Could The Taliban Pashtuns Be Descended From Jews?

I have no idea if there is any truth to the following, but it certainly has some fascinating ramifications, since we all know Muslims, for the most part, so virulently hate the Jews.

According to geneticists in India there is the great possibility that the Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan, yes those lovely Taliban lads, might have Jewish blood coursing through their veins. Well not in the recent past, but a very, very long time ago.

Experts at Mumbai's National Institute of Immunohaematology believe Pashtuns could be one of the ten "Lost Tribes of Israel".

The Indian study has even prompted the Israelis to look further into this possibility. They are working hand in hand with an Indian researcher, Shanaz Ali, who will conduct further research at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli government is funding a genetic study to establish if there is any proof of the link.

An Indian geneticist has taken blood samples from the Pashtun Afridi tribe in Lucknow, Northern India, to Israel where she will spend the next 12 months comparing DNA with samples with those of Israeli Jews.

She chose those particular Muslims in Lucknow because anywhere else would have been far too dangerous, given the subject matter of the study.

And there is some interesting anecdotal evidence that could back up their claims.

Many have grown up with stories of their people being "Children of Israel". According to legend, they are descended from the Ephraim tribe which was driven out of Israel by the Assyrian invasion in around 700BC.

Evidence of ancient Jewish settlement has been found in Herat, close to Afghanistan's border with Iran, where a graveyard contains tombs inscribed in Hebrew. The Afghan capital Kabul also has a centuries-old synagogue which has long been abandoned.

If the DNA evidence does point to the Pashtuns (all 40 million strong, worldwide) being descendants of the Israelites, it could prove interesting to see how they react to the news. For the Taliban Pashtuns it could be positive: they might perhaps embrace their Jewish heritage (and by extension their Jewish brothers and sisters) and join the modern world, or they might be so horrified they'd all commit suicide. Either way, it would be good thing. However, being a realist, I doubt anything would happen. They'll continue along their merry little way killing each other and anyone else who doesn't adhere to their belief system. One can dream, though.

"Who Should I Vote for in 2008?" Still wondering?

Still wondering who to vote for in 2008? That question seems to be on everyone's mind, these days, as the elections loom ever closer. Many people are still at a loss, although most know who they won't vote for. And that goes for both sides of the political sphere.

Well, here's another link to another "select a Candidate quiz". Some different questions, some similar to the vajoe.com candidate calculator I posted about earlier, but still rather interesting. This one lists all the various issues that you have in common with each candidate. I was even more amazed at who came up as my number one candidate, this time! No, not a Dem! But I was surprised, to say the least.

This is going to be a very interesting election!

H/T: Beliefs, Blackness and Bollywood

Who Should You Vote For in 2008?

Came across this fun, interesting little test on vajoe.com, that shows which of our myriad of candidates (for the 2008 presidential bid) might be your best choice.

To find out which candidate best represents your beliefs etc. click here.

I was rather surprised at which candidate came up as my top match, not that I have yet to decide who I will pick, but, what I found extremely scary was the most top-matched candidate (on the site) was loony Mike Gravel, of all people, with 15.65%! Followed by Dennis Kucinich with 11.67%.


H/T: Bob

UPDATE:

Here's another link to another candidate finder. Interesting stuff!

Secret Worlds: the Universe within

If you want to experience how truly insignificant and minute we truly are, in the grand cosmic scheme of things, click here.

It starts off with the Milky Way (10 million light years from Earth) and quickly moves through space, towards earth, and ends with the subatomic universe of electrons and protons of an oak tree leaf.

Our world is amazing!

Enjoy.

Britain's top 2 names for newborn baby boys: Jack and .....

Guess what the top 5 names Brits are calling their bouncing baby boys:

Jack, Joshua, Oliver, Thomas and Mohammed!

And would you believe that of those top 5 names (in 2006), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Jack came in first with 6,928 newborns so named, and Mohammed (and its 14 different variations), came in 2nd, with a whopping 5,991! And, it looks like Mohammed (the most popular spelling) is poised to become the most popular name by next year, if the birth trends of the Muslim population in Britain continue to grow, as they have been. According to The Times, there are approximately 1.5 million Muslims in England (3% of the population),

"However, the Muslim birthrate is roughly three times higher than the nonMuslim one. Statistics from the ONS show that Muslim households are larger than those headed by someone of another religion. In 2001, the average size of a Muslim household was 3.8 people while a third contained more than five people."

If the birthrate of Muslims is 3 times higher than non-Muslims, and continues to grow exponentially, well, you do the math.

The different versions of Mohammed.

Mohammed 2,833
Muhammad 1,422
Mohammad 920
Muhammed 358
Mohamed 354
Mohamad 29
Mahammed 18
Mohammod 13
Mahamed 12
Muhammod 9
Muhamad 7
Mohmmed 6
Mohamud 5
Mohammud 5

Wonder what happened to Mahomet!

INTERESTING FACT: the Paper or Plastic dilemma

I like to do my bit in keeping with the "greener" philosophy. I believe in recycling and the importance of Auto Emissions control, not because I buy into the Global Warming "we're going to fry in a century", hysteria, but because I believe in not trashing or polluting our earth.

So, I don't know about you, but every time I'm faced with the question: "paper or plastic?" (in those supermarkets that actually offer the choice) I panic, momentarily, trying to remember which is supposed to be the more 'eco-friendly' choice. I usually settle for plastic, because I seem to remember that plastic is the 'greener choice', but apparently I'm wrong.

So, paper or plastic, which is it? Actually, it depends on where you live! According to Allen Hershkowitz, of the Natural Resources Defense Council:

Plastic bags threaten wildlife along the coasts, so if that's where you call home, Hershkowitz says the choice should be paper. In the heartland, he says it's plastic.

There are pros and cons to both:

--Paper bags generate 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags
--It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.
--Paper takes up a lot more landfill space: 2,000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds, 2,000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds.

As for plastic:

--Plastics do NOT biodegrade. Rather, they photodegrade, a process in which sunlight breaks down plastic into smaller and smaller pieces.
--It can take up to 1,000 years for a high-density polyethylene plastic bag to break down in the environment.
--Plastic bags are on the top 10 list of most common trash items along the American coastline (both on land and in the water).

So what's the solution? Canvas or cloth bags are the greenest option, but choose according to where you live, and try to re-use and recycle whichever one you do choose.

FUN FACT

A fun little insignificant fact.

At 2:03:04 on May 6, (tomorrow) the time and date will be:

02:03:04: 05.06.07

Apparently, this will never happen again in our lifetime.