An acquaintance of mine works in the Outreach office in the local mosque. A few years ago, we met so I could learn more about Islam for a paper I was writing. I went on Friday so I could observe a prayer service.

That encounter has stayed in my mind, especially since 9/11 and the rising bigotry against Muslims.

I contacted her again several weeks ago so I could learn more. At that time I had been exchanging email with a conservative OpEd columnist about Islam and Muslims. I quickly ran out of knowledge and sources to cite when arguing with this man. (It had to be a man didn't it?)

Note from Lyssa Strada... please be sure to check out Stephanie's review of Shirin Ebadi's Iran Awakening, if you haven't already. Just look under Recommended Reading in the right sidebar, or under New Forum Topics on the left sidebar.

Well now. It definitely wasn't where I was headed but life has a habit of throwing gentle turns at me. It's the kind of turn one doesn't notice one is making until one is headed in a completely different direction.

Cross-posted from a longer post at Blither, Blather, Bloviate

I have been nicknamed "Auntie Goose" (a la Mother Goose) by my lead at work because I take on the problems of the world. I get so worked up over everything that it leads to depression and anxiety. So I have changed the way I gather my news.

A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at,

When I arrived there, there were a number of, maybe 20, 30 children, the corpses of children, lined up outside the government hospital, hair matted, still in their night clothes.

"The moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work.

A political fast is about making a statement. Since I was quiet about my fast until now, my political fast was inner driven. I used it to concentrate my energy on thinking about peace and independence, in all the modes I could think of. I’m extending that process into 2 days of eating MRE’s. Today is about the experience of what soldiers in the field eat, while extending my emotional energy toward peace and support for troops deployed all over the world.

You want to shut down illegal immigration? You want to use the military as police? Make it illegal hire undocumented workers and put the National Guard into enforcing that. Then rewrite NAFTA and invest in Mexico.

Mexican immigrants keep crossing the border because they can get jobs here -- and most of those jobs are provided by companies whose CEOs support George W.