A.  Akua Pipim has been interviewed for The Tonight Show.  Be sure to check it out.

B.  Event Rotation:  We've added a rotating piece in the upper right hand corner of the site to cover bdays/events, etc.  As for the birthdays themselves, we are still missing plenty of pics, so if you would like to send in your picture, send it to the following: indaphat@indaphatfarm.com, and put ATTENTION IPF in the subject header so it's not deleted as junk mail.

C.  NEW PICTURES:  91 new pics.  Check them out.

ENTER THIS JOINT:  As you all know, the "ENTER THIS JOINT" pics have been gracing the index page of IPF for several years now.  Well, I finally decided to archive all of the ones that I still have.  For future reference, you can find them in the Extras section, under Pictures.

Third Day & Toby Mac Concert 2004:   I've also got 16 pics for you courtesy of Blesson S of the Concert mentioned beforehand.  Be sure to have a look, there are some great colors.

Blesson also has 2 media clips available for download:

Clip 1

Clip 2

D.  Tourney 2004:  I am still waiting on the $200 fee from the following churches:

Brooklyn, Chicago,,Houston, and Philly.

E.  Congratulations:  Congrats go out to Abhilash & Erica on the birth of their new son, 

Elijiah T. Abraham

F.  The Greatest Generation:  Finally, with today being Memorial Day, I want to take this time to remember the WW2 generation that affected the world like no generation of the past century.

Without sounding trite, they were young men and women, who took it upon themselves to fight the purest form of evil, oppression.  If the allies had not won WW2, we wouldn't be sitting here today, it's that simple.  It's important that we never forget them, they truly are, "The Greatest Generation."

   Posted on Thursday, May 27, 2004                                                         by Llenis M

 Spiritually speaking the “Wilderness” is a time of loneliness, and distance from God.  A time best described as a desert which nothing can satisfy your hunger and desire for God.  Seems as the more you try to serve him or seek him the harder it is to find him.  

I can recall many times in which the Lord has led me into the “Wilderness” to polish me up, since I begun to collect rust on my vessel.  In this time I can say I have felt he has forgotten about me and my mind is cluttered with all these negative thoughts.  Temptation here is 100x stronger in your life!  I want to show you some of the reasons for God leading people into the “Wilderness”.

2 Chronicles 32:31, “However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart. "

In this passage we find King Hezekiah ruling over Israel and serving God.  But here in this verse we find that God departed from him to test his heart, and many times the same occurs to us today.  When all seems great in life and all the fulfillment of life is around you, all of a sudden you slowly realize that the presence of God is not near to you as before.  The purpose of God in hiding or seeming like he has departed from your heart is to test your integrity for the Lord.

 Deuteronomy 8:2, “And thou shalt remember that the Lord your God led you all the way…to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  

This verse demonstrates that in the Wilderness we are humbled and tested to see if we are found obedient. Are you going to forget about him, or are you going to remain close to him at all times?  Are you willing to obey him even when it seems senseless? Are you willing to trust him that he knows best, even more than your thoughts?  Or are you only going to seek him when you failed or feel it is convenient?

I am not trying to discourage you, much less sound negative, but this is all true, at least for me.  I have learned that I am a weakling in the “Wilderness”, but I am comforted to know that Jesus said, 2 Corinthinans 12:9 …And He said to me, my grace is sufficient for me and my strength is made perfect in weakness!   

I also am reminded that he that began a good work in me shall finish it!  I can assure you that when you reach the weakest point with the Lord he will give you his grace and strength to restore you again.  Although you feel you cannot overcome, nor continue, guess what it is not your power, nor your strength, but his.  Why??? So that he will receive the glory and you will love and experience his grace.   I have more to share, but it would be too long, but I pray that this can be uplifting in your time of “Wilderness”.         

A.  Tourney 2004:  June 1st.  I'm going to say it again, I need the team deposits sent in THIS WEEK, meaning you need to mail them out by this WEDNESDAY, at the latest.  It takes a few days for the mail to arrive, and a few to cash the checks.

By next week, it'll be too late.

B.  Jebby & Soy:  Check out 18 pics from the Engagement / Wedding.  

Shout out to Soy for writing up the captions.

C.  Justin Thomas has submitted a picture from his new digs in sunny San Diego.  

More to Come...

   Posted on Saturday, May 22, 2004                                                    by Christopher M

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Below is a compilation of actual student bloopers collected by teachers from 8th through 12th grades.

1) The Bible is full of interesting caricatures. In the first book of the Bible, Guinessis, Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. One of their children, Cain, asked, "Am I my brother's son?"

2) Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. He died before he ever reached Canada.

3) Solomom had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines.

4) The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth.

5) Actually, Homer was not written by Homer but by another man of that name.

6) Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.

7) In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw the java.

8) Eventually, the Romans conquered the Greeks. History calls people Romans because they never stayed in one place for very long.

9) Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: "Tee hee, Brutus."

10) Nero was a cruel tyranny who would torture his subjects by playing the fiddle to them.

11) Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was cannonized by Bernard Shaw.

12) Finally Magna Carta provided that no man should be hanged twice for the same offense.

13) In mid-evil times most people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the futile ages was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verses and also wrote literature.

14) It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. And Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper.

15) The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter.

Thursday, May 20, 2004 - Benj

Gangsta Station Wagon, Ibrahim & the Great Satan         

The all new Dodge Magnum.  Whachoo think?  Personally, I like it.  I have yet to see one driving on the road, but the pictures look good.  Now this doesn't mean that I'd go buy one or anything.  But it looks pretty distinct and pretty hip for a station wagon!    

IraqtheModel is where the below comes from.  The story shines a light on the tangible benefits that the Coalition has bought to Iraq, along with revealing some of the angst about the "occupation".  Which has been better for Iraq, SADDAM or the USA?   

"My young cousin is a religious Sunni who goes to the mosque and listens to the cleric there every Friday and believes whatever he says, as he’s still young. My uncle always teased his son about this but never prohibited him from doing that. We were talking about different stuff; the kids’ needs, clerics, Americans and the increase in the average income of most Iraqis.  

My uncle had some unusual sense of humor that didn’t fit quite well in his somewhat religious family. He winked at me and turned to his son and asked him "What do you think of the Americans?" His son answered, "They are occupiers".  "So you think we should fight them?" his father asked.  Ibrahim said "No, but I don’t like them". 

My uncle said, pretending to change the subject
"Do you like your new computer that no one shares with you?" "Yes of course dad". "Ok, are you satisfied with the satellite dish receiver we have or do you need a better one?"  "This one is fine but I heard there’s a better one that gets more channels"
"ok I’ll get you that next week". Then he said, "Is there anything else you’d like to have son?"  "No dad I have all that I need".

"Ok but how about a car?"  Ibrahim was astounded and said "Really? a..a CAR.. for me!?".  "Of course for you! I'm too old to drive now and my eyes are not that well and you are the older son. So whom else would it be for!?"  "Oh, dad that will be great! When will that happen?"  "Just finish you’re exams and you’ll have it".
"I will dad".

"Are you happy now son?"  "Yes dad, sure I am!"  "Then why do you hate the Americans you son of a b***h!? I couldn’t get you a bicycle a year ago, I could hardly feed you and your brothers and sisters. You didn't know what an apple or a banana tasted like, I couldn’t buy you a damned Pepsi bottle except in occasions, and now you can have all that you wish, and a car of your own! Who do you think made that possible!?"  My cousin's face turned red and didn’t answer as we laughed and I said "What do you think Ibrahim?"

He said, "Well it’s true but it’s our money. They are not giving us a charity" and I said "Of course it’s our money, so let’s forget the Billions of dollars they are giving to rebuild Iraq and the efforts they are making to cut down our debts and lets talk about our money. Why didn’t your father, I, my brothers and all the Iraqis have anything worth mentioning before the Americans came?" He said, "Because Saddam used it to buy weapons and build palaces". 

"There you have it Ibrahim, but Americans are not touching our money. Can you tell me who’s better; the ‘occupiers’ who are helping us or the ‘patriot’ who did all that you know to us?" He said in a faint voice "They are better than Saddam but still they are not Muslims". "So do you want them to be Muslims?" "I wish they were." "Will you fight them to that?" he said, "No, of course not. I don’t like fighting." We didn’t want to pressure and embarrass him further and didn’t go further, as he’s still young but he’s smart and good-natured and will get it soon."

Nick Berg, Back to Kindergarten

It has been a few days already since the grisly death of Nick Berg, yet the horror of his murder is still impacting people. At least it is impacting me. Done in the name of revenge, this far exceeded, in my opinion, the atrocities that took place in Abu Ghraib. As many have pointed out, those in there are not just petty thieves -they are terrorists and first class murderers. I do not mean to imply in any way that it justifies what was done to them; however, Nick Berg was a civilian, and if for that reason alone, his death outweighed what was done in the prisons, as disgusting as that was.

As if that were not enough, everyone is so angry at what the American guards did, and I reiterate, I strongly believe that was wrong and should be punished, yet the outrage over what happened to Nick Berg was confined mainly to the family and the U.S. government. As a matter of fact, it was only after a period of silence that some of the Arab governments finally declared it wrong  because the perpetrators  "commit acts that violate the teachings of Islam, a noble religion that deplores such acts."
I know that everyone is outraged over what happened at Abu Ghraib because the U.S. is supposed to be the good person, but still, there was not enough outrage over his death.

I decided to compensate for the lack of outrage, and had a little tirade at home telling my dad how much I wanted to kill the people who killed Nick Berg and avenge his death, and my father  told me a few  profound words. And I quote, "Brenda, be quiet." I very wisely replied, "okay." Truth of the matter is, as Liza pointed out to me, nothing I do can possibly restore him back to life. All we can do is pray for his family and for our leaders so that they may know how to handle this situation and the whole situation in Iraq.

With all the horror in the world, one must hold on to the small things that bring happiness or even put a smile on one's face, and I had quite a few moments like that these past days. Since the spring semester has come to an end, I have been able to go back to doing something I love to do -substitute teach. Among the most recent  memorable experiences include a hike on which I went with a bunch of 6th graders, where we saw a bunch of alligators and learned that the armadillo actually has the leprosy gene (so don't eat them unless you're going to cook them well), and the kindergarten class for whom I subbed that nearly drove me insane and helped me remember why I decided that if I was going to teach, it would be junior high and above.

They drove me nuts but I loved them. They were so cute, trying to impress me with their mathematical knowledge. Teacher, teacher, they would say, I know what 100+100 is, I know what 10+5 is. And then they were even more impressed when they asked me what 1,000 +400 was and I answered 1,400. Their eyes grew big as they asked me where I had received such deep knowledge. I explained that I had passed kindergarten already and that's why I knew. They accepted my explanation unquestioningly, commenting one to another that I was a big girl and therefore knew more. Oh, to go back to kindergarten where our main concern was where we would set our mat for nap time ;) Nah, I like it much better now!

A.  Tourney Fee:  June 1st is coming up on us fast, and I haven't received fees from anyone yet.

JUNE 1st

We don't have a tourney if these fees don't come in by then.  Keep in mind, that someone who has a job, can spot up the 200, and everyone can pay that person back, b/c i know firsthand it can take several weeks to collect the fees from every individual player. 

B.  The site will be updated this Saturday.  We are slowly moving toward a 6 day per week update schedule.  Keep it locked in for that.

C.  I've been really busy as of late, new pics coming next Monday.

Thursday, May 13, 2004 - Benj

IPF-mobile, Bush's Humanity, 24       

Above is my entry for the IPF-mobile.  Even better than an H2.  Can you imagine Chris & Binu riding around town in this beast?  :-)

   Posted on Wednesday, May 12, 2004                                                        by Greg S

A.  Before I get into my tourney update, I want to say we are all glad to know that Jessy J's parents are all right.  Miracles do happen.

A.  I found an interesting article for you all,  that I think is worth a read:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Sabaa Saleem
The Washington Post

In spite of myself, I think I may agree to an arranged marriage.

Beginning next month, my parents will contact Muslim family friends around the world with a list of criteria for a husband: a twentysomething, classically handsome, Urdu-speaking Muslim man who is 6 feet tall, with an MD and MBA, as well as a PhD in something respectable like molecular toxicology. He must have a good sense of family and a financial portfolio fat enough to take care of the next 15 generations. My parents will screen the candidates, and after I graduate from college next spring, they will introduce me to the few they deem best. Ultimately, the lucky man will have to pass my own stringent test: Does he own every Radiohead album and listen to them regularly?

Like so many other young South Asians in America, I am the product of two cultures whose conflicting values pull at me with equal urgency. Never have I felt as torn between the two as I do about the question of marriage. I have been a Californian for all but the first year of my life, when my family lived in Britain, where I was born. I grew up in a small town in the Mojave Desert where conservative Republicans were as common as cacti. Inexplicably, I grew up liberal and a feminist.

My mother and father were born and raised in Pakistan, where religion is entrenched in the culture and the culture is explicitly unyielding. Though they left family and comfort decades ago for opportunity in the West, they brought strong religious faith and cultural expectations with them -- and tried to instill sobriety and respect in my two older brothers and me. They have more or less succeeded, but they have also endured nearly 30 years of our stubborn refusal to conform. They have grudgingly accepted that, while respectful, their children are also independent, maybe even eccentric -- qualities not admired by most traditional Pakistanis.

My parents would casually joke about my marriage while I was growing up. I was uneasy about it, but it seemed so far off that it was easy for me to laugh it off. "When pigs fly!" I'd say, and change the subject.

Now, almost everyone I know -- friends, teachers, co-workers -- expects me, as a child of the West, to reject the notion of arranged marriage, to proclaim my independence loudly. Sometimes, I still expect that, too. But as a young Muslim woman, I also expect myself to accept the obligations I have as my parents' daughter -- regardless of the emotional cost to me.

Pakistani culture and Islam beckon me with security, familiarity and ease. By agreeing to an arranged marriage, I could more easily satisfy my religious obligation to abstain from intimacy with the opposite sex until marriage -- not an easy feat, may I say. I would be participating in the ceremony of a culture 11,000 miles removed, a ceremony I've witnessed only twice. By doing so, I could spare my parents the stinging criticism they would face if their daughter chose her own path: barbs from three generations of extended family, all of whom accepted their own arranged marriages without argument -- and some of whom complain about them to this day.

At the same time, Pakistani culture repels me with its expectation that I adhere to a tradition that essentially advocates handing me over to a man for safekeeping. From the endless gossip of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, I know the courtship ritual well. I will briefly meet my parents' choices and pick those who interest me. With each man, after perhaps a month of chaperoned dating, phone calls, no physical contact and little understanding of whether we would mesh, I am supposed to decide whether to marry him.

In the end, the decision will be mine. My parents would never force me to marry a particular man. But they do expect me not to dawdle. Ideally, I should make a decision after no more than five or six meetings. I am supposed to pick a husband, accept my fate and hope the marriage is successful. Our engagement would likely last a year or two, during which we would get to know each other better -- and maybe even grow fond of each other. (Breaking it off at that point would be possible, but that would reflect badly on me and on my family and would represent time wasted.) Still, I worry that my filial piety could lead me down an empty road -- where independent minds and hearts are given up to the demands of a culture that I often find perplexing.

I am not alone in this struggle. My oldest brother and I have mulled over the marriage question for hours and hours. My other brother, the middle child and black sheep of the family, long ago informed our parents that there would be no arranged marriage for him -- in fact, there probably wouldn't be a marriage at all. My parents hope he'll come to his senses. And though their oldest child is 29 -- marrying age for men in Pakistan -- my parents accept his excuse that he's just not ready. Maybe they focus less on him because my father was 31 when he married. Whatever the reason, until I get married, my parents' eyes are on me. Their priorities for me are that I get a bachelor's degree and marry -- in that order. Thus, I decided to take an honors thesis class last year to postpone my graduation until next March, when UCLA will have to forcibly boot me out. I am searching for ways to extend my school days so that I can put off the marriage decision again. I have to admit, I'm beginning to feel a creeping sense of desperation because I was imbued with a sense of skepticism toward anything that is overly reliant on tradition rather than reason. But my skepticism is outweighed by an obligation to my mother and father, and to their happiness.

My parents are not evil people who have kept me in a box my whole life, bent on handing me over to a man who will do the same. They've always treated me with love and respect and showed trust in my judgment. And the rules they applied to me when I was younger have remained a part of me, even when I have not wanted them to. For example, my parents never allowed me to date and generally frowned any on male friendships. Dating leads to intimacy, which would be out of the question. In high school, I was far quieter than I am now, and a tight curfew ensured my good behavior.

But the coed dorms, parties and freedom of college have presented a moral dilemma for me. I did not want to disappoint my parents. So I developed a complex method of discouraging in myself behavior that they, and Islam, would consider deviant. When I thought someone was about to ask me out, I used the idea that I wasn't sure about my sexuality as a ruse to get him to keep his distance. Or I ran off, claiming an appointment. But after four years of these tactics -- which have not failed me yet -- I find it harder to convince others, and myself, that I'm not interested.

Then I think of my parents and their leniency over the years and I stop having the conversation with myself in which I have doubts. Despite their strict upbringing, my parents do not ask me to wear the Islamic head cover. They did not insist that I attend a local college and continue to live at home, as many Muslim girls do. They do not admonish me when I stay out late, and they only occasionally flare up at my decision to forgo medicine for journalism. They remind me to eat and sleep and worry less about grades and career, and, they encourage me to attend concerts and enjoy my youth.

My parents have given me every opportunity for happiness. And I know that their happiness depends on fulfilling their responsibilities as good Muslim parents. They must see their children married to other Muslims of whom they approve.

That took on a new urgency last January when my father, who has a bad heart, also had a stroke. A religious man, he now even more adamantly believes it is his duty to secure my spiritual well-being in whatever time he has left. If he succeeds in marrying me well, ideally to a Muslim from a good Pakistani family, then my soul will be at peace in the afterlife. Moreover, he will be enabling me to follow the rules set out by Islam -- to respect my parents' wishes, to start a family and to hand down my religious morals to my children.

That holds nearly as much weight as performing his five daily prayers. For him, my marriage would be the crowning achievement in a life nearly complete. I worry that, if his health deteriorates further and I am not married, I will be the cause of his having an incomplete life.

Similarly, my mother doesn't believe she can perform the pilgrimage to Mecca -- of paramount importance to even moderately devout Muslims -- with a clear conscience until I am married. If I refused to get married, my parents would be brokenhearted and confused. Like any child close to her parents, I could not watch them suffer.

And so I find myself defending arranged marriage against those who see it as absurd or even barbaric. Yet I'm disturbed by the doubt these critics instill in me. My fifth year of college buys me more time to resolve my career insecurities. But if I can't even decide between writing or editing, philanthropy or graduate school, how can I commit myself to a man I'll know so little about? Beyond my parents' requirements, there are traits I need in the man I marry that cannot be discerned from a few meetings. Will he be able to hold his own in a discussion with me? Will he calmly accept that I will be at least a half-hour late to any important event? Will he make fun of Bollywood films with me?

If we marry, it will no doubt be for life. Muslims accept divorce, but usually as a last resort, and many Pakistanis, including my extended family, see divorce as an escape for the weak-willed.

And is it selfish and idealistic to want "true love"? My American instincts tell me that love comes before marriage, not a few years after -- if I am lucky. Like a lot of South Asians raised in the United States, I hope for a "love-match" -- where parents accept the Muslim their child has met on her own and has decided to marry. My parents have said that this route would please them most, because it would be a compromise between their ideals and mine.

A month ago, I asked my mother about her determination to have me married soon, especially when her own marriage at 21 took her to London, away from the world she knew, preventing her from pursuing a career and establishing her independence. She said, "Do you think I want to you to leave us -- to have a man at the center of your life? Maybe even to go away? I want my daughter close to me always, but this is my duty; I don't have a choice -- I can't be selfish. I have to let you go."

That day, I decided I would have an arranged marriage.

But now, I marvel at how quickly the summer has passed. I feel like hyperventilating when I think how quickly spring will come, and engagement and marriage will follow. I fantasize about ways to scare off suitors (bringing sock puppets to our first meeting, perhaps?). Briefly, I resolve to put off marriage, for a few years at least.

But then I think of my parents' anguish if I refuse to honor their wishes -- I think of my father and the shadowy road ahead of him -- and of how empty I will feel. And I wonder, if I have one foot in each world, is it possible to keep from being torn apart?

B.  Chris will be updating tomorrow.

A.  I will have the complete details for you THIS TUESDAY.

Top Ten

Weather: Spring is upon us and along with the warmer weather and longer days comes a lot of flowers getting it on. Pollen... Its what’s for dinner. For those of you with Allergies, you know how miserable this time of year can be. My advice… Stay inside. If  you must go outside – wear a mask. When people ask you, why you are wearing a mask, warn them about the looming perils of Global Warming.

Politics: The Dems are in uproar about the abuse of the Iraqi prisoners. The Arab nations are in disgust that we have committed such atrocities. While everyone has reason to be upset, I agree with Benj that much of this anger is disproportionate. As Newt Gingrich calls it – It is selective anger. On 9/11 when one of the worst attacks in history happened, causing the loss of thousands of civilian lives, the Palestinians were seen toting their guns and cheering in the streets. 

Travel: This is a true fact and I don’t mean to be offensive to any Polish IPF viewers. I am simply perpetuating an old Stereotype in a harmless manner.  Anyways, remember back in the days when Airlines allowed smoking on an airplane.  Most airlines had their non-smoking section towards the front of the airplane and the smoking section in the back. In the polish Airlines, The Smoking section was on the left side and the non-smoking was on the right, so at any point – you were sitting next to a smoker! Its true – I can’t make this stuff up.

Sports: Baseball is fun to play but I can’t watch nine innings in a row. I used to be able to, but now I’m so used to the fast paced action of Basketball and football that I don’t have the patience to watch grown men spit and scratch themselves while intermittently taking swings at a 90 mph ball. And now with the drug controversy and all , you have to wonder—who was it that hit all those homeruns- Barry Bonds or Steroids?

Entertainment:  10 years of Friends have come to an end…..Good Riddance!  I could name 10 shows that were better. Wheel of Fortune, NBC Nightly News with Dan Rather,  Donahue,  The Price is Right…Shall I go on?

Careers & Jobs: A recent report prepared by the Council of Economic Advisors stated that Outsourcing might actually create more jobs in the U.S.   It’s true-- this is what they claim!  My question is this. Where did these Economists get their degrees – The University of Bob? And on that note, why are we as taxpayers paying these guys 6 figures to sit around all day and speculate. They are not providing a good or service. They’re simply making guesses that may or may not come true. I might as well take my chances with Miss Cleo or that guy from “Crossing Over”

Technology: Last week I chucked my humongous CRT monitor and replaced it with a sleek, slim 17’ flat screen.  I have so much space on my desk now that I don’t know what to do with it all. Flat screens are expensive but if you have a friend that works for BestBuy your set. BestBuy for a guy is like Mandees or Express to a girl. Once I step in, its hard to get me out.

Thursday, May 6, 2004 - Benj

Disproportionate Rage       

People across the Muslim world are infuriated by the abuses of Iraqi detainees at the hands of American soldiers.  And so they should be.  Those abuses were absolutely criminal and the perpetrators should be dealt with severely.

But where was the outrage when four American civilians were killed and dragged through the streets like animals?  Why is is that Americans get worked up when their soldiers misbehave terribly against the Iraqis, but the Muslim world barely raises its voice when Americans are tortured, beaten, killed, and abused?  Where was the outrage when Mullah al-Sadr refused to turn himself in, despite proof of guilt?  Why was there so little uproar about the Iraqis who danced in the street and sprayed bullet-fire in celebration of the heinous murder of those four Americans?

It's true that there was some concern expressed, some condolences offerred.  But nothing close to the level of outrage that has swept the world because of the alleged abuses that are coming to light.  

It starts and ends with Hatred.  Although most Muslims are far different from the fanatics that have hijacked the religion, there is an underlying current in the Muslim religion that infuses so many with a hatred for America & Israel and anything non-Islam.  Even some peace-loving Muslims have an unreasonably strong bias against Israel, and can barely utter any semblance of outrage at the terrorist tactics of the Palestinians.  

This evil pathology needs to be cut out like the grotesque, destructive cancer that it is.  And that's what this War on Terror is all about in the end:  bringing change to a hate-filled, morally deprived region of the world.  

In closing, a quote from war historian Victor Davis Hanson:  "... there is an asymmetry about the coverage of the incident, an imbalance and double standard that have been predictable throughout this entire brutal war.

The Arab world -- where the mass-murdering Osama bin Laden is often canonized -- is shocked by a pyramid of nude bodies and faux-electric prods, but has so far expressed less collective outrage in its media when the charred corpses of four Americans were poked and dismembered by cheering crowds in Fallujah. The taped murder of Daniel Pearl or a video of the hooded Italian who had his brains blown out -- this is the daily fare that emanates now from the television studios of the Middle East.

Indeed, if Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera could display the same umbrage over mass murder that they do over these recent accounts of shame and humiliation of the detained Iraqis, much of the gratuitous violence of the Middle East would surely diminish. The papers that now allege war crimes are the same state-controlled and censored media that print gleeful accounts of death and desecration of Westerners and promulgate an institutionalized anti-Semitism not seen since the Third Reich."

A.  All, as you may have noticed by now, IPF is running Google Ads on the right hand side, as well as on the bottom of the site. 

Here is a little overview of what we have to offer:

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May, End of School

I find it hard to believe that we are already in May. As in May, 5th month of the year. Wow, it seems that only yesterday it was December 31 and I was getting ready to go to the all night meeting held in my church to usher in the new year. Besides being an indicator of how time flies, the Month of May is a signal to those of us who live in the south of a very important event -last day of school! K-12th graders get out around the end of May and the college/university students end classes by the first week of May and finish finals on the second week.

So, yes, I've been studying for finals, and finishing up papers I should have written some time back. As much as I try to start early, for some reason I cannot write my papers until a few days, or the very day before its due. I love gathering the information, but the actual writing is something that I put off until the last moment possible. In order to get my papers done in time I've had to pull all nighters with the help of some energy drinks. By the way, I don't even know if those energy drinks actually work or its just the placebo effect, but I was, as the name of one of the ones I tried, wired. I think, though, that it may have all been in my mind and just gave me a good excuse to be hyper ;). But I don't know, they may actually have ingredients in them to energize or whatever those drinks claim to do.

To those of you in the middle of finals and graduation and everything else, I wish you well. As for me, I better go finish writing a paper that is due tomorrow ;) Take care. Until next time.

A.  Sup all.  I have 27 pictures from the 2004 Dallas Revivals for you.  Special shout out to Susan Samuel for submitting these pics and working on the captions with me.

B.  Spurs Win Game 1, 88, 78:  "There's not a whole lot of secrets about what they do and what we do," Duncan said.  "it's about going out there and imposing your will."  Yeah Tim.  That's what I'm talkin' about.  Is there a more solid, all around player in basketball than Tim Duncan?  

The Lakers Dynasty is over.  It's time to send them home........again.

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