Greetings to all Helium writers and visitors - my name is Ian Loft and I have been with Helium for eighteen months now. I recently took on the responsibility of Science Channel Steward as a replacement for Tad Wesley who kindly encouraged me as a sub-steward, and who subsequently recommended me as his replacement as Channel Steward.

The Helium experience has been more than I could have imagined with many challenges, contests and of course rewards for hard work. There are no fancy promises, just one simple commitment: "Write your best, write well and you will be rewarded"

The Helium community is about peer encouragement and support so to this end my responsibility as Science Channel Steward gives me an opportunity to help out, to do what I can by way of providing support and some advice (hopefully good advice!) to writers. Please do not hesitate to send a message if you need a hand to science@stewards.helium.com - I will reply as soon as practically possible.

Family: Married for 22 years now and we have two adult children. Our daughter has the voice of an angel (those few times I manage to persuade her to actually sing for us). She is also gifted with unspeakable talent on keyboards, clarinet, flute, violin and drums.

My eldest is our son is flat-out holding a tune in a bucket! Oh well, can't win them all! He is certainly clever in many other areas and is slowly but surely getting the hang of some basic guitar playing way to go son! We love them both and are happy they have grown up in a stable home and seem to have turned out OK. (Well let's say "mostly OK").

My second hobby is music playing and tutoring guitar and bass guitar helps fund all the fun little gadgets, speakers, amplifiers and of course more new guitars (never seem to collect enough for some reason!). Fortunately my wife is a fantastic accompaniment on flute so we get to show off as a team and have fun doing what we both love.

Favourite TV/Movies:

Cats
Monty Python
Red Dwarf
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
James Bond

Favourite Music:

Easier if I say I cannot stand Punk, Acid Rock, Grunge Rock, Poorly structured Alternative styles or that crappy "house" music you know what I call Doof-Doof. I grew up on a heavy diet of classical and lots of Rock from the 50's & 70's era. My all time favourites are Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd, and the Eagles.

Please feel free to send me your suggestions or observations to science@stewards.helium.com. I am always interested in comments and constructive observations - love to hear from you:

Ian Loft

My passion is ...

Music - playing, performing, arranging and writing

I know too much about ...

Getting myself into trouble

My parents always told me ...

I would get into trouble

My childhood ambition ...

To be an astronaut. For some reason, it never worked out.

My favorite memory ...

A picnic with a girlfriend - she sort of stuck around and we married!

Why I write ...

I would explode if I were to bottle it all up.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

David Eddings - The Mallorean Series

My first job ...

Electrician

My best moment ...

Winning my current job over fierce competition

My inspiration ...

Jesus

Society & Lifestyle > African & Middle Eastern Culture The condition of women in the Middle East

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The dominant religion in the Middle East is Islam, a religion that practices what Western democratic nations consider a barbaric suppression of women in many ways. The most extreme forms of repression exist where sharia law governs the national legal system. Sharia law combined with the wahhabi branch of Islam that dominates many places in the Middle East where women live in abject misery with almost no freedom or career prospects, and where they are ruled by men and treated as a commodity.

A feature that distinguishes Middle Eastern culture from the West is the system of honor that go...

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