My brother has been doing some freelance journalism while in Bangladesh and has been writing some really interesting pieces. He visited Pakistan recently and wrote up this piece on the recent terrorist activities there. He is becoming quite a good writer and I am proud of the work he is doing.

There is a link to a video in the article showing a woman being flogged for “being seen in public with a man other than her husband”. The video is incredibly disturbing to watch, but one that is worth looking at to see the gruesome treatment many receive in that part of the world.

I have long abandoned religion as a guiding force in my life, although I continue to find comfort in spirituality. Religion has come to depict the old human social concept of control. Over the millennia, control can be gained in the form of strength of arms or a monopoly on bigotry. I find strength of arms easier to understand but am floored by the apathy of people when it comes to bigotry. Bigotry has really taken off in the last 1000 years with both Christianity and Islam at the helm. But while Christianity seems to have emerged from the stifling era just before the Reformation, Islam has not.

Muslims are for the most part like any other people. My parents are Muslims …. they are the most peaceful and increasingly open minded (thanks to the shenanigans of their kids) people you could meet. And yet millions like them around the world turn a blind eye to the craziness perpetrated in the name of their religion. There are even some that justify it in their minds as a way to maintain morality in society.

Wake up folks. This is every Muslim’s problem. Every visit to the mosque should include a sermon on the values of Islam and denouncement of mindless violence. Most importantly, before looking to scapegoats to blame for problems, every Muslim should be asking what they can do for their own people and how they treat their own. I always remind my Dad that more Bengali’s died in the hands of fellow Muslims from Pakistan than any infidel. Suicide bombings kill their own kind. And the oil rich nations of the middle east continue to build skyscrapers while the Palestinians lack basic housing, schooling and sanitation. These are not the principles of Islam, but they are being tolerated way too much.

It sickens me that so many people around the world are prepared to turn a blind eye in this way. No country is without it’s faults and there is a lot to blame the West for over the last 200 years – from divisions established to further colonialism to modern hypocritical treatment of global issues. But the way to advance the Muslim world’s agenda is to look within first. Will the real Muslims please stand up.

A colleague in Indonesia sent this photo of RoundTable being used in Indonesia for a wedding. Apparently the couple’s friends were budget constrained but wanted to be part of the experience. Sound familiar? :-)

Through the integration of Microsoft Office, Exchange Server, Office SharePoint server and Office Communications server, organizations can have one infrastructure for communications and user experience, without the need to deploy different applications for a viable unified communications solution. With OCS, Microsoft has rolled out the foundation for integrating voice into the daily work flow of the office user in a similar manner as users employ instant messaging and email now. The addition of contact-based presence allows users to ensure they are available to communicate with who they want, when they want; this increases their productivity. OCS R2 still will not completely replace the PBX for large enterprise environments, since it lacks some of the basic features. But new call center type functions, conference features, voice mail and all the other office enhancements, will increase the viability of this product. The degree of integration into applications will help push voice further away from how it has always been done and into how it will be done in the future. Read more by clicking link below ....

Read the last paragraph and the ad on right :-)

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