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| Just happened to look at the clock and realized I'm 22 years and nine months old THIS instant. Cool. I hadn't even realized it was the 13th.
*EDIT* Darn...Xanga's clock is two minutes ahead of my computer's. | | |
| This is the most interesting thing I've read in a while:
(the letter itself, not
just the press release). It's remarkable how Zawahiri seems to take the
defeat of the US for granted and focus on other things, and also
perhaps hopeful that he and Zarqawi aren't in complete agreement about
tactics.
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| Oh, and this is totally belated and not in any way my own judgement, because experts have been saying this for like a month, but just so I can say "I told you so": the Iraqi constitution is going to pass on Saturday. | | |
| Heritage just hosted a history professor from TN who gave an AWESOME speech on American identity...I thought he was going to be Straussian at first, but he ended up with a Birzerian view of myth, sort of---saying that a unifying national idea and spirit is important, though he didn't say that it should be divorced from reality. There was a lot more to it than that, but suffice to say it was really cool and it was great to hear a good historian speak again, since most of the many lectures I've been to recently have been boring, often shallow policy wonks.
Also, why was the Iraqi government buying weapons? Isn't that country swimming with guns anyway? The insurgents don't seem to have any trouble getting them.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/2496c5ac-3abc-11da-b0d3-00000e2511c8.html | | |
| The rules of soccer, according to Saudi Sheikh 'Abdallah Al-Najdi:
(No, this isn't a parody. It's from MEMRI).
1. Don't play soccer with four lines [surrounding the field], since
this is the way of the non-believers, and the international soccer
rules require drawing [these lines] before playing.
2. One should not use the terminology established by the
non-believers and the polytheists, like: 'foul,' 'penalty kick,'
'corner kick,' 'goal,' and 'out of bounds.' Whoever pronounces these
terms should be punished, reprimanded, kicked out of the game, and
should even be told in public: 'You have come to resemble the
non-believers and the polytheists, and this has been forbidden.'
3. If one of you falls during the game and breaks his hand or
his foot, or if the ball hits his hand, he shall not say 'foul' and
shall not stop playing because of his injury. The one who caused his
injury shall not receive a yellow or a red card, but rather the case
shall be judged according to Muslim law in the case of a broken bone or
an injury. The injured player shall exercise his rights according to
the shari'a, as [is stated] in the Koran, and you must testify together with him that so-and-so tripped him up intentionally.
4. Do not set the number [of players] according to the number
of players used by the non-believers, the Jews, the Christians, and
especially the vile America. In other words, 11 players shall not play
together. Make it a larger or a smaller number.
5. Play in your normal clothing, or in pajamas, or something
like that, but not in colorful pants and numbered jerseys. Pants and
jerseys are not appropriate clothing for Muslims. They are the clothing
of the non-believers and of the West, and therefore you must be careful
not to wear them.
6. Once you have fulfilled [these] conditions and
rules, you
must play the entire game with the intention of improving your physical
fitness for the purpose of fighting Jihad for Allah's sake and
preparing for the time when jihad is needed. One should not waste time
in celebrating a false victory.
7. Do not play for 45 minutes, as is the practice among the
Jews, the Christians, and in all of the countries of non-belief and
atheism. This is also the length of time that is accepted in the soccer
clubs of those who have strayed from the righteous path. You must be
different than the non-believers, depart from their path, and not
imitate them in anything.
8. Do not play in two parts [i.e. halves], but rather in one
part or in three parts, so as to be different than the sinful and
rebellious, the non-believers and the polytheists.
9. If neither side has defeated the other and neither side
has inserted the ball between the posts, do not waste further time [in
an extension] or in 'penalty kicks' until someone has won, but rather
leave [the field] immediately, since this kind of victory is precisely
an imitation of the non-believers and [adoption] of the international
soccer rules.
10. Do not appoint someone who follows the players around and
is called 'a referee', since, after canceling the international rules
such as 'foul,' 'penalty kick,' 'corner kick' and so on, there is no
need for his presence. Moreover, his presence is an imitation of
non-believers, Jews and Christians, and constitutes adoption of the
international [soccer] rules.
11. In the course of the game it is forbidden for groups of
youth to gather and watch, since if you are gathering for the sake of
sports activity and physical fitness, as you claim, why should they be
looking at you? You must make them participate [in order to improve]
their physical fitness and prepare for jihad; or else say to them, 'Go
propagate Islam and seek out moral corruption in the marketplaces and
in the press [in order to correct it], and leave us to improve our
physical fitness.'
12. When you finish playing, be careful not to talk about the
game, and not to say 'we play better than the opponent,' or 'so-and-so
is a good player,' etc. Moreover, you should speak about your body, its
strength and its muscles, and about the fact that you are playing as [a
means of] training to run, attack, and retreat in preparation for
[waging] jihad for Allah's sake.
13. If one of you inserts the ball between the posts and then
starts to run so that his companions will run after him and hug him,
like the players in America and France do, you should spit in his face,
punish him, and reprimand him, for what do joy, hugging, and kissing
have to do with sports?
14. You must take the three posts or iron rods which you use
to construct [the goal], and into which the ball is kicked, and replace
them with just two instead of three. In other words, take out the
cross-post or rod… so that [the goal] will not be similar to what is
customary among the non-believers, and in order to violate the despotic
international soccer rules.
15. Do not do what is known as 'substitution' – that is,
putting in a player in place of a player who has been disqualified –
since this the custom of the non-believers in America and elsewhere.
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