#save dr. hamid

[rebel-girl-queen-of-my-world]

Dr. Hamid Ghare-Hasanlou and his wife Farzaneh are facing imminent execution. They were interrogated in front of their little daughter at her birthday party because they attended the funeral for Hadis Najafi.

Say their names. Post #SaveDrHamid wherever you can.

Go to @middleeastmatters on Instagram and use the link in their bio to take action:

Oh, and @staff - how about making this a Thing We Care About for fuck’s sake??

[loneranger0369]

Save Dr.Hamid Ghare-Hassanlou

Please share.

Please reblog.

[market-news-24]

Today's Current Affairs: Former Leaders Vote From Home in Delhi In a unique move, former Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, and former Union Minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi have utilized the home voting facility to cast their votes in Delhi. The Delhi poll body recently introduced a home voting facility for elderly voters and persons with disabilities, with 1,482 voters already taking advantage of this option on the first day. As of now, a total of 5,406 voters have applied to use the home voting facility in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. [ad_2] Download Latest Movies in HD Quality Downloading In 15 seconds Scroll Down to End of This Post const downloadBtn = document.getElementById('download-btn'); const timerBtn = document.getElementById('timer-btn'); const downloadLinkBtn = document.getElementById('download-link-btn'); downloadBtn.addEventListener('click', () => downloadBtn.style.display = 'none'; timerBtn.style.display = 'block'; let timeLeft = 15; const timerInterval = setInterval(() => if (timeLeft === 0) clearInterval(timerInterval); timerBtn.style.display = 'none'; downloadLinkBtn.style.display = 'inline-block'; // Add your download functionality here console.log('Download started!'); else timerBtn.textContent = `Downloading In $timeLeft seconds`; timeLeft--; , 1000); ); [ad_1] h2 What is the purpose of the home voting facility introduced by the Delhi poll body? - A. To increase voter turnout among elderly individuals and persons with disabilities - B. To allow celebrities to vote from their homes - C. To save money on polling stations - D. To make voting more difficult for certain groups Answer: A. To increase voter turnout among elderly individuals and persons with disabilities h2 How many voters have exercised their right to vote from home during the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi? - A. 1,482 voters - B. 2,956 voters - C. 5,406 voters - D. 1409 voters Answer: C. 5,406 voters h2 Which constituency reported the highest number of home votes during the election? - A. North Delhi - B. South Delhi - C. East Delhi - D. West Delhi Answer: D. West Delhi h2 Who successfully cast their votes using the home voting facility in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency? - A. Dr Manmohan Singh - B. LK Advani - C. Mohammad Hamid Ansari - D. Dr Murli Manohar Joshi Answer: A. Dr Manmohan Singh [ad_2] What is the home voting facility introduced by the Delhi poll body? The home voting facility was introduced for elderly voters and persons with disabilities (PwDs) to cast their votes from the comfort of their homes. Who are some of the prominent leaders who have utilized the home voting facility? Former vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, and former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi have utilized the home voting facility. How many voters have participated in home voting across all seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi? A total of 2,956 voters have exercised their right to vote from home across all seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi. What is the total number of voters who have filled out Form 12D to avail of the home voting facility? A total of 5,406 voters across Delhi, including elderly individuals and PwDs, have filled out Form 12D to avail of the home voting facility in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. [ad_1] Download Movies Now Searching for Latest movies 20 seconds Sorry There is No Latest movies link found due to technical error. Please Try Again Later. function claimAirdrop() document.getElementById('claim-button').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('timer-container').style.display = 'block'; let countdownTimer = 20; const countdownInterval = setInterval(function()

document.getElementById('countdown').textContent = countdownTimer; countdownTimer--; if (countdownTimer < 0) clearInterval(countdownInterval); document.getElementById('timer-container').style.display = 'none'; document.getElementById('sorry-button').style.display = 'block'; , 1000); [ad_2] Today's Current Affairs in Delhi saw some prominent leaders casting their votes from the comfort of their homes. Former vice president Mohammad Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, and former Union minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi all took advantage of the home voting facility introduced by the Delhi poll body. A total of 1,409 voters participated in the second day of home voting, with the West Delhi constituency reporting the highest number of home votes. This initiative aims to make voting easier for elderly voters and persons with disabilities, ensuring they can participate in the electoral process with ease and dignity. With a total of 2,956 voters already having exercised their right to vote from home, Delhi will head to polls on May 25. [ad_1]

[sevenoctober7]

‏يقول المفكر الإسلامي الدكتور /محمد عمارة -رحمه الله-:

في أحد المجالس، التفت أحد المدعوين العلمانيين تجاهي، وخاطبني مستهزئاً، وقال:

هل أفهم من كتاباتك أنك تريد تطبيق أحكام الشريعة والعودة بنا إلى الوراء؟

فأجبته متسائلاً:

هل تقصد بالوراء يعني حوالي 100 سنة، عندما كان السلطان عبدالحميد الثاني يحكم نصف الكرة الأرضية؟

أم عندما كان ملوك أوروبا يحكمون شعوبهم بتفويض من السلطان العثماني؟

أم قصدك إلى الوراء أكثر زمن حكم المماليك، الذين أنقذوا العالم من المغول والتتار؟

أم إلى الوراء أكثر عندما حكم العباسيون نصف الأرض؟

أم إلى الوراء أيام الأمويين؟ أم قبلهم سيدنا عمر الذي حكم أكثر الكرة الأرضية؟

أم قصدك عندما بدأ هارون الرشيد رسالته إلى ملك الروم نقفور:

من هارون أمير المؤمنين إلى نقفور كلب الروم..؟

أم إلى زمن عبدالرحمن الداخل، الذي طوّق جيشه إيطاليا وفرنسا؟

هذا سياسياً..

أم قصدك علمياً.. عندما كان العلماء مثل ابن سينا والفارابي وابن جبير والخوارزمي وابن رشد وابن خلدون إلخ، يعلّمون العالم الطبّ والصيدلة والهندسة والفلك والشعر؟!

أم قصدك كرامة.. عندما صاحت امرأة وامعتصماه، فجرّد المعتصم الجيش وطرد اليهود من أرض الدولة، بينما النساء اليوم تُغتص�� اغتصاباً والحكام مسرورون؟!

أم قصدك عندما أنشأ المسلمون أول جامعة تعرفها أرض أوروبا في إسبانيا؟

ومن وقتها أصبح الزيّ العربي «العباء��» هو لباس التخرج في كل جامعات العالم، ولليوم وقبعة التخرج مسطّحة، لأنه كان يتم وضع القرآن فوقها في احتفال التخرج.

أم قصدك لما كانت القاهرة أجمل مدينة بالعالم؟

أم عندما كان الدينار العراقي يساوي 483 دولاراً؟

أم عندما كان الهاربون من أوروبا الفقيرة يتوجهون إلى الإسكندرية؟

أم عندما طلبت أميركا من مصر إنقاذ أوروبا من المجاعة؟

منتظرك تشرح لي قصدك وتخبرني كم تريد أن نرجع إلى الوراء؟

The Islamic thinker, Dr. Muhammad Amara - may God have mercy on him - says: In one of the councils, one of the secular invitees turned towards me, addressed me mockingly, and said: Do I understand from your writings that you want to implement the provisions of Sharia and take us back? I answered him asking: Do you mean backwards, about 100 years, when Sultan Abdul Hamid II ruled half of the globe? Or when the kings of Europe ruled their people with the authority of the Ottoman Sultan? Or do you mean further back to the time of the rule of the Mamluks, who saved the world from the Mongols and Tatars? Or even further back when the Abbasids ruled half the land? Or back to the days of the Umayyads? Or before them, our master Omar, who ruled most of the globe? Or do you mean when Harun al-Rashid began his letter to the Roman king Nikephoros: From Harun, the Commander of the Faithful, to Nikephoros, the dog of the Romans..? Or to the time of Abd al-Rahman al-Dakhel, whose army surrounded Italy and France? Is this politically...or do you mean scientifically...when scholars such as Ibn Sina, Al-Farabi, Ibn Jubayr, Al-Khwarizmi, Ibn Rushd, Ibn Khaldun, etc., were teaching the world medicine, pharmacy, engineering, astronomy, and poetry?! Or do you mean dignity? When a woman shouted and Mutassim shouted, Mutassim disbanded the army and expelled the Jews from state land, while today women are being raped and the rulers are happy?! Or do you mean when Muslims established the first university known to Europe in Spain? Since then, the Arab dress, the “abaya,” has become the graduation dress at all universities in the world. To this day, the graduation cap is flat, because the Qur’an was placed on top of it during the graduation ceremony. Or do you mean when Cairo was the most beautiful city in the world? Or when the Iraqi dinar was worth 483 dollars? Or when those fleeing poor Europe headed to Alexandria? Or when America asked Egypt to save Europe from famine? I'm waiting for you to explain to me what you mean and tell me how much you want us to go back?

[thewolfseries]

WOLF Character Profile: Dr. Kajal Laghari

Name: Dr. Kajal Laghari

Height: 5'5" Weight: 110 lbs Gender: Female Species: Werewolf, shifter. Hair Color: Jet black, straight, mid-back length. Eye Color: Amber-brown. Affiliation: Lupine Freedom Orientation: Straight

A genius intellect of Pakastani/Hindi descent, Kajal is the daughter of immigrant parents who fled a war torn country when she was a little girl. Her father, Hamid and her mother, a beautiful Hindi woman named Aanya, moved to the United States when Kajal was a baby, sought asylum, and through hard work and many emotional trials, managed to become naturalized US citizens. Her father attended Quantico and became a US Marshal, while her mother became a journalist for The Oceanic, a popular magazine on par with Time and People, covering world wide events aiming to make a difference with the written word.

With urging from her parents, Kajal, who showed impressive signs of extreme intelligence at a very early age, took STEM classes, and found her love not in men or women but rather in science, in understanding how the world worked, especially after she found that, like her father, she had inherited his shifter genes.

Their family had many happy memories until 2001, when her father lost his life on AA-Flight-11, heading to Los Angeles for a conference on September 11, but like so many others that day, he never made it and went down to his fate trying to save the lives of others as his plane crashed violently into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

His death left deep scars on Kajal and her mother and the family slowly drifted apart. Kajal landed a high paying job with Madison Genetics, developing technology for the super conglomerate until one day she found out the tech she was developing, both genetics and technology, were being used against shifters. When it became public knowledge that a shifter had been developing anti-shifter technology, her life, barely stabilized after so many years of trauma, unraveled and finally, an assault that left her neck scarred, drove her to seek out alternative ways to change the world; if she could not change it in the light, she would change it in the dark.

[cloobert]

More things to read like this (if you're willing to track down copies): Cyclonopedia: Complicity with Anonymous Materials by Reza Negarestani is a work of theory-horror-fiction centering around the work of the fictional Dr. Hamid Parsani, who has become convinced that oil--sentient, cruel, and crude oil--is the true architect of the War on Terror. It plays in similar epistolary space as House of Leaves at times, but is a beast all its own. Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was by Angélica Gorodischer (and translated by Ursula K. LeGuin) is a beautiful book of stories told in and about a vast and ancient empire, tracing from its founding to, nominally, a modern day of sorts. Gorodischer and LeGuin are careful to maintain the voices of the various storytellers telling about empresses, generals, and abandoned cities, so each line is genuinely a delight and fascination to read.

The Solar Cycle by Gene Wolfe is mostly talked about in terms of the first work in it (Book of the New Sun), but the entire thing is genuinely some of the most moving and fascinating fiction I've had the pleasure to read. Each book feels like magic, and acts on the reader as magic. Where New Sun covers the journey of a torturer as he finds a kind of redemption, Book of the Long Sun tells the story of a haruspex (and youth pastor, of a kind) who is forced to dive into the metaphorical and literal underworld of the colony ship he inhabits to save his beloved community center. Book of the Short Sun, maybe the best of the set, bears too many spoilers for Long Sun to pitch, but mingles science fictional and theological arguments that brought me to tears with some of the coolest shit I've ever read. The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria is a book that feels like a curse. Every word of this story about the subtle and insidious creep of fascism feels like poison, and some of the images and phrases have genuinely haunted my nights since reading it. More than any of these other books, it feels like it describes and thus contains real, pulsing evil. Finally, anything by Roberto Calasso. An Italian writer and critic (and colleague of Italo Calvino, for any Calvinoheads out there), Calasso writes vast and meandering books about myth, sacrifice, kings, and society. The Ruin of Kasch, his first book, is nominally about Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, but weaves in everything from Vedic writings to the titular story of the ruin of Kasch. I'm currently reading The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, his retelling and exegesis of Greek mythology. Every page has some incredible new phrase or esoteric construction. Calasso, more than a philosopher or literary critic, feels like a sorcerer.

I'm not tryna pen any raw as fuck quotes but I do want to read books that will make me feel better than the people who are, any recs?

level 1: read any anne carson poem. i think we all had a phase and got sick of her a few years ago but shes interesting because shes doing successfully what us tumblrinas usually fail to do, the perfect, concise, casual profundity rendered in plain language. i personally like her translation of the bacchae/the bakkhai but i know a lot of real classics people are annoyed by it lol im just a regular reader.

level 2: things me and retro and the dragonfucker have spammed each other with over the years

inanna's descent into the underworld

exaltation of inanna

the kalevala

the gods of pegana by lord dunsany

thunder perfect mind

im gonna be honest probably also your aleister crowleys and your madam blavatskys and shit. i like atlantis: the antediluvian world by ignatius donnelly. all those 19th century crackpots. you cant contain yrself to the 21st century man.

level 3: stop bugging me and get off of tumblr and find stuff around the internet and go to the real life library and read some shit thats been out of print since the clinton administration

[choicesficwriterscreations]

Throwback Fics #49

Blades Of Light And Shadow

Wanted | Mal Volari x F!Human!MC - @storyofmychoices 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

Desire & Decorum

Intolerance | Ernest Sinclaire x MC - @noesapphic 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

Run To You | Prince Hamid x MC - @missameliep 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

Open Heart

Grounded | Ethan Ramsey x F!MC - @openheart12 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

Just A Frown Turned Upside Down | Ethan Ramsey x M!MC - @dr-colossal-pita

She Listens to You... Kind of | Ethan Ramsey x F!MC - @ethanramseysrookiexox 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

Ride or Die

Final Decision | Colt Kaneko x MC - @god-save-the-keen 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir

Pop's place series - @bebepac

Chapter 2: How The Other Half Lives | Drake Walker x MC 🎉 TBF One Year 🎉

[thebibliomancer]

Justice League Indispensable: JLA #222: Beasts II: Death Games

January, 1984

I’ve noticed over two-hundred and twenty plus posts that villains love being tall and dangling heroes from their fingers.

That tactile sensation... It must feel amazing. And a little squirmy.

Not much else to say about the cover. Except that Hawkman’s legs seem to not exist.

Anyway.

Last time on Justice League: the Justice League have been dealing with a lot of weird animal/people hybrids. Has Dr. Moreau finally been adapted into DC? Probably not. But Flash, Elongated Man, and Hawkman all get badly injured in separate locations by these Ani-Men. And Firestorm catches a catgirl named Reena robbing the Empire State Building. She asks him for sanctuary so he takes her to the JL Satellite to spill the beans on the Ani-Men.

This time: Superman is in the hilarious position of interrogating catgirl Reena who has forgotten how chairs work.

Just sitting on the table. Probably getting hair everywhere.

Firestorm tells Superman to chill out with the hardnosed animated Justice League approach (I mean, he doesn’t, but animated Superman also needed to chill out, amirite?) because Reena volunteered to help.

Reena says she has no choice but to trust the League and that she’s lived in DAILY TERROR for the past few months.

She asks if any of them have heard of Repli-Tech?

Dang, shame Batman is off having recently formed the Outsiders because I bet he knows all the companies. All of them.

Ooooorrrr Aquaman does?

Aquaman: “Repli-Tech Industries... They were one of the first of the genetics companies to go public on the stock exchange, weren’t they? I remember they made quite a splash a year ago... But I haven’t heard anything about them since.”

Oh, Aquaman, you punster, you.

So Reena lays down some exposition about how Repli-Tech was a hilariously mismanaged company, where the executives forced a rapid capital expansion beyond its market niche and how a recession just bankrupt the overextended company.

But despite the dismay and panic of the other execs, hilariously mustached CEO Rex Rogan had a daring plan to save the company!

Rex Rogan: “Dr. Lovecraft and his genetic discoveries were the basis for our initial success, developing new forms of medicine -- new fertilizers -- even new fuels! He’s come up with a way out for all of us, involving a new, experimental form of DNA manipulation. It could kill us -- but the alternative is disgrace, financial ruin, and imprisonment.”

Oh, sure. Of course. Why not trust a guy called DR. LOVECRAFT.

But due to faith in Rex Rogan, CEO, or just fear of prison, the whole board all agrees to this wild plan.

And the wild plan?

Dr. Lovecraft uses SCIENCE to put them all in cocoons where they are transformed into furries.

Rex Rogan Maximus Rex: “We are reborn -- we are above the beasts, and above mankind! We will do more than merely survive -- we will conquer -- we will rule!”

Then with company guards also enhanced by Dr. Lovecraft, Rex has them steal a whole bunch of shit which is used to protect Repli-Tech from bankruptcy.

Huh.

Uh. I don’t really get how becoming furries was an essential part of this plan.

If the plan was just to steal a bunch of shit to make up for poor financial management. But live your best lives, Repli-Tech board of directors.

Anyway, having super hunky animal powers is handy when the superheroes inevitably become involved which oops look its happening. It happened last issue and this issue so good thing they had turned themselves into furries.

(Do the Repli-Tech board of directors not have to make any public appearances? They’re a publicly traded company, apparently.)

Also, Maximus Rex buys a warehouse to turn into an arena for some death games where humans fight beast-men for the amusement of the rich and powerful like politicians and corporate executives.

Not really sure how this specifically saves the company but I think that’s more of a personal project for Maximus Rex, lion hunk.

The blood sport did make Reena start thinking that maybe Rex was the asshole.

‘Uh no shit’ chimes in Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman who determine now is a good time to interject that Reena is just as much of a monster for sitting idly by as people were killed in blood sport.

Firestorm, Superman, and Zatanna counter ‘hey lets hear the rest of the story, mkay?’

Reena grew unable to stomach all the death and as luck would have it Rowl, one of the Repli-Tech guards recently transformed into an animal hunk also found the whole situation gross.

He helped Reena escape but wound up captured himself.

He did manage to high kick a scorpion man though. So that’s something.

Anyway, Rowl getting caught is why Reena was breaking into the Repli-Tech office in the Empire State Building. She wanted to find evidence!

Hawkgirl: “I don’t believe it. Not a word. She’s obviously a plant -- she said herself, she was Rogan’s mistress, that she always did everything he told her. Why should we believe she’d turn against him?”

Firestorm: “Look at her, Hawkgirl -- me, I believe her.”

Aquaman: “We can’t ignore what she’s told us, Shayera.”

Even Superman goes yeah lets believe the catgirl. And I’m sorta wondering about all the male Justice League members believing the catgirl while two out of three of the woman leaguers are like uhn uh I don’t trust that darn cat.

But we shortly see that Reena was telling the truth about Rowl, if nothing else.

Guards at the Arena snooze gas Rowl to drag him from his cell into the Arena.

A Guard: “Y’know, I used to be friends with this guy, when he was still human. Rex gives him a chance to be something special, and he goes and blows it helping some damn cat.”

Rowl comes to in the center of the Arena with the crowd roaring for his blood.

He tries to talk to the crowd, win their sympathy by saying he used to be human like them but they’re rich dicks who want to see someone horribly murdered for their amusement.

Trying to talk to them was a non-starter. And Maximus Rex even mocks him for trying.

Maximus Rex: “Human you may have been -- but you were never like them. Smell the air: it’s so thick you can taste it -- the oily sweat of a blood-hungry mob! They want a death, Rowl... They want your death!”

Maximus Rex asks the crowd what Rowl deserves and they chant DEATH and KILL HIM so Maximus Rex jumps down to the Arena floor to see to it personally.

He’s kinda like Roman Emperor Commodus from the historically adjacent movie film Gladiator who liked to gladiate instead of just watching Gladiator gladiate.

And unlike movie Commodus, Maximus Rex is no slouch.

Right off the bat, he blocks Rowl’s ultimate technique, a jump kick.

Poor Rowl is doomed.

And he doesn’t even know it yet. He manages to hit Maximus Rex once and thinks he’s winning.

Rowl: “You’re just as you were in the boardroom -- you’ve no stomach for a real battle! We used to laugh about you, Rogan, down in the ranks! All of us -- we called you a gutless wonder!”

Maximus Rex retorts by disembowling Rowl.

Maximus Rex: “So, Rowl... Which of us has no stomach now?”

Savage af.

Then he knocks Rowl down and RIPS OFF HIS HEAD TO SHOW TO THE CROWD??

Geez! This is a gory story! I mean, we don’t see anything really except for some dark blue blood but geez!

A lion man just ripped off a jump-kicking wolfman’s head in a gladiatorial arena for the ultra rich!

You’re bonkers, superhero comic books!

RIP Rowl, Justice League #222 (1984) - Justice League #222 (1984).

Back at the Justicey part of the plot, 22,300 miles above the Earth, the League receives an emergency message from Dr. Hamid of Cairo Hospital.

Or he says he’s Dr. Hamid of Cairo Hospital.

He looks like Tony Stark, that Ironman guy from Marvel.

Anyway, he got the JL’s top secret broadcast code from a device on Hawkman’s uniform.

Yeah. Hawkman. Remember how he was attacked by a giant scorpion last issue? Well, he’s in the hospital with an acute case of too much scorpion venom in him. And Dr. Toby Stark fears he may not last the night.

Hawkgirl is understandably upset and wants to rush to his side as fast as possible. And since the League has cool teleport booths, that’s... still not that fast because the booths only go to other booths and Cairo Hospital doesn’t have a booth.

She also asks Wonder Woman to go with her.

Superman wonders if Hawkgirl is maybe too emotionally torn up to go see her scorpion’d hawkguy.

Zatanna: “I won’t stop her, Superman. Will you?”

WHILE GIVING AN EXPRESSION THATS LIKE ‘please do not drag me into drama.’

Reena tries to commiserate with Hawkgirl but Shayera is having none of that.

Hawkgirl: “Your people did this. If Katar dies -- you killed him!”

Oof.

Zatanna tries to contextualize Hawkgirl’s outburst by explaining that Hawkman and Hawkgirl are just super close but Reena says she understands because she and Rex were that close.

And that despite everything she still loves him and it makes her feel like shit.

Oof.

Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl arrive at Cairo Hospital and Dr. Hamid tells them that Hawkman isn’t the only one who got scorpion’d.

Dr. Hall and his students were attacked by giant scorpion man to rob some archaeological relics they found. Several of the students are in the hospital after being stung and two have already died.

As for Dr. Hall, why he’s just plum gone missing. (Because he’s Hawkman)

From his hospital bed, Hawkman weakly (because of getting scorpion’d) apologizes for the argument they had before he left for Cairo and Hawkgirl claims she doesn’t even remember the fight. Because nothing makes you put aside hurt feelings like possible death by scorpion.

Dr. Hamid tells Wonder Woman that Hawkman is very likely to die unless they can get some giant scorpion man venom to develop into an anti-toxin.

And while they walk by, a random janitor mopping the floor reports the presence of the Justice League members to his ring.

HMMM.

I think that I suspect that this humble janitor is in fact actually a plant for the Rex Squad.

Yup.

Yuuuup.

That janitor was up to no good.

With two Hawks down with sleep gas, its left to the Rex Squad unit leader to handle Wonder Woman.

ITS A HECKIN RHINO MAN!

Of course, a hero as strong as Wonder Woman isn’t going down to a single rhino punch.

It takes a second whole punch to knock her out.

Womp womp.

Rhino Man: “Gas her and shove her in the ‘copter with the others, Mac. The boss wants ‘em all for a little TV show he’s planning. Way I hear, it’s gonna be a ratings smash!”

Rhino puns.

About an hour later, the Justice League subteam nicknamed Sit On Their Thumbs is still in the satellite wondering why Wonder Woman hasn’t called to tell them how Hawkman is doing.

But gosh darn it, if they don’t hear from her in two more minutes in time for the regular hourly check-in, then they’ll just have to do something maybe!

But they get a signal from Hawkgirl’s code and Aquaman main screen turns on... to reveal a big sneering lion man who is not Hawkgirl at all.

Reena: “oh god... he’s found me.”

Maximus Rex, full incoming ham: “Yes, Reena, I’ve found you. When this is done, you’ll suffer the fate of all who betray me. But first, tell your new friends who they face! I am MAXIMUS REX, LEADER OF THE NEW ORDER!”

Firestorm: “Y’know... Somehow, I’d already guessed that.”

Snrrk.

But Maximus Rex warns them not to mock his lionness and has the camera swung over to reveal that he has Wonder Woman and the Hawks as his hostages.

Hawkman is definitely going to die (from being scorpion’d) but Maximus Rex is Magnanimous Rex and instead of immediately killing them, he’s going to turn them into furries too.

Maximus Rex: “I think the Amazon would make a very proper pig, don’t you?”

Man, this guy must have loved the “This Little Piggy” episode of Justice League Unlimited.

Buuuut he won’t turn them into furries and make them fight in his Arena if the Justice League do him some small favors.

First thing, turn Reena over to him.

Second thing, “I want your full cooperation with my plans.”

When Superman tells him ‘obviously no’ Maximus gets mad.

Oh, Maximus the Mad. That’s a catchy name for him.

Maximus Rex: “In the hours to come, you will regret this decision, Justice Leaguers. My new order is the future. You cannot turn the tide of destiny. It will sweep over you... Draw you under... Drown you in the sea of history! Ours will be a struggle to the death -- your death! HA HA HA HA”

He is.

Frothing a little.

And as the mad lion lad continues just belly laughing on this collect call, Superman shakes his fist determinedly.

Superman: “Enjoy it while you have it, Maximus. We’re bringing you down.”

I mean, sure, half of the League is captured or in the hospital already from tangling with these Ani-Men but the League is probably due for an upswing, right?

Or maybe they’ll all get captured and I’ll get to see what the Justice League’s fursonas are.

My guess for Superman is the noble capybara, friend to all.

Follow @justice-league-indispensible or @essential-avengers​ which is my real liveblog. I’m sorry, this has all been a lie. A jape. A delightful jest. An April Fool. Like and reblog maybe. The more notes this gets the more I go oh no look at what kind of response Justice League gets and I’ve backed the Avengers horse, the April Fool turns out to be me! That’ll show me.

[citrinebender]

Say their names

Here are some of the victims of the Christchurch Mosque terror attack. Remember them.

Sources: x, x 

“Whoever kills a human being, unless as a punishment for murder, it is as if he has killed the entire mankind.” Quran 5:32 ~

Mucad Ibrahim, age 3

Mucad's brother, Abdi Ibrahim, has said no-one had seen him since the shooting. He was at the Al Noor mosque with his family.

Abdullahi Dirie, 4

Abdulrahman Hashi, 60, a preacher at Dar Al Hijrah Mosque in Minneapolis, told The Washington Post his 4-year-old nephew was among those killed.

He received a phone call Friday morning from his brother-in-law Adan Ibrahin Dirie, who was also in the hospital with gunshot wounds. Four of his children escaped unharmed, but the youngest, Abdullahi, was killed.

Sayyad Milne, 14

Sayyad's father has spoken through tears of his "brave little soldier", who died at the Al Noor Mosque.

The Year 10 Cashmere High School was at the mosque with his mother and friends. He attends every Friday.

His father John Milne told NZME through tears: "I've lost my little boy, he's just turned 14. I'll get it together again.

"I haven't heard officially yet that he's actually passed but I know he has because he was seen.

Khaled Mustafa and son Hamza, 16

He fled from ISIS and war-torn Syria, with his family, to pursue a new life in New Zealand. The Syrian refugees reportedly only arrived in New Zealand only a few months ago. Khaled died at the Al Noor Mosque while his son Hamza is missing. Another son, Zaid, 13 is in Christchurch Hospital where he underwent a six-hour operation last night

Naeem Rashid and son Talha, 21.

After he witnessed his son Taha shot and killed, and men and women were slain around him, he lunged at the terrorist with his bare hands.

Atta Elayyan, 33

A national futsal player is among the dead. Born in Kuwait, Elayyan, a goalkeeper, recently became a father and was a popular member of the Christchurch tech industry. He was a director and shareholder of a company called LWA Solutions. 

Husne Ara Parvin, 42

Parvin was shot when she tried to save her wheelchair-bound husband Farid Uddin, according to a relative. She went to the women’s section after leaving her paralyzed husband in the men’s section on the wheelchair, She went out when she heard gunshots, and died trying to save her husband.

Lilik Abdul Hamid

A Facebook appeal was issued for Hamid.

"A friend of one struggle... has passed away in New Zealand... the victim of NZ animal terrorist,' a relative wrote on Facebook.

Haji-Daoud Nabi, 71

Nabi ran the Afghan Association and was inside the Al Noor Mosque at the time of the shooting.

The 71-year-old was a refugee from Afghanistan and is thought to have died inside.

Haroon Mahmood, 40

Haroon left Pakistan to pursue an education at Lincoln University in Christchurch. Dr Haroon Mahmood leaves a wife and two children aged 13 and 11.

Amjad Hamid, 57

The heart doctor moved to New Zealand from Palestine 23 years ago because he wanted a better future. He is believed to be dead.

Mohammad Atta Alayan

He built the Christchurch Mosque. A Palestinian refugee, he raised the funds to create a community space for New Zealand’s Muslims Here he is, smiling with his son. 

Farhaj Ahsan, 30

Ashan, 30, left the Christchurch home he shares with wife Insha Aziz, his 3-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son on Friday morning for prayer.

"I do not know where my son is," his father Mohammad Sayeeduddin told the Herald from his home in Hyderabad, India.

"I have been in contact with his wife Insha in New Zealand since it happened and we don't know anything.”

Syed Jahandad Ali, 34

Ali's wife Amna Ali, currently in Pakistan, last spoke to her husband on Friday morning while having breakfast.

One of his colleagues told her they left work at 1pm on Friday to head to the Al Noor Mosque

Osama Adnan, 37

Adnan is of Egyptian origin and among the missing.

His colleague tweeted an appeal and said he hoped Osama would "show up soon" and make a "full recovery".

Hussain Al-Umari, 36

Al-Umari's parents Janna Ezat and Hazim Al-Umari have said they last spoke to their son on Thursday night. They fear he is among the dead at the Al Noor mosque where he regularly attends Friday prayers.

The family immigrated to New Zealand from the United Arab Emirates in 1997.

Hazim Al-Umari told Newshub he did not attend the mosque and he advised his son not to go "because it's not safe".

Mojammel Hoq, 30

Hoq, from Bangladesh, is among the missing, a friend told the Herald.

He has been in Christchurch for over two years studying dentistry.

Mohammad Imran Kahn, 47

Kahn is thought to have died at the Linwood Mosque.

A friend said he owned two restaurants in Christchurch, including the Indian Grill.

Ali Elmadani, 66

Elmadani was born in Palestine.

His wife, Nuha Assad, has not heard from him since he went to the Al Noor mosque to pray.

Vora Ramiz, 28

Ramiz is among the missing.

Ansi Karippakulam Alibava, 25

Alibava, a 25-year-old woman originally from India, is among the missing.

Linda Armstrong, 65

A friend told the Herald that Armstrong died in the arms of a lady who was shot in the arm and survived at Linwood Mosque.

The friend said Armstrong always took people into her home and was kind.

"She was like a child about everything. She was so happy. She was always excited to do a good deed. She was happy to do it."

She sponsored a boy from Bangladesh.

[mfackenthal]

MFackenthal Reviews - RCD/D&D/AME & Bloodbound

Red Carpet Diaries

Fanfic

@laniquelovewrites

https://laniquelovewrites.tumblr.com/post/180349554138/masterlist:

Party Like … This is an amazing choices crossover – I think 6 books are crossing.  I chose to put it here because I miss Thomas Hunt.  Come see what happens when everyone you love is at one party.

Fan Art

@rwanchoices

https://rwanchoices.tumblr.com/post/184365402005/the-edit-no-one-asked-for-but-i-did-it-anyway

Desire and Decorum

@choicesbyjade

The Next Step https://choicesbyjade.tumblr.com/post/184366842582/the-next-step: A modern AU of Hamid and MC where even strangers can see their love for each other, where Hamid is the one saying lets wait for sex, and where we learn MC has terrible taste in chips.

@missameliep

https://missameliep.tumblr.com/post/182934964931/masterlist

The Pursuit of Happiness series: Come learn why Hamid is such a dreamy guy.    

@flowerpowell

Never Again https://flowerpowell.tumblr.com/post/183680524472/never-again-x-dd-mc-the-reader: The unintended consequences of playing choices in class.  Hahahaha!

@hellospunkiebrewster

Diagnosis and Dalliances Series:

https://hellospunkiebrewster.tumblr.com/post/178889626557/desire-and-decorum-masterlist-series-natural: An amazing AU Slow Burn series with MC and Dr. Ernest Sinclaire.  These two are adorable and I love them!!

America’s Most Eligible

@lizeboredom

The Devil’s Playground https://lizeboredom.tumblr.com/post/184212704915/the-devils-playground: Myrah, who is now being called that because Minah would have caught on much sooner, might be pregnant?!  Is Vince the father?  Can you be an eligible mom on this show??

Bloodbound

@laniquelovewrites

Pieces of the Past (Chapter XI) https://laniquelovewrites.tumblr.com/post/184437074670/chapter-xi:  Come spend some time with Adrian as he reflects upon his past.  What will you learn?

@galaxyside-0

No More of This (AU): https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/galaxyside-0/183052972439#_=_: The author writes it best: “This is fanfic is about Kamilah taking life in to her own hands several times and Adrian saving her everytime until she gets stabbed in the heart by Gaius.” I wasn’t prepared to care for Kamila as I do after reading this.

[indestructiblehearts]

Desire and Decorum keeps kicking my ass with each new update. I've always romanced all the LIs possible in each book because I'm horrible at settling on one LI (I usually like all of them lmao).

But all the LI routes in D&D have been incredible and I really wish we could have multiple saves in Choices just so I can do all the routes at once and not worry about picking one in the end or for the next book.

1. Sinclaire's slowburn romance - the build-up of trust and the 'he learns to love again after his previous wife broke his heart and trust' and all the delicious drama with the Duke is really exciting to me. Pretty typical romance novel stuff tbh but I'm a sucker for it. He's really growing on me.

2. Annabelle and MC's forbidden romance! All the lingering touches and shared looks, the sexual tension between two ladies who are caught between duty/obligation to their family and their growing love for each other. The scandal, the drama, whew sign me up, give me the whole we're-each-other's-beards shebang.

3. The 'star-crossed lovers from different worlds' romance with Luke - truly a classic favourite. Do you abandon everything you could have for love and happiness? Or let this man who loves you and is willing to watch you marry someone else he thinks can give you a good life while he remains loyal by your side, go?

4. Fairytale romance with a foreign prince who could give you everything you want for Prince Hamid - okay listen this is coming from King Liam stan and that should explain everything, but also Hamid is amazing so far and i love one smooth and charming man.

Tl;dr damn I really wish we had multiple saves because I wanna romance and marry all of the characters in D&D.

[lorewarlorddoctorsix]

Lore Analysis: Bastet

https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/1082351191072202753

Release date: January 7, 2019

In-universe date: post Recall, immediately following Old Soldiers; scene with photographs was also seen in Reflections. About 3 weeks during Fall/winter (approx. Dec 7-22).

What we learned:

Hakim's first name is Abdul

Jack has self-regeneration from the enhancements done to him in the Soldier Enhancement Program; by extension, we can conclude that Reaper's regenerative abilities are also a product of the SEP, and he had them before any of Moira's tampering

Cairo has robotic camels

Overwatch shut down the Anubis program a decade ago

a mission in Prague was mentioned; Ana, Jack and Reinhardt participated on a (failed) stealth mission, and at one point Ana had to carry Jack

Jack has always been a light sleeper

Jack prefers whiskey to tea

Ana is aware of where Dr. Zeigler is stationed

Ana is not good at field dressing wounds (she wouldn’t be - before her “death” she was a sniper, not a medic)

Mercy doesn't know Ana and Jack are alive

Jack went on a trip to a museum in New York with his mother as a child; Michael Chu confirmed that the exhibit he saw was the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Ana knows Dr. Hamid Faisal (one of the archaeologists working at Petra)

the events of “Legacy” take place in Poland (this was suspected previouslym due to Ana’s CT scan listing her name as the Polish equivalent of Jane Doe)

Ana had amnesia after being shot by Widowmaker, and did not remember who she was for months

Jack did go back to look for Ana after the events of “Legacy”; Gabe also sent McCree to look personally

Jack knows that Amelié was the sniper, and correctly guessed that Ana hesitated to take the shot because she recognized her

Jack is stubborn/bad at letting things go

Jack does pushups when he's restless

Jack is somewhat childish, and tries to smile his way out of trouble

Ana is a bad cook

Ana blames herself for letting Overwatch down, and feels responsible for Overwatch’s failures

the Anubis Project was somehow connected to the infrastructure of Cairo

someone has been supplying Jack with surveillance footage and articles about Reaper's movements

Jack is a “big picture” sort of thinker

Ana suspects Moira has some involvement in Reaper's condition

Jack does not like grey areas and espionage – he prefers black and white situations and decision-making

Ana has a bit of a hero complex, thinking she is the only one who can save Cairo and that if she doesn't, nobody else will

Ana and Jack spent about a week in a rented apartment while staking out Hakim's organization

Jack carries around photos of him, Ana and Gabe, as well as one of him and Vincent, an old boyfriend   

the Trio picture was taken in Rio de Janeiro, during the Omnic Crisis

Vincent moved on from Jack, eventually getting married

Ana was married to Sam (previously the nature of their relationship was unknown)

Gabriel had a family while he was in Overwatch (the family he was stalking in Reflections might be his)

Soldier: 76 is a globally known name

Ana did send the letter from her origin trailer to Fareeha, which Fareeha has not responded to

Ana has not told Sam that she is alive

Ana and Jack are going to visit “old friends”

Ana left the Bastet mask in the necropolis

Further Questions

What was the stealth mission in Prague?

What were the details about the major battle they won in Rio?

Who are the “old friends” they are going to meet? Is it Winston, Tracer et al.?

Who were/are Gabriel’s family? Is it the family he was watching in Reflections?

____________________________________

If you’re interested in discussing the lore or have further questions, I am a mod on an Overwatch Lore discord server, and I’d love to have you join us!

https://discord.gg/yEhwAKJ

[dpr-lahore-division]

ULEMA DELEGATION CALLS ON CM PUNJAB

With the compliments of, The Directorate General Public Relations,

Government of the Punjab, Lahore Ph: 99201390.

No.576/QU/ Mujahid

HANDOUT (A)

LAHORE, April 12:

A delegation of Ulema and religious scholars including Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri, Provincial Law Minister Raja Basharat, Auqaf Minister Saeed-ul-Hassan Shah and Pir Jalil Ahmad Sharaqpuri called on Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar at his office. Secretaries of Auqaf, Information departments and others were also present.

Talking on the occasion, the CM impressed upon the Ulema to sensitise the people about the importance of wearing facemasks as people can remain safe from coronavirus by observing necessary precautions. Saving human lives is a noble cause and the Ulema should educate the people about the importance of vaccination and following anti-corona SOPs, he continued. The five-time prayers and Namaz-e-Taraweeh should be held according to anti-corona SOPs in mosques, the CM stated adding that the health system is burdened due to the corona onslaught but implementation at the public level is not satisfactory.

The CM reiterated that honour and respect of Ulema will be fully ensured as the PTI government has always given preference to maintaining the best relations with Ulema. The feasible suggestions and recommendations of the Ulema and religious scholars will be given a patient hearing, he ensured. To a question, the CM added that edibles will be provided at subsidised rates in the holy month of Ramazan.

Federal Minister Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri stated that a committee of Ulema will be soon notified at the federal level while Auqaf Minister assured that the Punjab government will settle matters with the Ulema with mutual consideration. We give preference to the solidarity of the country over our children, added Pir Syed Ameen-ul-Hasnaat. Sahibzada Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi said the love for the country is without strings while Sahibzada Shamim Sabir Sabri said the seminaries are the centre of love and respect.

****

No.577/QU/Mujahid

HANDOUT (A)

CM SEEKS REPORT FROM IG POLICE

LAHORE, April 12:

Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has sought a report from IG Police about the recovery of the dead body of a child namely Shayan from Harbanspura in Lahore and directed that every effort should be made to arrest the culprits to bring them to justice.

****

No.578/QU/Mujahid

HANDOUT (A)

CM CONDOLES DEATH OF IA REHMAN

LAHORE, April 12:

Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has expressed grief over the death of veteran journalist and HR activist IA Rehman. In a condolence message, the CM paid tributes to the services of Late IA Rehman and prayed that may Allah Almighty rest the departed soul in eternal peace.

****

No.579/QU/ Mujahid

HANDOUT (A)

FEDERAL INTERIOR MINISTER CALLS ON CM PUNJAB

LAHORE, April 12:

Federal Interior Minister Sh. Rasheed Ahmed called the Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar at his office on Monday and discussed matters of mutual interest. Both took stock of development projects in Rawalpindi.

The CM agreed to the proposal of upgradation of Government Viqar-un-Nisa College for Women Rawalpindi to the university level and assured full cooperation in this regard. Progress on the Nullah Lai Expressway project also came under discussion and the chief minister mentioned that this project will prove a game-changer initiative for the city dwellers. This project will also help in overcoming traffic conjunction while the government is striving to early complete other development schemes in Rawalpindi district, the CM added and further apprised the federal minister about anti-corona steps taken by Punjab government. Rasheed Ahmed appreciated the steps and termed the public welfare initiatives as praiseworthy.

****  

No.580/QU/Akram

HANDOUT (A)

PUNJAB GOVERNMENT TO START ‘KHIDMAT APKI DEHLEEZ PER’ PROGRAM TO BETTER SERVE THE PEOPLE

LAHORE, April 12:

In order to revitalize the government machinery, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has decided to launch the ‘Khidmat Apki Dehleez Per’ program. Under this program, government departments will accomplish specific tasks, in addition to their assigned duties, and service delivery mechanisms will be made further effective and useful. The departments will be given tasks, according to public needs, and third-party feedback, as well as of the public sector institutions, will be collected. Public feedback will be directly collected about the targets assigned every week.

Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a meeting at his office on Monday which was attended by commissioners, RPOs, deputy commissioners and DPOs through video link.

Addressing the meeting, the CM emphasized that Punjab will be made an exemplary province with regard to public service because it is the main agenda of the democratic government. The people should not have to visit government offices for the solution of their problems and, rather, the government machinery should go to their doorsteps to serve them, he added. The rationale of this program is to assert the presence of the government at the grassroots and the deputy commissioners and other heads will have to achieve the targets of public service, CM directed.

The chief minister emphasized that the government wants to restore public confidence and made it clear that strict disciplinary action will be initiated against officers and officials failing to deliver. He announced conducting field visits to review ground situations and asked the participants to move forward with a passion for public service because no leniency will be tolerated in this regard.

Chief Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik briefed that government officials will be held accountable on the basis of their monthly reports and best performers will be rewarded while action will be taken on poor performance. The project priorities will be identified according to the benefit of the people and garbage will be removed from streets and other areas. Similarly, monitoring will be conducted through the PITB dashboard, tiger force, civil society, media and the solution of problems of the common man will be the success of this program. It was stated in the briefing that tasks relating to local bodies, water and sanitation, Eid week, road safety and beautification will be assigned and implementation of rules and regulations, special campaigns, service delivery, law & order, price-control, cleanliness and tree-plantation campaigns will also be held and better monitoring and feedback will be collected to make this program a success. Field activities will be daily monitored.

SACM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, ACS (south Punjab), secretaries and others also attended the meeting.

****

[dipulb3]

Opinion: Why I'm going to church for Easter

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/opinion-why-im-going-to-church-for-easter/

Opinion: Why I'm going to church for Easter

That’s a question I’ve been asked by bewildered friends my entire adult life. As a gay man who advocates for social justice, I get why some people look askance when I mention what my Sunday plans entail.

“Yes, I do.” Sunday is Easter and I will be at church to celebrate this sign of God’s solidarity with the oppressed. But I’m not about to bemoan all those who aren’t going to church today.

Fewer and fewer Americans, especially young Americans, identify as Christians. While there are a number of factors impacting this trend, one stands out to me this Holy Week: The impact of the Christian right’s political prominence in driving progressive Christians away from the faith. A recent study by two political scientists found that the rise of Americans who identify as “nonreligious” has resulted, in part, from backlash against the Christian right.

Consternation about church decline and the secularization of America reached a fever pitch this Holy Week when Gallup released a new poll that found a majority of Americans do not belong to church, synagogue or mosque. This was the first time the membership percentage fell below a majority since Gallup first started asking the question in 1937.

These findings are troubling to many. “This is perhaps the most distressing graph related to the future of America,” Eric Sammons, editor-in-chief of the conservative Catholic Crisis Magazine wrote on Twitter, adding, “We are officially living in a pagan nation.”

And it’s not just conservative Christians. Shadi Hamid, a Brookings Institution scholar who is Muslim, expressed concern that Christianity is being replaced by “Wokeism” in an interview with the Washington Post about the Gallup poll and in an essay for the Atlantic. Without Christianity, he wrote, our country will “no longer have a common culture upon which to fall back.”

Yet seeing this poll released during Holy Week made me think about what it means as a Christian to reflect deeply on church decline. Jesus called on his followers not to live in fear, so I cannot in good faith lament church decline. Instead, I’m hopeful for a resurrection of social justice-focused Christianity in America that lives up to the teachings of Jesus.

This Easter, I hope my fellow Christians who deeply care about the future of our movement to spread the Gospel of love will recommit ourselves to build a movement that more people want to join. We must contest the popular depiction of what it means to be a Christian today. Church decline is not a rejection of our message of love, it’s a rejection of our movement’s failure to model that message for the world.

Since this poll has received so much attention, it’s important to point out a few things. First, Christians, Jews, and Muslims are distinct religious groups with their own traditions and dynamics with regards to the membership at play. They collectively also don’t represent all religious Americans. And membership is only one metric — some Americans participate in or attend houses of worship without claiming formal membership.

We should also be careful not to equate membership with religious belonging or belief in God. Practicing faith does not always happen under the auspices of a house of worship; nor does maintaining a membership in one guarantee religious conviction. Some members remain because for them, it is the socially respectable thing to do, separate from beliefs or spirituality.

There are problems with paying too much attention to any specific individual indicator of religious trends — for instance, decline in church membership doesn’t necessarily mean society overall has grown more secularized — but there is a host of recent research that points towards declining membership, attendance and reported importance of religion in Americans’ lives.

Polling from the Public Religion Research Institute and Pew Research Center mirror the new poll findings from Gallup. A 2019 survey by the conservative American Enterprise Institute shed light on several reasons why Americans, especially young Americans, are leaving religion. One finding stuck out to me: “Nearly six in 10 (59 percent) young people say religious people are generally less tolerant, while only 34 percent of seniors agree.”

In my book “Just Faith: Reclaiming Progressive Christianity,” I examine the question of how perceptions of Christianity at-large are shaped by the media. I call the media’s focus on the more outrageous expressions of our faith the Westboro Baptist Church Effect. The church is virulently anti-LGBTQ and offensive, but get vastly more attention than the small size of their congregation deserves. In the past year, we’ve seen this with the media’s obsession about White evangelicals during the 2020 election. Will they or will they not turn out for Trump? My question was a different one: Who are the faith-based backers of the devoutly Catholic candidate for president? During the pandemic, almost all churches heeded public health guidance and moved away from in-person services. Yet we’ve paid more attention to the few churches opposed to Covid-19 orders than the churches who faithfully saved lives by moving to digital gathering spaces.

It’s understandable why some people are leaving church when these are the stories we hear about Christians. They just sound nothing like the stories about Jesus we read in the Gospels.

In Luke’s Gospel, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and other women visit the tomb of Jesus only to realize it is empty. They are told, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Likewise, we as Christians should not look for the living Jesus movement among the dead remains of conservative Christian hate that looks nothing like the love Jesus embodied. Instead, we should look forward to a resurrection of Christianity that fights system oppression and stands in solidarity with the most vulnerable.

We should look for the living of the Gospel among America’s youth today. Alongside their relative lack of formal religious devotion, today’s young Americans are known for their commitment to social justice. Two surveys from Pew Research Center illustrate this dynamic. While disaffiliation from religion is rising fastest among young Americans, researchers also found that majorities of the Generation Z and the millennial generations are more approving of the country’s increasing racial and ethnic diversity, as well as interracial and same-sex marriage, than older generations. Millennials are born between roughly 1981 and 1996 and followed by Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2010. According to the CIRCLE/Tisch College 2020 Youth Survey, 27% of Americans ages 18-24 say they have attended a march or demonstration.

They are the generation whose stereotype most resembles what Christians should be known for: restless for a better world and refusing to comply when their elders tell them to obey the rules. The #BlackLivesMatter movement, the #MeToo movement, the fight for boldly overhauling our democracy and economy. These are the same causes Jesus championed in the Gospels.

Imagine if American Christianity at-large were known to share the concerns of young progressive leaders today like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is vocal about how her own Catholic faith has shaped her concerns for social justice. Thankfully, Ocasio-Cortez is just one of the progressive Christians who are speaking up in the political sphere where so much harm has been perpetrated by conservative Christianity. There’s also newly elected US Sen. Raphael Warnock and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Sen. Warnock spoke about faith and voting rights during his first speech on the floor of the US Senate and Buttigieg spoke about being a gay Christian during his presidential run. They each embody the mission of Jesus followers to work for social justice.

While Ocasio-Cortez, Warnock, and Buttigieg are three of the most vocal progressive Christians living out their faith in the public square, they are the latest in a long history of activism. “The progressive wing of Christianity is not, of course, new,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently wrote, highlighting several other examples of progressive Christian activism. “It began with Jesus.”

For Christians celebrating today, Easter means that God’s love is more powerful than the systems of oppression that crucified Jesus. It’s our responsibility as followers of Jesus to join in the work of fighting those systems of oppression — alongside such powerful leaders today like the Rev. Dr. William Barber II of the Poor People’s Campaign and Sister Simone Campbell of Nuns on the Bus.

As I head to (online) church this Easter, I respect how people may not feel inclined to identify as Christians or join a church for good reasons. There’s no reason to bemoan that reality. Instead, let’s make the church actually live up to its calling. Only then, God willing, will I be interested in what the church membership numbers report.

[clovedental1]

Clove Emergency Dental Clinic Richmond Hill

https://clovedental.ca/emergency-dental-toronto/ All dental emergencies need to be treated by a dentist in the shortest possible time. Several dental emergency sufferers do not know how to handle the situation when faced with an emergency. Can a broken tooth be saved? Can you take painkillers? Should you rush to an emergency dentist? A visit to your emergency dentist is the best option. You may get the same-working day dental procedure to your emergency dental demands. In the event of the dental emergency, the quicker you seek emergency medical treatment, the less invasive your cure will be. If you need an emergency dental care in Richmond Hill, Dr. Hamid Mirlohi at Clove Dental offers you a comprehensive range of emergency dental services. When you visit our emergency dentist in Richmond Hill, you should know keeping your smile beautiful and healthy is his top priority. Our dentist provides a full range of emergency, general, and cosmetic dental treatments to help you achieve healthy, clean, and attractive teeth. Dr. Hamid Mirlohi has worked as an emergency dentist for many years in Richmond Hill, and his experience allows him to handle any dental emergency in our caring and friendly environment. Here are some cases that require emergency dental treatment, including: - A severe tooth pain - Cracked or broken tooth - Broken jaw - Loose or knocked-out permanent tooth - Uncontrolled bleeding -Object stuck in teeth - Damaged dental work such as lost dental crowns, fillings, bridges, and veneers that lead to sudden and severe pain. A severe tooth pain because of Tooth decay If you feel pain near the tooth root, you may have tooth decay, and you should refer to our Richmond Hill clinic. It is important to know that good dental care is an essential part of maintaining overall body health, and this includes preventing tooth decay. Do you know what you eat and drink is directly related to tooth decay? A healthy diet to keep your teeth healthy includes: 1. Fruits and vegetables, starchy foods such as whole-grain slices of bread, whole-grain rice, potatoes, and whole-grain pasta. 2. You should also include protein sources such as meat, fish, eggs, beans, or other non-meat sources such as cheese and milk. 3. Try to have only small amounts of sugary foods or beverages in your diet. Carbonated drinks, dairy drinks mixed with sugar, alcohol, industrial juices, fruit pies, dried fruits, breakfast cereals, jams, and more can help develop tooth decay. 4. Because sugars are naturally present in foods, such as fruits and milk, there is no need to reduce the consumption of these sugars. 5. Even sugar-free juices are sweet, so do not drink more than one glass a day. 6. Be careful when choosing snacks. Avoid chewing or sucking sugary foods, especially as a snack. 7. Smoking can cause yellow spots on teeth, bad breath, and increase the risk of gum disease. Finding the emergency dentist's advice on how to quit smoking should be in your plans. It is estimated that smokers are 38 times more likely to develop oral cancer. 8. Alcohol can erode the outer surface of your tooth and destroy the enamel. Drinking too much alcohol may also lead to oral cancer. 9. Tea and coffee are also the main factors for staining teeth. Therefore, it is recommended to brush your teeth after drinking them. Visit an emergency dentist if you need to whiten your teeth. 10. Flossing and using mouthwashes, as prescribed by your emergency dentist and fluoride, are essential.

https://clovedental.ca/emergency-dental-toronto/

[ali-bhutto-blog]

The Karachi Theosophical Society

Feature published in Newsline.

The chaos of Karachi’s MA Jinnah Road is muted inside the library at Jamshed Memorial Hall – a nostalgic byword for Karachi’s generations past. Leather-bound volumes of the first edition of Helena Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine line the shelves. This is the home of the Karachi Theosophical Society, a relic of a more enlightened period in the decaying city’s lifeline.

The Society’s genesis in Pakistan lies in inspirational lectures delivered by Annie Besant, a leader of the Indian Independence Movement and one of theosophy’s most influential figures, in Karachi in 1896 and Hyderabad, Sindh, in 1901.

Universal brotherhood is a central tenet of the Theosophical Society — as is scientific, philosophical and mystical inquiry, open to all religions and bound by none. Theosophists believe an ancient wisdom underlies all creeds. They seek to access a higher spiritual plane, through meditation, intuition and the study of theosophical literature.

“We are all renegades here,” says Hamid Mayet, General Secretary of the Karachi Theosophical Society and President of the Theosophical Order of Service, Pakistan. Having defied social norms and challenged the status quo for much of his life, Mayet is the best man for the job. Beneath his casual, easy-going demeanour lies a steely resolve. He moves across its corridors of Jamshed Memorial Hall with the air of a man who has broken free of the baggage of tradition.

Hailing from an affluent Indian family of Johannesburg, Mayet grew up in South Africa during Apartheid. “Within the Indian community itself – whether it was Hindus or Muslims – there was discrimination against blacks and a pronounced class inequality,” he recalls. “I found it all very hypocritical; attitudes seemed to contradict the religions that were so ardently being followed.”Inspired by anti-Apartheid leaders such as Dr Yusuf Dadoo, chairman of the South African Communist Party, Mayet started rebelling at a young age and became a conscientious objector. At the age of 16 he joined the youth wing of the Pan African National Congress. “In my heart of hearts, I was trying to identify with the common man,” he says. “I felt embarrassed that I was from a well-off family, when all around me there was racial and economic inequality.”In Pakistan, theosophists prefer to remain below the radar. The Karachi Theosophical Society’s website doesn’t give away any names. The fate of Dara Mirza, a former chapter president, is testimony to the darkness that engulfs the city. Mirza’s portrait hangs beside those of Blavatsky – co-founder of the Theosophical Society – and Jamshed Nusserwanjee, a former president of the Karachi chapter and the city’s first mayor. A descendant of Sindhi literary scholar Mirza Kaleech Baig, his ancestors migrated to Sindh from Georgia in the mid-nineteenth century. He was the president of the Society for over three decades, until September 14, 2007, when his body was found in Mauripur, Karachi. He had been kidnapped on the way to work earlier that day. The episode remains buried in a deafening silence.

“Dara Mirza, a learned man, had a strong grasp of esoteric philosophy,” says Mayet. The Esoteric school focuses on accessing the higher spiritual plane – described in theosophical texts as “the unexplained laws of nature and powers latent in man.” According to Mayet, the previous generation of members, such as Amir Ali Hoodbhoy and Hatim Alvi, carried out a deep study of theosophical literature. The current membership of 50, however, gravitates towards the Theosophical Order of Service (TOS) – a social services wing.

The ever-expanding Montessori at Jamshed Memorial Hall provides underprivileged students with a quality education at a fee of Rs 1,700 a month. Nusserwanjee and Minwalla felt that Italian educator Maria Montessori’s emphasis on creative and independent thinking had much in common with the values of theosophy.

The theosophists of Karachi are currently working towards opening a Montessori at the Besant Lodge in Hyderabad – a structure that Mayet describes as being “far more impressive than ours.” After the demise of the Lodge’s president – the renowned scholar and political activist Ibrahim Joyo in 2017 – membership has dwindled. A member of the Progressive Writers’ Movement, Joyo’s controversial work Save Sindh, Save the Continent – From Feudal Lords, Capitalists and their Communalism, published in 1947, resulted in the termination of his teaching post at the Sindh Madressa. Joyo was not the only theosophist to find himself at odds with the Madressa. A few decades earlier, Hatim Alvi, a student at the institution, was expelled for writing an article critical of the British rule.

“The Theosophical Society attracts people who tend to think out of the box,” says Mayet. “It has nothing to do with political orientation. Nor are we a religious organisation. This is a society that promotes unity.” He says it was Joyo’s interest in Sufi culture that made him gravitate towards theosophy. “Sufism is closer to esoteric philosophy.”

“If you want to find God, you can find him in the garden,” says Mushtaq Jindani, Joint Secretary of the Karachi Theosophical Society and Director Education, TOS. “You can cultivate God in the garden.” Jindani heads a small club called The Linkers, a group of people interested in mind sciences – the kind that deal with spirituality in relation to the mind and body.

Mayet is doing his best to make the Karachi chapter sustainable, so that he can hand it over to the next generation in working condition. “It has existed for over a hundred years, and I want it to be there for another hundred,” he says. 

Theosophists of Hollywood

Of Hungarian descent and a Gnostic bishop, he is an author and incumbent President of Besant Lodge in Los Angeles. The name is Stephan – pronounced Stephaan – Hoeller. The eyes, half-closed, look neither up nor down, but see everything. And despite his advanced years, the bearing is sturdy. He holds his cup of coffee at a tilt. This may look like a mannerism, but it may also be because his grip is not quite firm. Tellingly, the initials ‘S.H.’ are embroidered on the cuffs of his crisp shirt.

Stephan hands Winter Lazerus, fellow theosophist and property manager at Besant Lodge, a letter he received in the post. “God knows what it means,” he says, amused by its cryptic content. Lazerus proceeds to examine the note and its accompanying talisman – an aboriginal woman holding a wand.

I pray you understand.  I can only hope to sit with you again over eggs and beacon. The time is now.

1.  Fix a tall drink, 2.  Listen to the next song, 3.  Remember, 4.  The gift is yours so tear it open. Love, H E S

On an enclosed page torn out of a dictionary, the word ‘wizard’ is underlined.

Lazerus, clad in all black and sporting a pony-tail, cuts a tall, shadowy figure. He lives in an old cottage behind Besant Lodge. This is the quaint and leafy neighbourhood of Beachwood Canyon. It is the home of Stephan, Lazerus and the Theosophical Society. It is also home to the sprawling Hollywood sign – an intruder in this quiet part of Los Angeles. But the Society predates Hollywood – cinema was a comparative latecomer in these parts.

“The theosophists came to these hills because they believed that the spiritual and creative energy was strong here,” explains Stephan. And so in 1912, Albert Warrington and his associates founded the hamlet of Krotona – the society’s first national headquarters. The colony, located up the hill from Besant Lodge’s current location, is a collection of Moorish structures that have been converted into apartments. “Dora van Gelder Kunz, a former president of the Society, writer and famous clairvoyant, also believed that there was an angelic energy present in this particular part of Southern California,” continues Stephan.

The Lodge’s stained glass windows give its interior a church-like quality. They display the celestial symbols illustrated in theosophical teacher Geoffrey Hodson’s The Kingdom of the Gods. “Many think that this building was part of the old colony of Krotona,” says Stephan, “but that is not the case.” It was in fact a neighbourhood movie theatre, built in the early 1920s. “The first silent film theatre in Los Angeles,” Lazerus proudly adds. His cottage, even older, was once a bookshop. The Society bought both properties in 1954, while Stephan was on the board of directors.

This easternmost tail of the Santa Monica Mountains has always lured theosophy into its fold. Although Krotona relocated to Ojai owing to financial difficulties during the Great Depression, the Society returned in the incarnation of a rented facility near Beachwood Canyon before acquiring its current location. The commune in Ojai, now the Krotona Institute of Theosophy, is a thriving centre of research and spiritual learning.

Unlike many residential areas of Los Angeles, “there is a sense of community here, in Beachwood Canyon,” says Lazerus, “a real sense of the old part of L.A.”  To locals, Besant Lodge is a community centre of sorts. “The Los Angeles chapter has about 20 to 30 members,” says Stephan. It hosts lectures, classes, readings, joint activities with the Gnostic Church, and has “offered Spanish lessons for the last 20 years.” 

Further west, in the winding lanes of Bel Air, lifeless mansions gaze coldly at passing cars. Beachwood Canyon, however, has a soul. A nameless canyon and remote farming community in the 1880s, it became the site for an ambitious yet short-lived housing project – Hollywoodland – in the 1920s. “We border the largest municipal wilderness preserve in the world, where mountain lions roam,” says Lazerus, referring to Griffith Park.

Stephan produces a rare photo of Annie Besant. She is about to board a Goliath airliner with Charles Blech, general secretary of the Theosophical Society in France, and an unnamed gentleman. On the Lodge’s wall hangs the charter of Krotona, bearing Besant’s signature. It is dated 1920 – the year she visited the colony, as the Society’s international president.

Stephan, an aristocrat, struggled against oppression in his early years. When a Soviet-style communist regime consolidated power after the Second World War, his family lost all their property and lived in great need. He left Hungary, arriving in the US in 1952. “The Nazis had destroyed a lot of theosophist literature during the war, and subsequently, so did the communists,” says Stephan. “Totalitarian governments do not like organisations such as the Theosophical Society.” At first, Stephan dreamt of becoming a Catholic priest. And although he was 15 when he first heard of theosophy, it wasn’t until his arrival in Southern California that he joined the Society.

“Gool Minwalla was concerned that the Muslims’ suspicions of other religions would one day become a problem for their own countries,” says Stephan. “She was a fine lady,” he says of the former president of the Society, whom he had met in Ojai in the early ’80s. According to Stephan, it was during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s tenure that religious intolerance first surfaced in Pakistan.

When Stephan first joined Besant Lodge 60 years ago, there were over 100 members. The current membership is only a fraction of this, owing to the existence of numerous other spiritual organisations. In what seems like a valedictory remark he emphasises the need to reconnect the “threads” that link theosophical societies across the globe.