syria (restore) happy?

Published on May 26, 2014 Despite the heavy toll of the ongoing Syrian conflict on the lives of Syria's most vulnerable population, its children remain resilient. (RESTORE)Happy contains footage from Zaatari refugee camp and a Syrian refugee school inside Jordan. We traveled to Jordan in April of 2014 equipped with coloring books, crayons, soccer balls, hula hops, jump ropes, and toys and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams blaring on portable speakers... We made this video with hopes to encourage people to support Education and Mental Health programs that work with Syrian refugees and internally displaced Syrian children. Please visit: www.love4syria.com to find an organization to support. Produced by: Hazami Barmada Omar Al-Chaar Rameen Aminzadeh A project of: Beats, Rhymes & Relief: www.beatsrhymesandrelief.org Join us in the Fall of 2014 One World Syria, A Celebrity Benefit Concert for Syria. Learn more: www.oneworldsyria.com

50 facts about muslims

50 Actual Facts That Challenge What You've Been Told About Muslims is a nice little round-up of information, some of which I actually didn't know myself.

yasiin bey banned from re-entering united states

American Born Hip Hop Artist Mos Def Banned From Re-Entering America Due To “Immigration Issues”

dr. mufti abdur-rahman ibn yusuf on the happy british video

on the serious side:

inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un

Omid Safi: Shaykh Nazim, a giant in spreading Sufism in the West, passes away

happy from tafraout (morocco)

happy from fez, morocco

happy german muslims

happy from khartoum, sudan

(wow, never thought i'd see) happy from saudi arabia

happy from abu dhabi

happy from kuwait

another "happy" muslim video.... this time american

300 (the mexican version)

happy chicago muslims

the boondocks comes back tonight

Colorlines: Aaron McGruder (Sorta) Explains Why He Left ‘The Boondocks’

happier without women?

This is the "halal" version of the British Muslim "Happy" video (without instrumental music or "provocative" images of women dancing). I like the fact that they did an acapella cover, but it is somewhat disturbing that apparently some people seem unable to distinguish between smiling hijabi girls walking happily down the street and porn.

fbi uncovers plot to just sit back and enjoy collapse of united states

Given the last entry, this story is more sad than funny... The Onion: FBI Uncovers Al-Qaeda Plot To Just Sit Back And Enjoy Collapse Of United States

it's official: the us is no longer a democracy, but an oligarchy

From Slashdot

"Researchers from Princeton University and Northwestern University have concluded, after extensive analysis of 1,779 policy issues, that the U.S. is in fact an oligarchy and not a democracy. What this means is that, although 'Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance,' 'majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts.' Their study (PDF), to be published in Perspectives on Politics, found that 'When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.'"

happy (#gazaversion)