Education, education, education

Love them or hate them, beauty pageants produce some interesting people, ideas and opinions. This video has been seen all over the Internet and viewed by more than 4 million people world wide. I was not surprised watching it as Mr Bush sets a very high standered to answering questions on the spot, so I do not blame Miss South Carolina for her answer. So just in case you did not see it, here it is, so funny, enjoy!

Superstitions

It has been some time since I updated my blog, I was so busy with so much. However, today I came across some of the most commen superstitons things and wanted to share few of them. Some you will know and some I am sure you will laugh out load about. Enjoy!



-Toads cause warts
-A cricket in the house brings good luck
-Crossing your fingers helps to avoid bad luck and helps a wish come true
-It is bad luck to sing at the table
-It is bad luck to sleep on a table
-After receiving a container of food, the container should never be returned empty
-A lock of hair from a baby's first haircut should be kept for good luck
-A bird that comes in your window brings bad luck
-To refuse a kiss under mistletoe causes bad luck
-Goldfish in the pond bring good luck
-Goldfish in the house bring bad luck
-For good luck, wear new clothes on Easter
-An acorn at the window can keep lightning out of the house
-If the bottom of your feet itch, you will make a trip
-When a dog howls, death is near
-It is bad luck to chase someone with a broom
-A sailor wearing an earring cannot drown
-To find a penny heads up, brings good luck
-To cure a sty, rub it with a gold wedding band
-Animals can talk at midnight on Christmas Eve
-A drowned woman floats face up, a drowned man floats face down
-A person cannot drown before going under three times
-To drop a fork means a woman will visit
-To drop a knife means a man will visit
-Smell dandelions, wet the bed
-To give someone a purse or wallet without money in it will bring that person bad luck

Confused.com

This is a famous car insurance and they have their adverts everywhere now. I thought about them today as I read this article about the local rotary club that has been forced to fit a belt to the sleigh that SANTA uses there - or face a £200 increase in its insurance premiums. I am sure this is essential as going about 2 miles/hour in a sleigh is pretty dangerous for a big guy like SANTA. I just hope that SANTA will find good insurance for his deers on Christmas eve, I hear that they leave the sleigh parked in double yellow line while SANTA is delivering gifts!

What is next for Christians?

I received this article with just one example about Christians treatment in Egypt. The article is published in Arabic in Arabia Net and here it is in English. All i can say is that we keep praying.


Egypt Copt jailed.. 45 years after father's conversion

(AFP) — An Egyptian Christian woman has been jailed for three years
because her father's brief conversion to Islam 45 years ago made her
legally a Muslim while her official papers said she was Christian, her
lawyer said Thursday.

Shadia Nagui Ibrahim, 47, was charged with fraud for stating
Christianity as her religion on her marriage certificate, unaware that
her father's conversion to Islam in 1962 had made her officially a
Muslim, Michael Maurice told AFP.

Nagui Ibrahim left home in 1962 when daughter Shadia was two years
old, converted to Islam and took on the Muslim name Mustafa.

Three years later, after a reconciliation with his wife, he moved home
and re-converted to Christianity. In the process, he got someone to
forge his documents back to say he was Christian.

State reluctance to allow citizens to put their religion of choice on
national identity cards means many seek forged documents that can
result in criminal prosecution, New York-based Human Rights Watch said
in a report earlier this month.

In 1996, the man who forged Ibrahim's documents was detained for
falsifying dozens of documents and confessed to changing Ibrahim's
papers.

Authorities detained Ibrahim and also informed his daughter that on
paper, Ibrahim was still a Muslim and therefore so was she. Children
in Egypt automatically take their father's religion.

Under Egyptian law it is also illegal for a Muslim woman to marry a
Christian man.

She was charged with "providing false information on official
documents" for stating she was Christian on her marriage certificate
in 1982.

After a lengthy trial, she was sentenced to three years in absentee in
2000 but the case was subsequently dropped.

She was detained again in August this year and sentenced to three
years on Wednesday after just one brief court session, her lawyer said

Gingerbread "person" anyone?

This is the last straw I think. The news that we are now supposed to change the name of gingerbread man to gingerbread person or gingerbread people as it is not politically correct anymore.

I don’t like gingerbread anyway (nothing personal really) but I had so much fun helping in my local school with making gingerbread man with the kids, it was fun and messy experience. I was trying to follow the recipe while running after the kids who are trying to taste the dough that had raw eggs and stopping others from dipping their toys in the honey or making tracks on the floor with the flour. However, eventually we made the gingerbread man and they were really nice.

So what is the problem with calling them gingerbread man? And who exactly got offended by that? And where is all this political correctness taking us? and what is next? protest against snowman? Most women -in my opinion- do not actually mind what we call those ginger cookies, and it is not– as far as I am concerned - an equality problem in anyway. When God created us both men and women, He created us on His image, equal in His sight. Equal in being sinful, equal in our need to His grace, equal in being human and equal in our need to be accepted and loved. But saying that, He gave us different talents and different characters and so different ways to contribute and make a difference.

So when it comes to fitting that IKAE bookcase with instructions that only an expert in Egyptology can read and understand (as it seems to be in Hieroglyphics), men are well talented to do that and most women will have no problem accepting that. On the other hand, cooking, tidying and baking “gingerbread man” is enjoyable and women love doing that. I might be still sticking to the old stereotype but I believe that the issue is not who does what or what do we call things, gingerbread men or postman or chairperson etc. The point is that we are all accepted as equal in God’s eyes and that if I was the only woman on earth , Jesus would have still died for me and for my sin. It does not matter who does the ironing, what matter is that we are equal in being people who need to be loved and accepted as we are.

Mr speaker...Big brother is watching!

Yesterday the BBC showed the first of a series about the Blair years. Yesterday it was about the relation between Blair and Brown over the years and the reality of different stories about the tension between the two of them. Here is a clip that shows at least the funny side of Mr Brown or the side of him that forgot that Big brother is ALWAYS watching.

Beware, Christians approaching!

I tuned in to listen to a program on a Christian radio station and just before it was about to start, there was an announcement that said: “the following program contains material that may let you reflect on your life style”. The program was on how our diaries reflect our priorities and commitment to different things. It also did ask the question: where is God in our busy lives. However, the interesting point was in that early “warning” before the program started (it certainly felt like a warning). Do we now need a notification on a Christian radio stations before hearing God’s word? that we are actually about to listen to God’s ways being preached? Or are we so worried about offending people or saying things that do not conform with their life styles? If we are going to do that we should have a warning on every printed bible; “this book may actually change your whole life, you may be living in peace, you may be saved for eternity and you may actually start to love your neighbours as yourself”. And what about going to church: “becoming part of this community may lead to a real fellowship, less gossip and spiritual fulfilment, beware!” I may have read too much into that little announcement, but Jesus was also clear from the beginning, he did say that it will be a hard and narrow road walking with him (Mathew 7: 14) and that in this world will have troubles (John 16: 33), but the biggest promise is that he himself will be there every step of the way. So if we are going to put warnings up about Christian values, let us put the promises there too.

I have won the Lottery!

YES! I have.
I have won the €UROMILLONE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL. The good thing about this lottery is that you have a chance to win if you play and you ACTUALLY win if you don’t play. I received a letter informing me that “due to the mix up of numbers, addresses and the holidays, the results were released on the 2nd November 2007, your name attached to ticket with serial number 7216-05 drew the lucky numbers which consequently won the lottery in the 3rd category. You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payout of € 785.790.00 in cash, congratulations”
But this is not the exciting part, the important part is that for “security reasons” they are asking me to keep this from public notice until my claim has been processed and the money is safe in my account. There is also another “little” form to fill in with few needed information that is important to claim my prize. The form includes my name, address, date of birth, my bank account and sort code (obviously to transfer the money) and some identification.
I am just amazed with how brave those people are, the envelope got my name and address printed on and the stamp is a Spanish stamp too. I think this is the new age lottery, where it does not matter whether you play or not, you still have a chance as long as you hand in all you personal and bank details they will grantee a win. Just a minor change in details though, THEY will win the millions out of naive people.

Christams shopping list

As Christmas approaches, i thought a helping hand is needed if you are stuck and need few new ideas. so here it is..enjoy!


A Japanese boy looks at a 10 cm (4 inch) model of Japan's rocket-powered boy Astro Boy encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds worth about 100 million yen (£415,000) displayed at a Tokyo department store April 7, 2003.
Artist Osamu Tezuka, considered the father of Japan's animation or "manga" industry, created Astro Boy as a serialised comic strip in 1951 and set his character's birthday far in the future-April 7, 2003.


A shark-shaped model inlayed with 4,276 diamonds is displayed at a shopping mall in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei province in this picture taken on May 24, 2005. The 26 cm (10 inches) long model is made of 18K platinum and worth 18.8 million yuan (about £1.15 million).

A model demonstrates the use of Umo Inc.'s 24-carat gold leaf "Gold Facial Treatment" at the Beautyworld Japan 2007 trade fair in Tokyo. The treatment costs 30,000 yen (£130).

OH..deer!

Have you seen the chocolate Christmas deers? I could not help thinking about the Easter bunnies and wondered if an accident in the production line for Easter bunnies has led to the idea of the Christmas chocolate deer. Well, you can see the photos and make up your own mind. For me it is wonderful chocolate anyway and will be eaten regardless!

The boy king

Few days ago the face of the 3,300-year-old mummy of Tutankhamun (the boy king) was reveled for the first time to the public.
“The golden boy has magic and mystery” Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters before the body of the mummy was moved to its new case. Thinking about it, the greatest thing in Egypt is a burial site! The pyramid itself. Ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death and the after life, all the focus was on “what happen after we leave this life”. It is the part I like about ancient Egypt, they have made so much scientific progress and they believed in the after life and realized that it is more important than the here and now (I obviously disagree with them about the final destination of this after life). The boy king was buried with all his earthly possessions all the gold and jewelry etc, and the belief was that these were the things that will be used again in the after life. So you die and come back to the after life and you find that same old vase that you always hated right next to you, not a great start to eternity, is it?

But on serious note, where are our treasures? And do you think about your treasures when you hear the stock market report or when you read the word of God?

Women only please!

As king Abdulla visits the UK ,(the queen is cooking halal food tonight!), protests about human rights and the treatment of women have started, so here are some photos only for women, believing in our rights to drive (and park), wear make up and having the toilet seat down "at all times"!

25-hour day, anyone?

British summer time started yesterday, so we are back to short days and long nights. As we put the clocks back one hour yesterday, we all had a 25 hour day and the question is: what did you do with your extra hour? Stayed in bed longer, played more with the kids, more time on the PC or you did not even notice that you were given an extra hour?
There are now some research on creating a 25 hour day using combination of light brightness and pulses that allow the manipulate of the body clock and over time adding approximately one hour to each day.
I found this fascinating and I know that this research had to be in controlled environment and its application into our day to day lives is not straight forward, however, what would I do with an extra hour everyday? And what if this extra hour is my last hour? Who will benefit most from my extra time? Lately, we are developing lots of ways to save time, you can check your emails on the go, carry your computer with you, cook frozen food, ready meals, automatic washing machines, etc all to save time, but what are we saving time for?
I believe that whether it is 24 hour day or even 40 hour day, we will always be busy, will always be running around sorting things out and sending texts apologizing that we are running late. It is about priorities and whatever is on the top of your list now will be on the top of your list if you have more time, so does anyone fancy a 25 hour day?

Geometry test!

Dog collars, to wear or not to wear?

Few days ago in the news, there was a news item giving advice to vicars not to wear dog collars in public as it makes them a target for muggers. A new report by National Churchwatch, warns that priests are often targeted more than other professions as they are considered unlikely to fight back.

That made me think about our ideas regarding Christians in general, that if you think of someone who will not fight back when attacked, a Christian person will be probably on the top of your list. Christians talk about peace and forgiveness, about accepting people and being kind and compassionate. So the idea of a Christian fighting back because they are being attached is not something we can accept.

But let us go back to the bible, what did Jesus teach? He always spook the truth, never worried about who he will upset, healing sick people in the Sabbath (Luke 13: 10-17) and driving out all those who were buying and selling in the temple (Luke 19: 45). Were we called to be passive, mellow, and going along with every idea and concept in the name of acceptance? Were we called to submit to all and put up with whatever is happening around us in the name of being obedient to God? My answer is no. We were called to love our enemies (Mathew 5: 42), we were also called to speak the truth and love justice. We are called to submit to God first, to love mercy and seek justice and honor our Lord. We are sent out to the world and asked to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves (Mathew 10: 16). We are called to show the love that Jesus showed, the kindness of going to talk to a Samaritan women (John 4:7-26) knowing her past, not condemning her but not indorsing her behavior either. The wisdom He showed in eating and staying at the tax collectors house loving and forgiving what he has done in the past (Luke 19:1-10).

So, am I indorsing violence? Of course not. However, standing up and speaking the truth in kindness is not against what God called us to do. Otherwise, how can we be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Mathew 5: 13-16)?
My prayer to God today is to grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

The best way to sleep in the office

New labour, then and now

In the train today, I decided to upgrade myself from “standing” in standard accommodation to “standing” in first class! In my “upgrade”, I was not allowed to sit down in the many empty seats in first class, this is part of the logic behind the whole class system. So I stand in first class observing passengers been offered tea, coffee, choice of red or white wine, and snacks while I am standing near the luggage rack counting my blessings. However, what really made my day was the fact that as I left first class, I came face to face with Mr John Prescott, Mr two Jags himself. He was standing in between carriages and did not look very happy about it. Welcome to privatisation Mr deputy prime minister, welcome to our daily “joy”, at least I was standing in first class while he was standing in standard, I guess the salary had a big hit after he left government. Then may be he was reporting on ordinary people lives and their daily commute, may be it is a research toward the upcoming election. Whatever it was, I was pleased to see him there like all of us, tired and a bit grumpy as well.

Here is video that might just sum up Mr Prescott time in government.enjoy!

Are you in the wrong profession?

That is how I feel at the moment, forget the PhD, forget academia and universities, at the moment I need to be qualified as a plumber and quick. My heating system broke down and finding a good registered plumber to sort it out is like trying to find Bin Laden! I finally (after calling at least 7 different plumbers) had one of them turning up (2 days late). He had a look and I saw him shaking his head and saying things like,” Oh…dear, I see”, and of course my heart sinks. He then went on to explain to me how this part need to be replaced because the thermal couple (I guess this is the correct spelling) heats up and so make the whole system stop working, how the starting light is not lighting up properly because something else that for the life of me I can not remember what is called is not working (I KNOW it is not working, that is why we called you). I think at this point of the conversation I was doing the usual nodding at the right time and pretending to understand all the technical points that he raised and trying to get to the more important questions like: When can you actually do it and How much it will all cost? And you know that in these situations, it is like theatre where you have seen the play before and you know it by heart now and everyone knows his role very well. He comes and play his part (very busy man, doing his explaining to you, poor person, what is exactly happening in your system, may be exaggerating a bit) and I am playing my part (not understanding a word of what he is saying but happy to pay whatever it cost to sort out the system-quick).
At these moments I feel that I am defiantly in the wrong profession, it would have been easier to spend my time training to become a plumber, at least some introductory course or something rather than a PhD that can not help you when your heating is not working.

Well, at the moment it feels like training as a plumber will be actually quicker than getting someone who can fix the system!

Yes, women CAN drive !

Well, I think women CAN drive.....check this out if you don't believe me.
(OK, OK, it is all computer enhanced, but it is fun)

Cinderella, Snow white and lots of dwarfs

Are fairy tales good for girls and boys or not? After all, what are the values that we are teaching our kids by these stories (Fairy Tale Princes Turn into Beasts,http://www.boloji.com/wfs3/wfs402.htm). For girls especially, some experts are saying that fairy tales are not good for girls self-esteem and ideas about the future, after all, Cinderella married a guy she only met twice and the princess in the tower sat there doing nothing waiting to be rescued (well, she actually concentrated on growing her hair). Psychologist also say that “the beauty and the beast” culture, is behind lots of abusive relationship where women believe that accepting the behaviour of a beast and loving him enough, will some day turn him into a handsome prince.
I think this could be over simplification of real issues and in the middle of trying to find out reasons for people’s behaviour there is a real need to explore lots of tings that could be behind certain way of behaviour, may be fairy tails are part of the problem.

Jesus taught in parables, and in every story, you can see what your eyes want to see. God has created us, men and women, in His image, and unconditional love is in the heart of His love for us and what He is asking us to do in loveing one another. In all the madness that the world is throwing at us, fairy tails sometimes enrich the imagination as long as we keep some sense of reality and keep foucs on what matter most.