mustafabey

Of jambiya I have many, about the run from Morocco to Malaysia, from tourist non sharp to custom razor edge damascus,not to count numerous swords and some flintlock firearms. At present count jambiyas run at about 31. I don't have tons of cash , so I occasionally get a great bargains from eBay. I get treasures and sometimes so junk.

tried to upload pics here but they wouldn't upload you can see them in a new album: [url="http://www.hookahforum.com/gallery/album/453-hookahs-and-some-steel/"]http://www.hookahforum.com/gallery/album/453-hookahs-and-some-steel/[/url]

Kofta Curry Mustafa Bey I'm on a diet and want something on the healthy side. I pkg Shan Kofta Curry Mix 1 lb ground turkey 2 medium onions, ground to paste 2 small containers plain Greek yogurt 1tsp ginger paste 1 tsp garlic paste 1/4 cup canola oil 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 1 tblspn cumin ground 1 tblspn garam masala like Badshah kitchen king 2 tblspns Madras sambar curry powder 2 cans Rotel tomatoes diced w/habanero 1 tblspn tomato paste ( I use the stuff in the tube) 1/2 container of Knorr homestyle beef stock(these are small tubs od concentrated beef stock,much better than boullion or canned stock a little goes long way) Place turkey in food processor and mice fine, then mix 1/2 of the onion paste 1/2 of the cilantro,i/2 the yogurt and 2 tblspns of the Shan Kofta curry powder mix. Blend this together in a bowl, then form into 1" meat balls. heat 1/2 the oil in a fry pan and fry batches of meatballs until brown and firm(this will help them not break apart later) and drain. Now wipe out pan,add remainder of oil,when hot add onion paste,garlic paste and ginger paste, sautee the turn heat down and cover for 5 minutes. Then add remainder of Kofta mix,cumin,garam masala,sambar powder and mix with onions, add two cans tomatoes,1 tablespoon tomato paste,beef stock and the rest of the yogurt and bring to boil,stirring to mix flavors. Now add meatballs and water to cover, place lid on pan and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Serve with Jeera rice and a tomato.red onion and cucumber salad. Jeera rice is basmati rice( I use brown basmati) with whole cumin seeds added. Follow directions for basmati rice, usually 1 cup rice, 1 1/2 cups water and at least a tablespoon spoon of cumin seeds. add ride to boiling water cover and simmer till liquid is absorbed. About 12-15 minutes for white basmati and 50 minutes for brown.

Most people think that globalization is perhaps an economic trend,where corporations float around the world,finding the cheapest labor,the lowest taxes and the least restrictions.Some think the term means the encroaching of "western" civilization on traditional mores. For others it has religious connotations,or maybe it means it globalization of communications.(Timbuktu has cell phone service,Oriskany,Virginia does not,LOL) Globalization is all those things, but there is one more consideration. The globalization of change. These past few years have seen demonstrations for change haMFening all over the world, so much of it fueled by social media. While the goals of each of these respective movements is national, there seems to be thread that runs thru all of them. Dissatisfaction with the status quo system that is gobbling up the wealth of the poor and middle classes.exploiting and polluting the environment, waging wars to control resources, enslaving people and making profit the true god of the beginning of the 21st century. I recall the hope we had in the 60's,the anti war and peace movement,the movement to a more sustainable lifestyle and the growing spirituality that captured many of us. (Yes, I am an old hiMFie and Vietnam vet). Those movements were marginalized by oMFression and greed, but they have a certain resonance with today. I figure,that it won't be long before a majority of people in the world realize that their goals are in common, whether at Liberty Park in New York, Elmwood Park in Roanoke,Tahrir square in Cairo,Homs,Benghazi,London,Paris,Moscow and anywhere the majority is being exploited by the few. This is going to be some ride!

I read today that the New York City police department is developing a technology to scan pedestrians for guns. Non evasive, you wouldn;t even know its being done and what you would catch are citizens who carry illegal guns for protection. I lived in New York City for 14 years,its a wonderful town, I never encountered any trouble,but fear breeds more fear and there are alot of people packing illegal heat. Muggings and crime do happen, and its almost impossible to get a gun permit. Yet scanning innocents has got to violate the constitution somehow.

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In my research into the lives of my ancestors,the Western Cherokee and in my time spent with the Beni Rguibat nomads of the western Sahara I have learned many things. I have always been drawn to the problem solutions of a tribal culture. Unlike our individual based culture,the tribal unit operates as a whole entity. Today, we hear much about the legacy we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. Conservatives are concerned about the mounting debt that will be inherited by the next generations. Progressives see our misuse of the planet and its resources as leaving a dangerous legacy for future generations. We pollute water supplies,upset natural balances and destroy cultures for profit. We manufacture weapons systems we can't pay for,use our financial resources to influence and buy both individuals and nations. Our addiction to credit has caused all of us from the nation-state to the individual to live above our means. In tribal units, decisions were made by a council of elders. Usually it represented the whole group. Status was attained by redistributing wealth, not hoarding it. And decisions were made by considering what the impact would have on future generations. Not just our children but children as far as the seventh generation. As we move forward technologically,perhaps we should consider these future generations. Recently, for example,Youngstown,Ohio had an earthquake. The cause seemed to be the pumping of waste water from hydraulic fracturing gas well drilling,far under the surface. Of course,as is so common in today's society, the gas company issued a denial. Spin and lie has replaced truth. It happens everywhere you look, from the Penn State pedophile to these corporate giants. From presidents to presidential candidates. People interviewed in Youngstown stated that the gas boom brought jobs and stimulated the economy and earthquakes and pollution were either denied or accepted as the price to pay. Is this any way to solve a problem?

Saw a bumper sticker yesterday that addresses this issue VOLDAMORT 2012 Why vote for lesser evil

Does anyone know anything about this hose. This guy sells them in lots. Anybody own one? Know where to get them. Review them? [url="http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-NEW-60-HOOKAH-HOSE-BLUE-AND-GOLD-/170750169758?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c180d29e#ht_500wt_922"]http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-NEW-60-HOOKAH-HOSE-BLUE-AND-GOLD-/170750169758?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c180d29e#ht_500wt_922[/url]

I just found out today that a good friend passed on. I hadn't heard from in a two months and decided to search Google and found the obituary. He died in November. There was little information other than the date of death. Gerry and I became good friends thru a powder horn website I had. We shared a love for 18th century American history and spent long hours on the phone discussing longrifles,gunsmiths,trekking,hunting and the like. Gerry also was in recovery. He had well over 25 years of recovery and truly wore the world like a loose garment. Hours were spent on recovery issues and he was like a sponsor to me in that respect. He had a young daughter, who was the light of his life. I am saddened to think of her living without him. They were the best of friends. Gerry had a wonderful outlook on life and even in the darkest days, he was bright,shiny and expecting the best. His faith in God was unshakable. We had corresponded and talked for over ten years. he never shared a picture,but I can visualize his eternal smile. Gerry may you rest in peace and may your daughter grow up strong and share her Dads' faith and outlook on life. I will miss you,friend.

If you read the American press,you'd think Iran was as evil as Nazi Germany. Unfortunately Americans don't get the truth too often. There are powerful interests that would like to see a war with Iran. Certain foreign lobbies and some corporate lobbies would have much to gain. The expense to the American people would be great. But what I want to discuss today is what is going on with Iran. Internally there are many problems. The economy is suffering under the sanctions. And you have a power strSPAM!!!le of major proportions going on between Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei was a last minute compromise decision to be Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's sucessor. His original choice was Ayatollah Hussein Montazeri, but Montazeri began to show liberal tendencies and was ousted from the successor position. According to Khomeini's theory of government, velayat-e faqih ( Government of the jurisprudent or Islamic scholar) the supreme leader should be the most influencial marja. Now a Marja e Taqlid is the highest rank of Ayatollah,often called Grand Ayatollah by the western press. Marja e Taqlid means source to imitate and usually requires that person to have a large following. Ali Khamenei was not a marja, infact he was not even an Ayatollah. he held the title of Hojatoleslam, which is a lower rank that Ayatollah. They gave him both the title of Ayatollah and of Marja, even though he not proved himself according the vaque rules of what constituted a marja. Hence, from the beginning he was on weak ground and may have been a puMFet for other powerful ayatollahs who held to the Khomeini line. Not all these Ayatollahs agreed with the Velayet e faqih theory. Some thought that religious scholars should stay out of politics. Now, in Ahmedinejads second term, we hear that he has personal conversations with the Hidden Imam. The Hidden Imam is a messiah like figure in the Twelver Usuli Shia school,which dominates Iran. What Ahmedinejad is saying is that he has the religious backing of this figure and thus is challenging the authority of the Ayatollahs. The fact that he wasn't squashed like a bug immediately shows how much power he has amassed. In Khomeini's day, he would have just disaMFeared. All the saber rattling and war talk is fluff for the masses. Much like things in America, the people are swayed by fear. Surely Iran wants a nuclear weapon, if only to balance power a bit with American adventurism in the region. Sending a nuclear warhead towards Israel would be suicide for the Iranian state,both militarily and economically. But Netanyahu holds his power through fear,just like Ahmedinejad. Plus the Israelis tend to be a bit paranoid. Afterall, throughout history some one was trying to kill them as a nation. Now nuclear scientists in Iran are mysteriously dying by bombs placed by motorcycle riders. Iran thinks its Israel,but it could just as well be a faction with Iran that doesn't want to play the all or nothing stakes game of nuclear politics. They are all tossing around a very hot potato.

The wise ones explain life's journey to be, "the human soul in search of,and in progress toward,final harmony and intergration with all creation." ( Idries Shah). Religion,which was created to help mankind achieve this goal,has turned into dogma and mind control. Both Christianity and Islam have succumbed to this failure. Christ preached a message of love, but his followers deified him and changed his words until what was left of his teachings became the state religion of the Roman Empire.Dogma was solidified to the extent that if your beliefs did not exactly mirror state dogma, you were burned at the stake, or otherwise punished. Christianity brought us the Crusades, religious wars in Europe and other misadventures and transformed a loving itinerant teacher into an armored Christ bearing a sword. Islam was conceived as religion of tolerance amongst other things. Coexistence with others,equal rights, and a singular focus on God without the frills of man made God,saints and other pagan inclusions. Muhammad(PBUH) stressed jihad, a personal strSPAM!!!le to attain closeness with God. Legal scholars soon added dogma,rural populations added saints and jihad became holy war. Today, with a growing contingent of evangelical Christian firebeathers influencing politics, with a far right wing Israeli government,expansionist and nuclear,and the Islamic Republic of Iran on the nuclear threshold,we have again succeeded the the the brink similar to the Bay of Pigs/Cuban missile crisis of the 60's. You'd think we'd have learned' New Year's Eve my lovely lady and I went to Chinese buffet to celebrate the holiday. Both of us have lived in the East and buffet is about as close as you can get to the Far East in Roanoke,Virginia. All of a sudden, I noticed that just about everyone in the restaurant was morbidly obese! Scores of lard buckets waddling around with plates piled high with food.(And I would hazard to guess a large proportion of them were "born again" evangelicals) What with the rapid expansion of science and technology in the 20th and early 21st century,it seems ineresting that there are people who deny evolution,climate change and.as Glen Beck would have us believe,that the polar bears are doing just fine. Over in the Middle East, you have Salafist Muslims who yearn for the times of the Prophet(PBUH),ie the 7th century. Large groups of population are being indoctrinated to prepackaged belief systems.The poor Christian does not have worry about anything while devouring his 5th plate at the buffet and the Muslim mother will be comforted when her only son is vaporized while detonating a suicide vest. Meanwhile.large corporate entities have hijacked our food suMFly,our water resources,denuded our forests,cut our mountaintops and dumped garbage everywhere. In America, we deny science as being contrary to the Bible, which makes the porkers at the buffet feel like saints. But really, what they want is to remove all regulations, so our corporates can rape the planet even more. I have heard people sSPAM!!!est we abolish the department of environmental protection and the department of education. What lunacy. Our corporate masters have raped the third world, which is part of the reason you have suicide bombers. We have made a large portion of the world feel hopeless. and Africa hasn't woken up yet! Yet, I am told that the forthcoming apocalypse "predicted" in the ending of Mayan long count calender( Ah the loonies will out in force this year), is really the ushering in of a new era. An era of peace and spiritual awakening. Signs of hope fill the air. Obama was elected president based on the slogan hope and change. Sure,he didn't deliver much,he was owned like most of our politicians by the special interest lobbies. But the fact that such a slogan inspired us,means we know something must be done. In the Middle East,the Arab Spring ushered in hope and change for those folks,by overthrowing the puMFets that owed their existence to the exploiters and profiteers. We shall see more violence as the money is being pumped into new leaders who will tow the profit line. Egypt's military government is turning out to be " THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS". Oil companies will probably have alot to say over who finally rules Libya, but will the the people endure it? I hope not. In Europe and America, many are fed up with the Kleptocracies that have brought the financial system to the edge of collapse. We don't hear the truth, as our news outlets dispense doctored information to suit their agendas. Yet there is that breath of fresh air that I have smelled, mingled with jasmine in the streets of Tunisia,with the scent of broiled kefta in Tahrir Square, and with the odor of taxicab fumes in Liberty(formerly Zucotti) park in New York. Let us hope and pray that 2012 brings us closer, as a species, to the dream than was lost thousand of years ago,the dream of harmony and integration with Creation.

OK for those of you salivating here's the recipe: 2 lbs Goat, boned and cubed 1 bag dried mango or 2 fresh in seasom 1/2 cup dried apricots 1/2 cup large golden raisins 1 red bell peMFer diced 1 anaheim chile diced 1 tablespoon garlic paste 1 tablespoon ginger paste 1 tablespoon DD Bell madras curry paste(or other Vietnamese brand) 1 tablespoon Badshah kitchen king masala 1 tablespoon badshah madras sambar masala 1 teaspooon palm sugar 1 large onion diced 2 cans Rotel tomatoes with habenaro,drained hot red peMFer ground to taste( other spices will give you a fairly hot curry,but i like to kick it up a notch) 1 can Chao Koh coconut milk 1 can Del Monte pineaMFle tidbits,drained 2 tablespoons Ghee or canola oil Bone and cube goat. Dice onions and peMFers. Heat oil or ghee in a large pot till it sizzles. Add onion and garlic and ginger paste,turn heat to low,cover and sweat 5 minutes. Add goat and brown lightly add curry paste, 2 masalas and hot peMFer and stir until coated with spice. Add diced peMFers Add Rotel tomatoes,mango,apricots and raisins Add coconut milk to cover and bring to a boil. Add palm sugar Simmer covered on low heat for at least 1 hour or until goat is relatively tender./ Goat has a texture that is firm,don't cook it too much or the flavor will disaMFear. Now add pineaMFle and simmer another 5 minutes.If you would like a thick sauce simmer uncovered for half the simmering period,but watch the pot so it doesn't evaporate. If you like the combination of sweet and hot, this will do it. You can substitute lamb for goat if you can'y find any goats This tastes best after being refrigerating overnight to let flavors blend. Serve with brown basmati rice