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Six senators call for Ebrima Manneh’s immediate release – Blog – Committee to Protect Journalists

Assalamu alaikum, from the CPJ Blog…

This doesn’t differ too much from the original link I’d posted regarding the US Senators putting out this declaration, however, I’m posting this because I liked the comments. Leave some also if you’d like.

Daily Kos: Swine Flu Update: Public Health Emergency Declared

Daily Kos: Swine Flu Update: Public Health Emergency Declared

Withdrawing from Public Comment on Gambian Issues

Assalamu alaikum, I have been trying to decide whether or not I should blog about this or not, on the one hand, thinking that no good or ill would come if I didn’t, yet if I did, being afraid that my post would come across as spiteful, bitter, immature, etc. Especially if I’d written it immediately after making the decision, after yet another round of being called an outsider, labelled a pathological liar/person, and being accused of regurgitating lies/propaganda about one Halifa Sallah, who, though I hold in the highest esteem, I also at the same time don’t consider him to be a Prophet, a Gandhi, a Mandela of The Gambia, and “the one who’s done more for democracy, good governnance and the rule of law in The Gambia than anyone else”. I don’t put him on a pedestal, higher than any of the other opposition members, I consider him to be a politician just like the rest, and among some Halifa/PDOIS supporters (though not necessarily all), that I guess has gotten me into trouble. Anyway, if there is any example of coming to the end of one’s rope, this would probably be it.

And while I think that being accused of single-handedly disuniting the opposition by what I say online could be called hyperbole in the highest order, I just think it’s time to move on, and I feel this should have been done much sooner. Especially if the one saying this is part of a group of people trying to re-unite the opposition. No, I don’t think that little old me has the power to affect opposition leaders back in The Gambia, who I have virtually no contact with, however, to me, it’s the perception that counts, and from the vocal section of the Gambia-l, anyway, I’m deemed to be a nuissance, a liar, and a threat to a united opposition. And no matter whether true or not, I don’t want to be among a group of people who perceive me as such.

And while a couple of people have urged me to stay, and have suggested to me that this is an over-reaction on my part, I have thought long and hard about this, even before my latest tussle, and I really feel that this is the best decision, and I feel even more so that this is the case, as I’ve continued to view the list archives after I’ve left.

And I wish I could say that it didn’t hurt being called a liar, and a pathological one at that, a nuissance, and all of the myriad of things I’ve been called, and the things I’ve been accused of over the years. I’ve blogged about this before, so I won’t rehash it now. But when it happens to you from fellow Muslims who you hold in high esteem, or if not from them, from people who at one time thought you to be intelligent, perceptive, all of that, until you of course disagreed with them, well, I wish I could say that I could just let it roll off of me, but that’s not always the easiest thing to do.

I’m not sure what makes one qualified to comment on Gambian issues: being born and raised in The Gambia? Currently living in The Gambia? Being married to or formerly married to a Gambian? Visited The Gambia? And should race matter? i.e., being of African descent or not? Should white people be excluded altogether? I don’t know, and to me, that’s not even the point. Because while one person will tell you that you’re qualified because of this or that, another person will tell you you’re not because of this or that. And to be honest, my most ardent critics have been PDOIS supporters, or seemed to be by their list messages, and even if I were born and raised Gambian, as “race” wouldn’t presumably be an issue then, it’d probably be something else.

Anyway, as I said, this isn’t even the point. Even if I had honorary degrees bestowed on me that would let all and sundry know that I’m “qualified” to comment on Gambian issues, I would still stick with my decision not to, at least publicly anyway. Because it serves no good purpose, because it’s not mentally nor spiritually healthy for me to do so, and in some cases, if my blood sugar is low, not physically healthy for me either. And I’m not a glutton for punishment. I recognize that I’m sensitive, I don’t have a thick skin, and words, unfortunately, do indeed hurt me.

And it’s not the disagreeing or even the criticism that I have a low tolerance for, but it’s being called a “liar”, it’s having bits and pieces of quotes deliberately taken out of context, to make it appear that I said something that I didn’t say, and being told to “take that sh*t and shove it back in your mouth”, it’s being called a liar, it’s subject lines such as “Mathew Jallow’s carcass”, it’s all of the hatefulness, bitterness, from what I am almost sure is a vocal minority, toward anyone who doesn’t agree with them, and I’ve just had enough of it.

And before anyone goes on a tirade about how Ginny hates Gambians, or how Ginny is a racist, etc., I’d say go right ahead. It’s been done before, and my words are available on the Gambia-l archives at http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html, as well as other places too, for all to see, as are everyone else’s who are subscribed to that list. And this is one issue, i.e., the Ginny hates Gambians, or Ginny is a racist meme, that actually doesn’t hurt to hear/read, because it’d be a pretty hard thing to prove considering that I’m indeed married and married to a Gambian (both of which I usually try to keep low key/private so don’t ask me who, because I keep most details of my marriage private anyway), so I’d like to see how anyone would justify that one.

I’m just mentally and emotionally tired from the whole thing, and don’t feel that anything I say is adding to the discussion anyway. So I’ve unsubscribed from the Gambia-l, and as the link to the Gambia-post “dyi” unsubscription instructions given as http://www.gambiapostforum.com/membership/ don’t seem to link to anything but a “filler site”, I’ve set my google filters to keep all Gambia Post mails from my inbox.

And I don’t feel that I’m missing anything of importance, because I can still follow the Gambia-l archives, the myriad of Gambian news sites, and any info from my husband. If anything, it’s lessened my stress, it’s freed up my time to focus on more worthy pursuits, and I just feel a sense of, I don’t know, like some useless things have been cleaned up / gotten rid of.

Moon Bits for Jumada-al-oola 1430

Assalamu alaikum, firstly, for any new LJ readers, I do this at the start of all Islamic months, i.e., post the determinations of the start of the various Islamic months (there are twelve of them), from the various moon sighting websites that I’m aware of, and/or that update regularly, and post the results on my blog. See my my old blog for previous postings regarding this issue. If you search for “moon sighting”, quotes included, in the search box, you should be able to find them.

Anyway, there seems to be no controversy this month (which is normal, the “controversies” don’t usually start until close to Ramadan, Shawwal, or Dhul Hijja, where you will find endless arguments about the “correct” start of these months). At least for the US, the start of Jumada-al-oola is April 26, both by the Umm-al qura calendar and by naked eye sighting within the US. My normal sites that I check are www.moonsighting.com, www.hilalsighting.org, www.crescentwatch.org, www.hilalcommittee.com, www.chicagohilal.com, and www.islamicmoon.com. Out of all of these sightes, the Chicago Hilal site and the hilalcommittee.com site had not yet updated to reflect the start of the new month. The rest have been updated.

As I’ve stated in the past, the whole moon sighting bruhaha has caused me much consternation, and for everyone that you ask on this issue, you’ll get about the same number of opinions regarding which is correct, who you should follow, who you shouldn’t, whether calculated calendars are OK or not, and recently, whether sighting should be discarded altogether for a pre-determined, pre-calculated, start to the month.

If I could see, I’d just dispense with all of this and go and sight the moon myself. However, obviously, that is not possible at this time. And the whole issue of calculation, when and if to use it, is confusing for me, in the sense that it seems strange to use, for example, the umm-al qura calendar, which is based on conjunction of the new moon, and, well, not on sighting possibility, and as far as we know, or I know I should say, Saudi Arabia does not publish moon sighting statements for any months except the three “controversial” months mentioned above. So we are using a purely calculated calendar and then all of a sudden, we want to try moon sighting (and not calculation) for only three months out of the year? This doesn’t make sense to me, as you’re changing from one methodology to another, so no wonder there’s so much confusion. And I’ve not even gotten into the other issues brought up regarding Saudi moon sightings, and the allegations of purposeful early sightings, and the qualifications, or lack thereof, of the people whose testimony was taken as a valid claim of sighting, etc., as when I brought this up to my husband once, he said, “why would they lie? Why would they purposefully start the month early? And if the only reason given is that they want to be first, then that doesn’t make sense to me, because they know that Allah’s judgement will be upon them in the Hereafter if they’re wrong”. So I don’t even want to go that route. However, speaking for the US, what if someone, or a group of people, who fulfill the criteria for being trustworthy witnesses, say they saw the moon, and this sighting goes against what the astronomical calculations say? This happened last year, at the end of Ramadan, and I believe it was Philadelphia, however, the sighting was discounted, and I think I was one of those who vociferously discounted the sighting, however, how do we know that it wasn’t the moon that was seen? I could understand organizations choosing not to go with the sighting, because it was so remote, and out of thousands who’d gone out to see the moon that night, only a handful sighted it, however, by saying that “you didn’t see the moon” are we calling people liars? And if not, what are we saying they saw? If they say they saw the moon, this should suffice for these people, even if people and organizations do not choose to follow them. Because Allah truly knows best.

Anyway, I’m sorta rehashing this for the benefit of my new LJ readers, and also because my stance on this whole issue has changed a little in that I’m not so quick to declare people as “wrong”, etc., as I once was.

Leader Dogs trains puppies for special service – Quad Cities Online

Leader Dogs trains puppies for special service – Quad Cities Online

Just starting out on his journey to being a Leader Dog is Julie Hogenson’s 13-week-old golden retriever Belle. They got paired up six weeks ago, but Ms. Hogenson said a good breed stock family will start training the dog for service from Day 1.

Julie was Chloe’s puppy raiser, and Chloe was her first puppy…

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The People of Kiang West – by Karamba Touray

..::The Gambia Journal Online::..

they are essentially driven by principle and not by expediency like many a constituency . Why then have the folks in this particular constituency who in every other respect are as ordinary as any of their countrymen chosen to so consistently vindicate the very essence of freedom and democracy by rejecting a murderous tyrant ?

Volcanic Winter

Wunder Blog : Weather Underground

“The sun was dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months; each day it shone for about four hours; and still this light was only a feeble shadow; the fruits did not ripen and the wine tasted like sour grapes.” As this Michael the Syrian quote regarding the weather of 536 A.D. demonstrates, a climate catastrophe that blots out the sun can really spoil your day. Procopius of Caesarea remarked: “During this year [536 A.D.] a most dread portent took place. For the sun gave forth its light without brightness. and it seemed exceedingly like the sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear.” Many documents from 535 – 536 A.D.–the time of King Arthur in Britain–speak of the terrible “dry fog” or cloud of dust that obscured the sun, causing widespread crop failures in Europe, and summer frosts, drought, and famine in China. Tree ring studies in Europe confirm several years of very poor growth around that time, and ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica show highly elevated levels of atmospheric sulfuric acid dust existed.

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Six US Senators Tell Jammeh to Release Chief Manneh

Six US Senators Tell Jammeh to Release Chief Manneh > The Gambia Echo > The Gambia Echo – Online Newspaper

In an unprecedented level of Congressional outrage over the disappearance of Gambian journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh, six senior United States Senators today, sent out a strongly worded letter of condemnation to Gambia’s retromingent Head of State, Yahya Jammeh asking him to immediately release the missing journalist. The six Senators are Illinois’ Senior Senator and Assistant Majority Leader Richard J. Durbin, Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, Senator Robert Casey, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Patty Murray, Senate Appropriations Committee, Former vice presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senator Ted Kennedy also, of the Senate Armed Services committee.

Goalball in Hijab?

Assalamu alaikum, I’m still trying to see about playing goalball. I.e., is there anyone playing around here, how do I get my foot in the door, can I just play for fun, or do I have a chance in actually competing, should I have started this when I was younger, etc. And then I thought, could I play in hijab, do they have rules regarding dress? the International Blind Sports Association is the body who oversees goalball competitions for international (obviously, lol) events, and the USABA (United States Association of Blind Athletes) website has the rules but I didn’t look at them yet. Hmmm… I’d not see where hijab would be a problem… When I played goalball before, I had some football pants (because of the hip pads), and I can’t remember if I wore shorts, but I don’t see why I couldn’t wear loose fitting pants/a shirt, and hijab, and you have to wear knee/elbow pads (see my previous clips regarding goalball to see why), because if you don’t, you’ll get really bruised up, though sometimes you get bruised up anyway. The only problems I could see would be if the rules only allowed for certain types of uniform/dress, and if the clothes I chose to wear were too heavy, that might impede my movements. If I could find some loose fitting, modest, sports attire, that would be what I’d need, I’d think.

I’m starting to get really excited about this, if I could actually do it, though, I’ll be real disappointed if I can’t. If they tell me hijab isn’t allowed, or I’m too old, etc., I’m not sure if I’d have the motivation to fight that lol. It’d be one thing if I didn’t just pop out of nowhere, and decide out of the blue that I wanted to play (which isn’t quite true, but that’s how it might appear). If I’d been playing for a while, or was playing just before and just after taking shahadah, then perhaps I’d not feel so, I don’t know, like ready to walk away at the first “no”.

All I know is that I need to get involved in something. I’ve had some recent online experiences that have really made me start thinking that I need more of a life off of the computer and outside of my house and not just work either. And at this point, I don’t care much what it is… Volunteering, attending neighborhood meetings, heck, I might ask my husband if there’s anything I can do at the store. I need to do something, though.

Today’s Track

Today’s track is Bela Fleck, “Ah Ndiya” from the album Throw Down Your Heart”. I’ve not had much success finding it on YouTube (surprising), and the blip.fm embed tool just doesn’t work. But perhaps I can find the link and post it? I’m still working on it.

But that is today’s track.

It Could Happen Tomorrow – Charleston SC Earthquake

YouTube – Charleston, S.C. Earthquake One day will Happen

More Goalball…

I think that goalball is my obsession of the week, lol.

Don’t mind the references to Jesus, etc. This appears to be a documentary on goalball.

I wonder if there’s any goalball teams in this area? Is there a normal age limit? Is 33 too old to play? Hmmm…. I feel the competitive spirit rise again… Maybe that’ll change after my first time playing, and realizing how out of shape I am, or the first time I get a good hit to the face.

Test

This is just a test… I’m posting via Jabber/Miranda IM, and just wanna see if this works.