . . A Lifetime of Books said:

This young adult book is set during World War II in Denmark. The brief story unfolds through the eyes of a young girl named Annemarie whose best friend is Jewish. As Holocaust-era stories go, this is a very tame one.

The Reading Life said:

Number the Stars is tale of courage and a depiction of human kindness in the face of evil. I learned some very interesting things about the Danish’s people efforts to help their Jewish citizens in WWII. This is very uplifting book.

Diary of an Eccentric said:

It’s a quick read for an adult, as it’s a middle-grade book spanning less than 140 pages. Lowry is a talented writer, and I can see why this book won the Newbery. Her characters are compelling and real, and there is plenty of tension and suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Bookmarked! said:

The book was not as sad as I thought, and it was in fact quite positive and hopeful — unexpected for a Holocaust novel.

**Attention participants:  Remember to email us a link to your reviews, and we’ll post them here so we can see what everyone is reading!**

OBROŃCY PRAW ZWIARZAT ALRMUJA !!!  (iol.co.za)

Podczas święta Gadhimai Mela Nepal spłynie krwią. 24 i 25 listopada poświęconych zostanie 15 tys. bawołów, oraz 300 tys. ptaków, kóz i owiec. Hinduiści co pięć lat oddają tak cześć swojej bogini mocy.

The H1N1 Swine Flu virus knows no borders,has no boundaries, and has absolutely no respect for religious or cultural traditions.

This year at the annual Hajj to Mecca,  Four foreign pilgrims have died of swine flu, the Saudi Health Ministry announced on Saturday.

The Saudi Arabia Health Ministry  said none of the four foreign victims had been vaccinated against the H1N1 virus, as has been recommended by The Health Ministry.

An official statement released by the ministry said all had underlying health problems, including cancer and respiratory illness, AFP news agency reported.

Three of the victims died in Medina and one in Mecca.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=128688&d=22&m=11&y=200Over

The BBC is reporting that….up to three million Muslims from around the world take part in the holy pilgrimage every year, but health officials have expressed fears that it could provide a breeding ground for the virus.

Authorities had tried to prepare for any outbreaks by installing thermal cameras at airports and sea terminals, deploying 15,000 additional health workers and ensuring hundreds of extra beds were available.

The Hajj (Arabic: حج‎ Ḥaǧǧ) is a pilgrimage to Mecca. It is currently the largest annual pilgrimage in the world,^[1] and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a moral obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah (God).^[2] The pilgrimage occurs from the 7th to 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj)

The Health Minister has reported that there are 16 other people that have been diagnosed with swine flu and four remain in hospital in “critical condition”.

He added 12 others had recovered following treatment.

The Saudi government has recommended the elderly, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases and children skip the Hajj this year.

The Saudi government has said all pilgrims need a certificate of vaccination before they can apply for a visa.

This is real people, and this disease is spreading worldwide,at a rapid pace.

I encourage everyone to get a H1N1 swine flu shot as soon as you can.The reports of any side effects are exaggerated, and will cause millions of people to perish from the lack of the vaccine.

Any paranoia surrounding any alledged complications from the shot are totally unsubstantiated, and if those people out there insist on not receiving the vaccine, then we as a society should only expect more mounting mass casualties from the swine flu, as exhibited this weekend, unfortunately in Mecca.

If it can happen in Mecca, it can happen anywhere.

Please everyone, wash your hands, and go get the shot.

To follow the full story, click on the links for my sources below…

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDApMAhUln5jw-ffhzIZCh0I_-bgD9C41MJ00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8372378.stm

http://www.saudiembassy.net/latest_news/news11210903.aspx

Could the fascists mindset embrace making cocaine addicts out of their own countrymen? The answer to that question appears to be  “yes”.

Fascism does consider a society’s “inferior” ones. Once the inferior ones are identified and “containerized” they could be dealt with as a group. History tells us that fascists identified and containerized a people it considered “inferior”. Albert Einstein might have fit the fascist idea of inferiority. Fascism seems to be race sensitive. And that is an idea not foreign to today’s politics.

The today’s neocons’ selling of cocaine to America’s citizens was, primarily a  race sensitive act. Minority areas of Los Angeles California were selected by the United States Government(neocons) to receive cocaine in return for cash that the neocons would use to participate in a beloved war in the jungles of South America.

The world experienced a terrible holocaust due to “business-centric” fascism. Could the world allow that kind of disaster to happen again? YES. That is likely why George Santayana penned, “ Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.

A fool and his country are soon parted

HANA’S SUITCASE SITE IS AT  http://www.hanassuitcase.ca/

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM UNITED STATES  http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005143

JEWISH VIRTUAL MUSEUM http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/holo.html

În niciun alt oraş nu miroase atât de tare a viaţă, a ghenă, a lux, a deznădejde şi a moarte în acelaşi timp. E capitala olandeză, europeană şi, poate, mondială a distracţiei care merge până la depravare. Amsterdamul e magic, pentru că e liber şi ştie exact ce înseamnă asta.

A trecut ceva timp de la povestea aceasta, dar nu e ca şi cum ar conta. În adânc, Amsterdamul nu se schimbă.

E 30 aprilie 2009, Ziua Reginei. Amsterdamul s-a colorat în portocaliu, ca ţările din Răsărit la ultimele revoluţii ratate. Suntem patru. Am intrat în burta acestei mulţimi-balaur (cu sute de mii de capete colorate şi fantastice) căutând, fiecare, altceva.

Alexandru e jurnalist. Are douăzeci şi cinci de ani. După o săptămână lucrătoare, când s-a întors în România, a scris aşa: „Amsterdamul respiră prin toţi porii un erotism vicios şi aparte, te loveşte cu voluptatea sa sobră, te poartă pe culoarele unei istorii măreţe şi, la final, te invită calm în decoruri suprarealiste”.

Raluca e eco. S-a rătăcit de câteva ori pedalând pe străduţele curate şi încâlcite ale oraşului ăsta clocotitor. Un clişeu cu aromă de contabilitate: sunt 500.000 de biciclete în Amsterdam. Nu e puţin lucru. A revenit acasă cu câteva lalele şi cu genunchii zdreliţi, ca un copil neascultător. E complicat să fii turist-biciclist în Amsterdam.

CA ÎN EXOD

Ştefan poartă genul acela de barbă nerasă care te îmbătrâneşte şi căciuli cu inserţii jamaicane. E aici ca să o facă legal. Fumează. Sunt sute de coffe-shop-uri în Amsterdam şi marijuana pentru toate gusturile şi categoriile sociale. Rămâne pentru totdeauna replica lui Ştefan, veşnic înfometat şi însetat, într-un Amsterdam ameţitor: „Mă simt ca în exod”. În ceea ce mă priveşte, am mers pentru că m-am îndrăgostit. A fost întâi imaginea aceasta pe internet: un pod care uneşte două străzi mici. Străzile mici sunt păzite de case înalte şi înguste. Şi mai e liniştea, un colţ de linişte într-un oraş care nu e în toate minţile. Era seară în imaginea asta şi un gol, străzile stăteau sub golul acesta şi sub linişte. Sunt 1.200 de poduri în Amsterdam şi niciunul urât.

A mai fost, apoi, pictorul acela nebun care şi-a tăiat urechea într-un gest de frondă, la beţie, sau aşa. Muzeul Van Gogh e ceva ce Ştefan a pierdut. Ceva ce rămâne mult după ce ultima ţigară se va fi stins.

DECI, CINE A FOST ANNE FRANK?

La urmă, şi decisivă, a fost ea. O fată într-un sacou gri, cu părul ciufulit. Anne Frank. „Cine e Anne Frank?” e o întrebare caraghioasă şi probabilă în România. Istoria e aşa: în Amsterdam, pe strada Prinsengracht, la numărul 23, oamenii, milioane de oameni în fiecare an, se aşază unii în spatele altora, şi aşteaptă, într-o ceremonie solemnă, să intre în „Casa Memorială Anne Frank”. Aproape, dintr-o statuie, zâmbeşte reţinut o fetiţă. Deci, cine a fost Anne Frank? Între 12 iunie 1942 şi 1 august 1944, această adolescentă evreică a ţinut un jurnal despre Amsterdamul mutilat din vremea Holocaustului.

Anne Frank a murit în 1945, la 15 ani, bolnavă de tifos. Peste două săptămâni lagărul unde ajunsese avea să fie eliberat. E, probabil, cea mai cunoscută victimă a Holocaustului. Jurnalul ei a fost tradus pretutindeni, a ajuns în sălile de teatru şi în cinematografe şi şi-a câştigat dreptul la nemurire. Amsterdamul meu a fost un amestec de uimire, încântare şi silă. Olandezii ştiu să se îmbete şi să danseze, îşi fac nevoile în public, nu poartă perdele la geamuri. Sunt un fel de barbari rataţi. Au construit, cu inteligenţă, o societate deschisă, complexă şi tolerantă acolo unde alţii s-ar fi mulţumit cu o mlaştină. Bisericile lor sunt gigantice şi goale. Lângă locurile unde femei tinere şi bătrâne, de toate rasele, îşi expun, în vitrine, sexul. Aşteptând, fardate şi obosite, clienţii.

* acest articol a fost publicat in adevarul literar si artistic din data de 19.11.2009

On the outside looking in.

(Miramax) David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend, Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, Richard Johnson, Sheila Hancock, Jim Norton, Henry Kingsmill, Amber Beattie, David Hayman. Directed by Mark Herman

Evil can be a difficult thing to pin down. We would all like to think we would know it if we saw it, but that isn’t always true. The most insidious evil takes place in the home, with the people we love. When our role models are knowing participants in evil, how can we have any sort of compass to navigate through the stormy waters of morality at all?

Bruno (Butterfield) is the eight-year-old son of a colonel (Thewlis) in the army as World War II is about to unfold. Unfortunately, he’s a colonel in the German army and a staunch Nazi. He has just been given command of a work camp – for which he uses the euphemism “farm” – which means the family must move to the countryside, which suits his mother (Farmiga) just fine. His sister Gretel (Beattie), like Bruno, is not thrilled about leaving their friends and home for someplace new, especially when it turns out to be a cold, fortress-like structure that masquerades as a cozy, comfortable home.

We find out that Bruno’s grandparents are split, diametrically opposed on the subject of his dad’s new post. Grandmother (Hancock) doesn’t approve at all – in fact, there is a great deal about the new Germany that she doesn’t approve of. On the flip side, Grandfather (Johnson) couldn’t be prouder of his son’s standing in the new regime.

Bruno is an extremely bright and curious young man. He wants to check out the farm, but his mother forbids it. When they move in, he discovers he can see the “farm” from his window and asks his parents why all the farmers are wearing striped pajamas. His parents expertly evade the question as only parents who’ve been asked a question they’re not ready to answer can be and the next day Bruno’s window is covered with boards.

An elderly “farmer” works in the house from time to time by the name of Pavel (Hayman). He is a gentle, quiet sort and Bruno more or less ignores him. When his father’s adjutant, Kotler (Friend) – whom his sister has a mighty crush on – discovers that Bruno is seeking a tire to make a swing out of, he orders Pavel to drop what he’s doing and help the son of the commandant. Later when Bruno falls off the swing and cuts himself, Pavel treats the wound explaining that he used to be a doctor but now he peels potatoes. Bruno is incredulous; either the man must be a terrible doctor or a terrible fool. Pavel doesn’t quite know how to explain it to Bruno and dares not tell him the truth. It really doesn’t matter very much; after a seemingly harmless indiscretion at the dinner table a few nights later, Kotler – who had just been called on the carpet by his superior officer – delivers a terrifying beating on the nearly defenseless Pavel.

All of this fuels Bruno’s intellect and curiosity all the more so he figures out a way to sneak out the back into the woods between his home and the farm. There, behind a fence of barbed wire, he meets a sad, scrawny little boy with the funny (at least Bruno finds it so) name of Shmuel (Scanlon). Even though they are separated by barbed wire, the two young boys strike up a friendship. Bruno smuggles food to the starving little boy and in turn Shmuel plays checkers with him, relieving some of Bruno’s boredom.

Bruno is beginning to ask questions about the situation around him. A vitriolic Nazi tutor (Norton) is indoctrinating the two children in Anti-Semitic thinking which seems to be working with Gretel, who joins the Hitler Youth. Bruno is less persuaded; while Mr. Liszt his tutor and Kotler regard the Jews as less-than-human, his own experience reveals otherwise. Still, he is intimidated by the violent Kotler and when Shmuel, who has been brought into the commandant’s home to polish crystal glasses for a party is accused of stealing food (that Bruno had given him to eat), Bruno denies it leading to a vicious beating of the boy (which fortunately happens off-screen). Bruno feels awful about his own weakness but Shmuel, who shows up with a blackened eye, cuts and bruises on his face, forgives him.

As Bruno’s mother, who believed her husband presided over a work camp and not a death camp, discovers the nature of what’s happening on the “farm,” it leads to strain in the marriage and to her wish to leave her husband and to take the children with her. The commandant agrees this would be the wisest course of action and the children prepare to move again. Bruno, who once hated the idea of moving to this strange place, now is reluctant to leave his new friend but before he goes, decides to fulfill a promise to Shmuel which may have terrible consequences for his family.

Based on a young adult novel by John Boyne, the film sees the atrocities of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime in general from the vantage point of a family that is at its heart not evil but through their participation in evil events becomes that way. While most of the film revolves around Bruno and is seen from his viewpoint, much of the movie belongs to the mother who undergoes a transformation of her own. She goes from being proud of her husband’s achievements and supportive of his new posting to becoming horrified by his role in something unconscionable. She stands up for what she believes, understanding that when you take part in something so absolutely evil, so thoroughly without redemption that a part of you dies.

Farmiga is as good as she’s ever been in her role and in many ways it’s the pivotal role in the movie, but I was impressed with Thewlis who was able to make the commandant of a concentration camp, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands upon thousands, sympathetic in many ways, a decent father and husband who loves his children who is unable to grasp the simple truth that those he was oppressing were no different than he.

The role of Bruno is a difficult one and it requires an extraordinary juvenile actor to pull it off. While I would stop short of calling Butterfield’s performance brilliant, it nonetheless is praiseworthy. You never for a moment believe that he is acting, a cardinal sin of most child actors.

The role of innocence in something so heinous makes for a marked contrast. While the movie has been critisized for trivializing the Holocaust at the expense of the problems of a Nazi family, I disagree with these criticisms. Part of understanding what happened in Nazi Germany at that time means we must learn to understand a family precisely like this one – a family of otherwise good people who become thoroughly twisted into dong evil. It makes you realize just how petty the transgressions of people we have excoriated – such as the Octomom and the Goesslins – are.

WHY RENT THIS: A very different viewpoint of the Holocaust, one which may be a good jumping-off point for discussions with children about it. Some very strong performances, particularly from Thewlis and Farmiga are supported by a solid job by Butterfield.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The final scene is very difficult to watch, although it is filmed magnificently. Some may have difficulties sympathizing with the Nazi father.

FAMILY VALUES: Some mature subject matter regarding the Holocaust. The movie’s final scene is wrenching and may be a little too much for more sensitive children, but there are some important talking points in the movie that make this good viewing for the entire family.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Although it is never mentioned directly in either the movie or the book it is based on, the Concentration Camp referred to here is Auschwitz if the filmmakers are being historically accurate as it was the only camp which had four crematoria.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: None listed.

FINAL RATING: 8/10

TOMORROW: 2012

British low-cost airline easyJet has apologized after fashion photographs shot at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin were published in its in-flight magazine.

In the pictures, models posed among the concrete blocks of the “Field of Stelae”.

EasyJet said it “profusely apologizes” to anyone who was offended by the “inappropriate” shoot and said it would withdraw this month’s issue from all flights.

“The magazine is produced by INK, an external publishing house, and easyJet were not aware of the images until they appeared in print,” the UK’s largest airline said.

“As a consequence we are now reviewing our relationship with the publisher and are withdrawing this month’s issue from all flights,” easyJet went on to say.

“EasyJet prides itself on bringing together a wide range of cultures and beliefs and is appalled by this insensitive and inconsiderate photoshoot,” the airline’s statement concluded.

The memorial to the Holocaust’s six million Jewish victims consists of a field of 2,700 gray slabs situated close to the capital’s Brandenburg Gate. It opened to the public in 2005 and is freely accessible around the clock.

According to the report, INK did not seek permission from the Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe to shoot the pictures.

EasyJet launched a weekly schedule of six daily flights between London and Tel Aviv earlier in November.

The Palestinian Authority has called on the public to boycott several large supermarket chains in the West Bank that carry Israeli products.

The decision targets upscale markets in Ramallah, in an attempt to pressure the stores to discontinue the sale of fruits and vegetables grown and processed in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

According to the Palestinian authorities, customers are not aware that some of the products are produced in one of over 200 Israeli settlements, built illegally on occupied Palestinian land deemed illegal under international law.

Palestinians consider these settlements the most crucial threat to their aspirations for statehood.

As a result, the Palestinian ministry of economy has announced it will aggressively pursue an already existing law that criminalises trading in settlement products, a move that is widely popular among Palestinians.

Israeli settlement products currently enjoy an estimated 15 per cent share of the Palestinian market, according to the minister of economy.

‘Good move’

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, says the move to ban settlement products from the shelves will take time and require awareness among Palestinian consumers.

Many products made in illegal settlements are on sale in Palestinian supermarkets!

“The government argues that it is through this boycott, that they are now striking back at the illegal settlements – product by product,” she said.

Jamal Juma, a Palestinian activist and coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign, told Al Jazeera: “If the Palestinian Authority insists on implementing this decision, it means the authority will participate in boycotting one-third of the Israeli products that come to the West Bank.

“This is a very good step to support the Palestinian economy. It will provide the opportunity to improve Palestinians products and solve the unemployment problem.

“The decision will allow Palestinians to say: ‘No to the occupation, we are not going to pay for the bulldozers that destroy our houses and for the bullets that kill our people’.”