A Primer on U.S. Elections Here is a short primer for my international readers unfamiliar with the U.S. election cycle. Every two years, American citizens vote for their candidate for the House of Representatives. Every member of Congress is up for election. Every four years, each American citizen gets to vote for a candidate for President. Every six years, the senate candidate is up for election. Because the term is six years, one-third of the senators come for election ever

On Jan 1 of this year, I posted an article entitled "Why Americans Should Worry About H.R. 5665." The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill identified as the "Combating International Islamophobia Act." The bill is not law yet. It still needs to be voted on by the U.S. Senate, and if it passes that hurdle, then to be signed by the President. The bill requires specific existing annual reports to Congress about human rights and religious freedom in foreign countries to inc

This week's blog is about climate change and how it will affect the Hajj in the coming years. I have run across four academic/institutional studies that suggest specific outcomes that will affect the pilgrims that attend the Hajj. The Saudis have done an excellent job of being caretakers and hosts of the pilgrimage to Mecca, but their work is not done. The bad news is that the temperature is getting hotter, affecting the desert kingdom and all those countries in the Middle Ea

First, thanks to Wikipedia Commons for the fine pictures of the camels in the Jordan Valley. Second, if you have not heard this video going around on TikTok, take time to listen to it now. The commentary after the video assumes you have heard it. Here is the transcript taken from YouTube: The camels are on the horizon. I don't know if you guys have seen this commentary floating around, but I'm going to read it to you because I think it is significant. The founder of Dubai, Sh

It's time for the Hajj, and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has revealed the official Hajj 2022 logo, which is displayed below. The logo promotes the event worldwide, including on souvenirs and clothing that commemorate the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage. The logo looks abstract, showing a black square representing the Ka'aba surrounded by green concentric circles to indicate the lines of worshipers going around the Ka'aba. The upcoming year will be considered as