Whipped for wearing bras

Somalia’s hardline Islamist group al Shabaab has publicly whipped women for wearing bras they say violate Islam by constituting a deception, north Mogadishu residents said on Friday.

The insurgent group, which seeks to impose a strict form of sharia Islamic law throughout Somalia, amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused of robbery earlier this month. They have also banned movies, musical ringtones, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer.

Residents said gunmen had been rounding up any woman seen with a firm bust and then had them publicly whipped by masked men. The women were then told to remove their bras and shake their breasts.

“Al shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts,” a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped on Thursday.

“They first banned the former veil and introduced a hard fabric which stands stiffly on women’s chests. They are now saying that breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat.”

Officials of Al Shabaab, which Washington says is Al-Qaeda’s proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, declined to comment.

The group’s hardline interpretation of Islamic law has shocked many Somalis, who are traditionally moderate Muslims. Some residents, however, give the insurgents credit for restoring order to the regions under their control.

Al Shabaab, which means “youth” in Arabic, control large swathes of south and central Somalia.

Abdullahi Hussein, a student in north Mogadishu, said his elder brother was thrown behind bars when he fought back a man who humiliated their sister by asking her to remove her bra.

“My brother was jailed after he wrestled with a man who beat up my sister and forced her to remove her bra. He could not stand it,” Hussein said.

bron: www.hindustantimes.com

The scanner who "sees" through clothes is tested at Manchester airport

The scanner who sees through clothes is tested at Manchester airport. The controversial device intended to improve security controls at airports came into testing in Manchester, United Kingdom – after it was tested on Heathrow airport – and brought further controversial discussions.

Authorities say the use of the scanner will increase the inspection speed, and efficiency.
The scan can reveal instantly the presence of hidden weapons or explosives, and it eliminates the need for body searches – also unwanted by the passengers – and removal of jackets, belts and footwear, the system enabling so to “process” more passengers per hour.
But the scans also reveal breast implants, piercing and shows clearly the naked body image of a person, which arouse discussion on the infringement of privacy.
Authorities insisted that the images are not pornographic and that they are destroyed as soon as the control ends.

Free to win

Continuing my musings on Grace and Law, I read Romans 6 today which linked in with one of Andrew Farley’s ideas (Naked Gospel). I think I agree with him, so here is my potted distillation of the point. Disagree at will:

Romans 6 talks about us dying to sin with Christ and I think this helpfully connected with Andrew’s idea that when we welcome Christ into our lives, when we accept what he’s done for us and receive him by his Spirit, we are Spiritually transformed from that point on. We are a ‘New Creation‘ and that doesn’t need to happen again, we are made blameless before God.

Pretty life changing stuff, and I believe a Biblical backing for Farley’s point that we don’t need to keep living under the law of beating ourselves up about sin. I think many Christians, including myself, have often been trapped in this half understanding of Grace, when the truth is we are fully set free, fully new and as such are able to have a relationship with a perfect, sinless God.

Where I disagree with Farley is where he seems to suggest we no longer need to ask for forgiveness when we become Christians. (Now this might not be what he is getting at, but this is my understanding of what he’s written so far). Helpfully the later part of this passage goes on to deal with this issue of sin in the lives of those transformed.

We sadly don’t stop sinning completely when we enter relationship with God, but the point that I think Romans 6 and particularly verse 11 makes, is that sin is something outside us, an outside force. Not for us to pass the buck to, saying ‘Oh sin made me do it Miss’ because as with everything in this world we live under God’s gift of ‘Free Choice’, but sin is not in us anymore, it can’t be if we are in relationship with God, but never the less we still do ’sin’. It’s this choice to sin that we repent of.

I have found it helpful to describe the difference like this. We’re no longer sinners when we are in relationship with God, sin does not define who we are, but we still fall foul of the act of sin.

It’s been life changing over the last few weeks to realise this subtle difference. We no longer need to live in the shame of sin because it’s not who we are, it’s just what we do, which is sad and is important to seek forgiveness for, but we don’t need to beat ourselves up about it, we are glory filled new creations and that is hugely liberating. Christ has bought us this position by his life blood, the appropriate response to this seems to me to be one of massive thanks.

NNAB NBA

This coming weekend’s “Spring Fever” concert with the Christchurch City Choir and organist Jeremy Woodside looms large, – only two rehearsals away in fact, but apart from that, there’s not really been much to write home about lately. Try telling that to my small but demanding readership, some of whom have taken to emailing me the hurry-up! So, in the absence of any bandy hard-news, I’ve added a new category to the blog, NNAB (Not Necessarily About Bands), under which this post is written. I’ve actually been considering doing this since the blog’s inception as I could foresee times when there wouldn’t be much doing band-wise, – what with post-contest recesses, summer holidays and other such lulls being part and parcel of a bander’s life. Right then, you’ve been warned, what follows is domestic, whimsical, reflective banter, so stop reading now if your interest is strictly bandy.

It’s school/university holidays here right now. It’s also spring time, though you’d never know it to look out the window, which is the way those of us with a double-glazed option have been viewing the world lately, as to venture outdoors is to risk freezing or drowning. Other hazards include being swept away by a tidal wave, apparently. An earthquake centred near Vanuatu sent a tsunami our way last Thursday. This new threat was deflating for those of us who were starting to feel slightly cocky after having just dodged the swine flu pandemic. Undaunted, I played golf in the intermittent rain with Steve Thomas (AKA The Bard of Christchurch). Rawhiti Domain offers an OK golf course and it only costs $15 a round, but it is right on the city’s shoreline and not a good place to be in a tsunami. This fact weighed heavily on our minds and undoubtedly effected our play. I shot 126 to his 128. Pretty dire, but enough decent shots to keep me interested. I’m sure there’s a golfer in me somewhere. Steve and I did devise a somewhat elaborate contingency plan in case a wall of water came rushing up the fairway at us. Our strategy was too complicated to explain fully here, but it did involve the two of us getting naked, as we figured this would facilitate better buoyancy and easier swimming. I’ll leave you with that mind-picture.

My 16 year old nephew Tane has been staying with us during the term break. He can shift more grub than anyone I know. We tried supplementing his diet with copious quantities of potatoes and loaves of white bread to no avail. Not that he’s contributing in any way to our country’s supposed obesity epidemic, for he’s a bean-pole with not a spare ounce on him. When he’s not eating, he’s either watching NBA or shooting baskets of his own down at the park. I watched a few games on sky with him and he tried hard to convert me, but I just can’t stand the game, – at least I can’t stand the American television coverage of it. Sure, underneath all that noise and visual junk, there is a really great game, full of athleticism, grace and skill, but it’s completely buried under the excesses of a interminably inane, yapping, commentary duo (yes, two motor-mouths), more visual bling than Vegas on steroids and, most odious of all, some crank on a Wurlitzer playing nursery rhymes! Never one to hold back, I let Tane know my opinions loud and long. He was very patient and deserves credit for suffering me.

Grown-up Daughter Julia was home briefly from her university studies in Dunedin. With Tane in mind, she made a huge macaroni cheese (with bacon, onions and mushrooms). It was a revelation to me to see her go about it so competently as the last time she cooked in our kitchen she was just a high school lass! What a difference four years away from home makes.

I own a little sail boat. I’m having its unnecessarily wide trailer narrowed as I’ve never been happy towing it on the slim secondary roads between here and nearly every local sailing venue. It’s been at the engineering shop for a couple of weeks, but they’ve made a start now. I was summoned by Andrew the welder to check on progress. He has tattoos and burn-holes in his boiler suit that were familiar to me. His steel toe-caps shone like chrome through the worn leather of his boots. I inspected the welds and ran my fingers over them. He seemed to sense that I appreciated his skill and that I liked being in his workshop. I told him my Dad was a welder.

Natalia Vodianova: "I cook naked on high heels. My husband doesn't mind"

By looking at her, you would never guess that the beautiful Natalia Vodianova is already the mother of three children. Even so, Natalia Vodianova remains one of the most requested supermodels in the world. The Russian has recently signed a new multiple zeros contract.
Considered the 17th best rated beauty of international modeling, the 27 years old, 1.77 meters tall, with measures of 83-62-86 signed an agreement with Etam lingerie line representatives for a new hot pictorial. Obviously, the photo session will be conducted in specific brand clothing items. Heels, for example, will be missing.
Hills are for cooking only, says Natalia. “My husband likes me to cook him on heels, with nothing else on me. I find it as one of the hottest things possible. And he thinks the same, “explains the supermodel.

Simpson, Johnston Set For Playboy/PlayGirl Spreads

Photo Credit: Levi Johnston (Right), GQ / Ture Lillegraven

Forget their roles as doting celebrity parents because Marge Simpson and Levi Johnston are stripping down for Playboy and Playgirl, respectively.

According to E! Online, Simpson will flash more then her blue beehive on the November cover of Playboy in addition to a three page spread commemorating her show’s landmark 20th season.

Details about Johnston’s Playgirl photoshoot, however, are more scarce.

While reps for both camps are remaining mum on the nature of the spread, the budding actor (ex-fiance of Bristol Palin and father to 9 month-old Tripp) has been training six days-a-week for his birthday suit debut  – expected to hit newstands by the end of the year.

Hmm… What an interesting fall it will be at the Playboy/Playgirl offices.

Serena Williams naked on the cover of ESPN

At 28 years old, Serena displays an athletic body that’s full of confidence, although in the past said she’s struggling to accept her voluptuous forms.
It seems that the nude appearance on the cover of ESPN shows that Serena started listening to some of her tips.
This appearance will crown the tennis player last two successes : World number one and !st place in the China Open, tournament held in Beijing.