Interesting Finds, Pt. IX

Borrowed from http://newzstreet.com

It's good to see western countries putting in place a practical measure to reduce our environment footprint. It is worth mentioning that many African countries, including South Africa,  Eritrea, Somalia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya have had full and partial plastic bag bans in effect since 2003, 2005 and 2007, respectively. This certainly makes one wonder why we are so behind in such matters. In my own city, a bag tax was only introduced a year or two ago!

Troubling news for humanity. Bees help to pollinate around "90 % of the world's commercial plants, from fruits and vegetables to coffee and cotton." World food production will be greatly endangered if we are unable to determine the cause of their decline! Climate change, the extinction of wildlife, the desecration of our environment...possible causes of our eventual decline??

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Creating artificial weather conditions is inherently unnatural, and yet it could serve some purpose. I suppose only time will tell whether such experiments will prove disastrous, or the opposite.

Borrowed from the Coexist Foundation

A misunderstanding of symbols, as the cause of disharmony? Interesting theory on American - American Muslim/foreign Muslim relations.

This is a heartwarming read. It made my skin tingle! I find myself in the same situation as this man. For me, home happens to be across a big, beautiful church. When describing directions to my home, it is almost always mentioned.

Food for thought. I saw Eboo Patel speak at a conference recently, and he seems to be someone of great sense and understanding about the world.

An absolute MUST-READ!

All I have to say about this, is that this rigidity/harshness in the application of religious rules/beliefs serves no one. As always, moderation is the key.


A sixteen year prison sentence for stealing $11 as a deviant youth. I'm not trying to excuse bad behaviour, but for heaven's sake! The sentence must be proportional to the crime, otherwise we need to question whether justice is really being served.

So it seems there is indeed wisdom in waiting.

Not sure what to say about this one, except that I'm curious about what the reactions have been to this artist's work. Having that anonymity as an artist must be powerful. Detractors can't discredit her message(s)/ideas/work based on such signifiers as ethnicity, faith, citizenship status, etc. Interesting.