Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year begins at sunset tonight, a period of 10 days which concludes with Yom Kippur.
I wish you all a good year.
I have had to look this up but I read that Rosh Hashanah, like Passover and Easter in the spring is a moveable feast which can begin between 5^th September 5^th October. It will begin 163 days after the first day of Passover. The beginning of the month and the beginning of the year are also linked in with the new moon.
Easter and Passover are also both linked to the cycle of the moon. I know that in Western Christianity Easter Day will be the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
And we can know in advance for centuries ahead when Easter and Passover and Rosh Hashanah and Whitsun will be because we can calculate the phases of the moon and the passage of the sun and we know that God will run them both in their courses and can be trusted to continue to do so. And because the phases of the moon and the journey of the sun are not exactly the same man has used his God given intelligence to arrange a calendar for both so that festivals aligned to a season occur during that season.
Psalm 104 says it nicely.
Thou has made the moon to measure the year and taught the sun where to set.
Muslims have no such security around Ramadan.
The new moon is tonight.
But Muslims are writing in their newspapers that “Ramadan may end on Monday, say Muslim leaders”. According to the Philippines Inquirer
Aleem Omar Pasigan, Mindanao’s oldest mufti (guardian of the House of Opinion, the decision making body of the Muslims), said a reconvened moon-sighting committee will determine whether the holy fasting month is to be 29- or 30-day, through naked eye lunar observation and credible organizational networking with similarly tasked groups and institutions here and abroad.
An English local paper the Burton Mail warns readers this morning that taxis may not be available one day this week.
Depending on when the new moon is sighted, which may be tomorrow or Wednesday morning, taxis will not be available in the morning as many of the drivers will be celebrating Eid. . . People are being advised to check with taxi services the night before if they require the service on any of the days.
Such uncertainty about God's reliability is sad.

From The BBC. Ramadan Day 28.
A suicide attack east of the Algerian capital, Algiers, has killed three people and injured another six, the state news agency has reported.
The attack took place at Dellys, about 100km (60 miles) east of Algiers on Sunday, APS news agency said.
Reports said a suicide car bomber hit a checkpoint there at the end of iftar, the meal that breaks the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Algeria has suffered regular suicide attacks by rebels linked to al-Qaeda.

In case any readers need a reason to vote Conservative - I don't - the Tories intend to tackle employment tribunals, thereby clamping down on hijabbed lawfare. From the London Evening Standard:

Britain's employment tribunal system will be radically overhauled by the next Tory government in a bid to stop "bonkers" rulings against firms, shadow business secretary Alan Duncan signalled today.

Mr Duncan said it was time the 40-year-old system was shaken up to give bosses more flexibility to hire and fire in line with their company's needs.

His call for urgent reform was sparked by the verdict of a tribunal this summer which force a London hair salon to pay £4,000 compensation to a Muslim woman who was refused a job because she wore a headscarf. The woman had been rejected for 25 hairdressing jobs.

In another case this month, a Scottish woman is taking action against Lothian and Borders Police because it refused her a Pc post on the grounds that she had poor eyesight. The woman is claiming discrimination on grounds of disability.

Businesses now feel that the tribunals are so heavily stacked against them that it makes it easy for employees with a grudge to use the system to extract outof-court settlements.

The Confederation of British Industry has found that all firms with fewer than 50 staff now settle every claim despite legal advice that they would win almost half of the cases.

Among the plans being considered by the Tories are moves to impose a fee on any litigant who loses their case. At present there is no deterrent from a claimant lodging a complaint.

Other changes will be aimed at restoring employer confidence in the system by changing statutory dispute resolution procedures. The CBI wants to require all claimants to make clear in writing they are lodging a grievance before the situation can escalate to a tribunal.

Mr Duncan said he believed some small firms felt "intimidated" by the current system, adding: "Some of the recent employment tribunals have been bonkers."

I wrote about the hairdressing case here,  pointing out the aggressive nature of victimhood, and the demand by the Muslim that the Infidel make sacrifices:

Forgoing the opportunity to work in an “urban and edgy” salon would seem a small price to pay for God’s approval. Wouldn’t God prefer Noah to work in a more traditional salon? And shouldn’t Noah accept this sacrifice as part of the deal? It seems not. Noah is a Muslim, and Allah is not God. Islam demands sacrifice, but the sacrifice must be made by the unbeliever, not the Muslim. Desrosiers sacrificed, but not enough. And for Noah? Nothing ventured, everything gained.

Aggressive victimhood is not confined to Muslims - a Christian recently jumped on the gravy train - but it is a tried and tested means of Jihad.

It is good to see the Tories speaking openly about Muslim abuses of our laws, and taking steps - however tentative - to put a stop to them. Perhaps it is more than talk. When I expressed scepticism about their proposals to put a stop to Sharia tribunals, Esmerelda pointed out that they may have something constructive and specific in mind:

As they are talking elsewhere in the article about amendments to the Convention on Human Rights, or more practically under UK legislation our own Human Rights Act, to facilitate the deportation of undesirables my feeling is that they do intend legislation if that proves necessary. Either an amendment to the Arbitration Act 1996 or new legislation.
Dominic Grieves thought that the status of the sharia tribunals was unlawful and could be challenged in a higher court so he may have something of that sort in mind. Legislation is more certain, and once in power a Conservative government could submit a bill. A challenge in the courts would be a second option if they either lost the next election, didn’t carry out this promise once in power, or it is felt that it is too long to wait for the next election. 

Incidentally, the inclusion of the quotation mark before 'bonkers' is very important. The long arm of the law has not yet reached into the bedroom.

Mary writes about the Employment Tribunal. My experience of Employment Tribunals is that they are Byzantine in their operation. Employers complain that they are weighted in favour of the employee, employees that they are weighted in favour of the company. 
Some reform would not go amiss and it might deter actions like this one reported in the Express.
A MUSLIM forklift truck driver who is suing Tesco because he was expected to handle alcohol was accused yesterday of “trying it on”.
Mohammed Ahmed, 32, said he was unaware that the retail giant sold booze.
He added that coming into contact with drink was against his beliefs and he was forced to quit because bosses failed to resolve the dispute.
But furious Tory MP David Davies said: “This is absolutely disgraceful. It seems to be a simple case of someone trying it on. Immediately this man discovered he was expected to do something which was against his beliefs he should have handed in his notice.”
The Monmouth MP added: “He should be told to go and take a running jump because I refuse to accept that he was unaware that he would be expected to handle crates of alcohol.”
An industrial tribunal heard how Mr Ahmed began at Tesco’s distribution depot in Lichfield, Staffordshire, in September last year but left after eight months.
He said that when he realised the job involved alcohol he asked for another role. But he claimed the company did not help him and that one supervisor told him “Do your job or go home” and another said angrily: “Do not take the p***.”
The tribunal in Birmingham also heard last week that he suggested at one stage that he could handle Budweiser beer. I have heard some beers criticised as “near beer” or “like making love in a punt” (ie f***ing near water) but I think it is a bit unkind to single out Budweiser as “acceptable to Islam”.
Mr Ahmed is due to find out this week if his claim for racial discrimination, victimisation and harassment has been successful.
Mr Ahmed was raised in Saudi Arabia where enforcement of Sharia law regarding alcohol is among the harshest in the world.

Why deprive yourself of the pleasure of Tina Fey doing imitations of Sarah Palin for four more years? 

The Western world should not discourage the deepening divide between Sunni and Shi'a within the Camp of Islam despite the hopes of the Bush Administration that the Shia and Sunni will put aside their differences and settle down to create a unified and prosperous Iraq. Clever propagandists, such as existed during WWII and the Cold War, might even stoke the flames. In this case, it appears Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheik Qaradawi is doing the work for us. Hugh had posted on Qaradawi's comments earlier. This is from the  LATimes:

CAIRO -- A popular Sunni Muslim cleric with a television show and a website that churns out religious edicts and dieting tips agitated centuries-old animosities in the Islamic world recently by referring to Shiite Muslims as heretics seeking to invade Sunni societies.

The bitter, often bloody, divide between the two main branches of Islam has been an undercurrent since the 7th century, but Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi's vitriol comes at a fragile time, when Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt are wary that the predominantly Shiite nations of Iraq and Iran could destabilize the region.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VolOT4cMVGU&feature=related

Bath for baby with aluminium bottom.

Lady with large chest for sale.

Air hostess seeks new position on ground.

Foolish Western tourists, who insisted on travelling to unguarded parts of Muslim lands, simply because they felt like seeing this or that, have after nearly a week been rescued from their local kidanppers,  by German and Italian Special Forces, at great expense.  Egyptian soldiers were much in evidence to welcome the tourists when they landed in Cairo; the official story will remain, no doubt, that it was "the Egyptians and the Sudanese" who were responsible for rescuing the Western hostages. But don't be fooled. It was a Western operation in the important respects.

Western governments know that Muslim regimes, given their dangerous disarray and lack of systematic planing, cannot be counted on to rescue Westerners. They can't even be counted on to re-capture the holiest site in Islam: when rebels  seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca in November 1979, the Saudis proved hapless and helpless, so French troops --  no doubt having first been made to hastily recite the Shehadah before entering the city -- came in and routed the rebels. 

The last time the Egyptians tried a similar large-scale rescue, by having Egyptian "Special Forces" storm a plane, sixty passengers were killed.

The immediate rescuers may have been "Egyptian and Sudanese" as is now being claimed, but the intelligence, the planning, and possibly even a major part of the execution of the plan, must have been by the Italians and Germans.

Western governments know how Egyptian forces dealt with that plane,  or with the attack in Luxor, and must long ago have decided that they will not entrust such rescues to the locals alone. And the other day, somewhere in Egypt or Sudan or Chad, they didn't.

On the subject of moving alcohol around Tescos I was in there the other afternoon. I was feeling a bit glum but I managed to resist the dubious temptation of a large bottle of own brand value gin for £6.54. ($12.07)
I am not a huge fan of gin but there have been times in my life when it has featured.
For some reason, which sociologists may have followed up, the two Essex new Towns with which I am most familiar were closely associated with the distilling of gin. The Gilbeys gin factory in Harlow and the Gordons gin factory which used to be in Laindon, just outside Basildon. Gordons was much favoured by the Queen Mother; I used to navigate my way to my Aunt’s house (Laindon being rather boring and featureless) by keeping the gin factory to my left. It closed in July 2000 and the gin is now distilled in Scotland.
The Gilbey family were originally wine merchants in Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire who expanded into other fields, including Elsingham Jam and Gilbeys gin with a factory in Harlow. When I was a student in the 70s I had friends in Harlow and got invited to a lot of student and nurses parties.
Everybody knew someone who worked at the gin factory and could usually find someone who could provide drink for the party very, very cheaply. The stuff was smuggled out in numerous ways, in lunch boxes and tea flasks, or a tube, plugged at both ends and wrapped round the waist. It then found its way to the party in whatever bottle the provider had handy. I recall several HP sauce bottles. A milk bottle sealed by a red laboratory bung was not uncommon. I also recall refusing to drink out of said milk bottle and being given a tea cup. Very speakeasy.
But at £6.54 for 700 ml, which is nearly 4 sauce bottles worth, gin is no longer worth the effort of nicking.

In a passage from James Bruce, Travels to Discover The Source of the Nile, the intrepid explorer who in Scotland would later become known as "The Abyssinian" recounts some advice he received from Adelan, a local sheik he encountered at Aira, a village 3 1/2 miles from Sennaar: 

"Shekh," said I, "when I pass these Arabs in the square, I hope it will not disoblige you if I converse with some of them out of curiosity?" Adelan. "By no means, as much as you please; but don't let them know where they can find you at Sennaar, or they will be in your house from morning till night, will eat up all your victuals, and then, in return, will cut your throat, if they can meet you upon your journey." 

I returned home to Sennaar, very well pleased with my reception at Aira. I had not seen, since I left Gondar [in Ethiopia], a man so open and frank in his manners, and who spoke, without disguise, what apparently he had in his heart...." 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHyIrI5iWeM

Financial institutions on the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia are reporting a dramatic and sudden increase in foreign investments.   Finance Minister Louis Pitmag said today in the city of Gagil outside the capitol of Colonia, "We've seen a one-thousand-fold increase in foreign currency exchange since the recent downturn in the global economy.  Investors are looking for a safe hedge in an uncertain market, and apparently see our currency as their safest investment."   Masons at the local mint have been working around the clock to try to keep up with demand.  Gagil said, "We want investors to know that the Rai is a solid, durable investment.  It is also almost immune from the threat of theft or embezzelment."

In our upcoming October edition, I discuss "Vanishing Christianity" and contend that when churches become enmeshed in politics, they are reduced to being simply an arm of this or that political movement or party.  From the Washington Post:

CROWN POINT, Ind., Sept. 28 -- Defying a federal law that prohibits U.S. clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit, an evangelical Christian minister told his congregation Sunday that voting for Sen. Barack Obama would be evidence of "severe moral schizophrenia."

The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist "in direct opposition to God's truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures." Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates' views but stopped short of endorsing Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

Johnson and 32 other pastors across the country set out Sunday to break the rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt federal courts to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.

The ministers contend they have a constitutional right to advise their worshipers how to vote. As Johnson put it during a break between sermons, "The point that the IRS says you can't do it, I'm saying you're wrong."

The campaign, organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a socially conservative legal consortium based in Arizona, has gotten the attention of the Internal Revenue Service. The agency, alerted by opponents, pledged to "monitor the situation and take action as appropriate."

Each campaign season brings allegations that a member of the clergy has crossed a line set out in a 1954 amendment to the tax code that says nonprofit, tax-exempt entities may not "participate in, or intervene in . . . any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office."...

Pastors need to leave their politics at the church door and get back to the higher purpose of religion.

by Policywatcher:

Swing low, sweet Dow Jones Index
Coming for to carry off my home
Swing low, sweet Dow Jones Index
Coming for to carry off my home