Hello we are David and Sheri Burns here at Long Lane Honey Bee Farms. We are having a blast with honey bees. Beekeeping is downright fun. Our bees are coming out of winter in good shape and we are excited that spring is making an appearance.  Last year was our best honey crop ever. More and more new people are entering into the exciting hobby of beekeeping. It amazes me how many people are now starting to keep honey bees because they are realizing the important and vital role honey bees play in pollination so we can have food. We cannot do without our honey bees. For those of you wanting to start beekeeping this year, now is the perfect time. It’s not too late to start keeping bees. We are hear to sell you the equipment needed to keep bees, educate you either through one of our beekeeping classes or our online lessons.

We have these extensive lessons as well as beekeeping videos where you can learn more about beekeeping. We are a unique beekeeping business because we are a total turn key operation. We provide the education (certified master beekeeper) through classes and online lessons and an extensive online beekeeping store to purchases needed beekeeping equipment and supplies, bees, queens and more.

We believe that educated beekeepers have better success. Therefore, we are offering a week long BEEKEEPING INSTITUTE. June 17-21, 2013.

INSTRUCTORS: David Burns EAS certified master beekeeper, Sheri Burns Colony Problem Solver and beekeeper, Charlie Nye Bee Researcher and Bee Lab Manager at the University of Illinois Bee Lab and Alex Wild, biologist, insect photographer and beekeeper. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WEEK LONG BEEKEEPING INSTITUTE or Click below to sign up for one or several of our classes that week:

Day 1- Basic Beekeeping Taking Registrations Now

Day 2- Practical Beekeeping Taking Registrations Now

Day 3 - Advance Beekeeping Taking Registrations Now

Day 4 - Queen Rearing Taking Registrations Now

Day 5 - Insect Photography Taking Registrations Now

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Sheri and I are constantly flooded with positive feedback about our hives, queens, bees, classes and business. We are starting a page of customer’s testimonies. Please email your testimony, either how we have helped you on the phone, in person, through these lessons or our hand made hives. Email us at: testimony@honeybeesonline.com If you want, you can even include a picture. Thank you!

Every Monday on our facebook page we present a challenging question and the first one to answer it correctly wins a Long Lane Honey Bee Farms coffee mug with a bag of coffee beans that David personally roasts himself. He likes his coffee strong. Follow us on facebook.

Facebook is a great place to hear from us daily and to keep up on what we are learning about honey bees on a regular basis. Not to mention that Sheri and I are just fun to follow :) Follow us on facebook.

 

 

Advance Beekeeping Training

I will be holding an Advance Beekeeping Training Workshop near Chicago, Illinois at the Heritage Prairie Farms located at  2N308 Brundige Road, Elburn, IL 60119.

Topics covered will be: Swarm management, splitting hives, rotating hive bodies, queen rearing, specialize equipment, detail inspection techniques, overwintering hives in the north, pests & diseases and more.

This workshop will be on Saturday April 27th, from 9am - 4pm. Call to register: 630-443-5989
Heritage Prairie Farm is located approximately 40 miles west of Chicago along Route 38 or 2.5 miles west of Randall Rd. on Brundige Rd. on the south side of Route 38. Coming from the North or South, Route 38 intersects with the following: Routes 47, 25, 31, 59; and Interstate 355 and 294. For more information or to register call 630-443-5989

 

LESSON 136: Honey Bees Are In The News Again, Should We Be Concerned?

Honey bees find their way into the news on a regular basis.Now, they are back in the headlines. I normally do not spend much time addressing the various news headlines because there is a certain level of sensationalism. However, I think it’s time to speak to the current issues facing honey bees and what is fact or fiction. But if you don’t want to read everything below, let me say it is my opinion that not much has really changed. I’ve read Rev. Langstroth’s overwinter issues back in the late 1800s and early 1900s and even without mites there were times bee losses were high.

In 2006-2007 bees really hit the news because many large commercial beekeepers were suddenly losing colonies. Speculations soon appeared in the news, from everything from green Martians, farm spray, to cell phones towers. Although portrayed as something never heard of before, very similar disappearances of bees have been reported over the last 100 years. Somewhere after all the dust settled we called it Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD for short.  It was a new name for an old problem.

When bees first made their news debut, it was a double edge sword. While we were sad that CCD had caused the loss of many hives something happened that few of us ever expected, a silver lining in the cloud of disappearing bees—they started returning! Let me clarify. While it was true that CCD caused bees to simply disappear from hives, leaving only the queen and a small number of bees left to slowly die, the interest in saving the bees grew rapidly. Honey bees returned to the scene.. Prior to CCD honey bees were slowly being forgotten at best and carelessly being neglected at worst. While a few might not ever miss another stinging insect, most of the population quickly became concerned as to what a lack of honey bees would do to our food supply, especially since we are more in tune with eating healthier foods that bees pollinate.

Responsible citizens armed themselves with suits and hive tools and started keeping bees for the first time. This was tremendous. And the movement is gaining momentum.  Bee populations were saved! Now home owners finding bees living in houses and buildings are relying on competent removal experts to carefully remove bees without killing them. Pest control companies have stopped killing honey bees and are referring the matter over to beekeepers to rescue the honey bees. What first appeared bad turned out pretty good.

Are bees really dying? They always have died. Humans have always died.  Will bees become extinct soon and we will be left to eat oatmeal and rice? No. That is, as long as responsible citizens continue to take several important steps:

1. Start Keeping Bees

Sheri and I have always had a passion to help more people keep bees because the more beekeepers, the more bees. In the late 1700s and early 1800s John Chapman traveled around planting apple trees. In parts of the Midwest early settlers were required to plant an apple orchard to claim their land. I’ve always admire the life of Jonny Appleseed and his passion to plant apple trees.  We need that kind of passion for planting bee hives. Honey bees are amazing creatures and deserve our attention, care and help. If you’d like to become a beekeeper, click here for more information.

2. Stop Killing Every Weed

I’ve lived in the big city where everything is concrete and asphalt. I know we often want our yards perfectly manicured, no weeds and every fence row cleared and ditch mowed. Keep in mind that for every flowering weed we kill, we are depriving honey bees of their substance of life. They must have nectar and pollen and much of what they gather comes from the wild flowers we don’t like such as dandelions and clover in our yards. I’m not so much concerned about thousands of acres of corn and beans, but rather about thousands of acres of wild flowers that are being lost. These flowers provide the variety of pollen our bees need to be healthy. We need to stop killing the weeds.

 

3. Never Poison Or Kill Bees In Trees or Homes

We should never kill honey bees. If they swarm onto or into our homes, we should seek a skilled beekeeper or a professional removal company to safely remove the bees and place them into their own hive. When hives are poisoned inside of walls and structures, the poisoned honey is robbed out by other healthy colonies and the tainted honey is taken back to other hives where it will continue killing bees. This is very sad and troubling. With bees in decline it  would be sad to know how many hives have been killed deliberately or through careless spraying of insecticides.

4. Spread The Word About The Importance Of Pollination Of Honey Bees

I was speaking to someone today explaining that honey bee pollination has a 15 Billion dollar agriculture value a year! He is a Schwann salesman and I told him that if bees are greatly reduced he will only be selling oatmeal and rice from his truck. Without bees there will be little to no vegetables, fruits, beef, no ice cream and on goes the list. Some people view our food as coming from stores and as long as stores sell food we don’t need bees. However, we must educate others that pollination of honey bees is what makes food available in stores.

When bees die, fingers are pointed at farm chemicals, CCD, mites, poor queens and the list goes on. All of these and more can harm honey bees. But let’s not forget the beekeeper. Poorly trained beekeepers and beekeepers who push their bees are the cause of many losses. With increased knowledge and improved management skills beekeepers will keep healthier colonies. We need more beekeepers, but well trained beekeepers.

Sheri and I believe the honey bees will only continue to make a comeback if more and more citizens take up beekeeping. Hobbyist can step forward and make a huge impact on the survival of the honey bee by keeping bees, allowing weeds and flowers to grow, never poison honey bees and sharing the important role honey bees play in pollination.

Thanks for joining us for another beekeeping lesson. We hope you’ll visit our website at www.honeybeesonline.com, buy some hives and get started in beekeeping! It’s not too late. Now is a great time to dive in. Though we are sold out of packages, we’ll provide you with the numbers of reliable package providers that will ship bees to you. We are ready to be your friend and mentor in beekeeping.

See you next time!
David and Sheri Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
www.honeybeesonline.com
217-427-2678

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Flip Charts for this song both with and without words are available below.  If you are teaching this song in May of 2013, please consider joining our worldwide mail swap here.

For a copy of the sheet music, click here.

To hear the song, click here.

There are children singing all around the world,

Happy voices ringing out the joyful word,

We are children glowing with the gospel light,

 Standing tall, walking strong, choosing right.

 There are children leading out in every land,

 Who believe in keeping all the Lord's commands.

Like the stripling warriors, we go forth in faith,

 For we know that the Lord is our strength.

We are children holding hands around the world,

 Like an army with the gospel flag unfurled.

 We are led by His light, and we love truth and right.

 

 We are building the kingdom of God.



You may wish to introduce the song using the attention activity found here.

For a copy of the flipchart WITHOUT words,

And for a copy of the flipchart WITH words,

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An Oldy but a Goody (RE-POST)

 

This recipe comes from my daughters' nursery school (they are now 15 and 17) and we have been making it ever since. We never have a brunch without it. It is our father's most requested recipe at every family event. When I make it for him I only add walnuts since he doesn't like chocolate. Lately I have been making it with whole wheat flour and it is just as good. It is really easy and comes out great every time.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of sugar

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (3 large)

3/4 cup vegetable oil (I use 1/2 cup and I don't notice a difference)

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips or both

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a loaf pan with baking spray. Mix sugar, bananas, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pan. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. let cool 10 minutes, then loosen sides of loaf from pan and remove from pan. let cool completely before slicing.

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I heard that Friday is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, and what better way to commemorate than by making this epic version of America's favorite sandwich? Hopefully most of you have seen and made this before, but just in case, here you go. Enjoy!


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No chance – but that doesn’t take anything away from this simple, delicious, and quite dip-able roasted parsnips recipe. As I mention in the video, I was inspired by some grilled parsnips that showed up as a side dish at a recent meal, and I wanted that same effect without having to go out to the backyard.

The combination of a very hot oven, the generous cooking time, and a pre-roast, lemon-olive oil soak gets you pretty close to grill marks country. Also, this method seems to mellow the root’s bold flavor, and while the outside remains pleasantly fibrous, the inside gets creamy and sweet.

One note about the use of lemon here: As anyone who has ever tried to cook raw green beans in a tomato sauce will tell you, an acidic cooking liquid can toughen the surface of a vegetable. I learned why in culinary school, but that was in 1984, and I’m kind of fuzzy on anything before the Clinton administration. I’m sure one of our resident scientists will chime in with a concise explanation.

Anyway, whether you’re looking for a new and exciting side dish, or something to dip into aioli besides potatoes, I hope you give this oven “grilled” parsnips recipe a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 servings:

2 pounds parsnips
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
*Aleppo pepper, to taste

*Aleppo pepper is my new favorite ground chili pepper! It’s a moderately hot and fruity pepper that’s said to have “cumin-like undertones,” as Wikipedia puts it. For more information, click here.

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by Salman Hameed

If you haven't noticed yet, there are varieties of ideological battles taking place in much of the Muslim world. Most of these involve the young and educated battling over the future direction of their culture, religion, and their country. The broad contours are often the same, but details vary from place to place. In some instances, it failed completely, whereas in others it achieved various degrees of success. So we had the Lawyers Movement in Pakistan, the Green Movement in Iran, and the Arab Spring in north Africa and a few of the countries in the Middle East.

Now Bangladesh has joined in as well with the Shahbagh Movement. The recent controversy started with young secularists protesting and seeking capital punishment against those who were found guilty of war crimes in the bloody civil war with Pakistan that ultimately created Bangladesh. The target in this case are some members of the

Jamat-e-Islami - ah of the same flavor that is demanding the Islamization of Pakistani curricula as well. Some of the leading spokesperson for this secular movement were bloggers. Well, the religious parties have responded by labeling some of them atheism and blasphemy. This is the new weapon in the hands of the political Islamic parties. Just yell "Insult to Islam" and the mob will take care of the rest. And it seems that atheism - whether real or imagined in the minds of these pious beardy's - has become an "insult to Islam".

One of the blogger accused of atheism was stabbed and killed in February. But that wasn't enough. By yelling "insult to Islam", they can distract the focus from the war crimes of 1971. Now these gentle bearded fellows want Bangladesh to follow the example of Pakistan and include a blasphemy law in Bangladesh - yes the same blasphemy law that has led to the destruction of so many innocent families in Pakistan.

But kudos to Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. She ruled it out and defended the constitution as is!

Bangladesh’s prime minister has ruled out a new blasphemy law despite a mass campaign by Islamic groups to introduce the death penalty for bloggers whom they accuse of insulting the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). 

As part of their push for a change in the law, the Hefajat-e-Islam group on Monday forced the closure of schools and businesses and barricaded inter-city motorways and railways across the country in a general strike. 

Police said at least 30 people were injured in clashes between pro-government activists and Islamic groups, already infuriated by the recent convictions of leading opposition figures for war crimes. 

But Sheikh Hasina, who has been leading a secular government in the Muslim-majority country since 2009, said existing laws were adequate to prosecute anyone accused of insulting a religion. 

“Actually, we don’t have any plan to (bring in a new law). We don’t need it,” Hasina told the BBC in an interview broadcast Monday.
“They should know that existing laws are enough,” she added, before stressing that “this country is a secular democracy”.

Here is a bit from NYT:

 The bloggers, who deny they are atheists, are seeking capital punishment for those found guilty of war crimes during the nation’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan. They also want a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamic party, for campaigning against Bangladesh’s independence more than four decades ago. The party is an important partner of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. 

Top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders are accused of crimes against humanity during the 1971 war, and two senior party leaders were convicted this year by a special tribunal. Bangladesh says as many as three million people were killed and 200,000 women were raped by Pakistani troops and collaborators during the war. 

While Hifazat-e-Islam said its rally was nonpolitical and not aligned with the opposition, Ms. Zia’s party backed the demonstration. The group listed 13 demands, including reinstating “absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah” in the nation’s Constitution, which is largely secular, and passing a law providing for capital punishment for maligning Allah, Islam and its Prophet Muhammad. 

The group’s other demands includes banning “all foreign culture, including free mixing of men and women.”

Ok wait. What? Hold on. Lets look at all of the 13 demands. Here they are (from Al Jazeera): 

1. Restore the phrase "Complete faith and trust in the Almighty Allah" in the constitution and repeal all the laws contrary to the holy Quran and Sunnah. 

2. Pass a law in parliament keeping a provision of the maximum punishment of death sentence to prevent defaming Allah, Prophet Muhammad and Islam and smear campaigns against Muslims. 

3. Take measures for stringent punishment against self-declared atheists and bloggers, led by the so-called Shahbagh movement, and anti-Islamists who made derogatory remarks against the Prophet. 

4. Stop infiltration of all alien cultures, including shamelessness in the name of individual’s freedom of expression, anti-social activities, adultery, free mixing of male and female and candle lighting. 

5. Make Islamic education mandatory from primary to higher secondary levels cancelling the anti-Islamic women policy and anti-religion education policy. 

6. Officially declare Qadianis (Ahmadiyyas) as non-Muslim and stop their propaganda and all conspiratorial ill-moves. 

7. Stop setting up sculptures at intersections, schools, colleges and universities across the country. 

8. Lift restrictions on saying prayers in all mosques across the country, including Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, without any hassle and remove obstacles to carrying out religious activities. 

9. Stop evil efforts to spread hatred in the mind of the young generation regarding Islam through the misrepresentation of religious dresses and cultures in the media. 

10. Stop anti-Islam activities by NGOs across the country, including in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and evil attempts of Christian missionaries for conversion. 

11. Stop attacks, mass killing, oppression and indiscriminate shooting on Alem-Ulama, devout followers of the Prophet and towhidi janata (revolutionary people). 

12. Stop threatening teachers and students of Qawmi madrasas, Islamic scholars, imams and khatibs and conspiracies against them. 

13. Free immediately all the arrested Islamic scholars, madrasa students and towhidi janata and withdraw all false cases filed against them, compensate the victims and bring the assailants to justice.

Hmm...well I seriously hope that Bangladesh does not follow the example of Pakistan. We have to raise our voice in defense of this secular movement and against such blasphemy laws that we know are used to persecute minorities and political opponents. My praise for Bangladeshi Prime Minister aside, the government has arrested four bloggers due to bearded pressure. From BBC:

At least eight popular Bangladeshi websites used by bloggers have been blacked out in protest over the arrests this week of four online writers. 

Those being held have been accused of hurting the religious sentiments of the country's

Muslim majority. 

The government has been accused by liberals of appeasing Islamists calling for tough blasphemy laws. 

Hardliners want those they perceive to be anti-Islamic bloggers to face the death penalty.
But liberals say that bloggers' freedom of speech must be preserved. The sites are mostly run by individuals or small teams. 

"Bangla Blogosphere begins blackout in protest against harassing and cracking down on bloggers," reads a notice on the home pages of one of the protesting sites inaccessible fro 24 hours from noon (0700 GMT) on Thursday. 

Detectives on Wednesday arrested blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who was attacked in January following alleged postings on the internet suspected of being derogatory to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. 

Mr Mohiuddin was remanded in custody by a court on on Thursday for three days to enable police to question him. His blog is suspended. 

His arrest came a day after police arrested three other bloggers in Dhaka facing similar allegations. 

In February blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed outside his home for allegedly insulting Islam. 

Critics say that the authorities have been bullied into carrying out the arrests following threats from radical Islamist organisations. 

They have threatened to unleash anarchy if "atheist bloggers are not hanged". 

This is a political ploy to silence dissent. We have to stand up for freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Most of the bloggers have denied that they are atheists. But even if they were, their lack of belief alone cannot be considered as an "insult to Islam". If you want to see an insult to Islam, then you can find bigots like the Florida pastor who repeatedly wants to burn the Quran or the guy who made the movie Innocence of Muslims. These bloggers have done nothing of the sort (otherwise these beardys would have been paraded that evidence). These issues of freedom of speech and religion, gender equality, and gay rights will repeatedly come up in the Muslim world in this coming decade. There is going to be a backlash from the conservatives. But please go and take a closer look at the 13 points to see how the backlash is going to look like. But I think the tide of history will create Muslims societies that may still be deeply religious but that will honor individual rights (including the right to take hijab and the right to refuse it). But we will have a bumpy road getting there.  

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Grilling season is rapidly approaching, and chances are good that at some point you’ll be faced with a few leftover grilled chicken breasts. Will you take the easy way out, and make chicken salad? Or, will you be brave and attempt something way more interesting, like this Cashew Chicken? Probably the chicken salad, but I decided to post this just in case.

Yes, I’m at it again, making food that’s not trying to be Asian, yet looks close enough to upset people anyway. I can’t do anything about that, and won't be dissuaded from using sweet, rich cashews, and a spicy, sweet and sour sauce to disappear some leftover, grilled chicken just because some people will get annoyed.

Sure, there are a hundred ways to make it “better” or more “authentic,” but on a weeknight after a long day at work, with your show coming on in 20 minutes, none of that matters. This isn't about what you think when you taste it; it’s about what you don’t think. And what you don’t think is, “this is leftover chicken.”

Having said all that, I would be shocked and amazed if you didn’t tweak this to your own personal tastes. It really is a versatile recipe, and one I hope you try soon. Now, get out there and grill too much chicken, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 large portions:
2 tbsp vegetable oil

6-8 thin slices of fresh ginger root

1 hot red chili pepper, sliced

1/2 cup dry roasted cashews

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 to 1 1/2 pound cooked chicken breast (about 2-3 breasts), cut into 1-inch cubes

For the sauce:

1/2 cup cold water or chicken broth, more as needed

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp ketchup

1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce, more as needed

2 tsp sambal (hot ground chili sauce)

1 packed tbsp brown sugar

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

View the complete recipe

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The letter swap has ended :(  If you are interested in swapping letters with a primary in another part of the world, feel free to leave your information in the comments.  You can contact each other directly.

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by Salman Hameed

Somewhere Ghalib, Manto and a host of other great Urdu writers must be rolling in their graves. I grew up reading and loving urdu novels and poetry. I don't remember much from the urdu textbooks used in schools (with the exception of Patras Bukhari's fantastic "Kuttay" ("Dogs"). So the new battle over the lack of sufficient Islam in Urdu textbooks is sad, baffling, and outrageous:

The Punjab government has excluded several key subjects from the fresh 10th class Urdu

text book edition published in February 2013 which is now being marketed for new students of matric. 

These subjects include ‘Islamic ideology of Pakistan’ and ‘Hazrat Umar (RA)- a Great Administrator’ besides removing persuasive Islam-related poems of even poets like Allama Iqbal. On the poetry side, all the Islamic poems including ‘Rabbe Kainaat’ of Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali, ‘Mohsin-e-Insaniat (PBUH)’ (the Saviour of Humanity) by Mahirul Qadri, ‘Tulu-e-Islam’ (the rise of Islam) of Allama Iqbal, ‘Siddiq (RA)’ on Hazrat Abu Bakar Siddiq (RA) by Allama Iqbal, ‘Shaan-e-Taqwa’ (which is against drinking) by Allama Iqbal etc have also been removed in the new text book.

It is besides the point that Islamiat is a full separate subject that students go through in their 10th grade. But don't worry. Those wonderful, humble folks of Jamaat-e-Islami are there to protect Islam:

Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Ameer Dr Syed Waeem Akhtar has express concern over exclusion of Islamic chapters from the course of class 10.

In a statement issued here Sunday, he said this disgusting act unveiled the dirty faces of the Punjab rulers. He said the rulers had become blind in the slavery of their foreign masters. He demanded the excluded chapters be included in the syllabus. He said Pakistan came into being in the name of Islam, hence there would be enforced Islamic code of life instead of ‘English code.’

But then this is a time when (some) candidates for elections in Pakistan are being asked to recite Qur'anic verses - or else their nomination papers would be rejected:

If Najma Bibi was unable to recite the Dua-e-Qanoot, she would have been unable to contest the upcoming elections, despite her status as a law-abiding and upright citizen, who paid her taxes regularly. 

However, her memory served her well and she breezed through the returning officer’s ‘ruthless’ scrutiny. 

Bibi, a 60-year-old political aspirant backed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, recited the dua seamlessly, prompting RO Jalaluddin Soomro to accept her nomination papers and declare her eligible to contest the general elections for a provincial assembly seat in Sindh. 

“The returning officer only asked me to recite the Dua-e-Qanoot, which I did confidently, so he accepted my papers,” Bibi, who intends to stand for PS-110 in Karachi, told The Express Tribune. 

The second question was a textbook classic. “How many Farz are in the Namaz-e-Isha?”
Under the Election Commission of Pakistan’s policy on judging the eligibility of candidates, the returning officers have initiated ‘ruthless’ scrutiny in accordance with the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. 

Such relentlessness was visible at City Courts, where sessions judges are performing duties as ROs. 

Like Bibi, all other candidates were asked to recite first Kalma, second Kalma or Dua-e-Qanoot, declare, on oath, whether or not they believe in one God (Allah), and to confirm whether they fulfill their religious obligations such as regularly offering prayers and performing Umrah or Hajj.

I left Pakistan a while ago but have visited it regularly. While some of the wacky things around religion were always present (for example, one of the requirements for getting a Pakistani passport as a Muslim is to declare that Ahmadis are non-Muslims!), this new Pakistan is fast becoming a stranger each passing day.

Okay - back to the issue of Urdu textbooks. What is interesting is that less than two years ago, a report suggested that Pakistan's education system is fueling religious discrimination. Perhaps, some of the changes to the urdu textbooks were in response to that report (you can download the pdf of the report: Connecting the Dots: Education and Religious Discrimination in Pakistan), but now it seems that the government is backing down on this effort (also see this earlier post about a recent survey: This is Pakistan's most conservative generation).

Here is Pervez Hoodbhoy's take on this, Banning a textbook - the Punjab government panics:

This episode is important for only one reason: the new Urdu reader represented an attempt, albeit a feeble one, to remove the blinkers forced upon students by General Ziaul Haq’s education fantasia. The 1980s Islamisation of education meant that every subject — languages, geography, history, social studies, chemistry, physics, mathematics, etc. — could only be viewed through a narrow prism. All else was to be shunned and filtered out. It is this attempt to break loose that Mr Abbasi finds so terribly objectionable. 

Pakistan’s educational system and the books used in schools unquestionably needs drastic reform. Our education does not prioritise the production of well-informed, socially responsible, thoughtful and civic-minded individuals. It does not ask for creating a mindset that can readily accept Pakistan’s diversity of religions, languages and cultures. It pays relatively little attention to what much of the rest of the world considers important: knowing and respecting the law of the land, preserving the environment, etc. Instead, what goes under the name of education here emphasises ritual, tradition and submission to authority. It is this which needs changing. 

The shameful retreat of the Punjab government before the forces of narrow-minded intolerance and prejudice augurs ill for the future. It negates the good work done by Shahbaz Sharif in the education sector. Sadly, yet another generation of children will be deprived of their right to an unblinkered view of the world. We, the citizens, must not allow such blackmail by any individual or group to succeed.

Read the full article here.

For those who understand Urdu, here is Zia Mohiuddin reading Patras Bukhari's Marhoom ki yaad main:

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Cream of Asparagus Soup

An abundance of fresh asparagus is one of spring’s great gifts to the kitchen, and there's no shortage of tasty ways to prepare this versatile vegetable. Just be sure to not let your fear of overcooking get in the way of the sweet, tender spears you deserve.

Nobody wants grey and mushy, but undercooked asparagus is tough and bitter, so be sure to check as you go. Here are a few of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh asparagus. Simply click on the link in the caption to see the video, read the original post, and get the ingredients. Enjoy!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Asparagus Pie

Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus with Fried Prosciutto and Poached Egg

Asparagus Souffle

Asparagus, Ham, and Ricotta Pizza

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by Salman Hameed

I hope you were able to avoid the sequels, but the original Matrix was quite spectacular. Here is an hour long video on Philosophy and the Matrix. From Open Culture:

Apotheosis of cyberpunk culture, 1999’s The Matrix and its less-successful sequels introduced a generation of fanboys and girls to the most stylish expression of some age-old idealist thought experiments: the Hindu concept of Maya, Plato’s cave, Descartes’ evil demon, Hilary Putnam’s Brain in a Vat—all notions about the nature of reality that ask whether what we experience isn’t instead an elaborate illusion, concealing a “real” world outside of our perceptual grasp. In some versions—such as those of certain Buddhists and Christian Gnostics, whose ideas The Matrix directors borrowed liberally—one can awaken from the dream. In others, such as Kant’s or Jacques Lacan’s, that prospect is unlikely, if impossible. These questions about the nature of reality versus appearance are mainstays of intro philosophy courses and stereotypical stoner sessions. But they’re also perennially relevant to philosophers and neuroscientists, which is why such academic luminaries as Daniel Dennett and David Chalmers continue to address them in their work on the nature and problem of consciousness. 

Dennett, Chalmers, the always captivating scholar/theologian/activist Cornel West, and a host of other academic thinkers, appear in the documentary above, Philosophy and the Matrix: Return to the Source. Part of the sprawling box-set The Ultimate Matrix Collection, the film comments on how The Matrix does much more than dramatize an undergraduate thesis; it takes on questions about religious revelation and authority, parapsychology, free will and determinism, and the nature of personal identity in ways that no dry philosophical text or arcane mystical system has before, thanks to its hip veneer and pioneering use of CGI. 

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by Salman Hameed

In time for the elections, a new survey by the British Council has come out that looks at the views of Pakistan's youth. It is a fascinating report and I'm going through it right now (you can find the pdf here). But I want to highlight two quick things. First, it seems that this is the most conservative Pakistani generation ever. We knew this anecdotally and from seeing the changes in popular culture etc, but now we also have some quantitative information. From Dawn:

Sixty-four per cent of the male youth describe themselves as conservative/religious, whereas 75 per cent of women feel the same. 

Only a quarter of urban young people have an interest in politics. Three quarters of the youth who expressed an opinion in the survey worry about exposure to foreign media, films, music and ideas. 

Young people from urban areas were most worried about foreign influence. 

Youth with access to cable TV were less conservative than those who only had access to terrestrial (conversely, terrestrial watchers were more optimistic than cable viewers).
Owners of mobile phones are more likely to want to vote, more interested in politics and more likely to believe they can change Pakistan. 

The survey suggests that this may be the most conservative generation thus far in Pakistan, especially compared to the generations that grew up before the 1990s.

And surprisingly, there is still much faith in the military. Here is the question that asks about the form of government that the youth of Pakistan want. Well, 29% favor democracy, 32% favor military, and 38% want Islamic Sharia. Now - as expected, the headlines across the world were about the Islamic Sharia part. I actually think that the scariest part is the faith in the military despite its repeated failures (democracy hasn't done well either - but the process has been repeatedly aborted by the military) and subsequent disasters. And I'm a bit skeptical of the responses to the Islamic Sharia question. That is the only option with "Islam" and I'm pretty sure that those who say 'yes' to Islamic Sharia must have so many different interpretations of what is meant by "Islamic Sharia'. Therefore, I think those numbers might be inflated a bit. Nevertheless, a disappointing picture. This is the generation that will be shaping the future of Pakistan.

But then I wan also struck by the way violence has been impacting a large segment of Pakistani society. It is a country at war. It is a country in siege. Here is the response to the question of 'levels of violence experienced' and the levels are astonishingly high:

Sigh!

You can find the full report here.

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 To read the content of this post, please click on the link below to visit Melissa's new blog:
http://www.inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-mustache-you-question.html
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I want to be very clear that I’m posting this copycat recipe for ketchup only because I’ve received countless food wishes for it, and not because I think it’s a great idea. It’s not even a good idea.  

This tweet I posted yesterday sums things up nicely,  “Making some homemade ketchup. Sure it costs more, and doesn't taste as good as store bought, but at least it takes a really long time to do.”

Of course, we’ve made lots of things that are generally better not homemade, like French fries and fried chicken, but this is much different. For most Americans, ketchup is one of our first taste memories, and if the flavor profile is even the slightest bit off, our brain computes this as “ketchup fail.”

Having said that, I’m very proud of how close this ketchup does come to those name brands in terms of taste, texture and color. I’ve never had a tomato paste-based ketchup that I liked, so I decided to cook down crushed tomatoes instead. This would require many hours of stirring on the stove, but by using the slow cooker, we take most of the labor out of the process. Sure it'll still take many hours to reduce down to a ketchup, but it will only require giving it a quick stir every hour or two.

As I joke about in the video (not really a joke), you’d have to be crazy to make your own ketchup, but despite my warnings, I know in my heart that many of you will give this a try nonetheless, and that makes me happy. Enjoy!

Ingredients to make 3 cups of Ketchup:

2 cans (28-oz) ground tomatoes (you can also used crushed, or just crush whole plum tomatoes)

2/3 cups white sugar

3/4 cup white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon onion powder (not salt!)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not salt!)

1 3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon celery salt

1/8 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper

1 whole clove

* Cook on the high setting in an uncovered slow cooker until the mixture is reduced by about half and very thick. By the way, my “high” setting isn’t very high, so it took like 10 hours, but don’t rely on a time. Simply cook until it looks like mine did before I strained it.

View the complete recipe

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by Salman Hameed

There is a battle going on in much of the Muslim world on the place of religion in a modern state. We are seeing an increasing number of people (mostly young) testing the boundaries of free-speech and freedom of expression. But there is also another trend where an "insult to Islam" is being used as a broad and blunt weapon for the purposes of silencing various kinds of oppositions. I wouldn't call this a backlash to free-speech debate, but this gained its own momentum from the Danish cartoon controversies and other such events. I will have a longer post on this in a few days. In the mean time, I want to highlight couple of things that are happening in Bangladesh and Egypt.

In Bangladesh, there is currently turmoil that brings together history (as per related to its bloody independence from Pakistan), politics, and the role of religion in public sphere. But within that context, the religious groups are going after "blasphemous" blogs and actually killed an atheist Bangladeshi blogger. The story is quite complicated (thought you can get the gist of it in this fantastic article), but the Islamic parties in Bangladesh are now going after "blasphemous" websites (however, they define it):

Bangladesh has widened a crackdown on allegedly blasphemous blogs after a threat by Islamists to march to the capital demanding the prosecution of atheist bloggers, an official said on Wednesday. 

The telecommunications regulator ordered two leading Internet sites to remove hundreds of posts by seven bloggers whose writings it said offended Muslims, according to its assistant director Rahman Khan. 

These writings have defamed Islam and our prophet.
The two sites — Somewhereinblog.net and Amarblog.com — have removed most of the posts, Khan said. Khan said the regulator was scrutinising other sites to identify and erase “blasphemous blogs” in an attempt to ensure religious harmony in the mainly Muslim nation. 

The move comes after Islamic groups and clerics, who have staged a series of deadly protests against atheist bloggers in recent weeks, threatened to march en masse to Dhaka on April 6 unless the bloggers are prosecuted.

In Egypt, an atheist from a Coptic Christian was sent to jail for 3-years on "blasphemy charges":

Mr Saber was initially accused of circulating links to a 14-minute trailer for the film, Innocence of Muslims, which denigrates the Prophet Muhammad. 

But he denied promoting the video and later faced charges relating to other statements critical of Islam and Christianity which police investigators allegedly found online and on his computer at his home. 

Human rights groups have called for Mr Saber's release.
There has been a proliferation of prosecutions for blasphemy in Egypt in the nearly two years since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. Many of those targeted are Copts, who make up about 10% of the population. 

Although blasphemy has long been a criminal offence, Article 44 of the draft constitution contains a specific article prohibiting insulting prophets.

But on the flip side, you can also find this case of a former Muslim Brotherhood member putting religion on hold, and he has been able to avoid the jail (tip from Michael Murray):

What would prompt a former youth member of the Muslim Brotherhood to declare that he is putting his belief in Islam “on hold”? What would convert young people to become not only non-religious but extremely anti-theist following long periods of activism with Egypt’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi club, the Salafis? 

What I said may be surprising for many, but not for others. The past several years have witnessed every single young man or woman with a shred of critical thinking to leave the Islamist movement. Starting with the Egyptian revolution and the Islamists’ shameful position against it, young middle class educated members have ever since continued to trickle out. 

But this mere organisational friction is not the subject of this article. What I intend to expound on is more far-reaching. It’s about those often-silent people who decided to abandon faith completely as a result of their faithful experiences. 

“I’ve decided to put Islam on hold as a religion,” wrote former Muslim Brotherhood activist Osama Dorra in his blog post. “For the conflict I’ve found between some of its details and what I think is sanity, justice, and logic has reached an inconceivable limit.” 

The young Islamist dropout was courageous enough to come out with these views publicly on his blog. For days comments and shares continued to fuel the discussion. Islamists and their acolytes, who may have one day been shoulder to shoulder with Dorra, were unable to discredit his opinion as simply a fake conspiracy against Islam. Hence, I guess, they were more than cautious not to take him to court. 

In any case, Dorra’s “Flying high above religion” blog post was later followed by other articles that suggested more revisionist takes on his initial position.

All that brings to Egyptian Satirist, Bassem Youssef:

The popular Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef has been released on bail, after questioning by prosecutors over allegations he insulted Islam and President Mohammed Morsi. 

He was ordered to pay 15,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,190; £1,440). 

Mr Youssef had spent five hours at the public prosecutor's office, a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest. 

He has faced several complaints over his show El Bernameg (The Programme), which satirises many public figures. 

On his Twitter feed, Mr Youssef said the bail conditions were related to three lawsuits, while a fourth was still being investigated. 

The case has highlighted worries about press freedoms in Egypt. 

At one point during his arrival at the prosecutor's office Mr Youssef donned an oversized academic hat, mocking one which Mr Morsi wore recently when he received an honorary doctorate in Pakistan.

Oh - boy. It is really hard to keep Pakistan out of any news even tangentially related to blasphemy. Bassem's show is based on the style of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. And sure enough, Jon Stewart   has come to his defense and has a fantastic segment that gets to the hypocrisy of Morsi (there is even an evolution joke in there). Here it is:



Actually this segment has led to a diplomatic tiff as well:

The American comedian Jon Stewart’s criticism of the Egyptian government briefly escalated into a diplomatic incident on Tuesday, as the United States Embassy in Cairo shared a link to a “Daily Show” segment on Twitter, causing the office of Egypt’s president to react with anger.

The Lede has the details and it has been following Bassem related happenings in Egypt.
And just for a taste, here is Bassem talking about charges against him in January - and he is quite funny!



This battle will continue. We should and we must support support others in the fight for freedom of speech and expression. Respect of religion is also essential. But this is where open debates are essential. But many of the recent cases of "blasphemy" or "insults to Islam" are actually based either on flimsy evidence and/or have political motivations behind them.

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Breakfast items are one of the most popular food wishes around here, and while this isn’t technically a recipe, it is a critical technique to learn if you want to enjoy blueberry pancakes at their most delicious. 

Not only does this simple method ensure even distribution, but instead of dry, barely warm fruit, your blueberries will be hot, sweet, and bursting with juice. As far as the batter goes, you are on your own, but if you get stuck, try this old fashioned pancake recipe we posted a few years ago. It gets great reviews!

This video was actually inspired by a recent visit to a diner where I heard someone nearby order blueberry pancakes. That sounds pretty good, I thought to myself, momentarily regretting my corned beef hash decision. Well, good thing I stuck with the hash, as what came out was not blueberry pancakes, but pancakes with a handful of fresh blueberries tossed over the top.

Sorry, but those aren’t blueberry pancakes. No, the blueberries must be cooked inside the batter…but, just not too inside. By “throwing down” you’ll guarantee perfect cake/fruit integration every time. Of course this will work with other berries or cut up fruit, so feel free to try with anything you can grip. I hope you give this great technique a try soon. Enjoy!

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If you don't walk as most people do,

Some people walk away from you,

But I won't!  I won't! 

 If you don't talk like most people do,

Some people talk and laugh at you,

 But I won't!  I won't!

 I'll walk with you.

I'll talk with you.

That's how I'll show my love for you.

Jesus walked away from none.

He gave his love to everyone.

So I will!  I will!

Jesus blessed all he could see,

Then, turned and said "Come, follow me."
And I will!  I will!

I'll walk with you.  I'll talk with you.  

That's how I'll show my love for you.

Idea 1:  Have the children play this game.    Try standing and sitting on the words "will," "you," etc.

Idea 2:  Quickly relate several stories about Christ ministering unto people who the rest of the world might have overlooked.  Or, read and discuss Matthew 25:40.  Ask the children to watch for one of those examples in the clipart.

Idea 3:  Ask the children what happened in the last picture.  Should we even be nice to people who aren't nice to others?

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