Happy New Year!

May God make year 2007 peaceful,Joyful,healthy for everyone. May the people of Iraq,Palestine,Afghanistan,Sudan,Africa,and people all over the world have a better year this year. May the world resort to peace not war. May God look upon the sick,needy,and troubled.

On a personal level.I am very thankful to God for my husband,children,my health and our extended families for all their support and for all the blessings of 2006.

Twosret signing off!

Happy Reading

Guardian

Woman wins payout for slurs on blog

Ed Pilkington in New York
Thursday October 12, 2006

Guardian
A jury in Florida has awarded a woman $11.3m (£6m) in costs and damages after a former acquaintance accused her of being a crook, a con artist and a fraudster on an internet talkboard.

The award, believed to be the largest verdict of it sort relating to individual postings on bulletin boards or blogs, was handed down by a jury in Broward County, Florida, against a woman from Louisiana. The sum included $5m (£2.7m) in punitive damages.

Sue Scheff, who runs a small educational business in Weston, Florida, filed the lawsuit in 2003 claiming she had been subjected to 10 months of ugly criticism on the internet from Carey Bock. Ms Bock, from Mandeville, Louisiana, had posted the comments on Fornits.com, a board used by parents of troubled teenagers. Ms Bock did not attend the final hearing.

How would a court react to someone posting libel comments like "alcoholic,death threats,habitual liar?"

O Canada

Ontario Court issues injunction against Internet defamation
Bradley J. Freedman | Current to: June 4, 2004
Posted: Tuesday, July 06, 2004

In the June 4, 2004 decision in Barrick Gold Corporation v. Lopehandia, [2004] O.J. No. 2329, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered increased damages and issued a permanent injunction against a British Columbia resident responsible for "a systematic, extensive and vicious campaign" of Internet libel against Barrick. The decision demonstrates that, in appropriate cases, Canadian courts will issue injunctions prohibiting Internet defamation even though the responsible persons are outside the court's territorial jurisdiction.


Bloggers beware

Writing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth can keep you out of trouble — both in your personal and public life — only to a point. While truth is the defense for libel and slander, it is NOT a defense for invasion of privacy and the Internet is the new frontier where not everything is clearly defined.

And even if you consider your blog a diary, that doesn't keep you safe from character defamation charges - and the cost could be as much as 23 years of your life.


Death threats

New York man pleads guilty to Internet death threat
By Carson Walker, Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A former Veterans Administration law enforcement officer from New York state will serve six months of home confinement for threatening to kill a Rapid City woman through e-mail.

Edward S. Grenawalt, 47, of Yonkers, N.Y., pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Rapid City to one count of making a threatening communication and was sentenced to two years probation.

Besides the home detention, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier also restricted his use of the Internet.

FDA Expected to Rule on Cloned Food This Week

Bush our great Christian president whom God speaks through him will allow the FDA to rule on cloned meat, milk and dairy products. Those products will be in my grocery store without a label to identify them. I'm ready to puke!

ABC news Dec. 27, 2006 — The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make an important ruling this week on the future of meat and milk from cloned animals.

Just 10 years after Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be successfully cloned, food products from cloned animals could soon become available on grocery store shelves nationwide.

In what is seen as a preview of an FDA ruling expected this week, FDA scientists say in a new study that they have found that food from cloned animals is safe to eat.

"Meat and milk from clones and their progeny is as safe to eat" as food that isn't produced through cloning, the report said.

Regardless of the FDA's decision, it's not expected to quell the controversy over cloned foods.

"We are not convinced that this is safe food," Jaydee Hanson of the Center for Food Safety told "Good Morning America."

"And we haven't seen the facts that would convince us," Hanson said.

Some farmers and ranchers already clone animals, but a voluntary moratorium imposed by the FDA has kept that meat and milk off store shelves.

The public seems skeptical about changing that. In a poll taken earlier this year, 65 percent called cloning animals morally wrong. Another poll found that 45 percent opposed using cloning in food production.

If FDA approval goes through, the question is how and whether cloned meat and milk will be clearly marked so consumers know what they're buying. Experts say that may be unlikely.

"It's very possible that these products will end up on the grocery store shelves without any specific label identifying them as having come from cloned animals," said Michael Fernandez, executive director of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology.

36% of Egyptian men are beaten by their wives

Yes, women also beat their husbands! That was the conclusion of a study of spousal violence conducted by the Dialogue and Development Center in Egypt. According to Al Arabiyah Television Channel, the study analyzed all stories published about spousal abuse in Egyptian Newspapers for the last six months of 2005.

One Al Arabiyah reporter said, “The results were surprising.” It turned out that women had committed 111 crimes against men (85 homicides, 15 thefts, and 11 beatings).”In contrast men committed 172 crimes against women,(150 homicides, 13 attempted homicides, and 9 beatings).

Saed Abdel-Hafiz from the Dialogue and Development Center and who conducted the study told the Al Arabiyah television: “We always hear about women poisoning their husbands because it enables them to avoid physical confrontations, but women are also becoming more creative. Some inject their husbands with poisonous substances, while others use simple household products like hair dye.”

Although the results revealed that men were still ahead in committing crimes against their wives, the study created a lot of controversy, which was evident in the headlines in the Egyptian Newspapers. “Husbands Massacre,” “Men are victims of the Soft Hands,” and “By poison, Choking, Kicking, Boxing and Severe Beating--- Women Respond to Verbal Abuse,” are some of the headlines.

Said Abdel-Hafiz, “the study results were surprising because they reveal an increase in violence committed by women. They committed only sixty less crimes than men in a period of six months.”

Nazic Nasir, a professor of social science in the American university in Cairo, believes that women are pushed to use violence because, “they have to deal with injustices and abuses. And they have no agencies to turn to for help in getting out of their unhealthy situations.”

According to Najad Alberie, secretary general of the Democratic Development Organization, “Women beating their husbands are not a new phenomenon. Researchers tend to make mistakes because they tend to base their research on data acquired from local police departments. But men often are ashamed to make a police report if they are physically abused. In reality many men are beaten by women.”

Alberie also said that wives who are subjected to beatings have to make a police report because that is the only way for them to be able get divorced from their husbands. Husbands, on the other hand, can divorce their wives anytime they want.


On the other hand,somewhere in America an American woman is raped every 2 minutes

Statement by the Patriarch and Local Heads of Churches In Jerusalem

"THE JERUSALEM DECLARATION ON CHRISTIAN ZIONISM" - Statement by the Patriarch and Local Heads of Churches In Jerusalem

"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist programme provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ's love and justice today.
We categorically reject Christian Zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the biblical message of love, justice and reconciliation.

We further reject the contemporary alliance of Christian Zionist leaders and organizations with elements in the governments of Israel and the United States that are presently imposing their unilateral pre-emptive borders and domination over Palestine. This inevitably leads to unending cycles of violence that undermine the security of all peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world.

We reject the teachings of Christian Zionism that facilitate and support these policies as they advance racial exclusivity and perpetual war rather than the gospel of universal love, redemption and reconciliation taught by Jesus Christ. Rather than condemn the world to the doom of Armageddon we call upon everyone to liberate themselves from the ideologies of militarism and occupation. Instead, let them pursue the healing of the nations!

We call upon Christians in Churches on every continent to pray for the Palestinian and Israeli people, both of whom are suffering as victims of occupation and militarism. These discriminative actions are turning Palestine into impoverished ghettos surrounded by exclusive Israeli settlements. The establishment of the illegal settlements and the construction of the Separation Wall on confiscated Palestinian land undermines the viability of a Palestinian state as well as peace and security in the entire region.

We call upon all Churches that remain silent, to break their silence and speak for reconciliation with justice in the Holy Land.

Therefore, we commit ourselves to the following principles as an alternative way:

We affirm that all people are created in the image of God. In turn they are called to honor the dignity of every human being and to respect their inalienable rights.

We affirm that Israelis and Palestinians are capable of living together within peace, justice and security.

We affirm that Palestinians are one people, both Muslim and Christian. We reject all attempts to subvert and fragment their unity.

We call upon all people to reject the narrow world view of Christian Zionism and other ideologies that privilege one people at the expense of others.

We are committed to non-violent resistance as the most effective means to end the illegal occupation in order to attain a just and lasting peace.

With urgency we warn that Christian Zionism and its alliances are justifying colonization, apartheid and empire-building.

God demands that justice be done. No enduring peace, security or reconciliation is possible without the foundation of justice. The demands of justice will not disappear. The struggle for justice must be pursued diligently and persistently but non-violently.

"What does the Lord require of you, to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

This is where we take our stand. We stand for justice. We can do no other. Justice alone guarantees a peace that will lead to reconciliation with a life of security and prosperity for all the peoples of our Land. By standing on the side of justice, we open ourselves to the work of peace - and working for peace makes us children of God.

"God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:19)

His Beattitude Patriarch Michel Sabbah
Latin Patriarchate, Jerusalem

Archbishop Swerios Malki Mourad,
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, Jerusalem

Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal,
Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East

Bishop Munib Younan,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land

Born is the King of Israel

The Nutcracker

What a great day I had today! Splendid,wonderful,refreshing, and a lovely performance of the nutcracker. I'm also a very proud Mom of my two very young girls who did wonderful in their first big theatre experience considering they are only two and three.

Picture of the week

This is the first time in the history of the United States that the White house decided to celebrate Hanukkah.

""Laura and I are honored to have this Hanukkah menorah here at the White House," Bush said. "It's a symbol that the White House is the people's house, and it belongs to Americans of all faith."

I mark your words Dubya, if America belongs to Americans of all faith then we are looking forward to see you celebrating the next Muslim holiday.

Apology for lack of posts

Thanks to all of you who sent me e-mails and offline messages to check on me. I have been very busy with the holiday season,I was appointed to volunteer as a chair in one of the committees in my daughter's school, this is my first year in the school and holding such position wasn't easy. I was very glad that the big event went well and I felt very positive about helping the school and the community (it was really nice to deal with adults above the age of 3).

I had a sick mom visiting me that consumed some of my time,and my youngest daughter is going through her terrible two's. In addition my family and I are making very important business decisions that requires analysis,research,and time consuming business meetings.

I apologize for lack of posts and blogging will resume shortly. I wish all of you a happy Hanukkah,happy Kwanzaa,peaceful and joyful Christmas and a happy New Year.

Peace

Christmas childhood memories

Christmas Creche



Decorating the tree



HH Pope Shenouda's Christmas midnight mass



The Legendary Fayrouz Christmas carols,Laylet Eid (Jingle bells)



St. Nick's and the spirit of giving




Buche de Noel