Here's wishing a happy Eid al-Fitr to our Muslim readers!

The Hijab Shop has some beautiful new scarves and cardigans for the fall season.

The auto post ran out, so this wish didn\'t make it out on the day it began, but anyway, I\'d like to wish all Muslim readers a thoughtfully happy Ramadan. This year, it started on the evening of the 21st of August, and will continue until the evening of the 21st of September.

You don\'t have to be officially Muslim to get something good from Ramadan though. All those of Abrahamic faiths would do well to recognize the lesson that God created all mankind as His children. Ramadan is a time during which it is said that all of the sacred texts of Abrahamic faiths were revealed, the Torah, the New Testament, and the Quran.

All About Ramadan

Earlier this year, Time.com reported that topless sunbathing was falling out of fashion in France.  This sent a ripple across the blogosphere of people commenting on what seemed like a sudden shift.  Turns out that on further exploration, this wasn\'t really news at all.  It\'s just that non French people only recently noticed a change that has been in the works for a long time.

Gelee, khimar, and other scarves and headwraps are usually done by the wearer for themselves, but if you know an expert, you can have your wrap done professionally.  Head scarf artists in Africa, the middle east, and other parts of the world provide their services for weddings, formal occasions, and those who prefer a precise wrap that looks good from every angle.

Some years ago, I announced with shock and horror, that some French government officials had begun aggressively attempting to ban "religious expressions" in schools, including but not limited to Islamic, Jewish, and Sikh head coverings.  The racist and hypocritical laws somehow passed, despite the protests from religious and secular people who believed that the bans should not include clothing worn specifically for the purpose of modesty and/or self defense.  A person who wishes to cover themselves for spiritual/psychological reasons is doing so for the same reasons that someone undergoing chemotherapy may cover their head due to hair loss.  Wearing modest clothing is not an exclusively religious act, and is in fact, separate from one's religion.  Taking off someone's clothes doesn't change their belief system.  To force someone to expose their body who may have smooth skin is as much a violation of privacy and right to self defense as to force someone photosensitive or with another skin disease, to expose themselves.

In case you haven't heard, melamine, a toxic industrial compound used to make adhesives, has been found in milk from China.  Much of the contaminated milk has been exported, so many children have died from kidney problems.  50,000-60,000 children have become ill from this, though most suspect that these numbers are smaller than the actual number.  Some of the symptoms of contamination could be mistaken for normal childhood illnesses or a urinary tract infection.  Even some American children living in Asia are known to have been poisoned.

What many don't realize though, is that some people outside of Asia have also been poisoned.  A high proportion of food all over the world, was produced in China or by Chinese companies.

Brace Yourselves for the Return of the Grippa

School has started, and fall will turn to winter in just a couple of months.  Along with it comes cold and flu season.  Most of us survive colds and flu well, but there are more viruses out there that your kids can bring home.  Some of them won't harm your kids much, but can leave you with permanent respiratory damage.

What's even worse is that many of them don't even have a name.  Some have swept through, leaving thousands of people deathly ill, and the doctors can't even tell people what they're suffering for except a descriptive Polish term: grippa.

Eid Mubarak to our Muslim readers! To those of you in Dubai, tonight at 21:45, 22:45, and 23:30 is your last chance to see the special performance of Abdelkader Saadoun's band Takalid, performing at the Mall of the Emirates. They'll be in the galleria playing unique Algerian based melodies to celebrate Ramadan and Eid.

An old tradition is being resurrected in Japan and other areas around the world.  Tatami mats, once viewed as something mainly for stand-alone homes, are turning up in flats as they're now being made in a wider variety of styles and sizes.