PongoMongo

Prosecuting Christians?

2011-02-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

Christian persecution sparks fears among the religious minority

I am not a religious person, but prosecution of any type is wrong. Egypt's rise of the attacks on Christians has triggered fears among some that the region's largest non-Muslim population - Egypt's 7 million Coptic Christians - could be at risk.

   Leaders in the United States said they are terrified that a new Egyptian government with a strong Islamic fundamentalist bent would persecute Christians. They are quietly lobbying the Obama administration to do more to protect Christians in Muslim countries and are holding prayer vigils and fasts such as one that ends Wednesday evening at Copt churches around the country, including four in the Washington area.
   Some major U.S. Christian figures, including well-known evangelical leaders and representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, declined to publicly discuss the situation in Egypt, saying they wanted to avoid bringing dangerous attention to the country's Christians by appearing to complain or to advocate for some particular political outcome.
   Their trepidation stems from repeated attacks on churches in Iraq, where hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled in recent years, and from the New Year's Day bombing of a Coptic church in Egypt that killed almost two dozen worshipers and wounded nearly 100. The Coptic church is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world and is based in Egypt.

However, the protests have focused on jobs, free speech and democratic elections, not religion, so it's unclear what the end of Mubarak's rule would mean for religious minorities. But in recent years, Iraq has lost about half its historical Christian population because of persecution, and Christians have been leaving Iran and Lebanon in lesser numbers.

Crisis in Egypt

2011-02-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

Protests started on Tuesday, January 25, when -- inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia --thousands of people began taking to the streets to protest poverty, rampant unemployment, government corruption and autocratic governance of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled the country for thirty years. These were the first protests on such a large scale to be seen in Egypt since the 1970s. The government responded byblocking Twitter, which was being used by organizers to coordinate protests.

Blocking Twitter not only enraged Egyptian citizens; it also brought increased national attention to the uprising. Over the course of the next two days, Egypt proceeded to block Facebook while the much-hated riot police took to the streets, arresting and injuring hundreds with batons, tear gas water cannons. Protests occurred not only in Cairo, the capital, but also in Alexandria and Suez, two other major cities.

On Thursday as the protests continued to rage throughout the country, Nobel Laureate and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei (ehl-BEHR'-uh-day), returned to Egypt from Vienna, declaring that he was ready to lead the protests. Often thought of as a potential Egyptian leader should Mubarak lose power, ElBaradei is a strong opposition force.

Additionally, the Muslim Brotherhood, long a fierce opponent of the Mubarak regime and officially banned in Egypt, threw their weight behind the protestors, many of whom are young, tech-savvy Egyptians, reports the New York Times. Two-thirds of Egypt's population has never known a leader other than Mubarak.

The largest protests were planned for Friday, at which point the government took the unprecedented step of blocking all Internet services in the country. With Twitter and Facebook already down, email other social networking outlets fell as well. Text messaging was also blocked. Protestors and journalists began finding alternate means of getting online and pushing out information.

During the day, the military was called in to take over security, a move that was welcomed by the protestors. Most Egyptians are reported to hold the armed services in higher regard than the police. The U.S announced that due to the ongoing protests, the Obama administration would be reviewing the substantial aid, both military and non-military, provided to Egypt.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/)

Now Thankfully Hosni Mubarak has decided to not run for reelection. Hopefully Egypt will soon go back to relative peace

Camera

2011-02-01T17:32:00.000-05:00

I love Photography and I think I have decided that it will by my somewhat main focus of this blog. I am somewhat experienced and I hope to share my ideas/photos with people whom are interested :)

Cameras I own
Nikon d7000
Nikon Pony IV
Canon 5d MarkII
Canon T2i
1949 Contaflex one of my favorites
Diana Mini
and a Holga

They say...

2011-02-01T16:45:00.000-05:00

To get smarter read a random wiki article everyday! I try to do this sometimes. I found todays rather interesting, The London Underground.

The London Underground (also known as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway in the world, with the first section being opened in 1863 on which is now the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.^[3] In 1890 it became the first to operate electric trains.^[4] Despite its name, about 55% of the network is above ground. The whole network is commonly referred to by Londoners and in official publicity as^[5] the Tube, although the term originally applied only to the deep-level bored lines, along which run slightly lower, narrower trains along standard-gauge track, to distinguish them from the sub-surface "cut and cover" lines that were built first.

The earlier lines of the present London Underground network were built by various private companies. Apart from the main line railways, they became part of an integrated transport system in 1933 when the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) or London Transport was created. The underground network became a single entity in 1985, when the UK government created London Underground Limited (LUL).^[6] Since 2003 LUL has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL), the statutory corporation responsible for most aspects of the transport system inGreater London, which is run by a board and a commissioner appointed by the Mayor of London.^[7]

The Underground has 270 stations and 402 kilometres (250 mi) of track,^[1] making it the second longest metro system in the world after the Shanghai Metro.^[8] It also has one of the highest number of stations. In 2007, more than one billion passenger journeys were recorded,^[2] making it the third busiest metro system in Europe after Paris and Moscow. The tube is a international icon for London, with the tube map, considered a design classic, have influenced many other transport maps worldwide. Although shown on the Tube map, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Overgroundare not part of the network.

I have visited London many times and this was nice to stumble upon

N.A.S.A. - Gifted (Masuka Remix)

2011-02-01T16:31:00.000-05:00

Music I currently listen to!

2011-02-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

Mostly im listening to dubstep/techno right now, If your into these Generes you must check out
The Glitch Mob
Mt. Eden
Deadmau5
ediT
Krassy
Masuka

Snow Pocalipse!

2011-02-01T16:18:00.001-05:00

Crazy snow where I live Stuck inside sadly! I will hopefully get out tomorrow and get my cameras out

First time!

2011-02-01T16:04:00.000-05:00

Fist time blogging! Not sure what to expect! I plan to just keep a feed on my day to day life, things im into, ect!