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ORIGIN OF SATAN

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“Satan (Hebrew: שָּׂטָן Satan, meaning “adversary”; [1] Arabic: شيطان shaitan, meaning “astray” or “distant”, sometimes “devil”) is a figure appearing in the texts of the Abrahamic religions [2][3] who brings evil and temptation, and is known as the deceiver who leads humanity astray. Some religious groups teach that he originated as an angel who fell out of favor with God, seducing humanity into...

HOW OLD IS THE MALTESE LANGUAGE?

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(This is an etymology chat as many Maltese citizens joined us yesterday and today at the Beehive Literary Circle, not a paper I’m going to upload to Academia.edu., so relax a bit). I miss professor Wettinger, Malta’s Outstanding Authority on its Medieval History. I visited his flat several times, one with my eldest son, Sammy, met at the University and we talked at length about the origin...

IS OURS THE AGE OF PORN?

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PROTECT YOUR GIRLS. THEY ARE THE FUTURE MOTHERS OF HUMANITY AND EACH ONE MAY BE A TARGET OF THE PORNOGRAPHY INDUSTRY Guests on Google plus pages would have noticed that aside from a relatively very few cases, those eager to collect the largest number of views may have no easier choice than to engage in promoting soft or softish sex images available from hundreds of websites by the cartful. Not...

PORNOGRAPHY

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Human beings are excellent at detecting patterns. It is a primeval skill vital for survival. A man-eating lion is watched carefully. With time, the watchers become familiar with its basic behavioural habits and prepare a trap to kill it. Because human beings mastered the skill of pattern identification they taught it to computers which can do it much better and on huge scale involving super-fast...

5,000 YEARS OF MAN SUPREMACY MAY SOON END

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Both sexes have to be prepared for the coming huge social turbulance that could test humanity (1 of 5) Like seasonal migratory birds, thousands of boys and girls of many nationalities flock to the Islands of Malta in the summer to celebrate their youth. Almost empty during the months of winter, a small bay in the northern part of the Island begins to overflow with fresh life. Like arteries, the...

THE STORY OF NATURAL ARABIC NUMBERS

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THE STORY OF NATURAL ARABIC NUMBERS* The second greatest gift of Ancient Arabs in Southern Arabia to humanity after the alphabet We have two stories to tell in The History of Arabic Numerals, both of which have never been told in a book before. Because they are naturally simple, they may sound outrageous. This should not be of concern, since shocking one’s readership with simple facts is one...

Traces of a Tattoo, Chapter 24

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Scene: Amman, Jordan: Wissam’s aunt houseOne week later Haytham had to lower his head in order to look inside the taxi that had just pulled over in the middle of the road, right in front of his house. He then ran, opened a metal gate, crossed a large terraced garden and shouted, “Mama! Wissam’s arrived.” He went back to the taxi and waited for Wissam to finish paying the driver.“Haytham!” Wissam...

Moriscos Events & Studies

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The 10th International Symposium on: The Moriscos and the Mediterranean in the 16th and 17th Centuries Fondation Temimi – The Temimi Foundation (Tunis, Zaghouan – 9-12 Mai 2001) Abduljelil Temimi, Senen Horensa Ambassadeur d’Espagne, Luce Lopez Baralt A. S. Bishtawi , Taoufik Hajaiej, Louis Imperiale, Luce Lopez Baralt, Joseph V Ricapito, Maria Elvira Sagarzazu, (not recognised...

ZIRYAB

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Cordova, a photo by Danny Bishtawi Featured image is at Sevilla   Flight of the Blackbird Robert W. Lebling Jr. Illustrated by Norman MacDonald If you eat asparagus, or if you start your meal with soup and end with dessert, or if you use toothpaste, or if you wear your hair in bangs, you owe a lot to one of the greatest musicians in history. He was known as Ziryab, a colloquial Arabic term...

Spain’s Islamic Past

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A Search for Traces of Spain’s Islamic Past Tor Eigeland* I set out on my trip to photograph the traces of Spain’s Moorish past by driving south, down the coast from my home near Barcelona. Valencia In Valencia and its satellite towns of Manises and Paterna I saw some interesting ruins, though in my opinion they are among the ugliest towns in Spain.One attractive aspect of Manises...