Changes

Well this past week has been one of many chances in my life. I will go into more depth maybe next week but one of the chances has been Sonja and I moving to a new flat. I think is the first real flat that the both of us actually thinks is nice. Normally we live in cheap student housing because we are both bloody cheap. Well this time our new place is freaking awesome. In fact I am so proud of it I invite any of you crazy Canadians to come visit us at our new place. If you come we will have a nice dinner for you in our really huge kitchen and you can stay on our fold out coach. OK its not a separate bedroom but you have to remember where we are living. London just happens to be the most expensive place in the world and we chose a really nice location. Finally I think we may go ahead and actually buy some new stuff to put on the walls and maybe even buy a table cloth.

This past week has been a busy one for both Sonja and I. Sonja has finished teaching for this year and now she is planning on going on vacation to Greece and Croatia while I am planning on going back to Victoria for two weeks.

This past weekend was magnificent as well as Sonja and I traveled up to Cambridge to go punting as well as look at all the old university dorms. The places that some of these students stay at are amazing, I really am very jealous as I always wanted to stay in a castle and that is what some of these places look like. Hopefully everyone is handling the massive heat wave that they are dealing with. Last week it was a solid 36 C here in London.

Why do muslims not eat pork?

This morning after my morning run with Sonja all I wanted to eat was bacon which lead me to think about this question. Why would any religion ban such a great food so I went on search for the answer. There are many answers to this question all based on the different readings from the different holy books. You have to remember that Jewish people do not each pork as well. So here is your answer:

Islam has prohibited things (from being used as edibles) due to their physical or spiritual uncleanness or due to the effects that they may have on the morality of an individual or a collectivity.

Pork has also been added to the list of these prohibitions of Islam. Due to this addition of pork in the Qur'anic list of prohibitions the Muslims do not eat pork. As far as the reasons for this disallowance or prohibition, the Qur'an has not clearly explained it. Nevertheless, because the Qur'an has clearly mentioned that the prohibitions are due to their inherent physical or spiritual uncleanness or due to the negative effects that something may have on the morality of individuals, it may be derived that the reason for the prohibition of pork also belongs to one of the two categories. However, as far as the specific reason for this prohibition is concerned, because the Qur'an has not mentioned it, therefore, I am not in a position to give any specific reason for it.

Food experts and those qualified in the field of studying the effects of various food items on human beings should try to determine the specific reasons for the prohibition of pork in the light of the above guidelines.

Another important aspect which should be kept in mind is that man has generally not used carnivorous animals as edibles. Lions, tigers, dogs, cats and the like are natural prohibitions, which man has generally not used for eating. Refraining to eat the meat of such animals is so obvious that man has, generally, not mistaken these animals as eatables. This is precisely the reason why there was no reason for the Shari`ah (the Islamic law) to explicitly include it in its list of prohibitions. The case of swine is a little confusing, as it is an omnivorous. Due to this fact, it was not easy for man to make a decision regarding its allowance or prohibition, on his own. It is due to this reason that the Shari`ah has given an explicit directive in this regard and thereby has explicitly prohibited the flesh of swine

Zidane you are crazy

What in the world was Zidane thinking today during the world cup. That head butt was totally uncalled for if you really want to hurt him go ahead and give him a serious kick or punch him in the face but to head butt his chest. What the heck was that? He is an amazing player who makes amazing passes but this was totally silly and just does not make any sense. What did the other player say to him that would have set him off like that? Very strange move by Zidane but a fantastic good game to watch. Too bad it had to end in penalty kicks but that is the game of football. Sonja and I met with a large group and had a bbq before the game and then we sat around and watched and cheered for both sides. It has been an amazing experience to be in Europe for the world cup and seeing how crazy everyone is about their country as well as football.

Canada Day in London

Canada in London was actually a lot of fun.

Friday I went to a large party Canada party in Trafalgar square put on by the Canadian Embassy. It was a lot of fun seeing a whole bunch of new Canadians. It is normal for me to see Canadians every weekend though because I live with two and we have a whole bunch of Canadian friends here. It is hard to find non Canadian, Australian, or New Zealanders in this country. It seems that there is no such thing as a true Londer’r but they must exist just not any where near me.

Saturday: Watched the footie and England lose in shootouts again. I do not think I need to say more since I am sure most of you have read about it in the paper anyways. The really nice thing about Saturday night was going into Hyde park and listening to Pink Floyd. They had a little concert in the park the other day and if you did not want to see them you could sit outside and listen to them. Pretty awesome actually so I am not going to complain.

Sunday: Sonja and I went for a long run and then we headed into the park for a nice picnic and then The Who played for everyone in the park. Man life was tough for use this past weekend.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Canada weekend.

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