I just have to comment on this article. Unfortunately, I cannot put my sarcastic commentary in a different color like I used to...darn it. I will have to put it in brackets I guess....

SEND A CLEAR SIGNAL: TORTURE NOT TOLERATED - TOP
Miami Herald, 5/13/05
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11635074.htm

U.S. military leadership is ultimately responsible for the failures that led to buses of wartime captives in places as far flung as Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo. {THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS}

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said as much after the graphic Abu Ghraib photos surfaced.

''These events occurred on my watch,'' he said. ''I am responsible.''{UH, YEAH...}

As we await the release of an investigation into interrogation practices at the Guantanamo Bay prison, it's high time that Mr. Rumsfeld and others in the chain of command finally be held accountable for what went wrong. Low-level soldiers shouldn't be the only ones to face consequences.{*SNICKER* WE ALL KNOW THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN}

Too many soldiers abused captives in too many places {WHAT IS CONSIDERED "TOO MANY"?}to treat the cases as isolated instances, alone. The lessons learned, moreover, should ensure that the military doesn't repeat such mistakes.

Whether these were failures of policy or training or command,{UM, I GUESS YOU COULD CALL IT THAT!} there is much evidence that U.S. soldiers and interrogators mistreated detainees, to the extent of torture in some cases.

Intended or not, abuse of captives has seriously damaged U.S. credibility as it attempts to promote a human-rights agenda internationally.{WAIT A MINUTE. I THOUGHT WE WERE DOING IT TO IMPROVE OUR IMAGE!?}

Such practices have also put the United States at greater risk. Witness the violent anti-American protests this week in Afghanistan. The angry mob reportedly reacted to a recent Newsweek article that U.S. interrogators had flushed a Koran down a toilet at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

Using religious desecration, sexual humiliation and torture on captives is more likely to make Muslims sympathize with those who hate the United States than to cooperate with U.S. efforts to deter terrorists. {WAIT, ARE THEY JUST NOW FIGURING THIS OUT? DID THEY THINK THAT THOSE TACTICS WOULD MAKE MUSLIMS CUDDLE BUDDIES WITH THE U.S.?}

The most recent accounts of prisoner abuse come in the new book Inside the Wire by former Army Sgt. Erik Saar, an interpreter who helped interrogate captives at Guantanamo. Mr. Saar describes the systematic use of sexual humiliation to break devout Muslims.

One female interrogator, for example, interviewed a Saudi detainee in a thong and bra. Another smeared fake menstrual blood on a detainee's face. Such practices debase interrogator and prisoner alike.

It's articles like this that make me feel hopeful that we will one day see eye to eye in this country....

LEAPS OF FAITH - TOP
Gloria La Bounty, Sun Chronicle, 5/12/05
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2005/05/12/reports/special04.txt

FOXBORO -- It's time for girls' basketball at Mass. Premier Courts in Foxboro, and it's easy to tell one team from the other.

Players on one side are dressed in the traditional way -- wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts with their hair tied in pony tails. Players on the other side wear ankle-length sport pants and long-sleeved shirts, and cover their hair with scarves.

It's the Christians of New Testament School in Norton versus the Muslims of Al-Noor Academy in Mansfield, but on the court they're all just kids playing a game to win.

Friday was the first time the two schools played each other in an informal basketball league of boys' and girls' teams from private and mostly Christian schools.

Al-Noor, the only Muslim school of the group, moved from Quincy to Mansfield last March and is now in its first basketball season of 11 games against schools in various parts of the state.

The faith differences don't matter, said Al-Noor Athletic Director Aminah Muhammad.

`` We just want to play,'' she said, and the school therefore took advantage of the opportunity to be part of the league.

Hello All. Salaam Alaikum!
Sorry I've been bad about my posting....I really will get on it...*slapping myself*...I just wanted to share with you all the COOLEST Muslim clothing site....here it is: www.cafepress.com/muslimgirlIt is totally awesome!!!!!! Buy stuff from it, or else they will go out of business and I will be saddened. :(

Salaam!
Sorry it's been so terribly long, but I am finished with the semester now (alhumdullilah!) and I can post as much as I like, inshallah. So expect more posts from me in the coming months. I am not going to leave a long post right now, because I am all internet-ed out...I just spent 2 hours looking up Bollywood flicks on Netflicks.com to rent....I am EXHAUSTED!