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Renewable Music
A displaced Californian composer writes about music made for the long while & the world around that music. ~ The avant-garde is flexibility of mind. — John Cage ~ ...composition is only a very small thing, taken as a part of music as a whole, and it really shouldn't be separated from music making in general. — Douglas Leedy ~ My God, what has sound got to do with music! — Charles Ives
Landmarks (50)
Luigi Dallapiccola: Quaderno musicale di Annalibera (1952) for solo piano.
A set of 11 small pieces or movements, intended to be played all together in sequence, at once individual character pieces (some with particular technical concerns ("Accents", "Rhythms", "Colors") and variations or variants on/of common material (a single 12-tone row in transposition and in its classical transformations). Some of the pieces are aphoristic in length, others a bit more substantial, the whole perhaps 14 minutes in duration.
Much has been noted about the 12-tone aspects of the piece — I can recall, as a 14-year old, working out those rows as if they were the more sophisticated thing in the world, and yes, I'm a bit surprised to be including two mid-20th century 12-tone pieces in a row in this list of personal landmarks — as well as the connections to Second Viennese School (not least to piano pieces by Schoenberg and Webern*) and further back, through both the strict and not-so-strict canonic aspects (some even housed in a trio of movements identified as Contrapuncti), a recurring down-a-semitone, up-a-minor-third, down-a-semitone (yep, that spells B-A-C-H) figure and that "notebook" title to J.S. Bach, all of which is an interesting mix of the potentially useful and the possibly misleading, and none of which may actually capture much of the substance of this work.
This is in part due to playful misdirection on the composer's part. The title, for example. Bach's famous little notebook was a collection of delightful but modest pedagogical pieces for a student (Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena) to play. But Dallapiccola's piece, while dedicated to his young daughter, Annalibera, is sophisticated and challenging music intended not as a loose collection of teaching pieces but as a whole and integral work of concert music that is also well-suited for private use.he first piece or movement, "SIMBOLO" (symbol), is permeated by transpositions and transformations of the B-A-C-H figure, but it avoids a literal B-A-C-H cypher at that pitch level and in that direction. What he's after is something musically more significant than a alpha-musical homage and that is to use that tight semitonal cluster to anchor smooth voice leading in a harmonic environment that is not shy to suggest tonal movement, indeed even cadential resolution.
This suggestion of the tonal is something quite different from the embedding or citation of authentically tonal material within a 12-tone scheme (like Berg, for example); it is almost uniquely comfortable in its ambiguity and that's something I have always found refreshing in Dallapiccola's later music. This did cost Dallapiccola some street cred with the serial generation on both sides of the Atlantic, with their programmatic tendency to deprecate any tonal suggestion, from objects like triads and seventh chords (which Dallapiccola welcomed, if cautiously, as products of voice leading but not of functional harmony), or processes like canons (on which Dallapiccola thrived) . Even his admirers sometimes appear to dismiss the work as too simple or too pretty. And it is often gorgeous, but cooly (cool, not cold) gorgeous, although inspired by the almost anti-pianistic keyboard works of Schoenberg and Webern, it was written by a pianist-composer whose catalogue was mostly vocal, but who knew how to write atmospherically, often even vocally, for his instrument, understanding register, articulation, handedness, the use of the pedal and resonance in a very different way than his Viennese models, focusing on the more delicate features of the instrument. The ninth piece, "COLORE", for example, with a gentle counter-metric swing of seventh-ish chords is very much a piece that can be located with the coolest jazz pianism of roughly the same era as not influenced or influencing but sharing aspects of a common sensibility (again: cool, not cold).
* Babbitt, in the lecture collection Words about Music, has some striking observations about the relationship of the Quaderno's "CONTRAPUNCTUS SECUNDUS" to the second movement of the Webern Variationen, in which the relationship between fixed pitches and intervals is exchanged.
Posted by Daniel Wolf at 12:00 PM No comments:
What composers mean when we say we're "writing" music
The usual assumption is that we're producing notation, putting notes down on paper (or, more recently, pushing pixels around a screen to emulate putting notes down on paper) just like Sebastian Bach did when he adjourned to his composing room each evening, lubricated by a bottle of brandy and powered by some costly candles (the costs of those candles alone had to have put Bach among the relatively well-off in his day.) But that's not broad enough to describe the diversity of what we do. Composing is also "writing" when we're committing something to a text or graphic score, or programming in some language or code, or committing something to memory. I just read an interview with David Tudor, who also used the word writing as the verb associated with pieces he made even when they had no notation at all: perhaps some tentative oral instructions (when others were involved), sometimes circuitry diagrams or often just the circuits themselves, especially when the work was for his own use. Perhaps the whole set up of Tudor's "table of electronics", combined with his practice at playing that table (both routines and extemporaneous discoveries (perhaps the best recorded example of one of those discoveries by Tudor comes in that recording of Christian Wolff's Burdocks, when the organ Tudor was 'til then rather discretely playing suddenly roared with a wonderful and shockingly unexpected stop mixture)) adds up to a kind of writing, among the circuits, on the table, in the hands, etched in the ears/brain, etc.. But I don't think that that's quite it, either. The aspect of writing-writing which composing-writing most critically emulates is actually the production of delay (see Duchamp: a delay in glass), the movement or shift in time which stands between writing and reading. Composition is putting music into storage for future retrieval as performance/listening. (See also Duchamp: In Advance of the Broken Arm.) The length of the delay is, of course, a variable, as is the presence of noise in the delay line. (See also Large Glass: dust, cracks.)
Posted by Daniel Wolf at 12:17 AM No comments:
Labels: notation
Roberto Gerhard: Concert for 8 (1962) for flute, clarinet, guitar, mandolin, accordion, percussion, piano, and double bass.
The Catalan composer Gerhard (1896-1970) was one of Schoenberg's Berlin students (an international group that included Nikos Skalkottas, Marc Blitzstein, Norbert von Hannenheim) and his career bridged over the Second World War, giving an unusual breadth with some of his early works incorporating folk elements, his latter works using twelve tone techniques, electro-acoustic tape, and even some degrees of Cage-acknowledging indeterminacy. Fleeing Franco's Spain, his latter career was spent in England, with some important teaching stays in the United States.
Gerhard's use of Schoenbergian twelve-tone techniques was sensitive and sophisticated, but the twelve tone aspect is perhaps the least interesting thing about the Concert for 8: it can say something about where the pitches come from, but this music is about far more than pitches and certainly more about where they're going than whence they've come. I suspect that it was his experience with electro-acoustic music that made the critical difference here for Gerhard. He insisted on the advantages of a composer working in the immediacy of his/her own studio, with an individualized components and set-up without the apparatus of staff engineers and bureaucracy that went with the large continental studios hosted by state radio stations. Working with only the assistance of his wife in recording sounds, Gerhard's relationship to his material had an immediacy akin to that of the independent studios in the US (and he would, indeed, have a more positive relationship to the young composers at the Cooperative Studio in Ann Arbor than his colleagues at the University of Michigan.)* Let's be clear: Concert for 8 is not electroacoustic music, it is instrumental chamber music for a highly unconventional, even unlikely combination of instruments (if I recall correctly, it was the result of a private commission from a musically gifted family with an unusual instrumentarium) including plucked strings, an accordion, and a large battery of percussion instruments mostly not of determined or even discrete pitches (using such percussion is frequently a challenge to a twelve-tone premise, particularly when the composer wants to go beyond accents and noisy ornaments to the pitch scheme**) but it is music that is so focused on quality of sound the formation of sounds into broad gestures that the assumption is inescapable that it has been informed by an electroacoustic experience — that of concrete and instrumental sounds combined and placed into a continuity by the manipulation of magnetic tape. I cannot help but hear Concert for 8 as belonging in the company of "textural" works of its era, like those of Ligeti or Xenakis (composers a good generation younger than Gerhard), yet this is music that sounds consistently and refreshingly right at both the level of detail and of broad stroke, a kind of anti-stochastic music, to the degree to which a stochastic approach can mean that one is disinterested in or even ignores the precise details so long as they sum up to the desired larger view.
* For a point of comparison, consider that Gerhard's colleagues working in German radio studio, would typically have to work with the mediation of a Tonmeister, a Sound Engineer, and a Tape Recorder Operator, who kept a protocol of each session.
** Compare Babbitt's highly rigorous use of trap set percussion in All Set.
Metre: The End of the Line
I'm in the middle of an old-fashioned exchange of letters (envelopes, stamps, mailboxes, everything but the pony express) with an old friend about poetic and musical metres. (It's a fascinating, if often confusing field, not least because poets and musicians tend to count things — metre, feet, stress, accent etc. — slightly differently (in particular, as a musician, I think I recognize an anacrusis — a pick-up — more readily than most poets do. (Entertainingly fictionalized, and in his usual obsessive style, Nicholson Baker's novel The Anthologist treats this question.)))
I think we have reached some consensus that song and dance metres differ from each other in a fundamental way in that dance assumes, indeed requires (i.a. so that dancers don't fall over themselves trying to follow a stretch of music when a foot/beat too many or too few appears or doesn't) a continuity from measure to measure, a non-stop flight of music (the music always goes on, and sometimes its vamps to allow a dancer to come in on the next rhythmic cycle when one is missed), while the line-to-line continuity of poem and song often has got to be more flexible. A voice has to breath, after all, and the listener probably needs some time to catch the sense of the text. So how is this flexibility realized in performance? Will a series of, say, pentameter lines, admit either regular or occasional additions of a foot or two, whether for breath or sense or just a break in the texture, becoming hexameters or longer, or should the measure vamp (whether imagined or via some form of acoustical accompaniment) allowing the reader/reciter/singer wait for the next line to jump in? (This happens a lot in South Indian music.) Or do these insertions of time intervals at the ends of lines exist in some kind of "zero time" as in some of Christian Wolff's cuing pieces, a break in the continuity that literally "doesn't count"? And what about texts which contain sentences that wrap themselves around the end of a line, ending somewhere in the middle of the next? (This is actually surprisingly rare in premodern verse/song.)
Posted by Daniel Wolf at 5:42 PM No comments:
Labels: performance practice, rhythm
The New Division: New Music for Recorder
I'm very pleased to announce an online publication, The New Division, a collection of works by a large and international group of composers for solo alto recorder with or without accompaniment, based on ground basses found in the The Division Flute of 1706.
The Division Flute, published by John Walsh, was a collection of pieces for solo treble/alto recorder, mostly with accompaniment by continuo bass playing repeated grounds. (The collection also included a number of unaccompanied preludes, chaconnes, and Cibells (a gavotte-like dance based on a hit tune by Lully.)) Like similarly-named collections for the viol (which has been lost) and violin, it provides one of the best insights into the state of the art of instrumental music-making — from amateur to virtuoso — in its time. The art of playing divisions — or, if you like, diminutions or variations — to an existing piece of music or over a repeating bass line and/or harmony was a central part of Baroque musical practice by both by composers and improvising performers. Sophisticated bodies of solo divisions survive for violin and viol, lute and keyboards and, among wind instruments, principally the recorder, cornett, and, somewhat later, transverse flute.
The basses used in The Division Flute includes a number which were so long and widely used that their origins are lost — like La Follia, one of the greatest hits of the 17th, 18th, and also much of the 20th century —, some are associated with particular tunes — here Green Sleeves or Johney Cock thy Beavor, and others are associated with particular musicians, including Godfrey Finger, John Banister, and Solomon Eccles (one of the most interesting personalities in English musical history.)
The New Division includes pieces offering a wide variety of styles and solutions to the elaboration of a bass as well as a Cibell for our time, with composers including (in alphabetical order) Jon Brenner, Steed Cowart, Elaine Fine, Christopher Fox, Danyel Franke, Jeffrey Harrington, Anne La Berge, Mary Jane Leach, Scott Mc Laughlin, Christopher Molla, Lloyd Rodgers, Conal Ryan, Jonathan Segel, and myself, with at least two additional items in prepation. This includes music playable by virtuosi as well as, in some cases, very good amateurs and both music comfortably within conventions and traditions and music that cheerfully challenges those conventions. And it's all online, here.
Posted by Daniel Wolf at 10:03 PM 2 comments:
Daniel Wolf
http://home.snafu.de/djwolf/
The New Division: New Music for Solo Recorder
Melodica! (solo and ensemble works for melodica by 13 composers)
A Winter Album (solo piano works by 15 composers)
Cheap Imitations (3)
critics (18)
musical politics (32)
no comment (17)
notation (17)
on composing (165)
orchestration (28)
performance practice (12)
recordings (10)
religon (2)
scores (31)
state of the art (177)
stuff and nonsense (73)
the radical music (24)
true stories (3)
New Music ReBlogroll
Blognoggle New Music
aworks: "New" American Classical Music
Boring Like A Drill: Ben Harper
Iron Tongue of Midnight: Lisa Hirsch
les said the better: Charles Celeste Hutchins
listen.: Steve Hicken
Mixed Meters: David Ocker
Musical Assumptions: Elaine Fine
The Eastside View: Charles Shere
The Rambler: Contemporary. Classical.
Think Denk: Jeremy Denk
Vriezen Vindt...: Samuel Vriezen (in Dutch)
Renewable Music Landmarks
01. Richard Maxfield: Night Music (1960)
02. W.A.Mozart: Mauerische Trauermusik K477 (1785)
03. Lou Harrison: Scenes from Nek Chand
04. Jo Kondo: Standing (1973)
05. Boudiwijn Buckinx: 1001 Sonates
06. Pauline Oliveros: In Memoriam Nikola Tesla, Cosmic Engineer (1969)
07. Klarenz Barlow: Orchideae Ordinariae or the Twelfth Root of Truth (1989)
08. Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella & Symphonies d'instruments à vent (in memoriam Claude Debussy), both 1920
09. Gordon Monahan: Piano Mechanics (1981-86)
10. William Brooks: Madrigals (1977-78)
11. Douglas Leedy: Piano Sonata 1994
12. Alvin Lucier: BIRD AND PERSON DYNING (1975)
13. Johannes Brahms, Trio, Op. 40 (1865)
14. Achille-Claude Debussy, Six Épigraphes Antiques (1914)
15. Henry Purcell: Fantazias and In Nomines (ca. 1680)
16. John Cage: Cheap Imitation (1969)
17. Charles E. Ives, Symphony Nr. 4 (ca. 1910-16, revised ca. 1921-25)
18. Christian Wolff: Burdocks (1970-71)
19. La Monte Young: Chronos Kristalla (Time Crystals) from The Magic Chord x 4 (1990- ) for string quartet
20. Johannes Ockeghem: Mort tu as navré de ton dart (ca 1460) & Josquin des Prez: Nymphes des bois (ca 1497).
21. Walter Zimmermann: Lokale Musik (1977-81)
22. Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet (1985)
23. Robert Ashley: In Sara Mencken Christ and Beethoven There Were Men and Women (1972)
24. Edgard Varese: HYPERPRISM (1923)
25. Darius Milhaud: Six Symphonies pour petit Orchestre (1917-23)
26. Giacinto Scelsi: Okanagon (1968)
27. Carola Bauckholt: Kurbel und Wolke (1997)
28. Henry Brant: On the Nature of Things (After Lucretius)(1956)
29. Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48 (1840)
30. Wolfgang von Schweinitz: Plainsound-Sinfonie (2003-05)
31. Steve Reich: Drumming (1971)
32. Harry Partch: Castor and Pollux (1952)
33. Arnold Schoenberg: String Trio op. 45 (1946)
34. Gordon Mumma: Pontpoint (1966-1980)
35. Daniel Lentz: Missa Umbrarum (1973)
36. Virgil Thomson: Sonata da Chiesa (1926)
37. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Studie II (1954)
38. Olivier Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1941)
39. Erik Satie: Pièces froides (1897)
40. Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna ("Lasciatemi morire") (1623)
41. Richard Ayres: No. 37b (2003/2006)
42. Joseph Haydn: Die Vorstellung des Chaos from Die Schöpfung (Hob. XXI:2)(1796-98).
43. Heinrich Isaac: Quis dabit capiti meo aquam? (1492)
44. Cornelius Cardew: Autumn '60
45. Guillaume de Machaut: Ma fin est mon commencement
46. Karel Goeyvaerts: Nummer 1 (1950-51)
47. Hector Berlioz: Les Troyens (1856-58)
48. Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: 15 Sonatas and Passacaglia (ca 1676)
49. Roberto Gerhard: Concert for 8 (1962)
50. Luigi Dallapiccola: Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera (1952)
51. Alan Hovhaness: Symphony for Metal Orchestra [Symphony No. 17] (1963)
52. Lloyd Rodgers: Trio (1975)
Favorite Music Links
Alvin Lucier
Anaphoria Island
Anarchic Harmony (Andrew Culver)
Ann Warde
Boudewijn Buckinx
Catalogue of the works of Charles Ives
Charles Shere
Christopher Fox
Clarence Barlow
Corporeal Meadows (Harry Partch)
Daan Vandewalle
Ellen Fullman
Frog Peak Music
Gordon Mumma
Hauke Harder
Hildegard Kleeb
Jo Kondo
Joaquin Orellana
Jonathan Segel
Jukka-Pekka Kervinen
La Monte Young & Marian Zazeela
Lloyd Rodgers
Material Press
Morton Feldman Texts
MusikTexte
Nicolas Collins
Plainsound Music Edition (Wolfgang von Schweinitz, James Tenney, Marc Sabat)
Roland Dahinden
Samuel Vriezen
Taylan Susam
Upload .. Download .. Perform (score repository for experimental performance)
Walter Zimmermann
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Q: show that $h\left( t\right)= \eta \left( \gamma_t;w \right) $ is continuous. Let G be a region and let $\gamma_0$ and $\gamma_1$ be two closed smooth curves in G. Suppose $\gamma_0 \sim \gamma_1$ and $\Gamma: I² \rightarrow G$ is a continuous map such that:
    $$ \left\{ \begin{array}{rclll}
 \Gamma\left(s,0 \right)=\gamma_0\left( s\right)   & \Gamma\left(s,1 \right)=\gamma_1\left( s\right)  &  & 0\leqslant s \leqslant 1  \\
 \Gamma\left( 0,t\right) =\Gamma\left( 1,t\right)  &
 & &0\leqslant t \leqslant 1
 \end{array}
 \right. \ $$
    Also suppose that $\gamma_t=\Gamma\left(s,t \right) $ is smooth for each t. If $w \in \mathbb{C}-G$ define $h\left( t\right)= \eta \left( \gamma_t;w \right) $ and show that $h:\left[ 0,1\right] \rightarrow \mathbb{Z} $ is continuous.
my aproach is the next:
If $t_0,t_1 \in \left[ 0,1\right] $ then
\begin{eqnarray*}
  \left| h\left(t_0 \right)-h\left( t_1\right)  \right| &=& \left| \eta \left( \gamma_{t_0};w \right)-\eta \left( \gamma_{t_1};w \right)\right| \\
  &=& 2\pi \left| \int_{\gamma_{t_0}}^{}\frac{1}{z-w}dz-\int_{\gamma_{t_1}}^{}\frac{1}{z-w}dz\right| \\
  &\leqslant& 2\pi \int_{0}^{1} \left| \left( \frac{\gamma_{t_0}'\left( s\right) }{\gamma_{t_0}\left( s\right) -w}-\frac{\gamma_{t_1}'\left( s\right) }{\gamma_{t_1}\left( s\right) -w}\right)\right|  \left| ds\right|
 \end{eqnarray*}

A: Here is how Rudin does it: since $\Gamma (I^2)$ is compact, there is a $\delta>0$ such that $d(w,\Gamma(s,t))>\delta$ for all $(s,t)\in I^2.$ Fix $t_0\in I.$ Since $\Gamma$ is uniformly continuous $|\Gamma(s, t) - \Gamma(s', t')|<\epsilon$ whenever $|s-s'| + |t-t'|$ is small enough.
The foregoing implies that
$\tag 1|\gamma_t(s)-\gamma_{t_0}(s)|<|w-\gamma_{t_0}(s)| \ \text{if} \ |t-t_0|  \ \text{is small enough}.$
Noting that  $\gamma_{t_0}(s)-w\neq 0$, define $\gamma(s)=\frac{\gamma_t(s)-w}{\gamma_{t_0}(s)-w}.$ The smoothness hypothesis implies that
$\tag2 \frac{\gamma'}{\gamma}=\frac{\gamma_t'}{\gamma_t-w}-\frac{\gamma_{t_0}'}{\gamma_{t_0}-w}.$
And it is easy to check using $(1)$ that $|1 - \gamma(s) | <1.$ Thus, the curve defined by $\gamma $ is contained within the the disk of radius $1$ centered at $(1,0)$ and so $\int\frac{\gamma'}{\gamma}=\int\frac{\gamma'}{\gamma-0}=0$, so that on integrating $(2)$, we get
$\tag3 n(\gamma_t,w)=\int\frac{\gamma_t'}{\gamma_t-w}=\int\frac{\gamma_{t_0}'}{\gamma_{t_0}-w}=n(\gamma_{t_0},w).$
The continuity of $h$ at $t_0$ now follows immediately from $(3).$

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CITGO Distinguished Scholars: Muskan
MEET THE DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS IN THE BEATING THE ODDS CATEGORY!
NAME: Muskan Effendi
HIGH SCHOOL: Margaret Long Wisdom High School
GRADE: Senior
ACHIEVEMENTS: Muskan is president of the Spanish club and the founder and president of Empathy Without Borders. She placed tin the top 10 at the Future Problem Solving International Conference and placed first at the Business Professionals of America regionals. To help provide for her family she started a family business with her brother and father, where she continues to play a key role with several responsibilities. Even with a large workload, Muskan remains in the top 1% of her class and finds time to advocate for Cancer awareness and volunteer several hours a week,
GOALS: After graduation, Muskan plans to attend Rice University. She wants to major in business and follow a pre-med track.
educationdistinguished scholar
2 boys injured in SE Houston shooting, suspect detained, HPD says
Off-duty Harris County Sheriff's deputy died after domestic dispute
3 Houston-area officers under investigation following deadly crashes
Houston's activists are inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.
Big warm-up before a midweek cold front

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Come for an inviting and accessible yoga experience regardless of your degree of mobility, flexibility or strength.
If you have ever felt like yoga may not be for you, or felt intimidated to take a typical yoga class, or were not sure your physical issues would allow you to participate, then this is the class for you.
If you are a seasoned yoga student and would like a unique and centering break, please join too!
Learn how to "center", tap into awareness as a healing tool, safely open your joints and stretch, connect with the natural flow of your breath as a source of inner peace, attune to your energy body, practice powering down your nervous system as a means to connect with yourself and the many unseen gifts of the present moment where life is actually happening.


Athens hip-hop collective The YOD is a family, spiritually and musically.
Pack mentality is a huge thing [for us], member Trevor "Trvy" Wiggins says. People always want to find people that think the way they do, but [are] different enough that they challenge them. I think artistry works like that for us.
The groups home base, playfully dubbed Murder House after the haunted domicile in season one of American Horror Story, is a hub for many local musicians. Its also host to a 24-hour studio, where, at any given time, someone might be found laying down tracks.


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Islam, Women and Feminism ( 5 Aug 2015, NewAgeIslam.Com)
Saudis Warned Over Marrying 'Unidentified' Yemen Women
Niloofar Rahmani (23) is a pilot of the Afghan Air Force
In Afghanistan, Death Threats Shatter Dream of First Female Pilot, Niloofar Rahmnai
Making a Case for Saudi Arabia's Women Entrepreneurs
Malaysian Girl, 11, Shocks Grandmother by Giving Birth
Sharp Rise In Women, Children Casualties in Afghan War, UN Says
Indonesia Maid Who Escaped Death Sentence Set To Leave Saudi
'Shut Up Your Mouse Obama' Muna Al-Beheiri Seeks To Attend Suez Canal Opening
Pak Govt-Unicef Plan to 'Improving Quality Of Life of Women, Children'
More Muslims Are Signing Up For Halal Dating, But How Islamic Is It?
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islam,-women-and-feminism/new-age-islam-news-bureau/saudis-warned-over-marrying--unidentified--yemen-women/d/104192
Saudi Arabia has warned its citizens against marrying "unidentified" women from areas along the border with Yemen, adding that those who marry foreigners without permission will be punished.
The interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday that it had noted that some elderly men, particularly those living near the border, had approached authorities to legalise the situation of their "unidentified" wives, despite knowing they were breaking the law.
"Due to the serious consequences resulting from this issue, [the interior ministry] urges citizens to observe the law, pointing out that anyone who marries a foreign woman without prior permission will be brought before the competent authorities for punishment for dealing with unidentified people," the interior ministry said.
The conflict in Yemen has forced at least 30,000 Yemenis and nearly 10,000 third-country nationals to flee to Saudi Arabia, according to the UN refugee agency.
Since the beginning of the Saudi-led air strikes on the country, many of those fleeing have smuggled themselves illegally through the two countries' 1800km border.
Others have stayed in the kingdom beyond their permitted visa period.
In May, the Saudi king issued an order allowing Yemenis living illegally to settle their situation, prompting thousands to queue at the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh to receive a residency permit.
The interior ministry indicated that it was during that period that Saudi elderly men wanted to settle the situation of their wives.
'Desperation and poverty'
It is common for elderly Saudi men to marry much younger Yemeni women, Saba Zawbah, national coordinator for human rights projects at the UN development agency, told Al Jazeera. Many of them are underage girls, she said.
Zawbah said that "tourism marriage" had been very common in Yemen over the recent years, whereby "Saudi men in their forties and fifties would marry young women aged as young as 12 in return for money given to her family."
"The desperation and poverty of Yemeni families in Saudi Arabia could lead to a similar situation there," she said.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are the only Arab countries that do not have laws setting a minimum age for marriage.
According to a December 2011 Human Rights Watch report, approximately 14 percent of girls in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation, were married before the age of 15, and 52 percent were wed before they turned 18.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/saudis-warned-marrying-unidentified-yemen-women-150806110721916.html
KABUL—At age 21, Niloofar Rahmani became Afghanistan's first female fixed-wing military pilot, living out her father's dream and emerging as a symbol of her country's revolutionary assent to roles for women outside the home.
That was also when her life began to unravel. "This was my dream job," the Afghan Air Force captain said. "I never thought I would want to quit."
Now 23 years old, Capt. Rahmani faces death threats from both the Taliban and members of her extended family for daring to work in the male-dominated world of military aviation. Her parents and siblings also fear for their lives, and the family of eight lives in hiding, their comfortable middle-class life lost.
The U.S.-led coalition had publicized Capt. Rahmani's achievements, helping turn her into one of the faces of the post-9/11 generation of Afghans, those who came of age after the end of Taliban rule. Online photos of the young pilot in her khaki jumpsuit, loose head scarf and aviator sunglasses went viral.
Her experience, however, reveals the limits on women's rights here, despite the sizable investment by the U.S. and its allies to promote gender equality. Among the advances: Girls schools have opened, women have joined the workforce and some have shed their burqas. But efforts to empower women have at times clashed with traditional Afghan culture.
Capt. Rahmani grew up in a family that embraced the U.S.-backed order that followed the Taliban's ouster. When the Afghan Air Force began recruiting women, she signed up in 2011 with the support of her family. She was 18 years old.
"We should have this right in Afghanistan," she told The Wall Street Journal during training in 2012, and urged other young women to follow. "I decided to join the military to be an example for others."
Capt. Rahmani flies a Cessna 208 turboprop plane that ferries soldiers to battle—and sometimes brings home their remains. A year ago, she became an aircraft commander.
Her father, Abdoul Wakil, had wanted to join the Afghan Air Force as a young man in the 1980s. "The children knew that their father's dream hadn't come true," he said. "But I never imagined that by becoming a pilot we would face such problems, that we would suffer this much."
By 2013, Capt. Rahmani had become well-known in Afghanistan and that was when the threatening phone calls began. At first, she had trouble understanding the shouted messages. The men calling didn't speak her language, Dari. But their message was clear: Quit or die.
A letter then landed on her doorstep one night. "You have not taken our threats seriously," said the letter, dated Aug. 3, 2013. "Islam has instructed women not to work with the Americans or British. If you carry on doing your job, you will be responsible for your destruction and that of your family."
The mailed threat was signed by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehrik-e Taliban Swat. It advised her "to learn from Malala Yousafzai," the teenage Nobel laureate who was nearly killed for campaigning for women's rights in her home valley of Swat, Pakistan. The family, including Capt. Rahmani, temporarily fled to India.
More frightening, Capt. Rahmani said, were threats from relatives who accused her of shaming the family. In one photo widely shared on social media, two female U.S. pilots lifted Capt. Rahmani in celebration after her first solo flight. Rumors spread that the U.S. pilots were actually men, and they were converting her to Christianity.
Some of Capt. Rahmani's male relatives, including uncles and cousins, believed the only way to restore their family honor was to punish her, she said. After a guard halted a break-in at the longtime family home in Kabul, she said, they sold the house. They have since moved houses every few months.
After Capt. Rahmani returned from India, the Afghan Air Force asked her to quit, saying she had abandoned duty. She said pressure from the U.S.-led coalition kept her job.
Over the past year, Capt. Rahmani's brother Omar said, he was twice attacked, first in an attempted shooting near his university, and then in a hit-and-run that broke his arm. The family's main breadwinner—Mr. Wakil, an engineer—lost his job last fall after harassment by his colleagues over his daughter's notoriety, Mr. Wakil said.
Capt. Rahmani's older sister, Afsun, has suffered her own consequences: Her husband's family shunned her, and she is now divorced, a rare and shameful circumstance in Afghanistan. As a result, she hasn't seen her 4-year-old son in more than a year, according to family members.
"Had I known, I would never have put my family through this," Capt. Rahmani said. "Despite the situation we are in, they are still supporting me. Sometimes I feel that if I didn't have their support, I wouldn't be alive."
In March, the U.S. Department of State honored Capt. Rahmani with an International Women of Courage Award, acknowledging the personal risks she took for her career. She visited San Diego to fly with the Navy's Blue Angels, and the mayor proclaimed March 10, 2015, "Captain Niloofar Rahmani Day."
Capt. Rahmani's superiors were reluctant to grant her permission to travel to the U.S. and gave no recognition of the honor when she returned, Capt. Rahmani and foreign officials said.
"Niloofar is not the only one who is being threatened—all pilots are," said Col. Bahadur Khan, spokesman for the Afghan Air Force. "The enemy doesn't distinguish between men and women. She should stand firm against the threats and serve the country bravely."
Of the threats and attacks on her family, Capt. Rahmani said, her superiors have told her, in essence: You knew what you were getting into. We didn't force you to join.
"Her visibility served on one hand as a source of inspiration, but on the other hand as an irritant to those who were not progressively minded," said John Michel, a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General who was in charge of the U.S.-led coalition's Air Training command until August 2014. "It's disappointing to hear where we are at now."
Although Afghanistan is short of skilled pilots, Capt. Rahmani hasn't flown since early July because of security risks.
The U.S. military has offered a chance for her to temporarily relocate to the U.S. for training aboard C-130 transport aircraft, an opportunity she is eager to pursue. She also could enroll in aviation school outside Afghanistan to obtain a commercial pilot's license, she said, an expensive option her family can't afford without help.
"I really wanted to be in the military. I really wanted to be in the Air Force," said the aviator, currently one of three female Afghan military pilots. "But I can't continue like this."
—Nathan Hodge contributed to this article.
Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com
http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-afghanistan-death-threats-shatter-dream-of-first-female-pilot-1438738716
Zakia Al Moammar
I opened Hasna Riyadh, or Riyadh Lady, in 1960. Wearing my abaya and hijab, I would sell dresses to ladies who lunched in Saudi Arabia's capital. They wanted to get their hair and nails done, wear beautiful outfits and go to parties, but they had nowhere to go for such things. Riyadh was still a small town. I would buy two or three of each design from Lebanon, and later London, for my customers. Sometimes Italian traders would come to show me their items.
I was the first Saudi woman to do this, so I had a lot of trouble from the muttawa, the religious police. They would say they saw men going into my shop and other things to get me to stop trading. They did not like seeing a woman owning and running her own business. I was an oddity and went against the social norms of the time, and still do for many today.
Women loved the store. But I didn't make enough money as my expenses were high and I was too trusting of people, some of whom would take dresses with the promise of paying me later. It was also very tiring; I was in my 30s and had six children. Neither this nor the muttawa stopped me, but profitability forced me to close my doors. People would come to me afterwards: "Why did you shut it, why did you shut it?" they asked.
The shop, however, gave me the tools to get into the real estate business on the advice of a friend of the family. I sold the shop and used the money to buy land, which was very cheap at that time. I started small but traded up and up, making profits along the way. A lot of men would come to my house to solicit land.
They refer to me as Umm Mohammad, the mother of Mohammad — which is the name of my son.
In some ways it was a much more private business than the shop. But I was not afraid of anyone. I moved into building small apartments, and later shopping malls. Although I am now in my 80s — I'm not sure of my actual age — I am still very active, despite my bad knees.
My pickup trucks are my prized possessions. I get in the back so I can survey land as my driver takes me around. I am very hands-on and my staff know it. The container office at the back of my garden will be crane-lifted to my next project in just a few days. From there, I can inspect pipes and meet with accountants and engineers. I sometimes like to arrive first so I know who is on time.
I remember details of every transaction: each dress I sold, the rents I collected, the name of each customer. I made mistakes, of course, but when anyone starts something new this is inevitable. My husband came from a prominent Saudi family and was an adviser to King Abdul Aziz and then King Saud. We had connections. Some people were helpful, others were not.
But this was my own money — in Islamic culture women keep their money after marriage — and these were my own businesses. I had pride in what I did and I am proud of what I've achieved without a single day of formal education.
Those women who say they do not want or need to work are lazy. They just want to socialise and watch television. It used to be much harder for a woman in the kingdom, but not anymore.
Women need to work. There are strong, intelligent, courageous, educated women here. People outside Saudi Arabia don't know it.
We are the matriarchs of the family and we are the ones who will help the country progress socially and economically. This is not a backward place, as many in the West imagine.
I liked Margaret Thatcher a lot. She, like me, dealt mainly with men. She was strong and well respected.
My staff, many of whom have been with me for decades, say the same about me. I don't know why the men were, and still are, afraid of me. I am very pleasant.
http://gulfnews.com/opinion/off-cuff/making-a-case-for-saudi-arabia-s-women-entrepreneurs-1.1562466
BAHAU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - An eleven-year-old girl gave birth to a baby boy at a private clinic near here on Wednesday morning, and police are now looking for the man who is believed to have raped her.
Jempol police district chief, Supt Hamzah Alias, said the grandmother had taken her to a private clinic when she complained of abdominal pains early yesterday.
The grandmother was stunned when the doctor informed her that the girl was experiencing labour pains.
The Year Five pupil, who is doing fine after delivering the baby, has been admitted to the Tuanku Ampuan Najihah hospital in Kuala Pilah for observation.
Her baby, although born underweight, is also doing fine.
"The girl's family has lodged a police report. We hope to arrest the suspect soon. This is statutory rape," he told The Star.
The man, who is in his 30s and has a criminal record, is not related to the girl.
Police have classified the case under Section 376 of the Penal Code which provides a jail sentence of up to 20 years prison and whipping.
"Preliminary investigations showed that the girl lived with her grandmother. We are still trying to establish the facts of the rape case," he said.
When contacted, State Welfare, Women and Family Development Committee chairman Norhayati Omar said she was appalled by the incident.
"I have not met the girl or her family but it is sad that this had to happen," she said, adding that she planned to visit the girl soon.
Datuk Norhayati said this is believed to be the youngest case in the state.
She added that she was told the girl, who is the eldest of three siblings, knew she was pregnant but did not dare tell her family.
Asked whether the girl or her family would be allowed to keep the baby, Ms Norhayati said this could not be determined as yet.
"I need to talk to her family and get the details. Only then will we be able to decide the next course of action," she added.
The girl's father is a lorry driver while her mother works in a restaurant as a helper.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/malaysian-girl-11-taken-to-clinic-for-abdominal-pains-but-shocks-grandmother-by-giving
The United Nations said in a report Wednesday that an increasing number of women and children were getting hurt or killed in Afghanistan's war against the Taliban and other anti-government fighters.
The number of casualties among women rose by 23 percent and the number of casualties among children rose by 13 percent in the first six months of 2015 as compared to the same time period last year, the report said.
Dominic Medley, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that the significant increase in casualties among women and children could be blamed on a combination of factors, including more ground fighting — the leading cause of civilian casualties — and a rise in the use of indiscriminate weapons.
Ninety percent of all civilians casualties resulted from ground engagements, improvised explosive devices, suicide attacks and targeted killings, the report said.
UNAMA attributed 70 percent of the 4,921 civilian casualties to insurgent forces, including 1,592 deaths. Meanwhile, the total number of casualties in the almost 14-year conflict was up one percent in the first half of this year, compared to the same January to June period last year, the U.N. report said.
Among those killed was 14-year-old son of Khakishah Ghafouri. The teen was killed by the blast wave of a suicide bomb attack targeting a military convoy of foreign soldiers on the main road to Kabul airport.
"He was a good, smart and brave boy. He told me all the time he wanted to be a lawyer," Ghafouri told Al Jazeera. "When these suicide attacks happen, the poor people suffer, because in every suicide attack, many people die, many are injured — it's all civilians."
UNAMA chief Nicholas Haysom said, "the cold statistics of civilian casualties do not adequately capture the horror of violence in Afghanistan, the torn bodies of children, mothers and daughters, sons and fathers."
Afghanistan's security forces have been fighting the Taliban alone since the withdrawal of U.S. and international combat troops last year. The Taliban have sought to take advantage by escalating their attacks, spreading their footprint from the south and east to the north, and joining forces with other insurgent groups.
Afghan officials have said other armed groups, as well as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant — which controls about one-third of Syria and Iraq and has a small but growing presence in Afghanistan — have joined the anti-government war.
In a worrying trend, more civilians were injured or killed by government forces than the Taliban during armed clashes, the U.N. said, although the insurgents remained responsible for the majority of civilian casualties overall. Explosive devices like mortars, rockets and grenades used during clashes caused most of the injuries and deaths during ground engagements, the U.N. said.
Heather Barr, a senior researcher on Afghanistan with the New York-based Human Rights Watch, echoed UNAMA's call for all parties in the Afghanistan conflict to avoid harming civilians.
The Afghan government "has to take responsibility for civilian casualties — it has to educate its forces about what international law is on the protection of civilians, and if there are deaths caused by government forces, they must be investigated," Barr said.
With no NATO troops on the battlefields following the withdrawal of international combat troops from Afghanistan at the end of last year, she expressed concerns those numbers could rise further.
"There seems to be no willingness by the government to take seriously these problems," Barr said. "As there are fewer and fewer international forces to watch and constrain what the Afghan security forces are doing, there is less constraint than before, and no reason to believe things will improve with the continuing drawdown."
Al Jazeera and wire services. Jennifer Glasse contributed to this report from Kabul.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/5/un-reports-rise-in-afghan-women-children-casualties.html
An Indonesian women who have previously been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for allegedly practicing witchcraft is set to fly home, after efforts made by Jakarta to have her set free, local daily Arab News reported on Wednesday.
Rika Mustikawati, a domestic helper who was sentenced to death in 2012 in the southwestern province of Asir, had been charged by authorities for practicing witchcraft on her employer's wife.
In 2012, several months after Mustikawati's imprisonment, the Indonesian Consulate's legal team made efforts to have her released.
The appeals court decided to annul her death sentence and recommended a hearing with a new judge. The new trial resulted in the maid's sentence being commuted from capital punishment to a three-year-jail terms.
"The case is closed now; she is relieved and will fly home," Syarif Shahab, information secretary at the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah, told Arab News on Tuesday.
Mustikawati is one of 68 Indonesian workers since 2011 who has been spared a death sentence after intervention from Jakarta – and one of 12 so far this year.
24 Indonesian citizens are currently in prison facing the death sentence – 12 for charges of murder, nine for adultery and three for practicing black magic, according to an Indonesian foreign ministry statement.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/08/05/Indonesia-maid-who-escaped-death-sentence-set-to-leave-Saudi.html
Muna Al-Beheiri, the Egyptian woman who famously told Obama to shut up his "mouse," denied that she will deliver a speech during the opening of the new Suez Canal.
She told Al-Arabiya that she did in fact submit an application to participate in the event and now awaits the approval to attend.
Beheiri said she submitted a request to participate at the Monufia governorate, her hometown, where officials told her all invitations have been handed out and that the management of the Suez Canal authority has only settled with 8,000 guests, adding that she requested them to find a way for her to participate and they've promised to do so. — Al Arabiya.net
http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20150806252544
LAHORE: The Punjab government and Unicef, the United Nations agency for children, have joined hands for provision of human and technical support to government partners and international non-governmental organisations for enhancing capacity building of administrative departments.
An agreement was signed by Planning and Development Board Chairman Irfan Elahi and Unicef Senior Representative in Pakistan, Angela Kearney, at a ceremony at the Planning and Development Complex here on Wednesday.
Under the 2.5-year agreement, Unicef would provide technical assistance of $37 million to the Punjab government for implementation of multiple-year work plan (MYWP) that took effect from July and would run till December 2017. To be implemented through government structures, the plan would contribute to improving the quality of life of women and children in Punjab.
The programme would focus on supporting the Punjab government in improvement of maternal and child health, improvement in sanitation, addressing stunting and malnutrition among children, reducing child mortality, polio eradication, emergency preparedness and response with a key focus on disaster risk reduction and promotion of education for all, focusing on the marginalised and disadvantaged population in the province.
Irfan Elahi acknowledged Unicef's long partnership with the Punjab government. The continued technical and financial support by Unicef has produced results on ground, he said while pledging stronger working partnership with the organisation in the future.
Angela Kearney thanked Elahi for coordinating the development platform in the province that catalysed Unicef's participation in the development space in promotion of realisation of children and women's rights in the province.
She recommitted Unicef's continued support to the government for capacity and service delivery development and strengthening while calling on provincial development partners to ensure utilisation of available resources for development.
Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2015
http://www.dawn.com/news/1198700/govt-unicef-plan-to-improving-quality-of-life-of-women-children
Written by Mushamir
Welcome to Malaysia, where 35-40 percent of the population are single, unmarried, divorced and widowed, according to the Statistics Department.
In 2010, those aged 15 years and above who were never married accounted for 40 percent of the population in Malaysia, with 37 percent of Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur, and 35 percent of those in Selangor yet to get hitched.
The percentage of males who were never married (37.8 percent) was higher than females (32.2 percent). By comparison, the percentage of males and females who were married were almost similar at 59.8 percent and 59.4 percent respectively.
It is no surprise that we have Tinder, OkCupid and many other dating services that try to make matches between those looking for a partner, for whatever reasons.
But interestingly, there has equally been a rise of 'Muslim', or 'Halal', dating and matchmaking services lately, that leverage on their compliance with Shariah and Islamic Sunnah methods in sanctioning a holy match make.
Once, a Muslim man could only walk so far in his village to find a potential mate, and end up in a traditional arranged marriage to a Muslim woman of family acquaintance. But now, the emergence of Muslim dating services has simplified the matchmaking process for Muslim singles to find a potential life partner in safe environments.
Dating services like Halal Speed Dating, Mat Dan Minah, SingleMuslim.com, SecondWife.com and other social platforms, offer Muslim singles a chance to get to know one another and maybe find life partners, in the name of the Almighty.
Malaysian Digest looks from a religious point of view at how these 'Islamic' dating methods nowadays are in line with Islam, and we also tackle the tangly issue of finding second, third and fourth wives in this age of Halal dating.
Halal Speed Dating?
HalalSpeedDating.com is the brainchild of three friends — Norhayati Ismail, Zuhri Yuhyi, and Syed Azmi Alhabshi — who wanted to provide a more Shariah-compliant social platform that match makes singles the Islamic way − that is, interaction with potential love interests, all while being supervised by a wali (guardian of a potential bride), mahram (blood relation), or a chaperone.
Malaysian Digest speaks to Zuhri Yuhyi, as one of the co-founders of Halal Speed Dating on their recent first matchmaking event.
"It went very well, as we got an overwhelming response. We were targeting for 40 people, but instead 1,200 people registered their interest. More than 90 percent were serious to get married.
"Yes, the demand is high and it is highly required to avoid a lot of social ills, heartbreaks, and premarital sex.
"The reason we had around 80 people for our first event was because of the venue capacity, and the time limit of 3 hours. Some of the registrants came from Singapore, Norway, and we even had an 18-year-old female.
"Out of the 80, there were 14 matches. And surprisingly, there are more girls than men, that is something we are still trying to figure out, where are the men?
"There are more single men than women in Malaysia, the ratio at the event, 3 to 1 (women to men), for industry standards it's a very good number. I've personally been to many matchmaking events where there's 10 women to 1 men, and we've achieved 3 to 1, that's significant for such events.
"It's not speed dating if it isn't fast, so each person has around five minutes to talk with a different candidate," he shared.
Zuhri then affirmed of the short listing process for the candidates.
"We pre-screen each one when they register, asking them to write down their intentions and an essay about themselves and the types of spouses that they want.
"From this we can sense what kind of person they are looking for (characteristics) and we also shortlist and prioritise those who want to get married within a year," he added.
How Islamic Can Speed Dating Be?
Speed dating, or Tinder swiping, or OkCupid messaging are all synonymous with the hook up culture. So, how has this Halal version been more Islamic?
Zuhri tells us: "It's safe to compare this to Islamic banking, where it's not just for Muslims, it's for others as well. What's different is that the method is carried out in a Shariah-compliant manner.
"Because according to Islamic requirements, for example, when a woman wants to interact with a man, they need a wali or chaperone, or a family member to be present. It has to be done in a dignified manner.
"The reason for doing this is that we want to speed up prospects of meeting candidates. I believe it is more efficient, for example if I have a friend who wants to introduce me to a lady, it might take some time.
"But when you come to the event and meet 30 candidates at the same time, along with your wali, it helps speed up the matchmaking process. It is a big decision to make when talking to 20 different ladies for only five minutes.
"If you want to discuss further with different ladies, you'll have to submit a form to us. And if one of the ladies' match with you, then we will contact you to inform about the match, and we'll pass you the contact number of her wali.
"We've also included a lot of other Islamic practices too, such as no dating. Yes, we call it halal speed dating as it's easy to explain, but we don't encourage the act of dating. There's no dating in Islam for strangers to get together and such.
"After the speed date, if a man wants to talk to the lady, he will be given the contact of the chaperone, not hers. Future dates will have to be chaperoned until they get married," he explains.
Chaperones, In The 21st Century?
One way of describing Islamic matchmaking is to avoid fitnah (slander), or defined as anything that can bring about bad mouthing, intentions, and assumptions from other people that a couple might 'be up to no good'.
Zuhri enlightens further of how the dating scene as we know it is considered a new concept.
"This isn't strictly an Islamic way only. Other cultures have also practiced this a long time ago, and during our grandparents' time, they did not go out on dates.
"If a guy was interested in a girl, he'll go to talk to her, and if she agrees, and her parents agree, they get engaged, then get married. It was done in a very responsible way. They don't go out dating.
"We want to bring back this beautiful tradition, back when divorce rates and social ills were lower, compared to nowadays.
"We believe there's a strong correlation − that if people start their marriage in a respectable manner, their marriage will last. That's the spirit of Halal speed dating - dignified with a chaperone matchmaking event," he claims.
How About Dating For Second, Third, And Fourth Wives?
"We had one or two people looking for second wives, and a woman even registered to look for a second wife for her husband (with her own reasons), which were according to the Sunnah.
"We respect that but we focus more on those who are single and not married, and the divorced and widowed.
"It's not really our focus right now, providing second wives for those who are already married, even if it is permissible and legal in Islam and Malaysia.
"During registration, we ask if one is divorced or married, and we ask all candidates to be transparent.
"Men cannot find second wives without the consent of his first wife, which is the law in Malaysia. We are not planning to go that way," he shared.
A Religious Cleric Approves Of Halal Speed Dating
To find out if Halal dating services are a way forward for Muslims to find their match, Malaysian Digest then spoke with the UMNO Young Ulama Committee Chairman Ustaz Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya.
"Halal speed dating is a good concept - it is in line with Islamic teachings which encourage couples to see each other first before tying the knot. Ustaz Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya Ustaz Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya
"In fact, in the olden days, Islam encourages couples to get to know each other especially on their engagement day. This would help them learn about each other's attitude, characteristics, family background and so forth before getting married.
"In contrast to modern day dating which involves hanging out together − going to the cinemas for example, that contradicts with the Islamic teachings," he enlightened us.
In Islam, it is compulsory to bring along your wali or mahram if you want to meet a partner, to avoid unwanted temptations and sexual desires.
"As long as the wali is present in any dating sessions, then it is permissible in Islam.
"When it comes to finding the second, third or even fourth wife through online dating and so forth, it is considered permissible in Islam but it must be Shariah-compliant. In short, it must not go against the state's religious law.
"Do bear in mind however, there are a few simple requirements to adhere to marry more than one – First, you must be financially stable to support all households, secondly, you must be physically abled as well as emotionally under control (ensure all of them are happy), then, you must treat your wives justly and with all fairness.
"When it comes to online dating, the only thing that I disagree is the display of photos which sometimes can be a tad revealing.
"I'm also against the concept of sending private messages via social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp – they only bring about undesirable outcomes," he lamented.
With all the buzz over Halal matchmaking events, we wondered if it brings to the fruitful outcome of marriage.
A source who has witnessed her friend go through the process, confirms that it is reliable, and that her friend is now to be married to a man whom she met through an event called 'Soul Seekers', organised by the same individuals of the Halal Speed Dating.
She tells Malaysian Digest of how her friend had met the future husband during the event.
"First, there are forms to fill up and candidates must answer preset questions. The organiser will then match you according to those answers.
"On the day of the event, you are given a chance to talk with the candidates that have been shortlisted based on the matching profiles. It's basically like a resume.
"The talk was enough to determine if the candidates did have a certain chemistry with each other. The men then would choose who they would want to pursue. After that, there will be another session with the 'chosen' one.
"My friend chose the man according to his answers, and obviously she found him attractive. He did not shortlist her in the first round, but as the organisers could see that their profiles matched, for the second round, they organised for the two of them to meet up.
"After several communications only through WhatsApp, they then decided to tie the knot later this year. They don't go out on dates, and they only communicate with one another solely to discuss about their wedding preparations.
"She seems content, and I am glad that she has found someone the Halal way. In all honesty, I would go through the same and I would recommend for anyone seeking a life partner to give it a chance too.
"I mean, why not? We'll never know who our soul mate is or where they might be," the source who has also signed up for an upcoming Halal matchmaking event told us.
It's good to hear that in what many perceive to be a conservative religion of Islam that disallows dating, heaven made matches can still be made in the traditional way - just in a speedier manner with speed dating.
For future participants who are looking for marriage in the Halal speed dating manner, we asked Zuhri, his most important advice for a long term marriage, to which he replied:
"The most important aspect of marriage is piety - a man who strives for Allah's love and a woman who does the same, they are the ones who have a strong fundamental base and guide, for people to maintain a strong marriage.
"And when practicing your religion truly, continue to do your best to follow the Quran and Sunnah, that makes way for a lasting marriage," he concluded.
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/frontpage/282-main-tile/564302-more-muslims-are-signing-up-for-halal-dating-but-how-islamic-is-it.html


A fun and inclusive football tournament for children took place in Harpenden last week.
On January 26, Harpenden Colts Football Club hosted eight teams in a fun football tournament at the Roundwood Park School sports hall.
All of the teams are members of the Herts Youth Inclusive Football group, who work with Watford FC and the Hertfordshire FA to provide children with disabilities in the county with the opportunity to play football.
Harpenden Colts Inclusive was one of the teams with several young players who were new to competitive matches.
The squad is the inclusive section of the popular, 1000 player-strong, Harpenden Colts FC.
The inclusive section meets regularly for fun, free training sessions in Rothamsted Park. The sessions are a great way for children aged six and over, with any physical or learning impairment, to experience the physical, mental and social benefits of football.
The next Herts Youth Inclusive Football event will be a Football Festival on Saturday February 16 at Hemel Hempstead School with registration at 10:45am.
Contact Karen Stephanou at karen.stephanou@watfordfc.com for more information.


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text:
namespace aura {
class Window;
}

namespace ash {

enum class OverviewAnimationState : int32_t {
  kEnterAnimationComplete,
  kExitAnimationComplete,
};

struct OverviewItemInfo {
  // A window represented by an overview item.
  aura::Window* window = nullptr;

  // Screen bounds of an overview item.
  gfx::Rect bounds_in_screen;

  // Whether an overview item is being dragged.
  bool is_dragged = false;
};

// Overview item info keyed by app windows.
using OverviewInfo = base::flat_map<aura::Window*, OverviewItemInfo>;

// Provides access to the limited functions of OverviewController for autotest
// private API.
class ASH_EXPORT OverviewTestApi {
 public:
  OverviewTestApi();

  OverviewTestApi(const OverviewTestApi&) = delete;
  OverviewTestApi& operator=(const OverviewTestApi&) = delete;

  ~OverviewTestApi();

  using DoneCallback = base::OnceCallback<void(bool animation_succeeded)>;

  // Set the overview mode state to |start|. |done_callback| will be invoked
  // synchronously if the animation is already complete, and asynchronously if
  // the overview state does not match |start|.
  void SetOverviewMode(bool start, DoneCallback done_callback);

  // Runs the callback when overview is finished animating to |expected_state|.
  // Passes true synchronously through |callback| if |expected_state| was
  // already set. Otherwise |callback| is passed whether the animation succeeded
  // asynchronously when the animation completes.
  void WaitForOverviewState(OverviewAnimationState expected_state,
                            DoneCallback callback);

  // Returns overview info for the current overview items if overview is
  // started. Otherwise, returns absl::nullopt;
  absl::optional<OverviewInfo> GetOverviewInfo() const;
};

}  // namespace ash

#endif  // ASH_PUBLIC_CPP_OVERVIEW_TEST_API_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Small-Town Church Planting & Alpacas
Calvary Chapel Craig, CO, Pastor Returns to Minister to His Hometown
Story by Sean Labar
Photos contributed by Calvary Chapel Craig
On a remote third-generation family ranch nestled in the Elkhead Mountains of northwest Colorado, Johnny and Laura Ilko spend their days herding alpacas, stacking hay bales, and handmaking hats, socks, children's toys, and a wide array of products for their family business. The rest of the time, Johnny is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Craig, CO.
"We live and work in a valley—between Baggs, WY, and Craig—where you see absolutely no one, no roads, no houses," Johnny said. "All we hear is the sound of silence and God's creation." For the couple, running and operating a family business completed one of their dreams since getting married after graduating from college.
In 2015, Pastor Johnny and his wife Laura abandoned the comfort of their lives in Wyoming to tackle the challenges of planting a church in small-town America.
Returning to His Roots
"Our story begins and ends with honoring God in all that we do," Laura shared. "In May of 2015, we moved back to Johnny's hometown and family ranch and started the church that Johnny now pastors. Shortly thereafter, we had the opportunity … of finally having our dream, a family-owned business we could both work in."
In 2015, Pastor Johnny and Laura abandoned the comfort of their lives in Wyoming to tackle the challenges of planting a church in small-town America. For Johnny, the decision was an easy one. He felt a calling to return to his roots—to make available to his community the same teachings that shaped his own faith growing up on the ranch. Johnny vividly recalls listening to Pastor Joe Focht of Calvary Chapel Philadelphia, PA, teach God's Word on the radio as he grew up.
"I knew God was calling me to serve the church but kept looking for signs of how exactly that would look," Johnny explained. "After months of discussing options with my wife, it became clear. One day she came in and said we were moving to Craig to plant a church, so that made it easy."
In the days that followed, Johnny and Laura relied on God and never looked back. Though they didn't have specifics in place, the couple sold their home, gave up their stable careers, and made the trek to the remote town of Craig to share God's Word.
Laura Ilko enjoys looking after the alpacas and handmaking hats, socks, children's toys, and a wide array of products for their family business.
Small-Town Challenges
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
While Pastor Johnny acknowledges the need for overseas missions, the return to his hometown was eye-opening. "If anyone believes they are called by the Lord to serve in the ministry and in missions, consider small towns in the United States before going to the outer parts of the world," Johnny challenged. "There is a major need to minister in small towns."
He added that Craig is nothing like the "Mayberry" of the famed Andy Griffith show of the 1960s, the seemingly perfect small town depicted on television. Drugs and violence have become commonplace in the community and an "old-school" attitude toward religion have created massive roadblocks for Johnny, even though he grew up there. "People don't want to welcome newcomers or change at all," he observed. "They are stuck in their ways. They don't want to hear [the message of salvation], even from a hometown boy like myself."
Johnny and Laura have given their alpacas biblical names.
On a typical Sunday, the Calvary Chapel Craig congregation is comprised of up to 12 attendees. That number is a major increase from 2017, when Johnny and Laura were the only two people showing up to services.
"It hasn't always been easy," Johnny said. "Three years ago, for the entire year, nobody came to the Bible study each week. "God simply told us to remain faithful and show up to the location every Sunday, regardless if anyone joined us or not."
After meeting in coffee shops, homes, and offices over the last five years, Calvary Chapel Craig opened its permanent home in a building in the heart of town earlier this year.
Johnny has prayed that the Lord help him remain faithful, even when there are only a few people in attendance. "It's not about numbers," Johnny stressed. "It's never about numbers. It's not about filling the pews or having all the programs and the gimmicks and themes to bring people in. It's about preaching the Gospel … chapter by chapter, book by book. Preaching God's word faithfully—that's all we're bound to do. And that's what has encouraged me. All God asks [us to do] is to be faithful. Even if [only] one is saved, our life's [work] is worth it," Johnny related.
"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John 7:38
Humming is the most common sound that Alpacas make. Alpacas hum when they are curious, content, worried, bored, or fearful.
Balancing Ministry & Work
Though they didn't have a place to live or means to generate income when they made the decision to move back in 2015, both Johnny and Laura say that God has answered their prayers. The 100-acre family ranch 17 miles from the Craig city limits doubles as Johnny and Laura's business. A herd of alpacas—all given biblical names—serve as the Ilkos' primary source of income. Johnny and Laura launched Living Waters Fibers and Alpacas in July of 2016, and the couple handmakes a wide array of products they sell online and to local vendors. "We prayed and searched out the options of what business we could work together in and strike a balance with our ministry," Johnny stated.
Five years after making a leap into the unknown and relying on God alone, Johnny and Laura have found a balance between work and life. "I absolutely do not regret anything about our decision," Laura declared. "Looking back and seeing how much we both have grown during this time has been so precious to me. Sure, it can be hard balancing work, the church, and family life, but it's all been worth it."
cccraig.org
One of the alpacas that Johnny and Laura Ilko tend. Johnny also shepherds people as the pastor of Calvary Chapel Craig, CO.
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text:
HomeNewsALERT: Chuck Schumer Announces Nasty Plan to Punish Trump Supporters
ALERT: Chuck Schumer Announces Nasty Plan to Punish Trump Supporters
August 2, 2017 Luis Miguel News Comments Off on ALERT: Chuck Schumer Announces Nasty Plan to Punish Trump Supporters
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been at the forefront of obstructing President Trump's agenda. On the heels of shutting down the Obamacare repeal in the Senate, Schumer is now targeting a major Trump ally.
Senator Schumer is calling on Trump to block the sale of Skybridge Capital — an investment firm founded by former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, according to The Washington Examiner. Blocking the sale would cost Scaramucci $50 million.
Schumer sent a letter to Trump on Tuesday asking him to block major Chinese investments in the United States, with the pretext of penalizing China for its lack of action against an ever more hostile North Korea
This move would hit Scaramucci, whose company, Skybridge Capital, is currently pending sale to the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group. According to financial disclosures reported by CNN, Scaramucci's stake in Skybridge is worth $50 million.
Scaramucci, a self-made billionaire worth $1.5 billion, recently stepped down from his position as White House communications director after only six days on the job — at the behest of new Chief of Staff John Kelly, reported The New York Times.
Breitbart noted that the abrupt change came right after a July 26 phone call with a reporter for liberal outlet The New Yorker, in which Scaramucci used profane language in speaking about his colleagues in the Trump administration.
Kelly, a retired U.S. Marine Corps General who was serving as Trump's secretary of Homeland Security, asked for Scaramucci's resignation in an effort to create a more disciplined environment in the White House.
Scaramucci is going back to the private sector, but a block against the sale of Skybridge Capital would put a major dent in his professional work. The sale represents the culmination of 15 years of work in a company he founded.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an inter-agency committee belonging to the Executive Branch, has the power (with the President's approval) to stop any foreign acquisition of American business deemed to be against national interests. The sale of Skybridge Capital is currently being reviewed by CFIUS.
Schumer asserts his letter to Trump has nothing to do with Scaramucci, but is a way of pressuring China to take greater action against North Korea. "The robust China-North Korea economic and trade relationship makes it clear that China could exercise considerable leverage over the North Korean regime to alter course, but that far from trying to do so China's leaders would prefer to contain the problem – not solve it," quoted The Washington Examiner.
Tensions between the US and North Korea are at an all-time high due to the continued efforts of the Kim Jong-un regime to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting America.
Trump has expressed his dissatisfaction with China's policies toward North Korea. It is currently unclear whether the President is contemplating the measures proposed by Schumer, and if these will ultimately undermine Scaramucci's transaction. But one thing appears to be clear: Schumer is just being vindictive and trying to score cheap political points with the Democratic Party's base.
Image via maisa_nyc / CCL & mikeledray / Shutterstock.com
ALERT: U.N. Issues Nasty "Racial" Order To America – What Should Trump Do?
20-Year-Old Walmart Cashier Teaches Whining Customers a Lesson They'll Never Forget


text:
Alarming Global Surge Of Measles Cases Is A Wake-Up Call
Sarah Ferguson Brand Contributor
UNICEF USA BRANDVOICE
UNICEF and partners know there is only one way to protect children from contracting this potentially fatal disease: Vaccinate them.
A UNICEF-supported health worker vaccinates a child against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) at the 9 Mile Health Clinic in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in March 2019.
© UNICEF/UN0292644/Holt
UNICEF and partners are working tirelessly all over the world to save and protect children.
More contagious than Ebola, tuberculosis or influenza, the potentially deadly measles virus is on the rise. Globally, measles cases increased by 48.1 percent between 2017 and 2018, according to data on 194 countries from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The virus spreads through the air and can be contracted by someone up to two hours after an infected person has left a room. Malnourished children and babies too young to be vaccinated are particularly vulnerable. Up to 90 percent of nonimmunized people who are exposed to the virus will also become infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Alarmingly high levels of measles cases have been reported around the world
Alarmingly high levels of measles cases have been reported around the world: 98 countries noted an increase in 2018. Ten countries account for more than 74 percent of the total surge: Ukraine, the Philippines, Brazil, Yemen, Venezuela, Serbia, Madagascar, Sudan, Thailand and France. The disease has even reappeared in several countries where it was once declared eliminated — including the United States.
UNICEF and partners are responding to the current measles outbreaks by supporting governments to urgently reach millions of children in countries around the globe, providing ongoing support to accelerate routine immunization and address vaccine hesitancy, which the WHO declared one of the top ten threats to global health in 2019.
Sisters Vitalina and Yuliana, 6, are comforted by a UNICEF-suported doctor before their measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in February 2019 at the Lapaivka village school in Western Ukraine.
© UNICEF/UN0284077/ Dyachyshyn
In Ukraine alone, there were 35,120 cases of measles in 2018 — up 634 percent from 4,782 in 2017. According to the government, another 24,042 people were infected in just the first two months of 2019.
A child braces for a Measles and Rubella vaccination given by a local health worker through a UNICEF-backed campaign in Bani Alhareth, Sana'a, Yemen in February 2019.
© UNICEF/UN0284438/ Alaidroos
In Yemen, where four years of civil war have severely strained the health care system, a campaign to vaccinate children against measles and other potentially life-threatening infectious diseases reached more than 11.5 million children in January alone.
Children line up to be vaccinated by UNICEF-supported health workers in Madagascar in 2019. Almost 1,000 people, mostly children, have died from measles in Madagascar since September 2018.
© UNICEF/UN0284289
Public health officials in Madagascar reported that 76,871 people were infected by measles between September 2018 and February 2019; 928 died, the majority of them children. In January, the government, with support of partners including UNICEF, launched an immunization campaign to target all 114 districts.
"These [measles] cases didn't happen overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow."
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore
"This is a wake-up call," said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. "We have a safe, effective and inexpensive vaccine against a highly contagious disease — a vaccine that has saved almost a million lives every year over the past two decades. These cases haven't happened overnight. Just as the serious outbreaks we are seeing today took hold in 2018, lack of action today will have disastrous consequences for children tomorrow."
UNICEF vaccinates nearly half the world's children. Immunization is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to date, saving up to 3 million lives every year.
UNICEF is committed to vaccinating every child, everywhere. Please support UNICEF's immunization efforts.
For more than 70 years, UNICEF has been putting children first, working to protect their rights and provide the assistance and services they need to survive and thrive. With a presence in 190 countries and territories, UNICEF has helped save more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization in the world.
UNICEF is part of the Measles and Rubella Initiative, a private-public partnership of five global partners including WHO, CDC, United Nations Foundation and American Red Cross that has been spearheading a global push towards measles and rubella elimination.
Sarah Ferguson is a writer and critic whose work has appeared in The Guardian, Elle, Vogue, New York Magazine, Mother Jones and The New York Times Book Review, among ot


Two days after Diwali, layer of smog continued to envelope the national capital on Friday. Anand Vihar stood at 585, around US Embassy at 467 and RK Puram at 343, all under 'Hazardous' category in Air Quality Index. On November 8, AQI hit as high as 999 near Anand Vihar. Delhi Police has banned entry of medium & heavy goods vehicles in Delhi for 3 days.


Michael Miscione traces his passion for New York City history to 1997, when he got a gig working on a television documentary about the consolidation of the boroughs in the late 19th Century. A native New Yorker, Miscione was appointed borough historian in 2006. He often lectures and gives workshops on local history, and he'll be giving a talk at the New York Transit Museum on April 10 on how one railfan hacked the subway system back in 1966. Here he answers questions on the borough's rich history.
Q: What major historical event would you say shaped the borough, as we know it today?
A: I'll treat the word "shaped" semi-literally, and talk about the Manhattan street grid. It was adopted way back in 1811 when the area above today's Houston Street was largely farmland. Some people hate the grid because they think it's monotonous and charmless, but I love it. Manhattan is complex enough and the grid helps to tame the craziness.
Q: What makes your borough unique?
A: Well, it's a lot taller than the other boroughs, at least in certain places. A quick check with Wikipedia tells us that 55 Manhattan buildings – 55! – are taller than the tallest other-borough skyscraper.
Q: Which historically important figure from your borough should people know about, but don't?
A: That would have to be Andrew H. Green. He wasn't born here, but lived the greater part of his life here. Green was a 19th century planner, reformer and preservationist. He got Central Park built and steered the creation of the city's greatest cultural institutions. Most importantly, he was the mastermind behind the Consolidation of 1898, the annexation of municipalities around New York Harbor that created today's five-borough city. There would be no "borough" in "borough historian" without Mr. Green.
Q: What landmark or place would you tell a tourist to visit to learn about the borough?
Q: What's the oddest thing about your borough?
A: We've got the greatest tap water in the world, and you can fill a bathtub with it for pennies, yet it seems that everyone in Manhattan must drink overpriced bottled water or die. I just don't get it. That's how I can tell the many transplants and tourists from the native New Yorkers. The non-natives only drink bottled water. And eat pepperoni pizza. To the rest of the country, pepperoni is to pizza what vanilla is to ice cream.
Q: If someone couldn't visit the borough, but wanted to learn more about it, what book would you recommend?
I'm going to pass on this one. I was going to say "Gotham," that masterwork by Mike Wallace and Ted Burrows that recounts the history of the city from the early white explorers to 1898. I'm in awe of its exhaustiveness and density but, really, it's over 1200 pages long. Suggesting "Gotham" would be like telling someone who wanted a light snack to eat an entire roast pig.


We have had a great experience buying a precor elliptical from DSI. Joel was responsive and worked hard to get our equipment to Nashville from Atlanta. He worked out challenging logistics of us being out of town and having to get a large piece of equipment through a small doorway. The elliptical is in great shape. Used it for the first time yesterday! DSI's price and warranty were the best. His longer warranty offer shows his confidence in their quality. We are very happy buyers.
Have a gym in Gray, GA and have used Joel for years. He has always been helpful and everything we have purchased from him through the years has been amazing. So, if your looking for refurbished gym equipment he's your man.
I contacted Joel about a piece of commercial equipment for our beach house in Florida. In less than a week it was delivered and in use. Joel kept me informed throughout the process with photos of packaging, updates on the location, etc…Most importantly, the equipment is exactly what we hoped.
We've bought 3 pieces of equipment from DSI over the last several years – couldn't be happier with quality of the interactions not to mention the equipment. A very nice, affordable way to get very high quality workout equipment. Thanks Joel!
DSI Fitness hand selects and provides only the best commercial fitness equipment from well-maintained facilities. The equipment is refurbished by our trained technicians who have been certified through Precor, Life Fitness, Cybex, Star Trac, Stairmaster and many other manufacturers. These experienced professionals get our equipment back to "like new" condition. Our goal is to have our products look and feel brand new with little to no evidence of prior ownership. Upon completion of the refurbishment process, we sell our products into commercial and residential markets.


You might love it or hate it, but Shopping for kids is an activity that is a regular one for most parents. It could be for buying essentials like daily wear clothing or a gift for a special occasion, but it is definitely to the advantage of parents to be aware of the different kids' stores in Bangalore.
From clothes to toys and books, and many other unique items, all of it is easy to find once you know where to go. Many families would start stocking up on baby items even before the birth, so as to be prepared when they bring home the newborn, and there is a choice of baby stores in Bangalore that they could complete their shopping at.
Items that used to be sourced from abroad even a decade back are all now available in abundance right in your area, and it might actually be tough to stop at the essentials. All your baby's needs including those needed for feeding, bathing and clothing and the most colorful toys from dependable brands, would confront you at a good store and you can indulge in providing the best for your baby. Some might look for baby shops in Koramangala, Indiranagar, Jayanagar areas to ensure that they can minimize travel time when out shopping for their kids' needs.
Many shops also provide online ordering and delivery that makes it even easier and more time-saving, especially when you know just what you need. Once you find a good store in your area, you might find yourself going back at regular intervals as your child grows older as many baby shops would stock items for children of older ages as well. Even when you need a gift in a hurry for a special occasion like a birthday, you would know just where to find one.