master booter

Bruce's Philosopher song

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:35:00 -0800

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant,
who was very rarely stable.
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar,
who could think you under the table !

David Hume could outconsume
Schopenhauer and Hegel
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine,
who was just as sloshed as Schegel.

low:
There's nothing Nietzsche couldn't teach yer
'bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates himself was permanently pissed.

getting faster:
John Stuart Mill of his own free will
On half a pint of Shandy was particularly ill
Plato, they say, could stick it a way
half a crate of Whiskey every day.

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,
Hobbs was found of his dram.
And Rene Descart was a drunken fart:
I drink therefore I am !

low:
But Socrates himself is particularly missed !
A lovely little thinker, but a buggar when he's pissed !

Bruce's Philosopher song

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:35:00 -0800

Radical Reformers

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:31:00 -0800

A phrase used to designate a Christian faction during the Protestant Reformation that was considered more extreme in its beliefs and actions than the primary Protestant Reformers. Radical Reformers were also pejoratively called "anabaptists" (rebaptizers) because of their opposition to infant baptism and their belief that, if baptized in infancy, one should again be baptized in adulthood when there is a better cognition of the ritual's symbolic meaning.

The Radical Reformers challenged not only Roman Catholic doctrine and authority, but also that of other Protestant Reformers themselves, including figures such as Calvin, Luther, Zwingli, and others. With the intent to fully actualize the principles and practices of the New Testament, on which the Protestant Reformation itself was based, the Radical Reformers worked to adapt the Church to the New Testament. Therefore, the Radical Reformers rejected the relationship the Church had developed with society since the time of Constantine, and instead chose to rebel against the mainstream secular society, as well as the society the Protestant Reformers were trying to establish.

Because they followed Christ as their first and foremost authority in establishing an authentic Christian society, the Radical Reformers saw themselves as the true representatives of Christianity. As such, their strict adherence to the life and teachings of Christ caused the Radical Reformers to embrace and commit to pacifism. Several contemporary Christian denominations which grew out of this movement, such as the Mennonites, are still committed to pacifism. However, because during the Reformation some of the Radical Reformers came to see the end of the world as imminent, there was, to some degree, a decline in this committment. Some took up arms and sought to establish the Kingdom of God by force. Once this armed movement was quashed, however, pacifism again became the hallmark for denominations growing out of the Radical Reform tradition. Today, pacifism and opposition to all forms of militarism are still central to these Christian denominations.

Darwin’s Evolutionary Scheme

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:29:00 -0800

Darwin set out his main arguments in Chapters 2 and 3 of The Origin of Species. He stressed a number of key aspects: the struggle for existence, variation, natural selection, extinction and species divergence. These ideas are woven into a very readable and perceptive text that gives an account of his biological knowledge and his experience of the breeding techniques of pigeon fanciers and farmers.

A few short quotations from the Origin are given below which give the core of the theory. They are taken from Darwin’s first edition of 1859.

Owing to the struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause preceding, if it be to any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring. (p115)

The preservation of favourable variations and the rejection of injurious variations, I call Natural Selection. Variations neither useful nor injurious would not be affected by natural selection, and would be left a fluctuating element... (p131)

It follows that as each selected and favoured form increases in number, so will the less favoured forms decrease and become rare. Rarity, as geology tells us, is the precursor to extinction. (p153)

According to my view, varieties are species in the process of formation, or, as I have called them, incipient species (p155)

This results in a ‘branching-tree’ view of evolution, rather than a step-ladder of progress, or a series of isolated ‘special creations.’ The key ingredients in the scheme, then, are:

Variations occurring spontaneously, not themselves directly produced by the environment

Competition for resources, so that only the best adapted survive to reproduce

Therefore, ‘selection,’ by the environment, of which variants will survive and increase in number.

Determinism

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:24:00 -0800

A far-reaching term, which most widely states that all events in the world are the result of some previous event, or events. In this view, all of reality is already in a sense pre-determined or pre-existent and, therefore, nothing new can come into existence. This closed view of the universe sees all events in the world simply as effects of other prior effects, and has particular implications for morality, science, and religion. Ultimately, if determinism is correct, then all events in the future are as unalterable as are all events in the past. Consequently, human freedom is simply an illusion.

One area of contemporary discourse in science that relates to the issue of human freedom is the notion of genetic determinism. Here, the concept of determinism is linked directly to the genes in the DNA of a person. Because we already know that aberrations in certain genes can lead to various forms of physical and mental disease in humans, we can say with some certainty that people are physically determined by their genes. But genetic determinists want to extend this further, by claiming that even our behavior is determined by our genes. In this line of thinking, we are but victims of our genetic makeup, and any effort to change our moral nature or behavioral patterns is useless. This is sometimes termed "puppet determinism," meaning metaphorically that we dance on the strings of our genes.

Since we can now establish a scientific connection between one's genes and one's actual and/or potential physical traits (hair and eye color, disease susceptibility, etc.), it is thought that we should use this knowledge to restructure the genetic makeup of certain individuals. In other words, genetic determinism does not just show us how we are victims of our genes; it also shows us how we can use the knowledge of our genes in order to change them and, therefore, change ourselves. This understanding of genetics and human freedom, or unfreedom as it were, illustrates the extent to which genetic determinists place the influence of nature (biology and genetics) over nurture (society and family). The fundamental premises of genetic determinism are, therefore, 1) that we are victims of our genes and have no ultimate freedom, and 2) that with proper knowledge, we can take charge of our genes so that we are no longer their victim, but rather, are their architect. This latter premise has been termed "Promethean determinism," meaning that with the proper knowledge we can take charge of our genetic and, therefore, moral/ behavioral makeup.

Though a fascinating and long-debated theory, determinism raises serious difficulties regarding the nature of human knowledge and its bearing on our understanding of morality. For example, if one adheres to the idea of determinism and believes that one's life is simply the mechanical and unchangeable outplay of forces beyond one's control, then how does this affect one's relationship to the world and other people. Does adherence to determinism not lead one into a sense of meaninglessness and impotence regarding one's fate and actions? Does determinism not also lead one into the belief that whatever one does is morally acceptable, by virtue of the fact that whatever one does is already pre-determined, and therefore, meant to be?

If determinism is in fact true, then our whole conception of morality is a pointless illusion. Since everything in existence is the result of necessary and pre-determined causes, then even something like murder can be considered normal. Here, determinism fails to take into account human freedom and choice. The majority of humans would choose not to be killed, just as most humans would choose not to kill another human. Determinists can claim that our choice to be killed or not to kill is itself already a determined effect, but this is only of theoretical interest since the issue of one's life or death is of extreme existential significance. In other words, in relation to issues of morality, determinism is an interesting theory, but in practice it is quite untenable. In essence, the acceptance of determinism makes one into a mere thing, a mechanical and non-autonomous entity without the power to deliberate or change one's direction in life.

The deterministic view is expressed religiously in the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, wherein those elected to a divine eternity and those condemned to an eternal hell are already established prior to birth. A counter doctrine to this view is that humans are co-creators with God, helping to bring about a new and just divine order, symbolically represented by the Kingdom of God. The further theological implication of this nondeterministic view is that of the nature of God. If humans are co-creators and the world's potential is unfolding and open, then the nature of God can also be seen as changing and open to the new.

Descartes, Rene (1596-1650)

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:22:00 -0800

French philosopher and natural scientist. He is often said to be father of modern philosophy. Descartes shifts attention from the question of what is the nature of what we know, to can I know anything at all for sure? The legacy of this is that modern philosophy effectively still deals with problems set by Descartes. In terms of scientific achievements he is the first to provide full world picture to challenge (and replace) Scholasticism. It is a fully mechanistic schema - including biological phenomena.

Cartesian thought holds that there are two worlds, one of mental objects and one of material things, including animals and human bodies. The mental objects are states of consciousness (e.g. pains, fear, joy, experiences), the material objects are more or less ‘bits of clockwork’. Mental states and states of the body are logically independent but causally interrelated: causal interaction is like glue, bonding mind to body in each individual person. The veracity of all our ideas in this system is guaranteed by God’s existence and goodness. His modern-day critics see him as the exponent par excellence of dualism, but contemporary scholarship is presently engaged in the task of trying to separate the man and his ideas from the caricature that has been assembled of him in the history of Western philosophy.

He was schooled at a Jesuit college called La Fleche, after this he joined the army and travelled around Europe. He had a revelation in 'well heated room' and decided to take up philosophy in a serious manner. Legend tells of his habit to meditate in bed until noon. In 1649, he took up a position with Queen Christina in Stockholm, but died of pneumonia.

His main works include: ‘The World’ (Le Monde), 1634; ‘Discourse on Method’, 1637; ‘Meditations’, 1642; ‘Principles of Philosophy’, 1644.

Said Nursi

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:39:00 -0800

Said Nursi, also widely known as Bediuzzaman (the Wonder of the Age) was born in 1877 in eastern Turkey. Bediuzzaman displayed an extraordinary intelligence and ability to learn from an early age, completing the normal course of religious school education at the early age of fourteen, when he obtained his diploma. He became famous for both his prodigious memory and his unbeaten record in debating with other religious scholars. Another characteristic Bediuzzaman displayed from an early age was an instinctive dissatisfaction with the existing education system, which when older he formulated into comprehensive proposals for its reform.

The heart of these proposals was the bringing together and joint teaching of the traditional religious sciences and the modern sciences, with the founding of a university in the Eastern Provinces of the Ottoman Empire, the Medresetü'z-Zehra, where this and his other proposals would be put into practice. In 1907 his endeavors in this field took him to Istanbul and an audience with Sultan Abdulhamid II. Although subsequently he twice received funds for the construction of his university, and its foundations were laid in 1913, it was never completed due to war.

Contrary to the practice of religious scholars at that time, Bediuzzaman himself studied and mastered almost all the physical and mathematical sciences, and later studied philosophy. In the course of time, modern sciences had been dropped from the religious schools curriculum, which had contributed directly to the Ottoman decline relative to the advance of the West. Bediuzzaman's endeavor was to prove and demonstrate that Islam is compatible with modern sciences and progress, the Holy Book was the source of true progress and civilization.

The years up to the end of the First World War were the final decades of the Ottoman Empire and were, in the words of Bediuzzaman, the period of the 'OldSaid'. In additions to his endeavors in the field of learning, he has had active involvement in social life and the public domain. In the War, he commanded the militia forces on the Caucasian Front against the invading Russians, for which he as later awarded a War Medal. To maintain the morale of his men he himself disdainedto enter the trenches against heavy shelling, and it was while withstanding the overwhelming assaults of the enemy that he wrote his celebrated the Holy Book's commentary, Signs of Miraculousness, dictating to a scribe while on horseback'stating that the Holy Book encompasses the sciences which make known modern sciences, the commentary is an original and important work which in Bediuzzaman's words, forms a sort model for commentaries he hoped would be written in the future, which would bring together the religious and modern sciences in the way he proposed. Bediuzzaman was taken prisoner in March 1916 and held in Russia for two years before escaping in early 1918, and returning to Istanbul via Warsaw, Berlin, and Vienna.

The defeat of the Ottomans saw the end of the Empire and its dismemberment, and the occupation of Istanbul and parts of Turkey by foreign forces. These bitter years saw also the transformation of the Old Said into the New Said, the second main period of Bediuzzaman's life. Bediuzzaman underwent a profound mental and spiritual change in the process of which he turned his back on the world. Realizing the inadequacy of the 'human' science and philosophy he had studied as a means of reaching the truth, he took the revealed Qur'an as his 'sole guide.' In recognition of his services to the Independence Struggle, Mustafa Kemal (the founder of modern Turkey) invited Bediuzzaman to Ankara. Remaining some eight months in Ankara, he was offered various posts and benefits by Mustafa Kemal. He declined them and left Ankara for Van, where he withdrew into a life of worship and contemplation; he was seeking the best way to proceed.

In early 1925 there was a rebellion in the east in which Bediuzzaman played no part, but as a consequence of which was sent into in western Anatolia along with many hundreds of others. When he started to speak about oppression of thought and beliefs unjustly began twenty-five years of exile, imprisonment, and unlawful oppression for Bediuzzaman. He was sent to Barla, a tiny village in the mountains of Isparta Province. However, the attempt to entirely and silence him had the reverse effect, for Bediuzzaman was both prepared and uniquely qualified to face the new challenge. He has spend these years writing of the Risale-i Nur collection, which silently spread and took root, combating in the most constructive way the attempt to uproot freedom of religion and expression in today's modern Turkey.He died when he was in exile in Urfa, Turkey in 1960.

THE RISALE-I NUR: A REVOLUTION OF BELIEF

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:38:00 -0800

As someone born and raised in Britain, I am often asked what we as Muslims have to offer to the West. But before I answer, I should like to ask a question myself: Are we Muslims because we believe in Allah, or do we believe in Allah because we are Muslims?

The question occurred to me during a march through the streets of London, over a decade ago, to protest against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. I’d made a formal conversion to Islam several years prior to this, and it wasn’t my first demonstration. There were banners and placards and much shouting and chanting. And in between “Russians out,” “Death to Breshnev,” and “Muslims of Afghanistan rise up,” we shouted our own Islamic slogans: Allahu akbar and La ilaha illa Allah.

Towards the end of the demonstration I was approached by a young man who introduced himself as someone interested in Islam. “Excuse me,” he said, “but what is the meaning of La ilaha illa Allah?”

Without a moment’s hesitation I answered, “There is no god but Allah.”

“I’m not asking you to translate it,” he said, “I’m asking you to tell me what it really means.” There was a long awkward silence as it dawned on me that I was unable to answer him.

You are no doubt thinking, “What kind of Muslim is it that does not know the real meaning of La ilaha illa Allah?” To this I would have to say: a typical one. That evening I pondered my ignorance; being in the majority didn’t help, it simply made me more depressed.

So how did I become a Muslim? You’ve no doubt heard the anecdote about Nasreddin Hoja. A friend of his called on him one day and found Hoja sitting in front of a large basket of chillies. His eyes were red and swollen, blood dripped from his gums and tears from his eyes. Yet he carried on eating. Why are you torturing yourself, his friend asked. Because, said Nasreddin Hoja, biting into another pepper, I’m hoping one of them will be sweet.

I had been in the same position myself. No ideology or alternative life-style that I tried could satisfy the inner need for something more, something worth existing for, that elusive something that is always just around the corner but never seems to appear. Disenchanted with every aspect of my life, I left Britain and somehow drifted towards the Middle East. It was not a conscious choice. And it was there that I found the sweet chilli pepper.

Islam simply made sense, in a way that nothing else ever had. It had rules of government, it had an economic system, it had regulations covering every facet of day-to-day existence. It was egalitarian and addressed to all races, and it was clear and easy to understand. Oh, and it has a God, One God, in whom I had always vaguely believed. That was that. I said La ilaha illa Allah and I was part of the community. For the first time in my life I belonged.

New converts are invariably enthusiastic to know as much as possible about their religion in the shortest possible time. In the few years that folowed, my library grew rapidly. There was so much to learn, and so many books ready to teach. Books on the history of Islam, the economic system of Islam, the concept of government in Islam; countless manuals of Islamic jurisprudence, and, best of all, books on Islam and revolution, on how Muslims were to rise up and establish Islamic governments, Islamic republics. When I returned to Britain in early ’79 to begin a University course, I was ready to introduce Islam to the West.

It was to these books that I turned for an answer to the question “What is the meaning of La ilaha illa Allah?” Again I was disappointed. The books were about Islam, not about Allah. They covered every subject you could possibly imagine except for the one which really mattered. I put the question to the imam at the University mosque. He made an excuse and left. Then a brother who had overheard my impertinent question to the imam came over and said: “I have a tafsir of La ilaha illa Allah. If you like we could read it together.” I imagined that it would be ten or twenty pages at the most. It turned out to have over 5000 pages, in several books. It was, as I’m sure you’re aware, the Risale-i Nur by Ustad Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.

Initially, I dismissed the Risale-i Nur as mysticism. My brother pointed out that this was the reaction of a closed mind. Without the intellectual crutches provided by my old books, I felt ignorant and lost. It was a completely new language, a totally new vision. My brother sensed my unease. He said: “Don’t worry. The books you have read before all have their place. They are the skin. But this,” he said, tapping a copy of The Supreme Sign, “this is the fruit.” So we began to read, this time in the name of Allah, and slowly things began to fall into place.

Each of us is born in total ignorance; the desire to know ourselves and our world is an innate one. Thus “Who am I? Where did I come from? What is this place in which I find myself? What is my duty here? Who is responsible for bringing me into existence?” — these are questions which each of us answers in his own way, either through direct observation or through blind acceptance of the answers suggested by others. And how one lives one’s life, the criterion by which one acts in this world, depends totally on the nature of those answers. The Supreme Sign is no less than a guided tour of the cosmos, and the traveller is one who is seeking answers to these questions.

The Supreme Sign does not presuppose belief in God; rather it travels from the created to the Creator. And it affirms that anyone who sincerely wishes to answer the questions, and who looks upon the created world as it is, and not as he wishes or imagines it to be, must inevitably come to the conclusion La ilaha illa Allah. For he will see order and harmony, beauty and equilibrium, justice and mercy, dominicality and munificence; and at the same time he will realise that those attributes are pointing not to the created beings themselves but to a Reality in which all of these attributes exist in perfection and absoluteness. He will see that the created world is thus a book of names, an index, which seek to tell about its Owner.

In Nature, Cause or Effect?, Bediuzzaman takes the interpretation of La ilaha illa Allah even further. The notion that he examines is that of causality, the cornerstone of materialism and the pillar upon which modern science has been constructed. Belief in causality gives rise to statements such as: It is natural; Nature created it; it happened by chance, and so on. With reasoned arguments, Bediuzzaman explodes the myth of causality and demonstrates that those who adhere to this belief are looking at the cosmos not as it actually is, or how it appears to be, but how they would like to think it is.

In Tabiat Risalesi [Nature, Cause or Effect?], Bediuzzaman demonstrates that all beings, on all levels, are interrelated, interconnected and interdependent, like concentric or intersecting circles. He shows that beings come into existence as though from nowhere, and, during their brief lives, each with its own particular purpose, goal and mission, act as mirrors in which various attributes, and countless configurations of names, are displayed. Their createdness, transience, impotence and contingence, their total dependence on factors other than themselves prove beyond doubt that they cannot be the owners of that which they appear to possess, let alone bestow attributes of perfection on beings that are similar to or greater than themselves.

The materialists, however, see things differently — they do not see different things. They ask us to believe that this cosmos, whose innate order and harmony they do not deny, is ultimately the work of chance. Of chaos and disorder, of sheer accident. They then ask us to believe that this cosmos is sustained by the mechanistic interplay of causes — whatever they may be, and not even the materialists know for sure — causes which are themselves created, impotent, ignorant, transient and purposeless, but which somehow contrive, through laws which appeared out of nowhere, to produce the orderly works of art of symphonies of harmony and equilibrium that we see and hear around us.

Like Abraham in the house of idols, Bediuzzaman destroys these myths and superstitions. Given that all things are interconnected, he reiterates, whatever it is that brings existence to the seed of a flower must also be responsible for the flower itself; and given their interdependence, whatever brings into existence the flower must also be responsible for the tree; and given the fact that they are interrelated, whatever brings into existence the tree must also be responsible for the forest, and so on. Thus to be able to create a single atom, one must also be able to create the whole cosmos. That is surely a tall order for a cause which is blind, impotent, transient, dependent and devoid of knowledge of our purpose.

More and more scientists are beginning to realize that the mechanistic theories of old are simply no longer sustainable. Faced with beauty, awesomeness, order, harmony, symmetry and purpose, attempts to explain away creation by evoking the idea of chance and causality are becoming increasingly untenable. Many are so outraged at the imminent collapse of their old gods that they lapse into hysteria:

One celebrated biologist — and biology is still the most rigidly mechanistic of disciplines — is on record as having said “Funnily, the more beauty and harmony I discover in the cosmos, the more convinced I become of its meaninglessness.” The poor man seems not to have understood that if everything is meaningless, his own effect to that is equally so. Another famous — or should I say infamous — scientist, also a bio-logist, asserts that the existence of beings, and in particular the phenomenon of form, can in no way be attributed to the random motions of blind, unknowing and impotent causes. He is not alone in his thinking, but he is the first eminent Western bio-logist to state such beliefs openly. Interestingly enough, he likens the state of the Western scientific fraternity to Russia under Breshnev.

The mechanistic theory is the rigid, all-powerful orthodoxy to which all scientists — biologists in particular — must bow down if they are to retain their credibility — and their jobs. And so they are forced to live a fearful charade, shouting their loyalty in public but whispering their real thoughts in private. When the book in which he attacks causality was published, the magazine The New Scientist described it as a “canditate for burning.” Since then, the author of this book has become an outcast, the Salman Rushdie of Western science.

Such widely differing opinions as to the viability of the causal hypothesis show that the attribution of creative power to Nature or natural laws is by no means the inevitable corollary of objective, scientific investigation. It is no more than a personal opinion. Similarly, denial of the Creator of the cosmos, who has placed apparent causes there as veils to cover His hand of power, is not an act of reason but an act of will. In short, causality is a crude and cunning device with which man distributes the property of the Creator among the created in order that he might set himself up as absolute owner and ruler of all that he has, and all that he is.

My aim was not to summarize the Risale-i Nur, but to show how far removed my previous conceptions about Allah were before reading this work. I thought that by saying La ilaha illa Allah, I had said all there was to be said about Allah. Thanks to the Risale-i Nur, I was now able to see that previously, God had been something that I had brought in to complete the occasion, an unknown factor placed almost arbitrarily at the beginning of creation to avoid the impossiblity of infinite regression. He had been the ‘First Cause,’ the ‘Prime Mover,’ a veritable ‘God of the gaps.’ He had been rather a constitutional monarch of the English variety, who must be treated with the utmost respect but not allowed to interfere in the affairs of everyday life.

Inspired by the verse La ilaha illa Allah, the Risale-i Nur shows that the signs of God, these mirrors of His Names and attributes, are revealed to us constantly in new and ever- changing forms and configurations, eliciting acknowledgement, acceptance, submission, love and worship. The Risale-i Nur showed that there is a distinct process involved in becoming Muslim in the true sense of the word: contemplation to know-ledge, knowledge to affirmation, affirmation to belief or conviction, and from conviction to submission. And since each new moment, each new day, sees the revelation of fresh aspects of Divine truth, this process is a continuous one. The external practices of Islam, the formal acts of worship, are thus in a sense static. Belief, however, is subject to increase or decrease, depending on the continuance of the process I have just mentioned. Thus it is the reality of belief that deserves most of our attention; from there the realities of Islam will follow on inevitably.

Thus I can say that I had been a Muslim but not a believer; that which I had assumed was belief was in reality nothing more than the inability to deny. Bediuzzaman was not responsible for introducing me to Islam — which anyone could have done — but for introducing me to belief. Belief through investigation, not through imitation.

Let’s return now to the question: What do we, as Muslims, have to offer to the West. The answer is: everything and nothing. We have belief and Islam, which is everything; and we have our understanding and interpretation of Islam, which in most cases amounts nothing much at all.

As is evident from the books which introduced me to Islam, almost everything that has been written with the West in mind has been done more or less on the level of some benign cultural exchange. Almost invariably the central question of belief has been glossed over or ignored completely.

In the Qur'an, the word ‘Allah’ appears more than 2500 times, the word ‘Islam’ less than ten. In a good deal of modern Muslim writing, the ratio is roughly reversed. In the Qur'an, the ratio between iman and islam is 5:1 in favour of iman. In Arabic book titles until the end of the 19th century, islam slightly outnumbers iman in a ratio of 3:2. By the Sixties, this has had jumped to 13:1, and today it is undoubtedly higher. Inevitably, then, the approach to the West has centred on Islam as a system, as an alternative ‘ideology’, presented almost totally without reference to the realities of belief.

Another reason why our approach to the West has made little headway is that we have misunderstood the West. The West is not only a geopolitical entity, it is also a metaphor. Geographically, the West was the first place to witness a mass revolt against the Divine. Modern Western civilization is the first of which we have knowledge that does not have some formal structure of religious belief at its heart. The West is thus a metaphor for the setting of the sun of religious belief; a metaphor for the eclipse of God. And since this eclipse is no longer confined to the geopolitical West, one may say that wherever the truths of belief have been discarded, there is the West. Thus the West should be seen as a state of mind, a disease, an aberration. The root cause of this, as Bediuzzaman Said Nursi points out, is the disease of self-worship, of ‘ENE’(Ana, the ‘I’ or ego).

From the beginning of the Renaissance, man in the West has been his own point of reference, the centre of his own universe, the sole criterion by which he lives out his pathetic life. He has stolen the clothes of the Divine Names and has dressed himself in them and paraded as God. The problem is that they do not fit, and cannot fit.

Unwilling to accept that his duty is merely to reflect the Divine attributes in the name of the Creator and according to His Will, he claims them as his own property and spends a lifetime trying to add to his imaginary possessions. Seeking the infinite from the finite drags him into a fierce and often murderous competition with his fellow beings. Man’s endless desires are heightened by the fact that he is limited, impotent and dependent, and bound one day to give up all that he imagined was his and face annihilation. His limitations and deficiencies, which should serve to remind him of his absolute dependence and impotence, he contrives to conceal. Western man flees from ill thoughts of his ultimate destiny, smothers his innate ability to know and love the Creator, to recognize that man is nothing and can have nothing of his own.

The secular, self-absorbed society of the West is designed on all levels to blind and stupefy. To mask the fact that the religion of the self has failed to live up to its promises; that the secular trinity of ‘unlimited progress, absolute freedom and unrestricted happiness’ is as meaningless as the Christian Trinity discarded centuries ago. To cover up the fact that economic and scientific progress which has secular humanism as its underlying ethos, has turned the West into a spiritual wasteland and ravaged generation after generation. Yet there are those who are beginning to awake, to realize the illusion under which they have been living. It is to these that the disease of ENE must be pointed out. It is no use telling one who is afflicted with this disease that the Islamic economic or judicial system is the most egalitarian or most just. You cannot cure a man suffering from cancer by giving him a new coat. What is needed is a correct diagnosis, radical surgery and constant back-up treatment. The Risale-i Nur provides all of these.

You will recall that I dismissed the Risale-i Nur initially as mysticism, and I have also heard others describe it thus. The truth is otherwise, for there is nothing esoteric about the stark choice Said Nursi puts before us: belief or unbelief, eternal felicity or eternal wretchedness, salvation or perdition, heaven or hell — in this world and the next.

I have also heard the Risale-i Nur described as revolutionary, and with this I agree. But I am not talking about revolution in the political sense of the word. There is no mention of this in the Risale-i Nur, although I am sure that had Bediuzzaman advocated the violent overthrow of all secular governments, the Risale-i Nur would be required reading in every Western university, and Bediuzzaman would be a household name in the West.

After all, the West has a soft spot for extremism, especially when flavoured with religion. What can be better, more beautiful, more delicious in the eyes of the Western media than the sight of thousands of angry Muslims in some far-off, violent city screaming “Death to America!” and demanding revolution and the re-introduction of the Shari'a? The West no longer has to go to the trouble of misrepresenting Islam: we do it for them, and they simply film it for their own consumption. I remember watching such a demonstration over a decade ago, in a place where America is known as the great Satan. What struck me at the time was the fact that maybe 70% of the crowd were dressed in Levis, and that every cigarette smoked as the demonstration dispersed was either a Marlborough or a Winston. As one hand cuts — or claims to cut — the ties that bind us to the West, the other hand fastens them even tighter.

Yet still we claim that it is time for action, that we have spoken enough. I’ve actually heard this said in reference to the Risale-i Nur. It is all talk, someone said, and no action. But we have not talked, we have merely moaned and wailed. And because we have not talked, not conversed, brother to brother, believer to believer, Muslim to Muslim, in the name of Allah, in the language of the Qur'an and in the language of the book of creation, then when we act we set incorrectly, without author-ity, without discipline, without a true criterion and frame of reference. And ultimately without any lasting result. The West understands this perfectly.

No, the kind of revolution clamoured for on the streets of Tehran, Cairo or Algiers is not the kind of revolution that Bediuzzaman advocates. The kind of revolution envisaged by the Risale-i Nur is a revolution of the mind, of the heart, of the soul and the spirit. It is not an Islamic revolution but a revolution of belief. As such it works on two levels: it is designed to lead Muslims from belief by imitation to belief through investigation, and to lead unbelievers from worship of the self to worship of Allah. And that is why, in the eyes of those who control the West, a work such as the Risale-i Nur is deadly.

Finally, I would say this: After many years of searching and comparing, I can say that the Risale-i Nur is the only self-contained, comprehensive Islamic work that sees the cosmos as it actually is, presents the reality of belief as it truly is, interprets the Qur'an as our Prophet intended, diagnoses the real and very dangerous diseases that afflict modern man, and offers a cure. A work such as the Risale-i Nur, which reflects the light of the Qur'an and illuminates the cosmos, cannot be ignored. For only Islam stands between modern man and catastrophe, and I believe that the future of Islam depends on the Risale-i Nur and on those who follow and are inspired by its teachings.

Badiuzzeman Said Nursi (1877-1960)

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:31:00 -0800

Badiuzzam Said Nursi was born in 1877 in eastern Turkey and died in 1960 in Urfa (Turkey). During his long life, he saw the last days of the Ottoman Empire, its collapse after the First World War and the emergence of modern Turkish Republic. He also witnessed the twenty-five years of Republican Peoples’ Party’s harsh and authoritarian rule and ten years of “Democratic” rule during which conditions became a little easier for Bediuzzam.

A remarkable child endowed with a prodigious memory, Bediuzzam completed a traditional madrasah education at the early age of fourteen and then studies physical sciences, mathematics and philosophy. In the course of the second decade of his life, he became extremely convinced that the Turkish madrasah education was inadequate and his own interest in natural sciences led him to construct a new curriculum for the Islamic educational system. He prepared a blue print for the establishment of a university, Medrestu’z Zehra, (the Resplendent Madrasah) in the Eastern Provinces. In 1917, he arrived in Istanbul and met Sultan Abdul Hamid. Subsequently, he received some funding for the construction of the university and its foundations were laid in 1913. But the beginning of World War I and the subsequent events made it impossible for this project to materialize.

The end of World War I and that of the Ottoman Empire culminated the first phase of Bediuzzam’s life, the period of the “Old Said”, as he would later call it. During the War, he had led the militia forces on the Caucasian Front against the invading Russians for which he was later awarded a War Medal. He was taken prisoner in March 1916 and was held in Russia for two years. In early 1918, he escaped from the prison and made his way back to Istanbul via Warsaw, Berlin and Vienna.

It was during the first two years of War that he composed his first works on the Qur’an. Spoken while sitting on horseback, and dictated hese “commentaries” on various chapters of the Qur’an attempted to combine the religious knowledge with natural sciences. This was the beginning of his major work, Risale-i Nur. But the work was interrupted when Bediuzzaman was captured and imprisoned by the Russians.

The defeat of the Ottomans, the occupation of Istanbul and parts of Turkey by foreign forces and the bitter internal struggle that emerged after the War led to a profound change in Nursi. Despite his active involvement in public life, his association with Daru’l Hikmeti’l Islamiye, the learned body attached to the office of the Shauk ul-Islam, and his War services, Beddiuzzaman became increasingly dissatisfied with the world. He started to see the limits of human endeavor and concentrated on his spiritual training. Recognized for his services, he was invited to Ankara by Mustafa Kemal, who had emerged as the victorious General, to take part in the reconstruction of the New Turkey.

Beddiuzzaman spent almost eight months in Ankara during which he realized that the new Turkish military elite was attempting to establish a secular republic in which Islam was to be shunned. He was offered various posts in this new set up but he declined to be part of an establishment founded on materialistic and secular philosophy. He left Ankara for Van where he sought solace in spiritual practices and isolation.

But early in 1925, he was arrested on charges of taking part in a “rebellion” in eastern provinces although he had taken no part in it. He was sent into exile in western Anatolia along with hundreds of other Turks—thus began a twenty-five year period of oppression, imprisonment and privation. It was during this time, in the remote village of Barla in the mountains of Isparta province where Bediuzzaman had been sent, that Bediuzzaman resumed his work on Risale-i Nur.

Risale-i Nur is not a tafsir (commentary) on the Qur’an in the usual sense of the term; rather, it attempts to establish links between the Qur’anic verses and the natural world. It also attempts to show that there is no contradiction between religion and science (See selections for Risal-i Nur in the following section).

While in Barla, Bediuzzaman also wrote a treatise on Resurrection and thirty-three other pieces which were later collected as Sozler (The Words). This was followed by Maktubat (Letters), a collection of thirty-three letters of varying length written to his students. Bediuzzaman wrote two more works, Lem’alar (The Flashes) and Sualar (The Rays), the latter was completed in 1949. In addition, there are three collections of additional letters, Barla Lahikast, Kastmonu Lahikast, and Emirdag Lahikast from each of Bediuzzaman’s three places of exile.

Risale-i Nur is actually a collection of quickly uttered words, dictated to a scribe at high speed, without consulting any books or references, in the mountains and countryside places of exile. They were then copied by hand and secretly circulated because the new secularist regime had banned all religious works. The essays were then passed on from village to village by the Risale-i Nur students. It was only in 1946, that duplicating machines became available to the Risale-i Nur students and it was not until 1956 that The Words and other collections were printed in new Latin script that had been imposed on the Turkish language by the Kemalist regime. The figure given for hand-written copies is 600,000.[1]

Nursi thus became the founder of the Nurcu movement. Left without books, without his home and family, and restricted to a remote region of the country, Said Nursi was to make a remarkable impact on the lives of millions of Turkish men and women through his powerful writings and he continues to be a revered figure in Turkey and other Muslim lands. His works, now collectively called Risale-i Nur, clandestinely circulated and copied by hand, are now easily available in many languages. Nursi and his work provide an excellent example of the conditions in which the discourse on Islam and science progressed in Turkey during the early decades of the twentieth century and how politics and faith were intertwined in the discourse. His movement spread quietly until 1950 despite all efforts to crush it and then entered a new phase in which a great number of young Turks, who had gone through the state-run secular institutions of the Republic, openly responded to his call. Toward the end of his life, Nursi’s influence spread beyond Turkey. Today, there are several offshoots of this movement, some of which have become rather profane.

Said Nursi had considerable knowledge of modern science and he attempted to integrate it within a theistic perspective. For him, the Qur’an and modern physical sciences had no dissonance; rather, relating the truth of the Qur’an to modern men and women was even easier. Written during his exile, Risale-i Nur was later described as “a manevi tefsir, or commentary which expounds the truths of the Qur’an.”[2] In the course of his expressive prose, which pulsates with energy, Nursi substantiates Islamic faith on the basis of the certainties of modern physical sciences and reads the cosmic verses of the Qur’an in the light of modern science. As a religious scholar well grounded in traditional Islamic sciences, Nursi was aware of the apparent discrepancy between traditional cosmology articulated by Muslim philosophers and Sufis, and the Newtonian worldview, but instead of rejecting the mechanistic view of the universe presented by Newtonian science, he tried to appropriate it by appealing to the classical arguments from design. He saw no contradiction between the order and harmony of the universe and Newtonian determinism. Rather, through a radical recasting of God as the Divine artisan, he found support for the mechanistic view of the universe. He thought of the universe as a machine or clock, just like the nineteenth century deists, but he transformed this enduring symbol of the European tradition to lend support to the theistic claims of creation. For him, the Qur’anic themes of the regularity and harmony of the natural order, when combined with the predictability of Newtonian physics, disproved the triumph of the secularists and positivists of the nineteenth century and provided a solid rock on which to construct a new understanding of the message of the Qur’an.

Nursi’s approach to modern science needs to be interpreted with due consideration of the social and political conditions in which it was written; unlike many other reformers of the nineteenth century, there is an additional element here: the need to survive in an environment dominated by state sponsored harassment. Perhaps this is the reason for the emergence of a number of conflicting ways in which Nursi’s work has been judged; some take the work as if it was a scholar’s commentary on the Qur’an; others read it with due regard to the life of the writer and his social and historical conditions. There are those who take his work to be an attempt to deconstruct metaphysical claims of modern science by using the language of Newtonian physics, chemistry, and astronomy. And there are those who emphasize the influence of modern science and positivism on Nursi. In addition, the work itself is not a smooth and calm exposition and many additions have been made to it. Originally, it was not even written; it was “dictated at speed to a scribe, who would write down the piece in question with equal speed” and these handwritten copies would circulate clandestinely. There were no books for references. The Risale-i Nur collection is, in essence, a collection of dictations of an inspired mind, secretly written, for all religious teaching was forbidden. As such, Nursi’s work does not fall in the category of so-called al-tafsir al-`ilmi (scientific commentary); rather, in its style and purpose, the collection now known as Risale-i Nur is a collection of sermons—a title that is used for one of the “Words”, “The Damascus Sermon”, which was delivered at the historic Umayyad Mosque in early 1911 to a gathering “of ten thousand, including one hundred scholars…the text was afterwards printed twice in one week,”.[3] “The Damascus Sermon” is a sermon on hope, a commentary on Q. 39:53: Do not despair of God’s mercy, a diagnosis of the maladies that had afflicted Muslims and an impassionate appeal to act resolutely to change the conditions.

As we have seen in other cases, a heavy overlay of political and social conditions defined Nursi’s discourse. In order to appeal to an audience under the spell of rationalism, Nursi himself adopts a rationalistic style in many cases, but then the burden of his arguments makes it totally irrational, bordering on the ridiculous. For example, the verse …and We have created for them similar [vessels] on which they ride,[4] points to the railway and the “Light Verse” alludes to electricity, as well as to numerous other lights and mysteries.[5] And the verse: To Solomon [We made] the wind [obedient]: its early morning [stride] was a month’s [journey], and its evening [stride] was a month’s [journey],[6]

suggests that the road is open for man to cover such a distance in the air. In which case, O man! since the road is open to you, reach this level! And in meaning Almighty God is saying through the tongue of this verse: “O man! I mounted one of my servants on the air because he gave up the desires of his soul. If you too give up laziness, which comes from the soul, and benefit thoroughly from certain of my laws in the cosmos, you too may mount it…” the verse specified final points far ahead of today’s aeroplanes.[7]

And the miracle of Prophet Moses’ staff mentioned in the Qur’an (Q. 2:60), predicts the development of modern drilling techniques to dig out such indispensable substances of modern industry as oil, mineral water, and natural gas. The mention of iron in the Qur’an (Q. 34:10), which had been “softened for David”, becomes a sign of the future significance of iron and steel for modern industry. In its popular and cruder version, Said Nursi’s encounter with modern science has led his followers to establish one-to-one correspondences between new scientific findings and Qur’anic verses. His practice of using science as the decoder of the sacred language of nature has influenced numerous Turkish students, professionals, and lay persons who are making similar attempts. Nursi’s followers try to show the miracle of creation through comparisons between the cosmological verses of the Qur’an and new scientific discoveries. Every new scientific discovery is quickly adopted as yet another proof for the miraculous nature of the Qur’an. This has led to a gross profanation of the text of the Qur’an and a great injustice to the scientific data. These trends also gave birth to formal works of Qur’an interpretation in which modern science appears as the most important subject matter.

Nursi was followed by a large number of young people who were seeking spiritual fulfillment in a society where religion had been under attack. This characteristic Turkish dilemma has given birth to a society which is divided and at war with itself. Thus the Islam and science discourse in Turkey is not a calm academic discourse; it is a matter of life and death.

[1]. For this number and the above information, see, Nursi, Bediuzzaman (1995), The Flashes Collection (From the Risal-i Nur Collection 3), trans. from Turkish by Sukran Vahide,Sozler Nesriyat A. S., Istanbul, pp. 480-6).

[2]. Nursi, Said Bediuzzaman (1998), The Words, being the English translation of the Turkish Sözler, new revised edition, Sözler Neşriyat Ticaret ve Sanayi, Istanbul, p. 806.

[3]. As stated in the Publisher’s Preface to the second revised English translation, see Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said (1989), The Damascus Sermon, tr. from the Turkish by Şükran Vahide, Sözler Neşriyat ve Sanayi A. Ş, Istanbul.

[4]. Q. 36: 42.

[5]. Nursi (1998), p. 261.

[6]. Q. 34:12.

[7]. Nursi (1998), pp. 262-3.

Why Free Hosting Isn't Really Free

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:46:00 -0800

I want to yell at someone or give 'em a good poke in the nose for this! How could they do this to me? What gives them the right to blow off my best customers, to rob me of potential business and make my clients angry at me? How dare they do this!! I'm just fuming and ready to explode! Don't get too close to me right now!

Why I oughtta . . . what? Complain because a free service isn't available? Threaten to sue them for having troubles of their own? Why don't they have backup servers? Well, I guess it's possible that *I* could at least provide a secondary free service to cover my assets. Those clients that planned to spend an hour of their valuable time to chat with me in the first place. Maybe I should have prepared for the worst so I don't have to go apologize to everyone when the free chat services suddenly became unavailable.

OK, so maybe I ought to upgrade that chat room to the premium version, the one that costs a few bucks a month, the one without the advertising banners, the one with the customer service and support. The one that WORKS when I've invited over 3,000 people to come to a Grassroots Internet Marketing Forum and chat!

Maybe this will teach me that you can't rely on free services. What does it cost me to fail to deliver on my promises?

The web has got us all relying on free services to run businesses and expecting those freebies to be trouble free and convenient at all times. I upgraded from the free internet access when I tired of their glaring ads across my web pages. I upgraded from the free autoresponders when they stopped working during a major promotion launched via press releases and direct mail campaigns. *That* cost the good-will of my clients that didn't get responses from me as promised.

I will now upgrade to the paid version of the chat room with all the additional benefits of a paying customer, including the right to complain and lay blame and threaten the provider because they cost me potential new business and lost me those existing clients.

Take a look at the free services you use online and analyze them to see how a failure to perform would affect your bottom line.

How important are those free services you rely on? Are they risks to your business future? Note that 'Terms of Service' on the vast majority of free services online tell you outright that providers have no obligation to serve your needs if there are problems and that you have no recourse should your business fail because the FREE service has it's costs after all.

We all have a budget to work within to operate a site profitably but would it cost you more if that free web host went down than it would cost to pay for your web hosting? If your email doesn't get delivered because your free email account suffers from a system failure, would it hurt your sales or customer relations? If that online fax service stopped working when you were waiting for a big contract from a new client, would you be better off upgrading to the paid version of the service with more benefits?

We'll reschedule that chat, now that we've paid for it -- DOUBLE! Whatcha want fer free? GRRRRRRRR!!!

Outdoor Recreation Destinations Near Roanoke, VA

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:45:00 -0800

Do you live in our near Roanoke, VA? Looking for someplace to go to enjoy your favorite outdoor sports? Here are a few suggestions.

Maury River

The maury is located in Rockbridge County, about an hour north of Roanoke. It flows through Lexington and Buena Vista. In its northern reaches, around Goshen Pass, the Maury is a great whitewater kayaking destination. The northern parts of the river also offer some great trout fishing. The southern parts offer good bass and panfish fishing opportunities. If you want to fish from your kayak, canoe, or small boat, put in behind the dam in Lexington or Buena Vista.

Peaks Of Otter

The peaks of otter, comprised of Sharp Top, Flat Top, and Harkening Hill, offer great hiking and wildlife viewing opportunities. Sharp top offers a strenuous hike to the top, but the reward is astounding 360 degree views. if you want, you can ride a bus most of the way to the top. I don't suggest that you do that, though - it's more fun to prove that you can do it by hiking all the way up.

Smith Mountain Lake

One of the largest lakes in the mid-atlantic region, Smith Mountain lake offers a wealth of outdoor recreation opportunities. Boating and fishing opportunities are unequaled - many state record fish have been caught on Smith Mountain Lake. Called "the lake" or SML, Smith Mountain Lake is the regions choice for boating. There is also a beach on the lake, but there is an entrance fee to use the beach. Boats can be rented at many places around the lake.

7 Tips to Home Hairdressing

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:44:00 -0800

* Scissors - You cant cut hair without them!
An investment in a good quality pair of Hairdressing Scissors is the best decision you can make. You wont need a £200+ pair but spend as much as you can afford on this essential kit.
* Hair dryers - A cheap Hairdryer seems like a good option, but spend wisely. Buy one with as many features as possible, attachments and multiple heat settings are good. You want to ensure your clients are comfortable, and blasting them on full power because you cant turn it down will not get you repeat business.
* Straighteners - GHD Straightenerss have gained a good reputation for home use, as have Remington straighteners, again go with the best you can afford, read the reviews online and avoid the cheap options. Your clients are your bread and butter, and they need to feel safe in your hands, seeing good quality equipment will give them piece of mind, and will ensure happy clients.
* Hair Clippers - Depending on the type of hairdessing you want to do - you may decide you don't need a pair of hair clippers, however for the cheap prices a set can be picked up for, it's worth having some in your kit bag. You may not be intending to cut male hair, but a quick trim can be performed quickly and easily for your clients husbands or boyfriends, and that means more money in your pocket! (You could even offer a 'couples discount'!)
* Hair Products - There are thousands of hair products on the market, shampoo, wax, hairspray, styling mousse etc. Having something for everyone is virtually impossible, and everyone has their own favourite brand so your best bet is to go for some well known branded products. Don't break the bank here. Give your clients the option of using their own products. If you are styling a clients hair in their home you can use their own products, but take the opportunity to sell your own recommended brands. (You can buy in bulk, and resell at a profit!)

2 - Know your Market

You have a choice of two main types of hairdressing, you must pick the one that suits your needs the best.
Choice 1 is the more modern salon style of hairdressing, this style follows fashions and styles directly.
Choice 2 is the more traditional hairdressers, this choice usually requires less training, as the work is less about styling hair and concentrates more on the basic cutting of hair.
Find out what would give you the best return in your area, if you are providing mobile hairdressing services then the simpler cutting style will benefit you best, it requires less equipment and less of your valuable time!

3 - Advertising

Local advertising is the best way to sell your services. Word of mouth will only get you so far, so if you want to be a success, then you need to get your details into the marketplace where others can find you!
You can get a free listing right here in our Leeds Hairdressers Directory, or a paid listing to get a featured advert.
Try putting an ad on Gumtree or Craiglist - make sure you select the right section for your local area.
Buying an ad in local papers, is usually a good investment, as well as ads in shop windows.
If you have a car, get yourself a sticker made with your name and number on (include your website if you have one) and you are getting free advertising everywhere you drive!

4 - Price yourself into the Market

Hairdressers generally charge a set price for the work or style that is carried out, find out what others are charging in your area and undercut them if you think you can afford it. Be realistic though and don't undersell yourself, if you develop a reputation for quality you may be able to increase your prices in the future.
Print up a price list and leave it with your clients, leave a couple extra and ask them to pass them on to friends (remember to include your details so they can contact you!)

5 - Qualifications and Skills

A qualification in hairdressing (such as an NVQ) is an excellent selling point and can be obtained relatively easily through night school courses or colleges.
Trainee positions at salons are often highly competed, but don't be afraid to learn your trade in a salon then branch off on your own, if you are ruthless you can take some of your clients with you too!

6 - It doesn't hurt to Read!

Below are a couple of recommended books that can be picked up from any good high street bookstore, or online shop:

Haircutting for Dummies (ISBN: 076455428X) - I'm not calling you a Dummy, but most people have to start somewhere!

How to Simply Cut Hair (ISBN: 0929883063) - A Step by Step Guide to the Six Basic Haircuts That Can Be Combined or Altered to Create Just About Any Hairstyle

7 - Set up a Salon

If you are great at what you do, and build up a good client base then you may consider setting up your own Salon, this is a competitive business, and is not something you should do lightly. Make sure you have already got clients that would be willing to come to your salon, so you have a guaranteed customer base and income stream.

Massage And Touch -Very Essential For Baby Care

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:42:00 -0800

thrive. Premature Being touched is an essential part of the bonding process that helps young creatures to babies gain more weigh on lamb's-wool blankets than cotton ones because it feels as if they're being stroked when they move, and they feel contented.

The Importance of Touch you’re

Your baby is born sociable, and he craves physical affection. This is best communicated through touch, cuddles, being gently held, kissed, and nuzzled. It's important, there fore, that you're both completely free with your physical affection from the start. Your baby longs to be close to you and to be carried, and he will cry less and be more easily comforted if you carry him. Remember also that being, carried in a baby sling; close to your body feels like being cuddled to a baby, and allows you to do other things at the same time. Small babies are much stronger than you think, so be firm, but avoid sudden jerky movements your baby may think he's falling, and he'll be startled rather than comforted. go to www.baby-care-book.com. As your baby gets older, you can be more robust with him, he'll enjoy tickling and rolling around on the floor with you, but don't over do it if he becomes at all distressed, and don't blame him if he pulls your hair or scratches you under a year old, he won't know that it hurts.

Massage Tips

Babies love massage as much as you do. It’s a nice way to calm an unsettled baby because it feels good to him. It's also an expression of love and your baby knows it, and has the added advantage of relaxing you too. Always prepare yourself carefully for massage.

Make sure the room is really warm. Lay your baby on a soft blanket or towel.

Play his favorite music or a recording of a heartbeat. Talk in a low, gentle voice or sing a song quietly.

Although massaging your baby's skin directly is best, many younger babies don't like being undressed. Can visit www.cheese-cake-recipes.com. If your baby is one of these, dress him in a cotton T-shirt or similar garment, through which you can easily feel his body.

Work around his body, massaging both sides with slow, even strokes. Keep your face close to your baby's and look in to his eyes as you massage him. This is very powerful for both of you.

Physical Affection

As children grow up; they need the reassuring and loving embrace of caring parents more, not less as some parents may think. They should be encouraged to express their emotions boys just as much as girls. Indeed, a child's ability to achieve some kind of emotional stability is more or less determined before the age of 12 months a sobering thought, but nonetheless true.

Emotional Feedback

A child learns to master his emotions by getting sympathetic feedback from adults that mirrors the emotions he's feeling. If your baby holds out a hurt hand, what helps most as any parent knows is lots of sympathy, kissing better, and cuddles. A child doesn't grow out of the need for physical affection because these positive signs of parents' care are necessary for emotional growth. If you deprive a child of physical affection, you deprive him of an essential growth vitamin.

Your Baby Needs You Both

This applies equally to both parents, and continues throughout babyhood, childhood, and in some cases, in to adolescence. Nothing should be allowed to discourage loving parents both mothers and fathers from doing what their child needs them to do.

Home Shopping Hair Straightener- The Best Gift Ideas For Women Hair Straightener- The Best Gift Ideas For Women

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:40:00 -0800

There are several gift ideas but the most successful ideas are those that are not occasion specific or age oriented but also express the likes and dislikes of the recipient. So if you are selecting gifts for your woman or for your girl friend or for your mother or sister or anyone who is a woman this Christmas then there are plenty but before that you need to know her personality, her taste and her likes and dislikes.

There are woman who are sophisticated and stylish who will be delighted to get a wacky surprise. There are also women falls under the group of active ladies and so anything that makes her routine chores easily manageable will surely delight her and make her Christmas Eve memorable. There are also women who love her home and pay attention to every little corner of her home and also save enough time to groom themselves and any kind of electrical appliances on this Christmas will just brighten their face. How stylish or down to earth a woman is but a hair straightener is sure to be welcome by every women. This time buy one CHI hair straightener that comes in much relax price as this is consider one of the best gift ideas for a woman.

Hair straightener excels every gift ideas for women as it helps to manage and straighten their hair in few minutes, giving a chic and stylish look. Every one woman likes to look unique in their own way and CHI hair straightener will help them to achieve that uniqueness within few minutes. Bad, unmanageable, curly and frizzy hair is disliked by all women. So, CHI hair straightener can be a good solution for those women who have curly or wavy hairs and also for those who have straight hairs and want to make them straighter.

Though there are other gifts ideas like a gift voucher for a full body massage or a day out at one of the trendy local health spas, a hot air balloon trip for two or a cruise on one of the more sumptuous crafts to renowned beach, making a Formula One driving experience or a tandem sky dive, fabulous hand-crafted artifacts or kitchen appliances that make her life easier - cappuccino coffee makers, food processors or even a bread maker, gifts of flowers and gift hampers that include French champagnes, wines, spirits, imported choccies and a whole lot of other exciting edibles but gift ideas like hair straightener will surely leave behind all these gift ideas. So this year give some thought on this gift idea and select any one of the CHI hair straightener and look at the face opposite to you turning bright and feel the excitement.

Why Plus Size Leotards Are Favored By Models And Customers?

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:38:00 -0800

Plus size lingerie models are given the chance to feel confident about themselves in every shot they make. This is because they have the opportunity to show the whole world that they deserve to be in the business where a lot of people think they do not belong. As they boost their self-confidence, they give the same feeling to patrons. Plus size leotards are favored by models and customers most of the time. This statement is rooted from several reasons which include the following thoughts.

Easy to wear. Plus size lingerie models, just like any other models should change every now and then for a single photo shoot. This is because companies usually require that a one-day take will complete the entire specifications they want for their catalogue. Plus size leotards are made with the most comfortable materials and are worn right away without thinking of having it tied up. With this, the time for changing the apparel is lessened in the ease and comfort of the wearer, model or customer alike.

Shape. Seldom will anyone see plus size leotards that do not enhance the curves of the body. They are oftentimes body hugging which amazingly conceals the bulges for both plus size lingerie models and patrons. With this, every wearer becomes more confident about herself without worrying about what others will say. The details of the body are projected well with the shape of any type of leotard whether long or short-sleeved or sleeveless.

Versatile. Plus size leotards are used in a variety of ways. Aside from plus size lingerie models wearing them during photo shoots, customers may pick them for a number of reasons. They are oftentimes used for dance activities and performances. They may also be used at home for exercising. They may be worn to the gym for fitness classes. They may also be used for swimming activities.

Color. Plus size leotards take different colors from the basic which are red, black and white to more complicated designs blending different styles and features together. With the colors, plus size lingerie models and clients get to choose which will blend their skin tone. Some patrons may even buy them in bulk so that there is a greater chance to have the item in the closet in a fashionable sense.

Form. Leotards are sometimes sleeveless, short-sleeved or long-sleeved. These different forms are bought depending on the different occasions that they will be seen. During summertime, it follows that customers will favor sleeveless leotards while for wintertime, long-sleeved ones can be tucked under a coat. One important product idea worn by models for the public is the unitard. This is an extension of the leotards with the tights already available.

Plus size leotards are convenient enough even for daily wear. Since plus size lingerie models go for this wonderful dancewear, customers will definitely take time out to include this in their shopping list. They are used to bring out the self-confidence in every individual who thinks they do not belong to the world. Leotards are very good investments for plus size women. They are made from durable and high-grade materials that will last for a long time.

Email Marketing Is Profitable List Building In The Internet!

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:37:00 -0800

Since the advent of the information technology, the Internet had been a valuable commodity to most people. Here, they find ways on how to earn more money even without having to spend more capital on building a business. Nowadays, many business people are realizing the importance of email marketing. Through emails, an online business can market their product directly through their customers. Generally, the main purpose of email marketing is to reach their target audience as quickly and as direct as possible. They need to reach their target market so as to promote their products and services that would benefit their customers.

However, some businesses use email marketing in order to maintain their contact and relationship with their customers. The reason why email marketing has grown in such unprecedented rate is based on the fact that people in the virtual community are always hungry for information. They subscribe to information that they are interested in. On the other hand, not all people are willing to subscribe to such information. They may be interested on your products once but may no longer be interested to buy again. Moreover, when you continue to send those emails that do not have their permissions; you can be accused of spamming.

Today, spamming is a serious offense especially in the world of information technology. Because the Internet is such a wild place, most authorities regard the privacy of each person as valuable and they continue to uphold this thinking even on the Internet. With this, the creation of opt in list had gained tremendous acceptance. For more detail go to: www.the-forum-list.com. Because of its viability and feasibility to most online businesses, a lot of people have realized how important opt in lists are in email marketing. Basically, opt in list refers to the list of email addresses of people who have agreed to subscribe to your mailing list. In this way, you can freely send emails that entail promotions, brochures, new product announcements, and every aspect of your marketing campaign.

When you build an opt in list, you do not only increase the probability of being successful in email marketing but also boost your sales and profits as well. This is because building an opt in list will give you the chance to stay in contact with your customers by getting their email address. In this manner, you can continue to promote your products and services in which they are interested in because they have opted to subscribe in your mailing list. Hence, whatever it is that you feed them, chances are, they will most likely respond positively. In reality, building an opt in list is actually letting the people realize the charisma and magic of email marketing. In this way, for more detail go to: www.freelist-pro.com spasm will be avoided, if not eliminated, and will not ruin the positive image of email marketing.

With spamming, email marketing becomes a disgraceful activity in the Internet. But with opt in list, online businesses can continue to boost their businesses through email marketing without having to worry about being accused of spamming. Whatever type of opt in list you would prefer, each has its own pros and cons when it comes to email marketing. But nevertheless, both are designed to give your online business the best solution possible in order to generate emails and permissions without having to get into trouble. Indeed, email marketing is such a profitable business in the Internet. But it would not be complete and will never succeed without the help of the opt-in lists. These two must always go hand-in-hand in order to be successful in the virtual world of Internet marketing.

Cash Advance- Hassle Free Way To Meet Funds Shortage

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:34:00 -0800

Urgent monetary requirements can spring up in your life at any point of time. To tackle such urgencies you can go for cash advance loans. Through these loans you can avail advance cash in no time. These loans are very popular amount the borrowers as it becomes easier for them to handle all sort of urgent cash requirements.

Through cash advance loans, the loan amount is provided in cash. Thus, the time required to provide loans to the borrowers is reduced. Least paperwork and formalities makes the approval procedure much faster and simple.

For the approval of these loans, the lender seeks the personal information of the borrower and employment details. To apply for these loans the borrower must be at least 18 years of age and should be a regular employee having at least £1500 salary per month.

These loans are approved for a period of 2 weeks to 4 weeks. The amount received is generally around £100 to £1500. No collateral is required for the approval of these loans and that results into higher interest rate. However, it is possible of find competitive interest rates if you perform a thorough research of the various deals offered by different lenders.

Cash Advance are advanced without performing any credit check by the lenders. Thus, borrowers with bad credit rating can easily qualify for these loans.

The best way to search for these loans is to go online. You can find number of online lenders who provide these loans advance at affordable rates. You can easily apply through online right from your PC no matter if you are at home or office. The online mode also makes the loan procedure faster and convenient for the borrowers.

Integrated with so many advantageous aspects, cash advance will be the right option for you to rely upon whenever you are in need of immediate cash.

I Love Italian Wine and Food - The Lombardy Region

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:31:00 -0800

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Lombardy region of northern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

Mountainous Lombardy is located in the north central zone of Italy on the Swiss border. It is one of the few regions of Italy without a seacoast. On the other hand Lombardy is known for its beautiful lakes. Lombardy owes its name to the Lombards, a Germanic people who ruled it and neighboring regions for two hundred years well over a thousand years ago. Other rulers included the Celts, the Romans, and the Franks. Its population is 9.4 million, the largest in Italy. In fact, about one of six Italian residents lives in Lombardy.

Lombardy is second to Emilia-Romagna in agricultural production. Among its many agricultural products are rice, wheat, corn, fruits, olives, cattle, pigs, and sheep. Natives still eat more risotto (a rice dish) and polenta (corn bread) than pasta.

The capital of Lombardy’s is Milan, Italy’s financial, fashion, and media center. With a population of 1.3 million, Milan is larger than seven regions of Italy.

Lombardy devotes about 66 thousand acres to grapevines, it ranks 11th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 44 million gallons, also giving it an 11th place. About 62% of the wine production is red or rosé, leaving 38% for white. The region produces 15 DOC wines and 3 DOCG wines, Franciacorta, a sparkling wine made in the traditional (Champagne) manner, and 2 red wines; Valtellina Superiore, reviewed below, and Sforzato di Valtellina. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Over 47% of Lombardy’s wine carries the DOC or the DOCG designation. Lombardy is home to about four dozen major and secondary grape varieties, approximately three fifths red and two fifths white.

Widely grown international white grape varieties include Pinot Bianco, known as Pinot Blanc outside of Italy, Chardonnay, Trebbiano, and Malvasia. The best known Italian white varieties are Gargena, an Italian variety of Riesling, Renano Italico, and an Italian variety of Trebbiano, Trebbiano di Lugana.

Widely grown international red grape varieties include Pinot Noir. The best known strictly Italian red varieties are Barbera, Bonarda, Lambrusco, and a local Nebbiolo called Chiavennasca.

Before we reviewing the Lombardy wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region.
Start with Pizzoccheri della Valtellina, Buckwheat Flour Ribbons with Wilted Cabbage, Potatoes, and Mountain Cheese.
For a second course try Ossobuco all Milanese, Braised Veal Shanks with Grenolata (Parsley, Garlic, and Lemon).
And for dessert, indulge in Budino di Pannetone, Pannetone Bread Pudding

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Triaccio ‘Sassela’ Valtellina Superiore 2002 13% alcohol about $16.50 DOCG

In his work Codice Atlantico, Leonardo da Vinci described Valtellina, the source of this wine as “A valley surrounded by tall and terrible mountains, it makes really powerful wines.” This area has made wine since the days of the Etruscans and the Ligurians, prior to the ancient Romans. It is the northernmost area for growing the Nebbiolo grape. The wine itself is one of the three DOCG wines in Lombardy.

The marketing materials stated that its nose is quite outspoken, with aromas including mushroom, dried cranberry, and paraffin. It is dry with good fruit, surrounded by supple tannins. This medium-bodied wine is recommended with hard cheeses or grilled game birds.

This wine was aged 18 months in large wooden casks and a further 6 months in steel tanks. The producer says it can be cellared for 8-10 years and suggests drinking it with pasta of all sorts, air-dried beef, and cheese.

I first tasted this wine with beef ribs. It was round but a bit intimidated by the spicy cumin and curry sauce. Paired with a slow cooked beef and potato stew it handled itself better. It was quite fruity and cut the meal’s grease. It almost tasted like a Beaujolais.

I tried it with two cheeses. Grana Padano is a classic Parmesan-type cheese made for a millennium in northern Italy including the Lombardy region. It is a cylindrical, cooked, semi-fat cheese which matures slowly. It has a grainy consistency and may be sliced or grated. The cheese’s taste is fragrant and delicate. The wine brought out the nutty aspect of the cheese, while intensifying its fruit. It paired well with Pecorino Toscana from Tuscany, two regions south of Lombardy.

Final verdict. I was a bit disappointed with this wine, DOCG is supposed to mean top of the line, and it was not.

French Wine Can Cost Over 1000 Per Bottle

noreply@blogger.com (master booter) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:26:00 -0800

Wine is undoubtedly one of the great national treasures of France, which over the years has become an integral part of French culture and is rooted in history with around half a million vineyards.

Although you can find many great value wines and numerous different varieties to choose from whatever your palette, there are also some of the most expensive wines in the world that are produced in France, and the vast majority of people will never be able to experience in their lifetime.

In fact, a vintage Romanee Conti red wine produced from the pinot noir grape in Burgundy can cost anything upwards of 1,000 for just one bottle. And a rare vintage case of 12 sold at trucks & SUVs">cars, trucks & SUVs">auction in London for a staggering 58,500 making this the most expensive case of wine sold at auction up until the year 2007.

Both Bordeaux and Burgundy have always contested that they produce the best wines and in their own ways the are probably both correct, and yet apart from the Champagne region, famous for the sparkling wine of the same name, Bordeaux wines are far more widely known than those from Burgundy.

No matter what region in France you go on holiday to, you will be able to sample a wide variety of different wines and it is a good idea to get to know your preferences before trying different ones. Whether you prefer a red wine or a white wine, sweet or dry, still or sparkling the choice is immense.

Going to a wine tasting session can be great fun trying out different varieties, yet for some it can also be a little daunting, especially if it is not on an arranged tour of which there are plenty to choose from. However, there are some general pointers that will get you through.

When wine tasting, you should always start off with the lightest wines such as sparkling wines and work through to full bodied whites, then through the reds from the light to the full bodied and end on dessert wines. This will help to keep your taste buds more sensitive so you can better appreciate each wine and in some places they even supply water in between so as to get the full flavour and texture of each wine you are tasting.

You should swill the wine round in the glass a couple of times, which will help aerate it and provide you with the full aroma. Plus it is customary to spit out most wine, rather than swallow it, although you can swallow a small amount on occasions to experience what it is like after it has gone down.

The Loire Valley is a massive wine producing region that produces a variety of wine such as Muscadet, Cabernet Franc, Gamay reds and even reasonably priced Sauvignon Blancs. And with the beautiful chateaux plus the tranquil winding river it makes the Loire region one of the most visited areas in France for experiencing wines and fine French food to accompany them with the stunning backdrops so synonymous with this region.

Yet for hundreds of years Bordeaux has had a long and internationally famous history of high quality wines and is also a very popular place to go, although you can still pick up a good value Bordeaux wine if you travel to the outskirts of the region.

And yes, who could not think about champagne, which is so tightly controlled for what can be classed as a true champagne, you will get to appreciate why some varieties are so expensive and are only produced in this region for consumption throughout the world. However, there are some vineyards that will charge far less for a bottle of their champagne with the same finesse, compared to that of the famous brands we have all come to know.

The Languedoc region in France is one of the biggest wine producing regions and to put this into perspective, it has over two times more land planted to vines than the whole of Australia! Even though in the past, they concentrated more on quantity rather than quality, this is changing where you can pick up a reasonably priced wine that can match up to some at double or even triple the cost.

But France is a country that has such a different range of wines from the many wine regions and each one will provide a taste, aroma and body like no other and some regions themselves offer such a diverse range it can be quite mind boggling, yet a fascinating experience.

Obviously, white wine has long been associated with fish and chicken, whereas red wine is normally paired with red meats and game. Yet when you are in France experiencing the fantastic culinary delights of the regions speciality French food, take the time to choose a wine that will enhance the experience or ask for advice and enjoy.