Finally, moderate Muslims are speaking out more strongly: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/28/american.muslims.ap/ American Muslim scholars who interpret religious law for their community issued an edict Thursday condemning terrorism against civilians in response to the wave of deadly attacks in Britain and other countries. In the statement, called a fatwa, the 18-member Fiqh Council of North America wrote that people who commit terrorism in the name of Islam were "criminals, not `martyrs."'
"There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism," the scholars wrote. "Targeting civilians' life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram -- or forbidden..." ...The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an advocacy group based in Los Angeles, started the "National Anti-Terrorism Campaign" last year, urging Muslims to monitor their own communities, speak out more boldly against violence and work with law enforcement officials. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights organization, is running a TV ad and a petition-drive called "Not in the Name of Islam," which repudiates terrorism. In New York and other cities, mosque leaders have joined advisory committees created by the FBI to build relations between law enforcement and their local communities... And technology is helping the Kenyan farmer: http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-47033-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html ...At dawn, while Kenya turns in its sleep, Peter Kimani is awake and on his way to Karatina Central Farmers Market, the largest produce market in Eastern Africa, to dispose of his produce. The onions, tomatoes, cabbages, and avocadoes will later be transported to Wakulima Market in Nairobi, the largest wholesale farmers market in East Africa, with about 10 000 traders. Kimani is a smallholder farmer in Kirinyaga District, central Kenya, an area endowed with rich soils and rainfall. However, its large population has forced the subdivision of land into smallholder plots, which has eventually depressed the area's productivity. The father of three makes his living selling fruit and vegetables to the larger Nairobi. He has a one-acre plot. He does not earn a lot of money; on a typical day, he takes home US$5. "Prices are not good here. They have been bad for a while," he says. Indeed, the price of horticultural products has been depressed for a while at Karatina's Central Farmers Market. Yet, by the time Kimani's produce reaches the Wakulima market, the prices will have ballooned by about 40%... ..."The drum was used to pass information in Africa, whether the news was about a funeral or a fire outbreak," says Adera. "We are now moving from the drum to the Internet, from the African drum to the latest technology." The researchers believe that the provision of financial, marketing, and information services to peasant farmers will result in increased market access and an enhanced ability to make informed marketing decisions. This will eventually have an impact on overall market efficiency and finally help reduce poverty. DrumNet plans to offer its members a range of for-fee services, including market linkages, real-time market price information, the coordination of produce transport, and group purchase of farm inputs, as well as information on leading farming techniques... More about DrumNet: http://www.prideafrica.com/projects.htm While on a darker but sweeter note, more about health benefits of dark chocolate (although this is a _tiny_ study): http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/07/19/heart.chocolate.reut/index.html Dark chocolate can not only soothe your soul but can lower blood pressure too, researchers reported Monday. The study, published by the American Heart Association, joins a growing body of research that show compounds found in chocolate called flavonoids can help the blood vessels work more smoothly, perhaps reducing the risk of heart disease. "Previous studies suggest flavonoid-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, tea, red wine and chocolate, might offer cardiovascular benefits, but this is one of the first clinical trials to look specifically at dark chocolate's effect on lowering blood pressure among people with hypertension," said Jeffrey Blumberg of Tufts University in Boston, who led the study... ...Blumberg and colleagues at the University of L'Aquila in Italy studied 10 men and 10 women with high blood pressure. For 15 days, half ate a daily 3.5 ounce (100 gram) bar of specially formulated, flavonoid-rich dark chocolate, while the other half ate the same amount of white chocolate. Then each group "crossed over" and ate the other chocolate. "White chocolate, which has no flavonoids, was the perfect control food because it contains all the other ingredients and calories found in dark chocolate," Blumberg said. "It's important to note that the dark chocolate we used had a high level of flavonoids, giving it a slightly bittersweet taste. Most Americans eat milk chocolate, which has a low amount of these compounds." Writing in the journal Hypertension, Blumberg's team said when the volunteers ate the special dark chocolate, they had a 12 mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 9 mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) on average. Blood pressure did not change when the volunteers ate white chocolate. "This is not only a statistically significant effect, but it's also a clinically meaningful decline," Blumberg said. "This is the kind of reduction in blood pressure often found with other healthful dietary interventions." Eating dark chocolate also seemed to improve how the body used insulin, and reduced low density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol by about 10 percent on average... Debbi Look For The Good, Focus On The Positive, Set Out The Honey-jar... Maru ':} __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
