No day is Wasted

Living with purpose and clear focus helps you to understand
The value of being meaningfully focused. And aimlessly
Wandering with no clear focus can also help you to
Appreciate the power of a positive purpose.
 Either way, life leads you surely, steadily toward your
Purpose. Whether you experience the pain of losing touch
With that purpose, or the joy of living in harmony with it,
You grow in understanding and appreciation.

No day, no experience, no encounter is really wasted.
Through the ups and downs, in the good times and in times of
Despair, you feel more intensely the longing to express who
You truly are.

The beauty of this day is not in its particulars. The beauty
Is that you can take it all in, whatever and however it may
Be, and add it to the substance of your being.

Whatever comes along, be thankful for the opportunity to
Pass through it. Whatever is, go with it and grow with it.

Your purpose cannot help but become stronger, as each moment
Passes. Feel that strength, and live it more fully, more
Authentically, day after day.

~Ralph Marston~

Be Joyful

Whatever you enjoy, you improve. Enjoy where you are,

 and suddenly where you are has more value.
Enjoy the moment you're living.

 

 And suddenly the moment offers new and positive possibilities.
Enjoy what you're doing. By so doing, you transform your effort

 into a pathway to success and achievement.

You can always find a reason to be miserable.

 But being miserable will accomplish nothing.
Being joyful, on the other hand, will put you in a positive,

 productive, effective frame of mind.

 You'll be well positioned to accomplish and succeed.

Whatever this day may hold, find something to truly enjoy about it.

 And you will have found your own best path forward.
~Ralph Marston~

What Life is About

Life isn't about keeping score.

It's not about how many friends you have
Or how accepted you are.
Not about if you have plans this weekend or if you're alone.
It isn't about who you're dating, who you used to date,
How many people you've dated, or if you haven't been

With anyone at all.

It isn't about who you have kissed,
It isn't about who your family is or
How much money they have
Or what kind of car you drive.
Or where you are sent to school.
It's not about how beautiful or ugly you are.
Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on,
Or what kind of music you listen to.

It's not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, or brown,
Or if your skin is too light or too dark.
Not about what grades you get how smart you are, how smart
Everybody else thinks you are, or how smart
Standardized tests say you are.
It's not about what clubs you're in or how good
You are at "your" sport.
It's not about representing your whole being on a piece of
Paper and seeing who will "accept the written you."

Life just isn't.

Life is about who you love and who you hurt.
It's about who you make happy or unhappy purposely.
It's about keeping or betraying trust.
It's about friendship, used as a sanctity or as a weapon.
It's about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening.
It's about starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip.
It's about what judgments you pass and why.
And who your judgments are spread to.

It's about who you've ignored with full control and intention.
It's about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge.
It's about carrying inner hate and love, letting it grow
And spreading it.
But most of all, it's about using your life to touch or poison
Other people's hearts in such a way that could have
Never occurred alone.
Only you choose the way those hearts are affected, and those
Choices are what life's all about.

Power To Tolerate

You have the power to tolerate anyone and any situation.

 But tolerance is not just suffering in silence.

 It means going beyond any personal discomfort you may feel,

 and giving a gift to whom ever you would tolerate.

 Give your time, attention, understanding, compassion,

 care - all are gifts, which paradoxically, you also receive

 in the process of giving.

And, as you do, you will experience your own self esteem

 and inner strength grow. In this way you can turn

 tolerance into strength.

See It Through

When you're up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it's vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!

Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don't let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,
When with troubles you're beset,
But remember you are facing
Just what other men have met.
You may fail, but fall still fighting;
Don't give up, whatever you do;
Eyes front, head high to the finish.
See it through!

Conquer Doubt

Are your doubts holding you back? The way to conquer your doubts is with action.
 

Wondering about whether you can do it will not get it done. 

The only way to know for sure is to jump right in and get started.

Avoiding the challenges will only make those challenges grow bigger.

 Instead, walk right up to each challenge, and the closer you get,

 the more ways you'll discover to get beyond it.

If you wait until conditions are perfect, all you'll ever do is wait.

Great accomplishments are given birth by starting from

 where you are with what you have.

As soon as you start to take action, you'll begin to replace your doubts

 with courage and confidence. The more you do, the more insignificant

and powerless those doubts will become.

Stop wondering and start doing. Once you've done it

 you'll always know, without the slightest doubt,

 that you can.

The Wise Woman

Sometimes it's not the wealth you have but what's inside you that

Others need....

A wise woman, who was traveling in the mountains, found a precious
Stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler, who was hungry.

The wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler
Saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did
So without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone
Was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise
Woman.

"I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable this stone
Is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even
More precious. Please give me what you have within you that enabled
You to give me this stone."

Embrace Your Best Possibilities

Anger is a way of avoiding the things that will really bring
Fulfillment to your life. So is resentment.

In fact, so are envy, procrastination, perfectionism,
Apathy, overindulgence, and a whole lot of other negative
Behaviors and attitudes. They all enable you to avoid the
Fulfillment of your true purpose.

Why would you want to avoid that fulfillment? Because it
Feels more comfortable to just stay where you are.

But comfort is highly overrated. Deep down, you don't really
Want just comfort.

Deep down, you have a burning desire to express the unique
And magnificent person you truly are. Deep down, your spirit
Longs to soar to heights that you cannot even imagine.

What feels like comfort now, will soon become regret, but
You don't have to let that happen. Stop hiding from your
Purpose, embrace your best possibilities, and give life the

Beautiful meaning that you know it can have.

Great Happiness

Not long ago I answered a telephone call
From an old friend I'd not heard from for a long time.
'Hi,' he said.
'I just wanted to see how you're getting along.'

For whatever reason,
Our paths had simply not crossed for a long, long, time.
It was good to talk with him.
I wondered why we hadn't kept in touch better.
Toward the end of the conversation, he said,
'If you need me in any way,
I'll be happy to help out.' And he meant it!

That call came at just the right time, as they so often do.
I needed those words of encouragement.
I hung up the phone feeling
A satisfying lump of warmth in my chest.

And that day I re-learned something important about life:
Life is primarily about people,
Not plans and schedules,
Not to-do lists and a million tasks left undone -
it's about PEOPLE!!
To love and to know that we are loved
Is the greatest happiness of existence.
And happiness seems to be something
That is in short supply for too many of us!

My friend reminded me that it is never enough
Just to love; we must also express it.
What good are our affectionate feelings
Toward others if we don't find ways to let them know?

George William Childs put it like this:
'Do not keep the alabaster box of your love
And friendship sealed up until
Your friends are dead.
Fill their lives with sweetness.
Speak approving, cheering words
While their ears can hear them and
While their hearts can be thrilled and made happier.
 The kind things you mean to say
When they are gone, say before they go.'

Begin the day with Gratitude

A day that begins with gratitude is a day that

 you'll be able to fill with positive progress.

 When you're sincerely appreciative of where you are and what you have,

 you'll greatly expand your own possibilities.
Begin with a thankful thought.

 

 And connect yourself with the abundance that is all around you.
There is always something for which you can be sincerely thankful.

 And the simple act of being thankful ignites a productive momentum

 in your world.
By focusing your thoughts on the positive aspects of your life,

you cause their influence to grow. Be grateful, and your gratitude

 happily creates even more things in your life for which you can be grateful.

The appreciation for what you have gives more value to all that you are.

 The blessings you enjoy are blessings precisely because you see them as such.
Tap into the great reservoir of real value that is already available to you.

 Live with gratitude, and you'll create even more reasons to be thankful.

IF YOU WISH

If you wish to be respected, then be ever respectful.
If you wish to be understood, then sincerely understand others.
If you wish to be appreciated, then be ever grateful.
If you wish to be loved, then give love in each moment.

If you wish to be wealthy, then act to create real value.
If you wish to learn, then take time to teach.
If you wish to climb higher, then life others up.
If you wish to be wise, then share what you know.

Whatever you wish, life will surely give it.
What you must do, though, is to truly live it.

There is so much to live for and so much to see.

You will have whatever you are willing to be.

China Pledges to Work With U.S. on Iran Sanctions

By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK LANDLER

Published: April 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — President Obama secured a promise from President Hu Jintao of China on Monday to join negotiations on a new package of sanctions against Iran, administration officials said, but Mr. Hu made no specific commitment to backing measures that the United States considers severe enough to force a change in direction in Iran’s nuclear program.

In a 90-minute conversation here before the opening of a summit meeting on nuclear security, Mr. Obama sought to win more cooperation from China by directly addressing one of the main issues behind Beijing’s reluctance to confront Iran: its concern that Iran could retaliate by cutting off oil shipments to China. The Chinese import nearly 12 percent of their oil from Iran.
Mr. Obama assured Mr. Hu that he was “sensitive to China’s energy needs” and would work to make sure that Beijing had a steady supply of oil if Iran cut China off in retaliation for joining in severe sanctions.
American officials portrayed the Chinese response as the most encouraging sign yet that Beijing would support an international effort to ratchet up the pressure on Iran and as a sign of “international unity” on stopping Iran’s nuclear program before the country can develop a working nuclear weapon.
Still, the session had distinct echoes of former President George W. Bush’s three efforts to corral Chinese support for United Nations Security Council penalties intended to make it prohibitively expensive for Iranian leaders to enrich uranium and to refuse to answer the questions posed by international nuclear inspectors.
In those cases, former American officials said, the Chinese agreed to go along with efforts to address Iran’s nuclear ambitions but then used Security Council negotiating sessions to water down the resolutions that ultimately passed.
Mr. Obama also used his meeting with Mr. Hu, the fourth face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the world’s largest economy and its biggest lender, to keep up the pressure on Beijing to let market forces push up the value of China’s currency. That is a critical political task for Mr. Obama, because the fixed exchange rate has kept Chinese goods artificially cheap and, in the eyes of many experts, handicapped American exports and cost tens of thousands of American jobs.
In anticipation of Monday’s meeting, Chinese officials told Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner last week that they were about to resume a controlled loosening of their exchange rate, which would increase the relative costs of Chinese exports.
Mr. Obama’s senior Asia adviser, Jeffrey A. Bader, told reporters after the meeting on Monday that Mr. Obama told Mr. Hu that a market oriented exchange rate would be “an essential contribution” to a “sustained and balanced economic recovery.”
The session with Mr. Hu came just before the opening of the first summit meeting devoted to the challenges of keeping nuclear weapons and material out of the hands of terrorists. At a dinner Monday evening in the cavernous Washington Convention Center, Mr. Obama led a discussion of the nature of the threat and the vulnerability of tons of nuclear material that could be fashioned into a weapon.
Earlier in the day, John O. Brennan, Mr. Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, offered a sampling of Mr. Obama’s argument when he told reporters that the United States had continuing evidence of Al Qaeda’s interest in obtaining highly enriched uranium or plutonium, the only materials from which a nuclear weapon can be made, and that it would be used “to threaten our security and world order in an unprecedented manner.”
But he cited no incidents beyond the now-famous campfire conversations that Osama bin Laden held in August 2001 with two Pakistanis who had deep ties to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons laboratories. While Al Qaeda has tried repeated purchases, Mr. Brennan said, “fortunately, I think they’ve been scammed a number of times, but we know that they continued to pursue that. We know of individuals within the organization that have been given that responsibility.”
The main focus of Mr. Obama’s meeting is to obtain commitments from each of the 47 countries attending to lock up or eliminate nuclear material.
One such agreement was announced Monday with Ukraine which, after the fall of the Soviet Union, was, because of its remainder stockpiles of nuclear missiles and bombs, briefly the world’s third-largest nuclear power. It gave up the arsenal, but for the past 10 years had resisted surrendering its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, held at research reactors and another nuclear center.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit group that studies proliferation, has estimated Ukraine’s stockpile at 163 kilograms, or roughly enough for seven weapons.
According to a senior administration official, under the deal announced Monday the United States will pay to secure the highly enriched uranium, which will likely be sent to Russia for conversion into low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. As part of the deal, the United States will also help supply Ukraine with new low-enriched fuel and a new research facility.
But over all, it was Iran that dominated the day, because the administration has a goal of putting sanctions in place this spring, Mr. Obama said in an interview with The New York Times last week.
On Monday, Mr. Obama laid out the details of the sanctions package for Mr. Hu, according to a senior White House official familiar with the discussion. These are likely to include additional measures to deny Iran access to international credit, choke off foreign investment in Iran’s energy sector and punish companies owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which controls swaths of Iran’s economy, as well as its nuclear program.
The administration is betting that a large segment of Iranian society detests the Revolutionary Guards for its role in suppressing the protests that followed elections last June, and may welcome properly targeted sanctions.
“Until two weeks ago, the Chinese would not discuss a sanctions resolution at all,” the official said. But the Obama administration, in hopes of winning over Beijing, has sought support from other oil producers to reassure China of its oil supply. Last year, it dispatched a senior White House adviser on Iran, Dennis B. Ross, to Saudi Arabia to seek a guarantee that it would help supply China’s needs, in the event of an Iranian cutoff.
“We’ll look for ways to make sure that if there are sanctions, they won’t be negatively affected,” said the senior official.
There was little evidence in the meeting of the succession of spats that have soured Chinese-American relations over the last several months, American officials said. While Mr. Hu raised Chinese complaints about American weapons sales to Taiwan, an official said, he did so fleetingly. And he did not mention Mr. Obama’s decision to meet the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Opposition Appears to Gain in Thai Crisis

By THOMAS FULLER

Published: April 12, 2010

BANGKOK — The battle of wills between the Thai government and tens of thousands of protesters barricaded in the streets of Bangkok appeared to turn in favor of the protesters on Monday, when the country’s army chief shunned a military solution to the crisis and the prime minister’s party suddenly and unexpectedly faced the prospect of dissolution.

Two days after repulsing a blood-soaked military crackdown, the protesters cheered jubilantly at the announcement that Thailand’s Election Commission had recommended that the party of the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, be disbanded on charges of receiving an illegal donation.
“This government’s time in power is nearly over,” Veera Musikapong, a protest leader, said to throngs of protesters in the commercial heart of the city. Mr. Veera and other opposition figures said they would maintain their demonstrations to press Mr. Abhisit to resign.
The announcement by the Election Commission came hours after the head of the army, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, appeared to rule out further military action to remove protesters, saying, “The situation requires that the problem be solved by politics.”
General Anupong also described the dissolution of Parliament, the main goal of the protesters, as “a reasonable step.” The general’s comments were a stinging blow to Mr. Abhisit, who is portrayed by protesters as a puppet of Thailand’s elite and who came to power 16 months ago as part of a coalition brokered in part by the military.
For the past month, Mr. Abhisit’s besieged government has operated from a military base on the outskirts of Bangkok, the capital, as protesters, many of them farmers from the provinces, expanded their street protests.
Mr. Abhisit has appeared increasingly isolated following the failure of the military to dislodge protesters on Saturday after running battles that killed 21 people and made parts of Bangkok resemble a war zone. Former supporters of the government accused Mr. Abhisit of being powerless while the opposition decried the deaths.
Protesters have put important portions of Thailand’s capital beyond the government’s control. Armed with sticks and poles, red-shirted protesters have erected checkpoints at major intersections, blocking the police and the military. Although not quite anarchy, the protests have created a vacuum of law and order.
Even outside the two large protest sites, some police officers say they have stopped issuing traffic tickets, despite an increase in the number of motorists running red lights, driving down the wrong side of the road and parking where they wish.
“If I can stop them, I will. But if it puts us in danger, we will let them be,” said Lt. Col. Dejapiwat Dejsiri, a senior police official at a precinct in the wealthy Sukhumvit area of Bangkok. “It’s like there is no law anymore.”
The Election Commission’s announcement on Monday may tip the scales toward the opposition movement, but it is unlikely to resolve the country’s underlying political crisis.
The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the attorney general and ultimately to the country’s Constitutional Court. If found guilty, Mr. Abhisit’s Democrat Party, the country’s oldest, could be dissolved and its leaders, including Mr. Abhisit, could be barred from politics for five years.
The Democrat Party would be the third political party in three years to be dissolved.
“The system of political parties is on very shaky ground,” said Gothom Arya, a former election commissioner. “There is no stability.” Mr. Gothom, among others, has called for revision of the law that holds an entire party accountable for electoral offenses.
The two parties disbanded earlier were affiliated with Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister removed in the 2006 military coup. Mr. Thaksin is a hero and inspiration for many in the current antigovernment protest movement, but is despised by some members of the elite who see him as corrupt.
The stalemate between protesters, known as the Red Shirts, and the government is a reflection of deep divisions in Thai society that revolve around issues of income inequality and the power of unelected institutions like the powerful bureaucracy, the military and the royal entourage.
These tensions have existed for years, but one major stabilizing force in Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has often been able to bridge divisions in the country. Many Thais are hoping that King Bhumibol, who is 82 and ailing, will intervene to resolve the stalemate.
Thai television carried remarks Monday by Sumet Tantivejkul, the secretary general of a charitable foundation, who has worked with the king on many projects.
“His Majesty the King has always warned, ‘Don’t demolish the house,’ ” Mr. Sumet said. “The house is now close to collapse. We have to protect the country.”
Signs of the protesters’ continued impunity were amply evident Monday. The Thai news media reported that one group of Red Shirts abducted the head of CAT Telecom, the state-owned telecommunications company. Several hundred protesters “guarded” a government satellite station, Thai news outlets also said.
Both actions were meant to prevent the army from carrying out orders to take an opposition-run television station off the air.
On the eve of the traditional Thai New Year, large convoys of Red Shirts paraded coffins through Bangkok symbolizing the protesters killed on Saturday, to illustrate what they said was the brutality of the government.
Law enforcement in Thailand has always been patchy, and the freewheeling nature of Thai society has often been seen as an attribute of the country’s economic dynamism. But the lawlessness of protests has frightened foreign investors and raised questions about the stability of the country.

Double suicide bombings kill 37 on Moscow subway

By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press Writer David Nowak, Associated Press Writer  

 

MOSCOW – Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up Monday in twin attacks on Moscow subway stations jam-packed with rush-hour passengers, killing at least 37 people and wounding 65, officials said. They blamed the carnage on rebels from the Caucasus region.

The blasts come six years after Caucasus Islamic separatists carried out a pair of deadly Moscow subway strikes and raise concerns that the war has once again come to Russia's capital, amid militants' warnings of a renewed determination to push their fight.

Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing late last year on a passenger train en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Last month, Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov warned in an interview on a rebel-affiliated Web site that "the zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia ... the war is coming to their cities."

The first explosion took place just before 8 a.m. at the Lubyanka station in central Moscow. The station is underneath the building that houses the main offices of the Federal Security Service, the KGB's main successor agency.

About 45 minutes later, a second explosion hit the Park Kultury station, which is near the renowned Gorky Park.

"I heard a bang, turned my head and smoke was everywhere. People ran for the exits screaming," said 24-year-old Alexander Vakulov, who said he was on a train on the platform opposite the targeted train at Park Kultury.

"I saw a dead person for the first time in my life," said 19-year-old Valentin Popov, who had just arrived at the station from the opposite direction.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who built much of his political capital by directing a fierce war with Chechen separatists a decade ago, vowed Monday that "terrorists will be destroyed."

The iconic Moscow subway system is one of the world's busiest, carrying around 7 million passengers on an average workday, and is a key element in running the sprawling and traffic-choked city.

Russian TV showed amateur video from inside the Lubyanka station of wounded and possibly dead victims sitting and lying on the floor. The train platform was filled with smoke.

Outside both stations, passengers flooded out, many of them crying and making frantic calls on their cell phones. The wounded were loaded into ambulances and helicopters, some with their heads wrapped in bloody bandages, as sirens wailed.

The last confirmed terrorist attack in Moscow was in August 2004, when a suicide bomber blew herself up outside a city subway station, killing 10 people. Responsibility for that blast was claimed by Chechen rebels.
Russian police have killed several Islamic militant leaders in the North Caucasus recently, including one last week in the Kabardino-Balkariya region. The killing of Anzor Astemirov was mourned by contributors to two al-Qaida-affiliated Web sites.

The killings have raised fears of retaliatory strikes by the militants.

Emergency Minister Sergei Shoigu said the toll was 37 killed and 102 injured, but he did not give a breakdown of casualties at each station.

In a televised meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, Federal Security Service head Alexander Bortnikov said body fragments of the two bombers pointed to a Caucasus connection. He did not elaborate.

"We will continue the fight against terrorism unswervingly and to the end," Medvedev said.

Neither he nor Putin, who was on an official trip in Siberia, announced specific measures and it was not clear if Russia has new strategies to unleash in the Caucasus, where violent separatism has spread from Chechnya into neighboring republics.

Although the Russian army battered Chechen rebels in massive assaults a decade ago, the separatists continue to move through the region's mountains and forests with comparative ease and launch frequent small attacks.
New York's transit system beefed up security as a precaution following the Moscow bombings. A spokesman for New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Kevin Ortiz, said the agency has a "heightened security presence," but declined further comment.

The agency is in charge of New York City buses and subways, as well as suburban trains, and bridges and tunnels.

The Moscow blasts practically paralyzed movement in the city center as emergency vehicles sped to the stations.

In the Park Kultury blast, the bomber was wearing a belt packed with plastic explosive and set it off as the train's doors opened, said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia's top investigative body. The woman has not been identified, he told reporters.

A woman who sells newspapers outside the Lubyanka station, Ludmila Famokatova, said there appeared to be no panic, but that many of the people who streamed out were distraught.

"One man was weeping, crossing himself, saying 'thank God I survived'," she said.

___
Associated Press Writers Jim Heintz, Lynn Berry and Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS casualty total.)

I made a mistake

So, I made a mistake.

Mistakes happen. Not only do they happen, they are guaranteed.

My father used to say, the only way you won't make mistakes is
if you don't do anything, and that itself is a mistake.

Too many are afraid to try something new because they feel they
might make an error. They are both right and wrong. Yes, they
will probably make errors but it is good to understand that
errors go with the territory.

You will never accomplish great or worthwhile things without
risk and risk generally means great mistake potential.

You are probably reading this by light bulbs invented by Thomas
Edison. He made over a thousand light bulbs that didn't work.
The world would have called them mistakes. He said he learned a
thousand ways not to make a light bulb.

The way to avoid mistakes is experience.
The way to get experience - Mistakes.

Don't feel bad because you messed up with something.
Don't be afraid to venture out into a good thing because you are
afraid that you might mess up.

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, another is
busy making mistakes and becoming superior.

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be
made, in a narrow field.

We have to keep trying things we're not sure we can pull off.
If we just do the things we know we can do... you don't grow as
much. You gotta take those chances on making those big mistakes.

Finally in this computer world on misteaks.
Dew knot trussed yore spell chequer two fined awl yore mistakes.

IN THE NEWS : An American Millionaire Becomes Muslim

An American millionaire, Mark Shaffer declared his Islam in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, 17th October  
2009. Mark was at that time on a holiday in Saudi Arabia to visit some famous cities like Riyadh ,  
Abha and Jeddah for 10 days.

                                                                       
Mark is a well-known millionaire and also a practiced lawyer in Los Angeles , specializing in cases
of civil laws. The last big case he handled was the case of the famous American pop singer, Michael
Jackson, a week before he passed away.

 A tourist guide who accompanied Mark for 10 days in Saudi Arabia , Dhawi Ben Nashir told: Since he  
set foot for the first time in Saudi Arabia , Mark already started to ask question about Islam and  
Solat. As soon as he arrived in Saudi, Mark stayed in Riyadh for two days. While in Riyadh , Mark  
was very interested in Islam. After moving to Najran, we went to Abha and Al-Ula. There, his        
fascination on Islam grew more obvious, especially the time when we ventured out into the desert.  
Mark was amazed to see three Saudi youths who were in our group in Al-Ula, performing solat in the  
expanse of the very wide desert. A very fantastic panorama indeed

After two days in Al-Ula, we went to Al-Juf. As soon as we arrived in Al-Juf, Mark asked if I could
get him some books on Islam. I then obtained some books on Islam for him. Mark read all those books.
The next morning, he asked me to teach him how to perform solat. I then taught him how to pray and  
take wudhu (ablution). Then, he joined me and performed solat beside me.

After solat, Mark told me that he felt peace in his soul. On Thursday afternoon, we left Al-Ula    
heading for Jeddah. He looked very serious throughout the journey reading those books about Islam.  
On Friday morning, we visited the old town of Jeddah . Before the time for the Friday prayer        
approached, we went back to the hotel and I excused myself to go for the Friday prayer. Then, Mark  
told me: I would like to join you for the Friday prayer so that I can witness myself how the Friday
prayer is like. So I answered: welcome…

We then went to a masjid which was not far from the hotel where we stayed in Jeddah. Since we were  
quite late, I and many other jamaah had to pray outside, as the number of jamaah was overflowing. I
could see Mark observing the jamaah, especially after the Friday prayer was completed, when        
everybody was shaking hands and embracing each other with radiant and happy faces. Mark was very    
impressed with what he saw.

                                                                        
When we return to the hotel, Mark suddenly told me that he wanted to become a Muslim. So I said to  
him: Please have a shower first. After Mark took the shower, I guided him in saying the kalimah of  
shahadah (declaration of faith) and then he prayed two rakaah. Later on, Mark expressed his desire  
to visit the Masjidil Haram in Makkah and perform solat there before leaving Saudi Arabia          
In order to fulfill his wish, we went to the Da’wah and Irshad office in the area of Al-Hamro’,    
Jeddah, to obtain a formal proof of his conversion to Islam, so that he would be allowed to enter  
the city of Makkah and Masjidil Haram. Then, Mark was given a temporary certificate of his          
conversion to Islam. As a number of group members who participated in Mark’s visit to Saudi Arabia  
had to go back to America on Saturday afternoon, Al-Hamdulillah, Ustadz Muhammad Turkistani was    
willing to send Mark to the Holy Land of Makkah that same morning.

Regarding Mark’s visit to Masjidil Haram, Ustadz Muhammad Turkistani narrated: After Mark obtained  
his temporary certificate, we straight away departed heading for the noble Masjidil Haram. When he  
witnessed the Masjidil Haram, he face looked radiant and it emanated an extraordinary happiness.    
When we entered the Masjidil Haram and witnessed the Ka’bah for ourselves, his happiness increased.
By Allah, I could not express that scene with words. After performing the tawaf around the noble    
Ka’bah, we performed the sunnah solat and went out of Masjidil Haram. I could see Mark very        
reluctantly wanting to leave Masjidil Haram.

                                                        
After Mark declared his Islamic faith, he had the chance to express his happiness in Al-Riyadh      
Newspaper saying: I could not express my feeling at this time but I am being reborn and my life has
just started… then he added: I am very happy. This happiness that I am feeling could not be        
expressed in words especially when I visited the Masjidil Haram and noble Ka’bah.                  
Regarding his next step after his conversion to Islam, Mark explained: I will learn more about      
Islam, I will delve deeper into this religion of Allah (Islam) and come back to Saudi Arabia to    
perform the Hajj.

                                                                                  
As to what impelled him into converting to Islam, Mark explained: I have already had information    
about Islam, but it was very limited. When I visited Saudi Arabia and personally witnessed the      
Muslims there, and saw how they performed the solat, I felt a very strong drive to know more about  
Islam. When I read true information about Islam, I became confident that Islam is a religion of haq
(truth).                                                                                            
                                                                                                 
Sunday morning, 18th October 2009, Mark left the Airport of King Abdul Aziz Jeddah heading for      
America . When filling in the immigration form before leaving Jeddah, Mark wrote ISLAM as his      
religion.. 

Member of the Swiss Political Party that Pushed for Minaret Ban Converts to Islam

Daniel Streich, Member of the Swiss Political Party that Pushed for Minaret Ban Converts to Islam

The news about Switzerland’s ban on the construction of minarets has made the headlines, providing shocking evidence of the strength of increasing intolerance in Europe.

Daniel Streich, military instructor and, until recently, a Swiss People’s Party (SVP) politician in the city of Bulle, has left the party,  the political party that pushed the minaret ban initiative.  The reason: He converted to Islam.  For two years he kept this secret from his ex-party.  Now, with the “witch hunt against Islam,” this situation has become unbearable for him.

He was a true SVPer and Christian.  He read the Bible and regularly went to church.  Now Daniel Streich, military instructor and community council member, reads the Qur’an, prays five times a day and goes to a mosque. 

“Islam offers me logical answers to important life questions, which, in the end, I never found in Christianity,” says Streich.

Because he could no longer stand the “SVP’s witch hunt against Islam” Streich left the part two weeks ago (around November 10, 2009) and has made his conversion to Islam become publicly known two years after his conversion. Now he’s participating in the building of the new Civil Conservative Democratic Party in the canton of Freiburg.  The former churchgoer is vehemently against the minaret initiative:  “If the initiative passes, it will be an absolute deep blow for me.  I would have to ask myself, why I applied myself professionally and politically for over 30 years for this political system.”  In contrast, Switzerland urgently needs more mosques.  “It is not worthy of Switzerland to force Muslims to practice their faith in back alleys.”

Reactions in the SVP were mixed. “Everyone can believe what he wants to,” says General Secretary Martin Baltisser. SVP-National Council member Alfred Heer had a less friendly reaction. Political scientist Georg Lutz: “The SVP and Islam stand closer to each other than people suppose. Both advance a conservative worldview.”

Take Care Of Your Parents

A simple man tells how his booking an air ticket for his father, his first flight, brought emotions and made him realize that how much we all take for granted when it comes to our parents.

My parents left for our native place on Thursday and we went to the airport to see them off. In fact, my father had never traveled by air before, so I just took this opportunity to make him experience the same.

In spite of being asked to book tickets by train, I got them tickets on Flight.

The moment I handed over the tickets to him, he was surprised to see that I had booked them by air.

The excitement was very apparent on his face, waiting for the time of travel. Just like a school boy, he was preparing himself on that day and we all went to the airport, right from using the trolley for his luggage, the baggage check-in and asking for window seat and waiting restlessly for the security check-in to happen.

He was thoroughly enjoying himself and I, too, was overcome with joy watching him experience all these things.

As they were about to go in for the security check-in, he walked up to me with tears in his eyes and thanked me. He became very emotional and it was not as if I had done something great but the fact that this meant a great deal to him.

When he said thanks, I told him there was no need to thank me.

But later, thinking about the entire incident, I looked back at my life.

As a child how many dreams our parents have made come true. Without understanding the financial situation, we ask for football, dresses, toys, outings, etc. Irrespective of their affordability, they have satisfied to all our needs. Did we ever think about the sacrifices they had to make to accommodate many of our wishes?

Did we ever say thanks for all that they have done for us?

Same way, today when it comes to our children, we always think that we should put them in a good school. Regardless of the amount of donation, we will ensure that we will have to give the child the best, theme parks, toys, etc. But we tend to forget that our parents have sacrificed a lot for our sake to see us happy, so it is our responsibility to ensure that their dreams are realized and what they failed to see when they were young, it is our responsibility to ensure that they experience all those and their life is complete.

Many times, when my parents had asked me some questions, I have actually answered back without patience. When my daughter asks me something, I have been very polite in answering. Now I realize how they would have felt at those moments.

Let us realize that old age is a second childhood and just as we take care of our children,the same attention and same care need to be given to our parents and elders.

Rather than my dad saying thank you to me, I would want to say sorry for making him wait so long for this small dream. I do realize how much he has sacrificed for my sake and I will do my best to give the best possible attention to all their wishes.

Just because they are old does not mean that they will have to give up everything and keep sacrificing for their grandchildren also. They have wishes, too.

Take care of ur parents.

Floating Stadium of Singapore

The Float at Marina Bay, also known as Marina Bay Floating Platform, is the world's largest floating stage. It is located on the waters of the Marina Reservoir, in Marina Bay, Singapore.

Made entirely of steel, the floating platform on Marina Bay measures 120 metres long and 83 metres wide, which is 5% larger than the soccer field at the National Stadium. The platform can bear up to 1,070 tonnes, equivalent to the total weight of 9,000 people, 200 tonnes of stage props and three 30-tonne military vehicles. The gallery at the stadium has a seating capacity of 30,000 people.

But do they have boats cruising around during the games to catch all those balls that were kicked outside the field?

Toyota Official Says Recall May Not Fully Solve Safety Problem

By MICHELINE MAYNARD

Published: February 23, 2010 

 

WASHINGTON — In the first of many Congressional hearings into Toyota’s extensive recalls, a senior company executive told the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday that the repairs prescribed by the company might “not totally” solve the problem of unintended sudden acceleration in its vehicles.

Since last fall, Toyota has recalled more than eight million cars worldwide, including six million in the United States, for complaints that the accelerator pedals can become stuck.

This month, dealers began repairing the pedals on cars involved in one of two recalls, using a remedy that James E. Lentz III, the president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., previously said the company was certain would resolve the issue.

But in response to a question Tuesday by the House energy committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Mr. Lentz said that Toyota was still examining the sudden acceleration problem, including the possibility that the electronics system might be at fault — something the company had previously denied was the case.
While Toyota has found no evidence of an electronics problem at this point, Mr. Lentz said, “we continue to look for potential causes.”

“We need to be vigilant and continue to investigate all the complaints of the consumers,” Mr. Lentz said. There is the possibility “of mechanical, human or some other type of error.”

Mr. Lentz also told the committee that Toyota was installing a new brake system that can override a surging gas pedal on almost all its new vehicles and most of those already on the road.

Mr. Waxman, while criticizing Toyota’s response to the recall, told Mr. Lentz: “We need to be sure that you’re doing a full and adequate analysis of something you’ve denied, but that other witnesses have shown us is very possible.”

Another committee session on Wednesday will include questions for Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota. A Senate committee also will examine the recalls next week.

Mr. Lentz’s disclosure came during a day that regularly turned emotional, as when Rhonda Smith, a Lexus owner whose car was involved in a sudden acceleration incident told her story. Mr. Lentz himself spoke in a choked voice when he discussed losing his brother in a car accident more than 20 years ago.

But Mr. Lentz, a marketing executive who has an M.B.A. degree, repeatedly avoided answering questions about the company’s technical issues.

During one long stretch of questioning by Representative John D. Dingell Jr., Democrat of Michigan, Mr. Lentz responded, “I don’t know” a number of times when asked for data about customer complaints.
He also emphasized frequently that the final authority for deciding actions on defects and other safety matters resided with Toyota officials in Japan.

His frequent references to Japan was a marked contrast to years of effort by Toyota to paint itself as a company that has given more decision-making power to its American employees. Toyota employees, many in colorful oxford cloth shirts with the company logo, sat behind Mr. Lentz in the packed committee room.
In the future, Mr. Lentz said, an employee from North America would participate on a new committee that the company is forming to examine quality issues. “We didn’t have that before,” Mr. Lentz said.

The transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, was also questioned by Mr. Dingell and other committee members who were critical of past decisions by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration not to vigorously pursue company recalls.

“There needs to be fundamental reform at N.H.T.S.A.,” Mr. Waxman said. “As I look at the record, it’s not a happy one. It’s not a successful one.”

Mr. LaHood, a former Republican representative from Illinois, sidestepped questions about whether his predecessors had been lax. He vowed his agency would “get into the weeds” and investigate complaints that the computerized electronic systems were involved.

Mr. LaHood said the department, which has 125 engineers to perform investigations, had found no evidence of electronic systems problems with Toyota cars and believed that floor mats and sticky pedals posed the greatest threat.

Mr. LaHood defended the work of government investigators, but he stopped short of saying that the recent recalls would solve the entire acceleration problem in Toyota cars.

“We stand ready to ensure prompt action on any additional defects that we have reason to believe are present,” Mr. LaHood said.

Witnesses who spoke before Mr. Lentz described how an electronic problem could have caused cars to surge unexpectedly.

Mrs. Smith, who paused to wipe away tears, told of the harrowing moments of Oct. 12, 2006, when her Lexus sedan sped out of control at 100 miles an hour.

Mrs. Smith told the energy committee that she furiously pushed buttons, shifted gears, and slammed on the brakes as she tried to stop the vehicle. Six miles later, she finally brought it to a halt.

Mrs. Smith told the committee that she felt that Toyota’s response to her complaint was “a farce.” She said a company technician told her he was not able to replicate the episode and suggested that it was caused by pressing on the brakes while the tires were spinning.

“Of course we were insulted, and furious, over being called liars,” Mrs. Smith said.

Later, Mr. Lentz said he was “embarrassed about what happened” to the Smiths. “We’re going to go down and get that car and see what happened,” he said.

His voice choking when he spoke of his brother’s accident, Mr. Lentz said, “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of what these families go through,” he said. He did not give the details of the accident.
Asked why Toyota had moved away from a business model that prized quality and openness, Mr. Lentz offered a simple explanation: “We lost sight of our customers.”

“We outgrew our engineering resource,” he said. “We’re suffering from that today.”

Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, a home to Nissan and a plant under construction by Volkswagen, said the goal of the committee hearing was to “make sure that mistakes of the past are not repeated and to be responsible when so much is on the line.”

Javier Hernandez contributed reporting from New York.

President Urges Focus on Common Ground

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and ROBERT PEAR

Published: February 25, 2010 

 

WASHINGTON — If there was any question about how deeply divided Republicans and Democrats are about how to reshape the American health care system, consider that they spent the first few hours of President Obama’s much-anticipated health care forum on Thursday arguing over whether they were in fact deeply divided.

The forum played out with Mr. Obama serving as moderator, M.C. and chief defender of Democratic policy prescriptions. He and his fellow Democrats tried to make the case that the two parties were closer than they thought, with the implication that their bill was centrist and would be acceptable to mainstream voters. Republicans countered that the gap was vast, the bill out of touch with what the country wanted, and that Mr. Obama should throw it out and start over. “A dangerous experiment,” warned Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader.

By day’s end, it seemed clear that the all-day televised session might have driven the parties even farther apart. Republicans said there was no way they would vote for Mr. Obama’s bill, and Democrats were talking openly about pushing it through Congress on a simple majority vote using a controversial parliamentary maneuver known as reconciliation.

As he wrapped up the session, Mr. Obama chided Republicans for advocating “baby steps” and rejected their call to start over, declaring Americans “don’t want us to wait.” He said that if he did not see any significant movement toward bipartisan cooperation, Democrats would push ahead on their own and leave it to voters to render their judgment.

“That’s what elections are for,” the president said.
The forum, at Blair House across the street from the White House, was in many respects an extraordinary sight — the president, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at his side, engaging in a spirited and detailed policy debate with Republicans about one of the most compelling and ideologically polarizing issues facing the nation.

Mr. Obama’s mastery of the intricacies of health policy was impressive even to some Republicans.
“It was sort of his classroom,” Senator Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who delivered his party’s opening statement, said in an interview. “I was glad we did it, because the president’s megaphone is the biggest one and when he shares it with Republicans like he did, that gives us several hours to make our case, and I thought we made it well.”

The session did produce hints of potential agreement on some issues, but in each case Democrats and Republicans differed over important details.

They agreed on the need for more regulation of insurers, for example, but clashed over the question of whether the federal government should replace states as the primary regulator. They agreed that the federal government should help individuals and small businesses pool their purchasing power to buy insurance, but disagreed over whether the government should specify minimum benefits, as Democrats proposed.
Beyond the question of government intervention in the private insurance market, their most profound disagreement was over expanding coverage to the uninsured. The Democrats want to cover more than 30 million people over 10 years; Republicans said the nation could not even afford the entitlement programs, like Medicare, that already exist, much less start new ones.

Amid the debate over insurance industry regulation, cost containment, medical malpractice lawsuits and other minutiae of health policy, there were also plenty of theatrics. At one point, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, chastised Mr. Obama for allowing Democrats to run on, saying Republicans had spoken for 24 minutes while Democrats had had 52. (Republicans kept track of the dialogue; at the end of the day, they said Mr. Obama had spoken for 119 minutes, Democrats 114 and Republicans 110.)

At another point, Mr. Obama looked wryly at Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip, who addressed the president with a stack of papers in front of him. “Let me just guess,” Mr. Obama said, barely containing his smirk, “that’s the 2,400-page bill.”

But the biggest clash of the day involved Mr. Obama’s 2008 Republican rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona. Reminding Mr. Obama that both of them had run for office “promising change in Washington,” Mr. McCain delivered a lengthy talk deriding the Democrats’ bill as being produced “behind closed doors” and stuffed with “unsavory deal-making.”

Mr. Obama finally tried to cut the senator off. “We’re not campaigning anymore,” the president said. “The election is over.”

Mr. McCain laughed and shot back: “I’m reminded of that every day.”

Later, though, Mr. Obama credited Mr. McCain with making a valid argument in a discussion over federal payments to private Medicare Advantage plans.

Mr. McCain criticized a provision of the Senate bill that would carve out special protections for people enrolled in the plans in Florida and a few other states, while people in his own state of Arizona would not benefit. The president called it a “legitimate point.”

Throughout the day, Mr. Obama skirmished with Republicans over the effects of the Democrats’ proposal on health insurance premiums. Republicans, citing a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate bill, said the average premium for individual policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium that year under current law.

Mr. Obama countered that under the Senate bill, the federal government would establish standards for “decent insurance,” and that the better benefits might be more costly. And in any event, most people buying individual policies would qualify for federal subsidies, which would substantially lower what they pay.
One of the sharpest areas of philosophical disagreement between Mr. Obama and the Republicans emerged when Senator John Barrasso, the Wyoming Republican who is also an orthopedic surgeon, contended that Americans would make better, less costly health care choices if they had catastrophic insurance coverage that required them to pay for most services out of pocket.

Mr. Obama asked if he would prefer that members of Congress have only catastrophic coverage; the senator said he would. “That’s right, because members of Congress make $176,000 a year,” Mr. Obama replied, adding that he wondered whether Mr. Barrasso would feel the same way if he earned only $40,000.
For the president, Thursday’s session was a kind of Hail Mary pass, a last-ditch effort to keep his top legislative priority from slipping out of his grasp.

He opened the session by calling on the two parties to search for common ground and implored them to “make sure that this discussion is actually a discussion and not just us trading talking points.”
Mr. Obama said he found considerable overlap in the two parties’ ideas, and Democrats like Senator Max Baucus of Montana, a chief author of the bill, spent much of their morning trying to back up that assertion.
Sounding optimistic, Mr. Baucus said, “We are on the verge and the cusp, with not too much effort, to try to bridge a lot of gaps here.”

David M. Herszenhorn contributed reporting.

Why does Apolo Anton Ohno yawn before his races?

By Martin Rogers

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Seconds before the biggest moment of his career, the excitement and adrenaline were finally too much for Apolo Anton Ohno. He couldn't hold it in any longer.
He yawned.
Television viewers were stunned by the American's apparently lackadaisical approach to the race, which would determine whether he would become the Winter Olympian with the most medals in U.S. history. (He did, with a bronze.)
British Open golf champion Stewart Cink even Tweeted that Ohno's action made him yawn, too, as he watched on TV. 
Yet some sneaky investigation by Yahoo! Sports revealed there is madness behind Ohno's moribundity.
A friend of Ohno's – who asked not to be named because, er, "Apolo might not like it" – revealed that the yawning lets extra oxygen into his lungs in the seconds before bursting across the ice.
Ohno himself confirmed as much to Yahoo! Sports. "It makes me feel better," he said. "It gets the oxygen in and the nerves out."

Exercise

You know you need to work out, but youre having trouble getting up the enthusiasm. How do you find motivation to exercise when you just dont feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling Im not the only one.

There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise, actually, but these are a few that have worked for me.

• Have fun. If you hate running, dont go to the track for exercise. Find something you like. The list of different kinds of exercises are nearly endless. The only really important thing is to get your body moving and your heart rate up.
• How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. Its a high. And I let that motivate me the next time.
• Calories burned. If you count calories (and its really one of the most effective ways to lose weight), you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn — and the bigger your calorie deficit.
• How youre going to look. Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you.
• Change it up. Even if you have a routine you enjoy, mix it up from time to time. Try entirely different exercises. You can check out a tape at the library and try yoga or kick boxing for an afternoon. This will not only keep you interested, it will break your muscles out of their routine and help produce better results.
• Get a buddy. Exercising with a friend introduces a positive kind of peer pressure. You will be more likely to go to the gym if you know someone is waiting there for you. Talking and laughing while exercising will also keep you from being bored.
• An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and youll see what I mean.
• Get appropriate clothing. If you dont have the appropriate clothes for the exercise, it can be irritating, uncomfortable, frustrating, or even unsafe. If you exercise outside after dusk, be sure you have reflective clothing to prevent traffic accidents. Also be sure the clothing looks nice; if you dont like the way your clothing looks, you may feel uncomfortable, and less likely to exercise.
• Pack Ahead of Time: An iPod, athletic shoes, a towel whatever. Walking around the house trying to find stuff is a good time to lose your resolve. Put everything together in your gym bag. When you finish working out, take out things that need to be laundered and replace them immediately.
• Have a Goal. What do you want to achieve? Make it specific, make it meaningful, make it obtainable. Be sure to have short-term benchmarks along the way. Its OK to change your goals if the original plan doesnt work, but have a goal. Regularly evaluate how you are doing on your goals.
• Success stories. I find the success stories of others incredibly inspirational. If a fitness website has success stories, Ill almost always read them.
• Reward Yourself. Have a healthy reward when you reach a goal. Buy yourself that cute pair of bike shorts. Go for a weekend hiking tri. Soak in the sauna for your workout that day. Buy a new yoga video. Whatever works for you to celebrate in line with your healthy lifestyle!