Marrakech Shopping

Dans les souks et boutiques, pas n'importe boutique de la ville.
Des demandes pour aider des designers et décorateur d'intérieur « Une Inspiration » l'amène vers d'autre taches d'accompagnement d'acheteurs professionnel. « Grossistes et designers » vers les endroits qu'il pouvait trouvé intéressante puis en suivi : des appelles de la part des visiteurs ordinaires qui essayaient de trouver des raccourci vers les bonnes affaires ayant des intérêts particulières ou simplement voulant faire des achats de toute sorte . C'est après Abdul a muté vers la réponse de Marrakech moderne au Guide Traditionnel « Guide Personnel pour achat »

Voici la différence : lorsqu'il s'agit des achats, un Guide Ordinaire va vous diriger vers n'importe qu'elle endroit pour son propre but et en générale va disparaître après alors que vous seriez entrain d'essayer d'éviter une transaction forcé, il s'agira plutôt de vous vendre ce qu'ils ont eu au lieu de ce que vous cherchez.

« Un Guide personnel pour achat » à une approche différente puisqu'il apporte une connaissance a la recherche que ce que vous pourriez rechercher, Il connaît la différence entre la bonne et la mauvaise qualité ainsi la bonne finition et il marchande pour vous en plus il s'occupe de toute expédition ( shepping) vers tous le pays Abdul fait bien son travaille, il est autant expert que d'agréable compagnie, il fait payé 120 Euro par jour.

Ne guide pas les groupe et pourra vous emmenez au delà des souks : vers des soins éloigné de la médina , des marchés obscures , des galeries spéciale à la ville moderne ou au quartier industrielle selon ce que vous cherchez et selon votre demande

Islamic banking

Islamic banking

Islamic banking is the kind of banks that built its strategy on the Quran and Sunnah, when you invest your money with the Islamic bank you will bring you closer to God's way, fighting against many social evils that have resulted from commercial banks, will also help the development of your country,

the social well-being of your company, protect your country from any foreign exploitation, show respect to your religion, the fight against the unknown forces that weighed neck onthe hand of all the peoples of the world.

Commercial banks or wear built its economy on usury, which is as old as human history. it was

practiced by some rich people who used to lend money at high interest. These people are now replaced by something called commercial banks, these banks do not differ at all from the previous lender. These exchanges in banks taking money from the low interest rates and give the great interest that the creation of so many economic, social and moral crises.

This is because of these crises that all revealed religions banned usury whish is considered a heinous sin of Islam; reading some sacred texts of Quran and Hadith reveals how heinous sin usury.

God says in the Holy Quran what means "Those who swallow usury can not rise to save as he ariseth that the devil was shot by (his) touch Because they say. Trade is like usury, while Allah forbids you permitteth negotiation and wear. He to whom a warning from his Lord cometh, and (he) refraineth (in obedience to), he must keep (the profits of ) what is past, and his case (below) is with Allah. As for those who do not return (to usury) Such are rightful owners of the Fire they will abide therein (Al-Baqarah: 275) ..

The state of the usurer in this life is just like a man who is touched by the devil, always in disorder, thought, deviated and completely absorbed in his business and its status in the hereafter is greater.

God says in the Holy Quran what means "O you who believe fear, God, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if you are believers." Quran verse 2:278 (Chapter Al-Baqarah)

Verses like such ("... if you are believers.") Also highlights the seriousness of the offense by exhorting people to obey if they indeed believe that the Muslims.

Quran not only put an end to wear, but it also encourages leniency towards debt as a means of social elevation.

God says in the Holy Quran what means: "Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: for he does not like ungrateful and the wicked (2/276).

Usury has penetrated into the very structure of our economies and financial institutions. The difficulties became collective.Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) spoke of the coming of a certain age as a sign of the coming of the last day. Mohummed Prophet said "There will come an age when everybody eats usury and those who will be affected by the dust."

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If adultery and usury spread in a village, the people of this village are demanding the punishment of Allah." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed usury, those who take it, write the contract and those who witness such a contract.

The effects of wear is so broad and non-countable, it has consequences in the long term;

Economic: Dependence on interest discourages people from working / business to make money and the value of labor / trade is reduced. These people will not bother to take the trouble to run a business or risking money in trade / industry. For most readers this statement does not make sense (or will not be able to tell), because they are themselves the class of workers or traders (and not money lenders).

Moral: Acceptance of wear discourages people from doing good to each other and lend goodwill. A society that promotes the interest on loans will require those in need to pay more than he borrowed, which is often a source of enormous burden.

Social: If interest is allowed, the rich (who are most likely to be lender) will exploit the poor (the borrower). Consequently, the rich get richer and the poor are getting poorer. This generates envy and hatred among the poor to the rich, causing social unrest, conflicts and revolutions and movements of both races.

Islamic banking solution makes the rules relating to Islamic finance are quite simple and can be summarized as follows.:

a) Any predetermined payment beyond the actual amount of capital is prohibited.

Islam allows only one type of loan that is qard-el-Hassan (literally good loan) where the lender does not charge any interest or additional amount with respect to money lent. Traditional Muslim jurists have construed this principle so strictly that, according to one commentator "this prohibition applies to any benefit or benefits that the lender could obtain on the qard (loan) such as riding the borrower's mule, eating at his table, or even enjoying the shade of his wall. "The principle derived from the quotation emphasizes that associated or indirect benefits is prohibited.

b) The lender must share the profits or losses from the company for which the money was loaned.

Islam encourages Muslims to invest their money and become partners to share the benefits and risks in the business instead of becoming creditors. As defined in the Shariah, or Islamic law, Islamic finance is based on the belief that the provider of capital and capital utilization should also share the risk of business ventures, whether those industries, farms, service companies or simple trade deals. Translated into banking terms, the depositor, the bank and the borrower should all share the risks and rewards of commercial financing. This is unlike the system based on the interest of commercial banks, where all the pressure is on the borrower: he must repay the loan with the agreed interest, regardless of the success or failure of his business .

The principle that emerges from this is that Islam encourages investments in order that the community can benefit. However, it is not willing to allow a loophole to exist for those who do not wish to invest and take risks but rather content with hoarding money or depositing money in a bank exchange for receiving an increase in these funds safely (other than the bank becomes insolvent).Accordingly, under Islam, either people invest with risk or suffer loss through devaluation by inflation by keeping their money idle.Islam encourages the notion of higher risks and higher returns and promotes it by leaving no other avenue available to investors.The aim is that high risk investments provide a stimulus to the economy and encourage entrepreneurs to maximize their efforts.

c) Making money from money is not Islamically acceptable.

Money is a medium of exchange, a way of defining the value of a thing, it has no value in itself, and therefore should not be allowed to lead to more money , via fixed interest payments, simply by being placed in a bank or lent to someone else. The human effort, initiative and risk involved in a production company are more important than the money used to finance it. Muslim jurists consider money as potential capital rather than capital, meaning that money becomes capital only when it is invested in the business. Accordingly, money advanced to a business as a loan is considered a business debt, not capital and, as such, she is not entitled to a return (ie interest). Muslims are encouraged to purchase and are discouraged from keeping money idle so that, for example, hoarding is considered unacceptable. In Islam, money represents purchasing power which is considered the only proper use of money. This purchasing power (money) can not be used for purchasing power (money) without undergoing the intermediate step of it being used for the purchase of goods and services.

d) Gharar (uncertainty, risk or speculation) is also prohibited.Under this prohibition any transaction entered into should be free of uncertainty, risk and speculation. Contracting parties should have perfect knowledge of the counter values ​​to be exchanged as a result of their operations. In addition, the parties can not predetermine a guaranteed profit. This is based on the principle of 'uncertain gains' which, on a strict interpretation, does not even allow a customer commitment to repay the borrowed principal plus an amount to take inflation into account. The reasoning behind the prohibition is the wish to protect the weak against exploitation. Therefore, options and futures contracts are considered un-Islamic and are forward foreign exchange transactions because rates are determined by interest differentials.

A number of Islamic scholars disapprove the indexation of debt inflation and explain this prohibition within qard-el-Hassan.According to these researchers, the progress of creditors ready to win the blessings of Allah and expects to obtain the reward from Allah alone. A number of transactions are treated as exceptions to the principle of gharar: sales with advanced payment (bai 'Bithaman AJIL) contract to manufacture (Istisna) and Lease (Ijara). However, there are legal requirements for entering into these contracts to be organized in a way that minimizes risk.

e) Investments should only support practices or products that are not prohibited or even discouraged by Islam. Trade in alcohol, for example would not be funded by an Islamic bank, a mortgage could not be made for the construction of a casino, and the bank could not lend money to other banks interest.

zakat

zakat

One of the five pillars of Islam is called "charity", for the gift of money and or goods. The word "charity" means both "purification" and "growth". Some Muslims have pointed out that plants pruning removes branches that do not produce fruit and encourage new growth. In a few Muslims similarly, often believe that giving Zakat through the cleanse from sin and that God uses it as a test of the true Islamic belief. Zakat consists of giving 2.5 per cent annual increase in its

property or funds (or both). Muslims generally associate specifically with the charity to give to the poor. Zakat may be distributed among the eight categories of people, including those who have no property or livelihood, those who convert to Islam, those who borrow, those who fight for the cause of Allah, or whoever is out on a journey.

Christians from a Muslim background have to get used to other ways of giving and views about. In Islam, Muslim "clergy" (the "imams") are generally not paid (but there are many exceptions in the great mosques which have important responsibilities). In Islam, there has never been a Levite priest who lives tithes and offerings. Although all aspects of the Levitical laws hold true today, the principle of giving is very much a part of Christian teaching. Christians have always been asked to give money much more than Muslims (often 10 percent or more of their earnings rather than 2.5 percent). This can be a challenge for some Muslims who are approaching Jesus Christ.

Agencies Get Millions for Homeless

The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $5 million to three different local nonprofit organizations. The money will be distributed over a four-year period and is aimed at helping approximately 1,000 homeless people in the county of Arvada.

One agency, with headquarters in Woodbridge, is slated to receive $1.5 million. The agency director says that they will focus their resources on educating the homeless. “We will probably build another school-home with this money,” he said. “A school-home is exactly what it sounds like. It is a school and a home. We have already built four school-homes throughout the county. We get the homeless off the street, and we educate them so they don't have to return to the street. We teach them how to be auto mechanics, plumbers, landscapers, painters, carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, and air-conditioning repairmen.

“You wouldn't believe the success that we have had. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, our office air-conditioning went out. My secretary called a repairman. The repairman was one of our first homeless students. He now owns his own air-conditioning business, plus two houses, two cars and a boat! He has a dozen employees. Holy cow! He's doing better than I am. He fixed our air-conditioning for free. I think I might sign up for the air-conditioning class myself.”

Adventurer Disappears

Steve Magellan, world-famous adventurer, has been missing for two days. The man who soared around the world by himself in a balloon took off in a single-engine airplane from a private airport in Nevada. He left at noon for a three-hour flight. The weather was perfect. There were no storms in the area. He took no emergency provisions. Presumably, he considered his flight to be little different from a trip to the market for a quart of milk.

He didn’t file a flight plan, so exactly where he went is unknown. Searchers are combing a 200 by 200 mile area by air. The terrain is high desert, with lots of ravines. “It would be very easy for a small plane like that to remain undetected for months,” said an officer from the Civil Air Patrol. The plane, like most small planes, did not have a “black box,” which sends out radio signals in event of a crash. A friend of Magellan’s said that he usually wears a watch that can send radio signals. But no signals were coming from that watch, if he was in fact wearing it.

Magellan had a knack for walking away uninjured from accidents, so friends and relatives did not seem to be overly alarmed. His younger sister said that it wouldn’t surprise her if he came strolling out of the desert in a day or two. Magellan made his fortune in real estate when he was young, and has devoted the rest of his life to pursuing world records in ballooning, piloting airplanes, and driving fast cars. The purpose of his afternoon flight was to find a suitable area to try to set a new land speed record for automobiles.

Actor Tries to Kill Himself

Actor Brett Maverick, the lead actor in many movies, was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital after his brother called an ambulance. Luke had found Brett in a dazed state with both of his wrists slashed. A hospital spokesperson said that the cuts on his wrists were superficial, and that Brett was in good condition. The actor has starred in many romantic comedies. He often portrays a character who meets a girl who doesn’t like him at first but falls in love with him by the end of the movie. In fact, a real-life romance occurred in his last movie. His costar, actress Katherine Hepburn, fell in love with Brett and moved in with him. This occurred despite the fact that Katherine was engaged to wed Richard Burton, another well-known actor. Burton, heartbroken, told the media that he was going to become a Buddhist monk. Unfortunately for Brett, Katherine recently made another movie with actor Errol Flynn. This movie, “Love in Baghdad,” is a drama involving a married couple who are separated by terrorists. Katherine told Brett she was going to “visit” Errol on his 200-foot yacht after filming was finished. But soon afterward, TV entertainment shows like “Access Hollywood” and “Entertainment Tonight” showed photos and videos almost daily of Katherine and Errol hugging, kissing, dancing, and shopping. “Brett couldn’t take it anymore,” said Luke. “He was ready to settle down with Katherine. He was going to quit acting. He had told her that he planned to buy a ranch in Wyoming for the two of them. Just them, the blue sky, the meadows, and the cows and the sheep, for the rest of their lives.”

A Year with No TV

Starting in February 2009, broadcasts of all TV signals will be digital, replacing current analog signals. For people who have cable or satellite TV, this is a non-issue, because their reception will not be affected. But people who use rabbit ears or outside antennas won’t be able to receive the new digital signals. They’ll have to buy a converter for each TV, which will cost about $50 each. For Chris, that was too much.

Instead, Chris was simply going to give his two TVs away to a thrift shop. Then he would wait until the prices went way down on digital tuner TVs, and buy one when the price was right. He loaded the TVs into his car.

The lady at the thrift shop wasn’t interested at first. She changed her mind when he said that they were only 13” TVs, and that they worked perfectly. He was relieved when she accepted them. Had she not, he would have had to deposit them at a hazardous waste facility, which meant waiting in line, in his car, for hours on end.

Chris got home feeling good. Now he was going to enjoy at least a year of no TV. The “idiot box” was a good name for that waste of electricity. He felt like a new man for having got rid of his two TVs. When Donna called that night, he proudly told her the news. Donna, whose native language was Chinese, was not happy.

“What do you mean, you have no TV?” she yelled over the phone. “How are you going to teach me anything when I call to ask you about new vocabulary on the 11 o’clock news?” She had a few more things to say. Chris sighed. When she finished, he promised her he would buy a new digital TV the very next day.

A Woman Has Needs

Wally asked Anita how her daughter Heather was doing. Heather had always been a dutiful, loving daughter. She got married about 10 years ago, at the age of 23. It was the first marriage for her and her husband Ben. They had two kids. Everything seemed fine, even though Heather was the only one working. Ben had gotten laid off two years ago. He was still looking for work.

They were fortunate because Heather’s grandma loved her to death. She had bought a house for Heather as a wedding gift, so Ben and Heather had no mortgage to pay. Not one penny. Grandma asked only that Heather call her twice a month. Recently, grandma had asked Anita what was wrong with Heather. Anita said she didn’t understand—nothing was wrong. “Then why hasn’t she called?” grandma asked. Anita said she would talk to Heather.

She left several messages, but Heather didn’t call back. Anita drove over to the house. Ben was home, taking care of the kids.

“Where’s Heather?” Anita asked.

“She went to the beach,” Ben told her.

“Without you and the kids?” Ben was reluctant to talk, but he did. Heather had started smoking again. Even worse, she had found a boyfriend. She had met this guy at work, and things got out of hand. Ben didn’t know what to do. If he filed for divorce, he might be out on the street with two kids to support. If he didn’t get a divorce, he had to live with the humiliation of being supported by a wife who was cheating on him.

Anita was astounded at her daughter’s selfish actions. She drove home and called her mom. Grandma said that hopefully it was just a phase that Heather was going through. She told Anita to make sure to remind Heather to call.

A Walk in the Wild

Bill parked his car on the residential street. The street used to be safe, but now there were frequent reports in the weekly paper about break-ins. He put The Club on his steering wheel and made sure that nothing of value—not even a pair of cheap sunglasses—was visible through the car windows.

He got out of the car and started the uphill walk. The mountain trail was mostly narrow for the first two miles. Only two people could walk side by side. When the trail got close to the edge of the mountainside, it was best if people walked single file. Several years ago, an experienced hiker, walking alone, slipped and fell to his death. The trail went past a small lake created by a dam, and then broadened as it went up into the heart of the mountain, away from cliffs. When Bill got to First Camp, he stopped by the small stream to look for fish or frogs. Suddenly, he heard a sinister rattling sound. Then, he felt a sharp bite on his calf. He turned around in time to see a rattler slithering off.

There was nothing to do now but walk back down to his car. He had no cell phone with him. He would remember to bring it next time, if there was a next time. Should he walk slowly, so the poison would spread slowly? Or should he walk fast, so he could get to his car and get medical help faster? Perhaps he’d meet someone on the way down.

A simple walk, he thought. It was just going to be a simple walk up a mountain trail.

A Visit to Asia

Liz was excited. She was going to Asia with her mom. Neither of them had ever traveled out of the United States before. They were going to fly to Hong Kong. After staying in Hong Kong for three nights, they would travel on their cruise ship to Shanghai and Beijing.

"Beijing is inland, so we have to take about a two-hour bus ride to get there from the port. I forget the name of the port. Anyway, we're going to see the Great Wall, the Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. It’s going to be so cool!" she told her neighbor Jane.

From China, the cruise ship would go to Pusan in South Korea, and finally to Tokyo. From Tokyo, they would catch a flight back to Los Angeles.

"The trip is going to last three weeks. It's only going to cost us $2,800 each, IF we can control our urge to shop," she laughed.

"I hope your trip is more fun than mine was," said Jane. "I took a cruise to the Bahamas, but almost all the passengers got sick. I caught some kind of virus that made me throw up for almost three days. They gave us a discount that we could use on a future trip. Ha! No more cruising for me."

"We've heard about those disasters," said Liz. "Mom and I are going to be washing our hands every 30 minutes, and we're bringing surgical masks with us."

A Trip to Egypt

Roy wanted to visit Egypt two years ago. But while he was checking out different tour packages, an airplane crashed into the Atlantic. The plane was an Egypt Air flight from New York to Cairo. It had no sooner gotten airborne than it dove straight down into the ocean, killing all on board. There was a great deal of investigation into the crash, but the final conclusion, made after recovering the black box, was that the copilot had decided to take his life, along with all the passengers and crew.

Pat told Roy to forget about flying to Egypt. As his wife of 50 years, she wouldn’t permit it. If he wanted to see the pyramids, she said, he could rent a video or google the pyramids online. Two years went by, and no further crashes occurred. One day Roy told Pat that he was going to Egypt, with or without her approval. He asked her if she wanted to go with him. She said no, thank you—she didn’t have a death wish “like someone I know.”

Roy said that the plane crashed two years ago—she worried too much. He said he was also making a side trip to Israel. Pat said, “Go ahead. I’ll call the funeral parlor so they know you’ll be dropping by.” Roy laughed. He said there was a greater chance of dying in a car accident in their own neighborhood than of being killed by terrorists in Egypt or Israel.

“Yes,” Pat said, “but we have to drive around our neighborhood to do our errands. We don’t have to go to Egypt and Israel. You’re just tempting fate.”

A Shower Injury

Ben leaned over the edge of the tub. He turned on the hot and cold water faucets. The water came out of the spout near the top of the tub. He pushed down on the lever beneath the spout so that the water would drain. He was going to take a shower, not a bath.

He tested the temperature. It wasn’t hot enough. He adjusted the hot water faucet. There was another handle between the hot and cold faucets. This one controlled whether water came out of the spout or out of the shower head. Ben turned it all the way to the right. Now hot water was coming out of the shower head. The temperature was just right.

Ben took off his robe and stepped over the top of the tub. He pulled the shower door closed. He grabbed the bar of soap out of the soap dish and started scrubbing his face.

While his eyes were closed to keep out the soap, he put the soap back into the dish. Then he reached for the big plastic container of shampoo on his window ledge. The bottle slipped out of his hands and landed on his left foot.

"Shoot!" Ben said angrily. That hurt.

A School Girl Sues Her School

A straight-A student got a C in cooking class and didn't like it. She didn't like it so much that her dad filed a complaint in federal court about it. He alleges that the teacher, who is white, discriminated against his daughter, who is black. He seeks to have her grade changed from a C to an A and asks for unspecified financial damages.

Virginia Brown is in the ninth grade at Ashley High School. Since her first year in school, she has had perfect attendance and all her grades have been A's. Virginia's father said her heart was broken when she got the C.

"She cried the whole weekend," he said. "She wouldn't come out of her room. Her eyes were red and puffy. My little girl hasn’t been this upset since her cat got run over by a car when she was 6 years old."

Virginia is a model student. She's the class president. She's on the swim team, the volleyball team, and the track team. She belongs to the chess club. She is a member of the Girl Scouts and sings in her church choir.

The home economics teacher is 28-year-old Jessica Smith. This is her first year teaching. Ms. Smith said that discrimination was absolutely not the issue. “Some of my best friends are African-Americans," she said. “This isn’t a black and white problem. Everybody in America wants to sue everybody else. I’m going to sue them for defamation of character and whatever else my lawyer comes up with.”

The school principal, who grew up in India, said that he supported Ms. Smith 100 percent. He said that Virginia is an excellent student who would have no problem getting into the best universities even with a C in cooking. “She won’t have any difficulty finding a great university, but she might have problems finding a husband,” he laughed. “She’d better look for a man who likes to eat out a lot.”

A Practical Joke

On craigslist.com, a “Sheldon” wrote that he was moving. “I’m starting a new life, and I don’t want anything that reminds me of my old life,” Sheldon announced on the website. Giving his address, he invited everyone to visit his apartment on April 19 from 8 to noon: “Take whatever you want; it’s all free.”

When the real Sheldon returned from his morning shift at the hospital that day, he was surprised to find his apartment door unlocked. He was shocked to find his apartment stripped clean. I’ve been robbed, he thought. He knocked on his neighbor’s door.

Virgil told Sheldon that he had seen strangers coming and going that morning. When Virgil asked them what was going on, one said that Sheldon was giving all his belongings away. “I wish you had told me,” Virgil said. “When I went into your apartment, there was nothing good left.”

Sheldon explained that he hadn’t told Virgil about the giveaway because he hadn’t known about it himself. Virgil said that he saw Pamela inside the apartment; she seemed to be in charge of things. “My ex-girlfriend Pamela?” Sheldon asked. “My angry ex-girlfriend Pamela?”

“Ex? When did you two break up?” Virgil asked.

They had dated for two years. Pamela had left him just recently. She had seen Sheldon standing with a woman in the parking lot. Sheldon had told her it was only his coworker. “Your coworker? Is it normal for coworkers to kiss in the parking lot?” Pamela asked. Sheldon said that he wasn’t kissing his coworker. She had simply asked him to smell her breath to be sure her breath smelled okay. She had eaten garlic bread at lunch.

As Pamela stormed away, Sheldon heard her say something about getting even.

A Noisy Neighbor

Barbara couldn’t take it any more. Her upstairs neighbor was blasting his stereo again. She had asked him twice already to turn the volume down. The first time she asked, he was surprised. He said he didn’t know that she could hear his stereo.

"Yes," she said, "it’s just like your stereo was in my living room. I can hear every note!"

He said he would keep it down. She hoped that he was telling the truth. Of course, he wasn’t. The very next day, he blasted his stereo. She marched upstairs to remind him of his promise. He said the volume was so low that he could barely hear it. She asked him to turn it lower. He said he would try. Barbara could swear that when she reentered her apartment, the music was louder than when she had walked upstairs.

So, this was the third time. She took her baseball bat upstairs with her. She knocked very loudly on his door. When he opened the door, she screamed at him like a crazy person. She told him she would kill him if he didn’t turn the music down and keep it down. His eyes got big.

She went back downstairs. She couldn’t hear a note.

I can’t believe I said that, she told herself.

A Murder-Suicide

A man and a woman died in an apparent murder-suicide last night in Altadena. The man was 74-year-old Dominic Vittorio. The woman was his 70-year-old wife, Victoria. The couple had been married for 50 years. In fact, their 50th anniversary occurred just a month ago, according to their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Allen. The couple was childless and had no close friends. Mr. Vittorio was a retired carpenter who had emphysema and was blind in one eye because of a cataract. His wife was a diabetic who had already had one foot amputated because of complications from the disease. Her eyesight was almost completely gone.

“They were such a nice couple,” said Mrs. Allen. “I’ve lived next to them for the last 20 years or so. I’m widowed, and Dom always used to help me with things like changing light bulbs and fixing appliances. They had no kids, but they were always friendly to the neighborhood kids. Every Halloween they handed out tons of candy and fresh fruit. But about eight years ago Vicky came down with diabetes, and things just haven’t been the same for her or Dom. They used to be so friendly and full of life, and then they just seemed to get quieter and quieter.

“She used to come over to my place once or twice a week, and we would talk about all kinds of things and have the nicest time. But that happened less and less as she got sicker. So I would go over to her house about once a week and we would talk. But the conversations steadily got shorter, and she seemed to lose interest in listening and in talking. She didn’t say it, but you could tell she was in a lot of pain.”

Mrs. Allen said she hadn’t even talked to either of the Vittorios in almost a year. They never came out. Even food was delivered to them by a local agency. She said she heard two gunshots last night—“It scared me half to death!” She immediately called the police. “Such a sad ending for such nice people,” she said. “Together in sickness, but alone in the world.”

A Missing Cat

The owner of a missing cat is asking for help. “My baby has been missing for over a month now, and I want him back so badly,” said Mrs. Brown, a 56-year-old woman. Mrs. Brown lives by herself in a trailer park near Clovis. She said that Clyde, her 7-year-old cat, didn’t come home for dinner more than a month ago. The next morning he didn’t appear for breakfast either. After Clyde missed an extra-special lunch, she called the police.

When the policeman asked her to describe Clyde, she told him that Clyde had beautiful green eyes, had all his teeth but was missing half of his left ear, and was seven years old and completely white. She then told the officer that Clyde was about a foot high.

A bell went off. “Is Clyde your child or your pet?” the officer suspiciously asked. “Well, he’s my cat, of course,” Mrs. Brown replied. “Lady, you’re supposed to report missing PERSONS, not missing CATS,” said the irritated policeman. “Well, who can I report this to?” she asked. “You can’t. You have to ask around your neighborhood or put up flyers,” replied the officer.

Mrs. Brown figured that a billboard would work a lot better than an 8”x11” piece of paper on a telephone pole. There was an empty billboard at the end of her street just off the interstate highway. The billboard had a phone number on it. She called that number, and they told her they could blow up a picture of Clyde (from Mrs. Brown’s family album) and put it on the billboard for all to see.

“But how can people see it when they whiz by on the interstate?” she asked. “Oh, don’t worry, ma’am, they only whiz by between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. The rest of the day, the interstate is so full of commuters that no one moves.” They told her it would cost only $3,000 a month. So she took most of the money out of her savings account and rented the billboard for a month.

The month has passed, but Clyde has not appeared. Because she has almost no money in savings, Mrs. Brown called the local newspaper to see if anyone could help her rent the billboard for just one more month. She is waiting but, so far, no one has stepped forward.

A Love Letter

Bill wrote this letter to Mary:

We’ve talked on the phone and in my apartment, and now I'm writing this letter. Maybe if I put my thoughts and feelings in writing, you’ll understand them better.

I love you. I want to marry you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. You are not a "load." You are not a "troublemaker."

Yes, you have problems. So do I. And together, we can solve these problems more easily than if we were apart. Problems are a part of life. But so is happiness. Let’s share our problems and happiness instead of experiencing them alone.

We are not a bad "fit." We are a perfect match. I do not look down on you. I look up to you. I admire you. I think you are smart, brave, and independent. Don’t tell me to go find another woman. I don’t want another woman. I have found the perfect woman.

Every day, I think about your beautiful smile, your happy laugh. I think about the long walks we used to take, holding hands all the way. Remember how we used to sit on the grass in the park and watch the parrots?

We were going to get married, and now you want to be "just friends." Whatever I did or said that was wrong, please tell me so we can work this out. I don’t want to lose you.

A Little Respect, Please

It sounds incredible, but the small country of Greece seems to be burning down. Police believe arsonists are responsible for at least half of the fires. Thirty people have died so far, many of them trapped in their homes or their cars. Residents all over Greece have called fire departments, police, and media about fires surrounding their homes, but there have simply not been enough firemen to respond to all these fires.

The government has asked for aid from France, Italy, and Germany. Greek ruins that are almost 3,000 years old are in danger of being burnt down. Fires surround Athens, the capital city. The hillsides are ablaze, and there seems to be no end in sight. Entire villages have been destroyed. There has been no rain for two months, and the trees are so dry that just the heat from an approaching fire causes them to explode into flames.

Police have arrested three suspected arsonists. One suspect, oddly enough, was still complaining about the 2004 Olympics. He had applied to carry the torch into the stadium and light the fire to officially start the Games. His application was ignored. “You have to be somebody,” was the reply he got when he called the Olympic Committee in Athens. “And you’re not—you’re nobody,” an official told him. The man was in jail for three years for trying to blow up the committee’s headquarters. Yesterday, police caught him walking away from a new fire with an empty gas can in his hands.

“I’m nobody, huh?” he told the police. “Well, I’m somebody now!”

A Life-Saving Cow

Six consecutive days of spring rain had created a raging river running by Nancy Brown’s farm. As she tried to herd her cows to higher ground, she slipped and hit her head on a fallen tree trunk. The fall knocked her out for a moment or two. When she came to, Lizzie, one of her oldest and favorite cows, was licking her face. The water was rising. Nancy got up and began walking slowly with Lizzie. The water was now waist high. Nancy’s pace got slower and slower. Finally, all she could do was to throw her arm around Lizzie’s neck and try to hang on. About 20 minutes later, Lizzie managed to successfully pull herself and Nancy out of the raging water and onto a bit of high land, a small island now in the middle of acres of white water.

Even though it was about noon, the sky was so dark and the rain and lightning so bad that it took rescuers another two hours to discover Nancy. A helicopter lowered a paramedic, who attached Nancy to a life-support hoist. They raised her into the helicopter and took her to the school gym, where the Red Cross had set up an emergency shelter.

When the flood subsided two days later, Nancy immediately went back to the “island.” Lizzie was gone. She was one of 19 cows that Nancy lost. “I owe my life to her,” said Nancy sobbingly.