"less" and "fewer"

qwantz captures my heart.

my favourite skies

this morning on my walk to work.

crisp, clear, and cold.

YUMMM.

excerpt from Arabic-news media on the Egyptian court case on the right of Baha'is to be issued identification cards*

*i don't think i'll get any jobs in journalism at this rate.

i don't speak any Arabic, so unfortunately, i understand nothing that's spoken. but i don't need any translation of the shouting "Allah-u-Akbar!" (God is Great!) at the end and i definitely don't need to have the fanatical, emphatical, and irrelevant behaviour displayed by some individuals at the close of the court's session explained to me at ALL.

the Universal House of Justice, in its message addressed a few days ago to the Baha'is of Egypt, says that the judge's reference to the only authorized religions in Egypt "misses the essence, obscures the issue". Along with their compatriots, the Egyptian Baha'is "simply wish to be free to carry out the requirement of the civil law that [they] must obtain identification cards without making a false statement about [their] religious beliefs."

it's very simple: the Egyptian legal system's claim that Islam, Christianity and Judaism are the only divine religions is not the issue here, it is rather "the application of the principles of equity, fairness, and honesty", which are "so vital to those of all faiths and no faith."

because the Baha'is are a community "that believes that all God’s chosen Messengers are “seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech, and proclaiming the same Faith”, we have no difficulty "embracing the truths of the three religions mentioned."

"But", the House of Justice continues, "to what purpose were their names invoked? Was it to justify the exclusion of certain citizens from exercising their civil rights? Would this not amount to a misuse of the authority of these Faiths to perpetrate an injustice that offends the high standard of justice to which they hold their adherents?"

[things that [should] make you go Hmmmm. strongly recommend perusing bilo's blog Baha'i Faith in Egypt, because mainly i used to think that he was actually an Egyptian Baha'i in actual Egypt, but i'm not sure anymore ... In any case, there is lots of background information on this court case at his website, as well as at the Baha'i World News Service.]

this untenable, unreasonable decision of the highest court of appeal in Egypt is not only "contrary to prescriptions set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Egypt is a signatory," but is also inconsistent, "because the sacred scriptures of Islam extol tolerance as a precept of social stability."

a quote from this aforementioned Covenant:

The States Parties to the present Covenant,

Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Recognizing that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,

Recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights,

Considering the obligation of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms,

Realizing that the individual, having duties to other individuals and to the community to which he belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance of the rights recognized in the present Covenant,

Agree upon the following articles:

[Article 26 of which is]

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

mara and her mommy snug

i snitched this picture of our marvellous mara from her mommy's* blog, partly because of the Incredible Growing Blue Belly she's got going there! but also because of beauty of person and knitting. i think i should start learning again while my sister-in-law is here, too.

* i'm only saying "mommy" because they do. i'm not there yet. but i am gonna learn america! i've put this picture as my desktop, replacing a photo of a nz glacier taken by alexy.

speaking of the U.S., chocolate lentils because we're vegan? i'm going to need some hard convincing on this one.

another anniversary

weird picture i adjusted from the internets.

one year today. i know that i started out with the intention of keeping our families in the loop of our daily (fascinating) and honeymooney lives. but it's ... uh ... kind of different to that now. sometimes maybe the blog is a bit this. mainly because i think it wants to be more about people like this. but the reality is that i, unfortunately, am mostly like this meets this. on a wild-hair day. during a laugh. mid-air. okay, i'm done. except for i love apples! and shopping trolleys! i'm cute BUT DON'T THINK ABOUT STEALING ME, ANYONE.

meanwhile. so this is probably been the most consistent journal i've ever kept, although it's really been more Photo Diary and Look at This Weird or Interesting Thing on the Internet (see above) than Angst and Anguish By Gen-X Newly Married World Citizen. which it's allowed to be, i think. i really am grateful for this technology by which i've kept a record of weather, war, and wonderful in here, apart from learning how to make the html for an acute accent on a webpage. i mean Hell's Bells i reckon i've learned a lot. and it's been worth it: a few minutes every day, inconveniencing a few electrons, and Hot Dog! i've got the perfect foil for any sceptical american authorities, that shaun and i really have been together for at least one year So there. which means that it's paid for itself, innit.

p.s. there are a LOT of birthday-related pictures of dogs eating cakes or avec balloons in the interweb. i mean i didn't even type DOG, PUPPY, CANINE, MUTT, or ANIMAL ABUSE into the search engine and the results included these perfect little gems of completely bizzare.* or the long-suffering, however way you think. oh, and can you believe it, this is even the case if you want "happy birthday" pictures in flickr. more totally freaked-out pets.

* (i'm branching into the felines {for kristen} and the amphibious)

p.p.s. one of my colleagues asked me this question just now: "What are those pointy things in Russia called?" i think she means a minaret.

p.p.p.s. DIAPERLESS BABIES. i thought my Chinese family was playing a trick on me. an earth-friendly solution? all i can think of is This Must Beat The Streets of Haifa (sadly, "Your search -- poo street haifa -- did not match any documents").

Message to the Baha'is of Egypt from the Universal House of Justice

Seat of the Universal House of Justice, Baha'i World Centre, Haifa, Israel

Larger Photo

HAIFA, Israel, 26 December 2006 (BWNS) -- The Universal House of Justice, the highest governing body of the Baha'i Faith, has addressed a message to the Baha'is of Egypt in the wake of a 16 December Supreme Administrative Court decision in Cairo that upheld a discriminatory government policy regarding the Baha'is and their identification cards. The policy places the Baha'is in the untenable position of either having to make a false statement about their religious beliefs or give up their state identification cards. The cards are essential to accessing most rights of citizenship, including education, financial services, and even medical care.

See the entire letter (will open in a new window):

ENGLISH

ARABIC

(taken from BWNS.)

Also see this posting on the subject at Barnabas Quotidianus.

And this posting at Baha'i Faith in Egypt.

end of marriage class

and beginning of year two of marriage. shingo and amelia painted this triptych for hank and ginger's marriage book. h&g also facilitated this class, which was mostly a study of the Baha'i Writings pertinent to marriage. shaun and i, away from our families for the first year of our marriage, loved spending time and learning, discussing, understanding with such sweet couples---people we became friends with in a unique context. as was mentioned by one of our classmates, i don't think that we can really comprehend at such short distance what great effect this class has had on our perspectives on our relationships.

in any case, it's past ten and i'm tye-red. very very. finally i can go home after an exhilirating day at work. and there's no sarcasm here people, keep it moving.

and good wishes for those of the world who are celebrating the birth of Christ today:

"Every soul who believed in Jesus Christ became revivified and resuscitated through this spirit, attained to the zenith of eternal glory, realized the everlasting life, experienced the second birth and rose to the acme of good fortune."

Abdu'l-Baha, "The Promulgation of Universal Peace", p. 192

paper snowflakes

you can learn how to make paper snowflakes that look like these ones at this website here. i think it may be apropos for australians to hang these in their windows this (antipodean) white christmas. a.k.a. summer.

anniversary

anniversary posers.

anniversary chip.
(with anniversary natascha)

anniversary brother-in-law.

anniversary father-in-law

anniversary sister-in-law

anniversary mother- and brother-in-law.

anniversary strawberry frozen yoghurt.

anniversary candle and brownie.

one year yester day.
(now give me back my camera.)

busy busy

you can check out some of the recent life we've been having over here if you click over to the flickr snicker. the Black Men's Gathering night was the most i've cried and laughed in the same evening in a loooooooooong time. they are on their way home to alla different places they live in throughout the United States after an incredible journey in Ghana. and i took four-hundred and seventy photos, LITERALLY. i must be frenetic or something. speaking of crazy, this is a picture of a cyclamen i took this morning: MY cyclamen! my only! i quite dote on it.



p.s. if you've ever wondered, this is the fabulous name of a wild flame tree here that either bears flowers, or leaves, but never both at the same time.

and this is a photo of a dinner the whole family had last night with wonderful people, as well as pictures i took of the walls (for which everyone poked fun at me).

Thus we give and take away.

tom's just about ready to take this camera away from me. (today, in the food centre.)

happy birthday, mamma!

thank you for being such a patient and loving mamma to me. you are truly my spiritual, as well as my physical, mother. i took these photos of roses outside of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice for you. please imagine their heavenly smell, which i send through the internets.

love from leila

the whanau

hiding (in vain) from my clickety clicking.

another monday, another FUNDAEC class

last night i went to our first class of the "Contributing to a Discourse on Social Action" materials of FUNDAEC. shaun was, and still is, sick :( so he was at home, but i conveyed verbally some of his answers that we'd done for homework. he'd said that i could take his copy of the materials because they had "better answers". word.

white spider on white rose

this was taken yonks ago, in May. i'd been sitting right underneath this rose, which was downwards-facing, and noticed the situation only when someone else told me not to make any sudden movements. I'll give you sudden movements, i said. snap snap snap.

pictures for flickrs

i've put up more and more pictures of life here on the other website. check it.

conversations with God

amplify by clicking thereupon.

snapshots

The Capitol dome in Washington, DC, appears to be celebrating itself in this long zoom exposure. Photo: AFP
















Party delegates cast their votes at the People's Democratic Party (PDP) primary elections in Abuja, Nigeria. Nigeria's ruling party was voting Saturday to choose its presidential candidate for April elections, with the governor of a northern state emerging a front-runner in a dozen-strong field. Photo: AP














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A bird nibbles on the fruit of a persimmon tree in Seoul. Photo: Reuters