So I was biking yesterday and out of no where a spasm shot through my lower back and I was down for the day. I spent most of it on my couch, on my back, reading. I couldn’t get up to do anything and it’s times like these you wish for family because of course […]

Amman: Jordan’s Council of Churches on Saturday urged a government ban on the film The Da Vinci Code for being “a violation of redlines”, the official Petra news agency reported.
Council Secretary General Hanna Nour said the movie, based on a best-selling novel by Dan Brown “has been previously banned from publication in Jordan and Lebanon […]

“What if everything you think you know about Jesus is wrong?”. This was the headline from last Sunday’s Dateline report.
You might remember Michael Baigent from recent news with his high profile lawsuit against author Dan Brown, claiming that The Da Vinci Code was copied from his own book Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
He lost. But his […]

Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts is an attempt by Samar Dahmash-Jarrah to create a bridge of communication between the Arab world and the Western world. It consists of a series of different Arabs answering in their own little chapter/interview, questions posed by Americans which concern religion, politics, society and common misconceptions.
It is a […]

I have to admit that I thought Syriana would turn out to be an Arab/Muslim bashing movie and I could not have been more wrong. Writer/director Stephen Gaghan who brought us the drug movie Traffic a few years ago brings us almost a photocopy of that movie revolving on a different theme: oil.
Like Traffic you […]

THE LEADER by anonymous
Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to meet every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real.
Isn’t afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn’t conform to the usual mould,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight won’t do,
Never backs down when he sees what is true,
Tells it […]

I just got an email from Samar Jarrah, author of the book “Arab Voices Speak to American Hearts”, so I’m spreading the news as I should.
I will be ordering the book for some winter reading and I’ll post my review of it soon. So for now the following information should suffice:
â??Iâ??m afraid that if I […]

LONDON (Reuters) - The “flying” Ford Anglia used in the
Harry Potter films has been stolen from a film studio lot, police said on Friday.
“For those who have not seen the Harry Potter films, this is the car that flies in the movies and is very well known,” a police spokesman said.
The blue Anglia went missing […]

My favorite cartoon penguin gets it right when it comes to the Internet vs. Books. Though I kinda feel like Way Wired Willy these days even though my apartment is drowning in books. Ironically most of them are balancing the computer desk.

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[…]

This is my new home at www.black-iris.com
I’m moving here from http://black-iris.blogspot.com/
Be patient, there is alot of boxes and ducktape to sort out during this period.

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two articles of note today on the BBCCleric defends Da Vinci Code book
A Brazilian bishop has come out against calls by a Catholic Cardinal to boycott controversial novel The Da Vinci Code.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Archbishop of Genoa, has called Dan Brown’s thriller “shameful”.

But Monsignor Jose Maria Pinheiro - nominated to be bishop of Sao Paulo […]