Man oh man . . . I can't wait for the readout on this one.

-T

Shanksville (the crash site) is near Pittsburgh; it's just a reference on the map.

This is too awful for words.

Leave it to some sick lefty to believe we need to "embrace" Islamic radicals.

Why doesn't the sick designer-idiot go embrace OBL and see if the rag-head breaks down and weeps a KUMBAYA?

These radicals can not be bargained with. They cannot be "understood." They cannot be hugged into secular humanism.

These Islamists want to bring "peace" to America by the approved methods of the Q'uran. There are 3 approved methods, 1: convert your ass to Islam, 2: Force you into dhimmitude (racial degradation with abusive taxation), and, 3: kill your ass.

The Islamists will not stop until America is under sharia law or we kill their asses. End of story.

Make more bullets; we're going to need 'em.

Would it be wrong to encourage people to bring pork products to the dedication?

Maybe leave said products as an offering to the victims?

Was Todd Beamer a Jimmie Dean Breakfast Links kind of guy?

qibla |?kibl?| (also kiblah) noun [in sing. ]

the direction of the Kaaba (the sacred building at Mecca), to which Muslims turn at prayer.

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Arabic ?ibla ‘that which is opposite.’

Seems to be it should be more easterly, but what do I know.

Yeah... that's one of the things I don't get. I'm not sure if the map has been reversed or what.

I am with those who think Crescent of Embrace is a subversive, ironic, or utopian statement. I am absolutely not with the "Points to Mecca" or whatever crowd. If such a feature is present, it is a coincidence.

How do I know this? Again, I don't find it that hard to see how leftists think. I've hung around them long enough.

An important feature of any modern art is to get the public to react differently from the arts community. Either the crescent expresses hope that the West and Islam will one day embrace, or it is a monument to the attackers. Artists will immediately see both possibilities without any assistance and think it is cool, but the average Joe won't see it, even when it is pointed out. This is an ideal situation for the author of the work. And this is exactly how it is being played out. Garnering praise from both groups, but for different reasons.

But nobody -- and I mean nobody -- would know where the axis of the crescent is pointing, so therefore it is a coincidence.

Bottom line: you do it if another artist will immediately see the angle be in on the joke. You don't do it if no one gets the joke without pulling out a sextant and a protractor.

An archtypical example of the dynamic here: Salvador Dali made a painting that looked like it was his usual surrealist stuff. It was housed in a horizontal case, and the back of the case was a decorative steel cylinder. Or it appeared to be decorative. If you looked at the reflection of the painting in the cylinder, you were confronted with the unmistakeable image of a hairy cock. Half the people filing by the exhibit would try to figure out what the painting "meant," and the other half would look at the cylinder and start laughing at the first half.

I am sure Dali would have been upset if this work were displayed without the cylinder. The cylinder has to be there or the effect is lost on everybody. "Points to Mecca" has no cylinder.

The point might actually be that the it's the midpoint of the crescent, not the open arms, that are supposed to point to Mecca. She said something about a "bow" pointing; maybe she means imagine an arrow in that bow, and the arrow points to Mecca.

It depends, I guess, on how the points of the crescent are defined. I don't know if there is a definition or if SarahW is just hypothesizing.

This is one of those links that is too intriguing to not not link. Although, as I admit, I have no idea if it's true, or even if I understand her thinking.

Then again, I met her husband at CPAC, and he seemed levelheaded. He was dressed as a Colonial-era town crier, tri-corner hat and clanging hand-bell,* so I have to imagine that SarahW is just as sane.

* No, really. That's who Sarah told me to look for, and goshdarnit, if I didn't pick him out of the crowd immediately.

So as long as you dont offend the muselums its okay and that jerks at the ACLU will approve what a bunch of stupid jackasses

Maybe the quibla angle is the initial direction of the great circle route - aka the reason why airplane routes are curved.

Surprisingly enough, the shortest distance between two points on earth is not a straight line.

Try it with a piece of string and a globe. Whent taut, the string is the shortest distance between two points, but the angle of travel in relation to north pole is constantly changing.

FWIW, the quibla angle in San Diego is 25 degrees, so it's mecca via canada.

Not sure that a 7th Century religious text would take into account the "great circle"/airplane route consideration.

If you read his 'philosophy' on architecture, it's not hard to reach the conclusion that this guy did in fact choose the crescent for exactly why we're speculating.

Here's the end of it

More than problem solving however, we aspire to emotionally affect and uplift our lives through poetry and beauty.

It is through these transcendent qualities that we optimistically strive for ways to enrich life and fulfill our original purpose for engaging in the practice of architecture.”

Woops, that whole thing was s'posed to be italicized.. wtf?

Anyhoo.. what flowery prose to describe architecture. Good grief.

Why doesn't the sick designer-idiot go embrace OBL and see if the rag-head breaks down and weeps a KUMBAYA?

Indeed.

Don't we have to figure out the great circle route to Mecca that the arrow would travel, like a plane? Which could take you over the polar ice cap, for all I know.

The direction of the qibla (the imaginary line you point yourself along when you pray to Mecca) from North American is a mostly settled controversy among believers.

I'll excerpt this because it's on point:

"If you look at a standard flat map of the world, you notice that New York is north of the 40th parallel, while Mecca is south of the 22nd parallel. Therefore the local qibla must be approximately east by southeast, right? Wrong. The computer and most Muslim authorities agree that the qibla in North America is to the northeast, ranging from 56.3 degrees for Washington, D.C., to 23.7 degrees for Los Angeles."

At the bottom of my blog post I have appended a link to the qibla calculator I used, so you can see where I got my little map or make your own.

this link is to another prayer time/quibla guide for Philly.
If you break out your protractor, you will see that the quibla calculated there runs in a northeasterly direction.

Here is a somewhat more elegant. azimuth map I linked to on my blog made by Etaoin Shrdlu, whose name I don't understand...but he makes a nice clear map of the qibla all the way to Mecca from the site in PA.

Another fellow, D. Edgren, made a map similar to mine showing the qibla calculated from the crash site coordinates.

All show the "crescent embrace" reaching out along the qibla from Mecca.

Blogger gives me about a minute to write things before it "vanishes" them into the ether...but I'll make a point to add a definition of the qibla.

Sarah,

Thank you, I was being an idiot. I've updated the post to take away my confusion and caveats and state that your theory is well-founded and quite confirmed.

Kevin, Michael:

Yes indeed, the shortest route to Mecca, according to Muslim authorities, does go by the "great circle," in this case right over the North pole.

The Qibla finder link is quite right and in accordance with Islamic teachings on the subject.

Uh...you guys have noticed that the "pointing" of the crescent is cockeyed, haven't you?

It's askew--actually, the crescent appears to be pointing over at China (if you assume the midpoint of the crescent is the point).

Frankly, you all are a bunch of idiots. I thought my party was the party of idiot conspiracy theorists. Thank you, GOP, for proving that the tinfoil hat brigade exists on both sides of the aisle.

Look at the ends of the crescent, not the ends of the fattest row of trees. Yes, the midpoint of the fat row of trees does not point to Mecca.

But the entire crescent does.

BTW, a conspiracy requires two people (yes, the crime itself is an individual crime, but you need to agree with someone else that the crime would be committed).

This isn't necessarily a conspiracy... it's just one douchebag's little joke/stealth message.

I think it's supposed to be payback for all the christian symbolism embedded in our culture that's barely noticable.

Remember symbolism is fundamental to the postmodern left and they hate christian symbolism as much as muslims do.

The connections between postmodernism, the radical left and radical islam are fairly substantial. Good ol' ayotalla Komini exiled in France with the postmodern philosophy crowd before taking over Iran.

'Course, the fact that maples turn red in the fall might be of interest.

A bit off topic, but Kuwait airways has a mecca finder on their 767 in-flight entertainment . The GPS map in the seatback alternates with an arrow pointing to Mecca.

Not sure how those guys pray, or how they figure out when to pray (display was in arabic) since there's no room in the seats and prayer time is dependent on astronomical events in your location.

Ace, no harm no foul re the great circle. I knew that Navy navigation stuff would pay off one day.

Maybe we should contact the ACLU since they are so efficient at removing Christian symbols---

never mind-what WAS I thinking?

I was kind of ticked at first, but now I don't buy it.

I'm looking at my yard and gardens, and its difficult to create a pleasant, somewhat informal atmosphere without swooshes, partial curves or crescents. Its a nice shape. It creates a pleasing sweep, demarcation of space.

Even if this moron seems to indicate that he is playing around with symbolism that is offensive to the site, all it means is that he is a dick.

Unless the designer is a repressed swish that likes big formal squares full of tiny closely- clipped plants, I can virtually guarantee that any other designer would have used similar shapes somewhere in the design.

As far as orientation; if you want to grow anything near the trees inside that crescent, you want that thing open somewhat to the southern exposure. Daylight has a lot to do with the design of these things too.

I wonder what course flight 93 was on when it impacted. I'm guessing the crescent's alignment doesn't match up at all.

Also, the red maples represents the blood of the victims er martyrs er victims.

Or something like that.

Some people wouldn't be happy unless a male voice said "Let's Roll!" as people filed through the portal.

I find it telling that in the proposed design, the crescent is a much more muted and less distinct arc -- it reads to me like something trying to be snuck under the radar of the panel, although I suppose the current shape could just be the result of natural refinement. I dunno about this one still.

Looking at the relative exposures of the gardens in my yard, which is in CT.

A southwestern orientation (of the opening of the crescent) would give the maximum possible sunlight exposure to the inside of the crescent for the longest possible time over a northeastern season.

If he faced that thing the other way, the inside of the crescent would be shady as all hell after about 11 am except for in high summer.
(And would you then say it was 'arms reaching for Mecca'?)

If he faced it partway in other directions, he'd have one side where you could only grow shade plants, and one side where it was scorching every afternoon in summer.

And the lower sun in Fall and Spring would make it quite dim and shady during those seasons.

I'm just sayin'.

Laura,

A circle could be made upon a hill or inclined surface such that the lower-lying trees provided very little shade to the interior of the ring.

Just as a for instance.

There's no doubt that curves and crescents are nice shapes. Still, I'm sorry, but there are other shapes, and the crescent, as nice and natural as it is, is just inappropriate here.

Didn't say that right; if he faced it exactly the other way, the inside of the curve would only have light for a few hours in the middle of the day during Spring and Fall, thus making it a cold and miserable place to be during those seasons.

I don't see how you can avoid it completely in landscape design. You'd have to bend over backward. Take a look at the (casual) designs in areas around you.
Half-circles take advantage of moving light in the landscape.

If he made it more of an asymmetrical swoosh, do you think you'd still pounce on it?

Nope.

Look, the thing is a crescent shaped almost exactly (and with the same endpoints) as the Islamic crescent.

What is the point, incidentally, of extending the crescent (those red lines on the pic) so far past the trees? Why can't the trees just stand in a semi-ciricle which doesn't resemble a crescent?

I'm looking at my yard and gardens, and its difficult to create a pleasant, somewhat informal atmosphere without swooshes, partial curves or crescents. Its a nice shape. It creates a pleasing sweep, demarcation of space.

Actually, I'm also looking at my front yard right now, outside my home office window. I recently shelled out thousands to have it professionally landscaped. Frigging crescents all over the place, like dry stack stone edging around the gardens and so forth, "embracing" ferns and ornamental grasses and shit. I wonder how many are pointing at Mecca.

I'll bet my Islamofascist landscape architect, Bruce, is laughing his ass off at me.

I am not making this up--QVC is selling a Katrina memorial pin--it has a white flower with a silver crescent on a blue ribbon Item number J-02247. The reason a white flower was chosen was to represent the state flowers of Alabama (camellia), Mississippi and Louisiana (magnolia). NO is the cresecent city--

The back of the pin has engraved hope, help and heal. Cost is 16.50 with 8 of it going to Red Cross.

Interesting........
back now to the Food Networkl.

That's Food Network was Steve Erkel Fans-like me.

Sigh. Couldn't they just make a lifesize bronze statue of the interior of the plane just as they're saying "Let's roll!"? Then you could really appreciate who these people were and exactly what they were going through. That's a memorial, and it could even point to Mecca for all I care.

I'll bet my Islamofascist landscape architect, Bruce, is laughing his ass off at me.

Beware the ones with the western-sounding names, Michael. I'm sure everyone was laughing at John Walker Lindh too. AND WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, EH?

Here's what I think, said elsewhere:

If the embrace coming from Mecca is just a serendipitous coincidence, that's too bad.
Because this is not the place for Islamic references or imagery.

It's in bad taste, horribly wrong; whatever the intent is has tremendous power to disturb and offend by its associations with the goals and actions of the hijackers.

Ok, the name, the geometry, the seasonal color for the anniversary of the planes impact into the field, the litle "star of trees" by the sacred ground ( the designers hame for the crash site) are all coincidences. The arms of the "embrace" of the crescent reaching out along the qibla are just an accident.

It's just too much reference to the radical islamist agenda of the airborne jihadis who prayed to allah when they brought down the plane on that spot, claiming it for allah, and a distraction from the heroism of the persons who died fighting them.

Five wouldn't trace a Star of David. That has six points. Five would be a Pentagram.

Did any of the victims like heavy metal?

Oh yeah. Good lord I'm dumb sometimes.

What is the point, incidentally, of extending the crescent (those red lines on the pic) so far past the trees? Why can't the trees just stand in a semi-ciricle which doesn't resemble a crescent?

Because the trees on the ends would shade out the trees next to them. These are not understory trees. They need full sun.

In your 'circle of trees,' you'd have to have two semicircles of trees, the ones on the southwestern exposure able to take full sun (and they couldn't really make a full half circle for the reason above), and the ones on the northeastern exposure of an understory or shade-tolerant type.

Or, the land would have to slope dramatically from southwest up to northeast so that the trees on the back side of the sunlight could get their share.

Or those northeastern facing trees would have to be of a taller sort than those fronting the sun. Which again creates your evil crescent!

Dang, Laura. You know landscaping. If you get sick of wrapping packages, I'll give you the contract to do my back yard (and cut that Islamofascist Bruce out of the action).

A fellow named RG asked a favor of me"

"Please note in the LGF comment section for me please, that the Tower of Voices at the entrance to the Flight 93 Memorial is symbolic of the Call to Prayer Towers at the entrances of Mosques around the World."

I don't know much about call-to-prayer towers , any thoughts?
Just another coincidence?

Of course, the contract will specify that your husband gets to build a spud gun.

Let's be honest: Trees suck for a memorial. First, they're just fucking trees. Second, they can die, and then your memorial looks bad (and anyone that felt their relative was represented by that tree feels bad).

Finally, this is only the second tree memorial I've heard of. What was the first? The Columbine memorial where they asshole that put it up had two trees for the shooters because he felt they were victims, too.

Clearly something about tree memorials inspires really stupid ideas that insult the victims.

We should take up a collection for a decent memorial to be sited directly under the flight path at the point when they said, "Let's Roll!"

I think this would be a cool design for the memorial:

Star and Crescent

But maybe that's just me.

Let's be honest: Trees suck for a memorial.

I can get on board with this.

Bronze, concrete, and granite don't give a fuck for light conditions and they don't die.

Slightly cleaner and labelled version here or here.

The diagram of the proposed memorial comes directly from the memorial committee (hat tip: bluemerle). North is marked on the larger map from which this was clipped.

Yes, the direction of the crescent is arguably ambiguous. If you take the opening (i.e. the tips of the thin end) as determining the direction, it points at Mecca. Even if this is a coincidence, even if it is the "wrong" interpretation, this aspect of the design nevertheless dishonours the memory of the heroes of Flight 93.

It is ambiguous, and if you use the ends of the 'red' area which seem more intuitive, it doesn't work at all.
Even the points you are using as 'tips' seem arbitrary to me, but maybe I don't quite understand what I'm looking at in those graphics.

It could be a coincidence. I have one of those shapes in my front yard (flowers, not trees), in reverse crescent but probably the same exact orientation, because that's the way the sun reaches everything.

But even if the guy did intend the crescent that way, I am saying its unreasonable to go flying off the handle, yes, even in this particular memorial. Because they are so ubiquitous in design as to be meaningless, even if the designer is being a dick.

Islam is not the sole brand of crescent shapes, the way that the Nazis OWN the swastika, or Christians OWN the cross.
They are everywhere as a basic design element in ways that a cross simply is not.

If Islam's symbol were the square, what the hell would we do.

We could put a memorial PLANE there, and the left would see a Cross. . .

-T

Speaking of crosses.

The city of Mecca.

Looks like they tried to exclude cross-streets.
But they didn't succeed.
My my. Look at all those crosses. What were they thinking?

Both Swastikas and Crosses are far older than their attendant groups. Crosses have been used in architecture before christian churches even.

If a Holocuast memorial was in the shape of a swastika, even a reversed "happy" one, it still would be insenitive and idiotic.
And so is this design. It may be more subtle than the IFC at Ground Zero, it may not even be intentional (though I personally doubt that), perhaps this is the artist's method of reaching out to heal the divide or some such nonsense, but it just doesn't belong.

These people gave their lives fighting against the red crescent or at least some part of it (insert appropriate "Islam is a religion of peace, they don't mean to blow people into pieces" nonsense here). Reaching out to their murderers, and the murderers of 3000 other Americans that day, just doesn't belong.

How does the crescent line up with the starting point of Flight 93?

Hey Lauraw, you don't gotta buy it.
I'm still not sure I do. It would be awfully rude to deliberately work in the Islamic imagery.

It's sort of the whole deal, including the architects personal emphasis on "visual poetry" that tip the scales for me.
I don't think I have to defend not liking heavy Islamic references at that memorial site.

Ace - I'd link to Hubby as Patrick Henry but I hate that picture he has on his website.
He's really talented and all. He's a trial attorney by day, but he does the Liberty or Death speech up at the church where Henry gave it. I think I made up the bell part, knowing how you like big metal bells.

Really? I thought he had one, but I may be misrembering.

And yeah, I know he doesn't, you know, dress like that on a daily basis.

Why not have a broken cresent symbolizing that the brave Americans on that plane kicked the muslims butts.

I understand where you're coming from Sarah.

I don't think I have to defend not liking heavy Islamic references at that memorial site.

No of course not. I'm just saying the plan is too generic for me to see that.
Its probably just me.

Michael,

You'd never think I knew so much about gardening if you saw my yard right now. Only the xeric stuff fared well, we've had so little rain.

Except for the lotus, which is beautiful because I've babied it, taller than me (not much of an accomplishment actually) and about to pop a couple big buds.

Almost time to tear it all down for Fall.

And watch the red maples do their thing. Red maples are popular landscaping trees because they are superb shade trees, also disease free, long lived, symmetrical, and spectacular when they flame up against the bright blue Autumn sky. Being under a red maple in Fall makes you glad to be.
Let us not hate our lovely red maples because some dummy may have had an idea.

If the crescent does, in fact, line up perfectly with Mecca (you know, to within 0.5-1.0 degrees with respect to its orientation) it is in no way a coincidence. That is just too freakin' perfect.

If the trees need light, fine... rotate the damned thing one half of one degree "clockwise" and make it point to Cairo or something. The idea that the trees require it to precisely point to Mecca is a stupid one.

Oh, regarding the path of flight 93... News articles have stated that the crescent is meant to embrace the path of the plane or something or another... this can't be the case if the plane was headed toward D.C., since it is southeast (isn't that correct?).

Even it that were the case, it strikes me as odd that the southeastern tip of the crescent was intentionally made to be longer than its compliment... almost as though the line that is orthogonal to the tips of the crescent was being aimed at something.

Oh, well... this will be dismissed as some wacky conspiracy theory. If the families are still happy with the design after these possibilities are raised then so be it.

Laura,

You'd never think I knew so much about gardening if you saw my yard right now. Only the xeric stuff fared well, we've had so little rain

I'ts been a rough year for my yard also. Lost an expensive Japanese red maple, Irish moss is dying in the rock garden, and so on.

Plus, the frigging deer keep eating my Hostis, a good shady area plant, but how do you keep the frigging deer away?

I've got a tree hydrangea right outside of my home office window which is in full bloom, and it looks great. I've been watering it by hand.

The deer will win.
Don't spend your life spraying the hostas with stuff like coyote urine or rotten eggs.

Plant something they don't like.

...though other people on my gardening site say that a sprayer works fine to deter the deer.

You've seen the things in gardening catalogs. As soon as something crosses the infrared beam, the thing starts revolving and shooting jets of water and the critters scatter.

Personally, I seed the garden with dog hair from brushing my dogs. The bunnies and deer don't like it. Pretty much anything that smells like a predator or that smells like meat or offal will offend their little vegetarian noses.

The deer will win.

That's actually the conventional wisdom in Texas, where your landscape guy (unlike Bruce in Ohio) will deer-proof the unenclosed portions of your yard with plants they don't like.

Hmmm. Kinda makes me wonder, because Bruce seems to know the pool boy, and Mrs. Michael is actually the one who ordered up this deer-vulnerable landscape plan that's going to take lot's of repeat visits . . .

Modestly off-topic, but consider what day this is:

We believe there is a lack of (or maybe "ANY") 'appropriate' 9/11 memorials, anywhere. We've put our own 5 minute video memorial online. No burning buildings, no rubble, no explosions, no speeches, no screeches, no Bin Laden, no bodies. (No kidding.) Just a remembrance of some people whose lives were cut short through no fault of their own, with poignant candid snapshots from their lives, and music.

Thought you might want to spend a few moments today, remembering.

http://mistersnitch.blogspot.com/2005/09/our-after-911-site-is-online.html

Personally, I seed the garden with dog hair from brushing my dogs. The bunnies and deer don't like it.

I knew people in Texas who collected human hair from the floor of their favorite hair salon and spread it in their yard on the same theory.

Didn't work. Frigging Texas deer got used to it and ate there landscaping.

As a member of the ACLU, I'm opposed to the use of the crescent because of its association with Islam and the Virgin Mary. /sarcasm

If they've got the balls to design a crescent shaped memorial for the heroes killed by Islamo-hey ,I hope my 72 virgins are all thin-nuts, then they certainly have the balls to point it to Mecca. They know you wont do shit about it as long as it doesnt interrupt Survior.

Why not have a broken cresent symbolizing that the brave Americans on that plane kicked the muslims butts.

EXCELLENT idea! Put a nice break in the crescent. Hey, it's an inadvertant crescent, right, that doesn't symbolize anything, right, so what harm will putting a break in it do? Nothing!

I don't get it. When I go to the Qibla finder, I get a result of 54.4 degrees from North for Somerset, Pennsylvania from the actual "prayer times" section. Why is that?

Lauraw: "No of course not. I'm just saying the plan is too generic for me to see that. Its probably just me." It may not be just you.

Anyone else who is willing to accept that the crescent is utilized in the proposed memorial only because it is a generic shape that the designer likes and in fact it is only by pure coincidence that the crescent is also an acknowledged symbol of Islam - especially in the color red - would believe it as well.

Additionally, one would have to accept that while every other shape, color, sound, and design element in the memorial was carefully and deliberately chosen and placed because of its ability to convey an aspect of the memorialized event to those experiencing the memorial, the crescent was chosen because it was a nice generic shape that it does not communicate anything whatsoever about the event being memorialized.

The designers are responsible for the various interpretations perceived in the minds of viewers and I'm sure they spent a tremendous amount of time, thought, and energy reviewing the design for all its perceptions and interpretations.

Further the perception of the crescent by the intended viewer in context at ground level is subtle to the point of being subliminal due to its size, elevation, and materials of which it is comprised. One would have to accept that this aspect of the design is pure coincidence as well.

We would have to accept as well that if the designers missed an unabiguous Islamic connotation within their design after spending thousands of man-hour in reviewing it to determine how visitors would perceive the design, then they are incompentent bordering on stupid.

They are neither incompetent nor stupid.

Another aspect of the design seems odd to me. With symmetry as a strong design element overall, the 'sacred ground' is placed asymmetrically within the design itself.

If the design were mine, the major elements of the design would focus on the sacred ground. But from what I can tell, in the existing design, they do not.

Why didn't they rotate the crescent 30 degrees or so counter clockwise resulting in the sacred ground being the focal point?

My observation may be spurrious as there may well be perfectly legitimate reasons for the orientation of the crescent as it is, but it would be interesting to find out exactly why the sacred ground resides where it does within the design.

Somerset, PA, which is much closer to Shanksville than Pittsburgh is, has a Qibla angle of 55.08 degrees, as compared to Pittsburgh's 54.4 degrees.

I think your first instincts were correct, Ace.

Two reasons why you're wrong:

Reason #1
Reason #2

I ran some numbers and it sure looks like the thing points at Mecca. See here: http://www.politicalities.com/politicalities/2005/09/it_points_towar.html

Ok, so I am a pretty open minded, liberal gal but I have to say that this "memorial" is crazy. What the hell was this guy thinking? This is not the place to honor or tribute Islam (and only a fool would claim that the crescent doesn't reference Islam), this is a place to remember the victims on that airplane, the injury to our entire country. This "artist" should be fired and the whole project redesigned. Let him build his own tribute to Mecca elsewhere.

Is there some particular reason they're determined to have their crescent?

What does a crescent look like when you put a handle on it?

Q.E.D.

FYI, I did link to a map that used the GPS coordinates of the "sacred ground" portion of the crash site. (55+ degrees from the north, calculated by a D. Edgren)
The center point of the space between the arms of the crescent is to the west and higher than this sacred ground.

I used the Pittsburg numbers cause it was the closest I could get to the latitude/longitude of the memorial using that qibla calculator providing an "official" diagram I could overly on the memorial site.

Over-emphasis on perfection of a match within 1 or fewer degrees( with no accounting for scale) seems to miss the obvious.

If it's close to the qibla, it's too close. Even if it's an accident and not design, considering all the other uncomforable association with islamic imagery.

My early guestimates were that the qibla was between 55 and 57 degrees, and they were all too close for comfort.

Voice of reason - thanks for doing the heavy lifting.

Voice of reason - thanks for doing the heavy lifting.

Nice try, Liberal Assmonger, but, to paraphrase the Soup Nazi, "No hits for you!"

Leave it as it is, only include a targeting recticle.

I will say this: If the families, after listening to all this raving lunacy as well as the coolheaded rebuttals by the suave and debonair leftosphere, find this image to be offensive, let the crescent be changed, reoriented, or turned into a duodecagon.

I won't stand in the way, because in the end it's less my - or your - memorial than it is theirs.

Auguste:

I read your analysis at your site, but it is neither insightful nor informed. And I think a good thesaurus would recommend "supercilious" as the appropriate adjective, vice "suave"or "debonair."

That said, I don't disagree with your last statement, though our collective interest and ownership should not be discounted.

You have all fallen for some clever misdirection, I'm afraid. Look at the map at the top of Ace's post. Long before reaching Mecca, the line passes directly through Paris, France. Go up and look, I say.

Why would this be?

Because it's not a "crescent", it's a croissant! It's a clear jab at red blooded Americans by a bunch of pansy French pastry chefs. I mean, who else goes into landscape architecture but croissant-eating pansies?

And to top it all off, the croissant surrounds the sacred ground, planted with a variety of wildflowers. From above it looks suspiciously like the surface of French toast, and get this, the croissant itself is formed by maple trees. Sugar maples. The tree that produces SYRUP! Could he make the insult any clearer??? Does he have to make fun of Americans who died just after breakfast?

The architect can shove his "French Croissant of embrace" and his sanctimonious, syrupy breakfast jabs where the sun don't shine!

I talked about this on the radio on Saturday on a show called Straight From The Hip. Links to the audio can be found on my blog - this topic is sprinkled throughout the first hour of the show.

I'll be doing a blogger segment on this show every Saturday, so if there are topics you think would make good radio, let me know. The segment is about blogging and bloggers and I generally mention several different sites each week (although AoSHQ was the only one this week), so tell me about your blog!

but how do you keep the frigging deer away?

I use claymores with trip-wires.

I would like to take this chance to suggest a refreshing drink that could be served at the memorial.

The national drink of all muslims, allah approved "Swine Sperm Beer!"

Allah’s camel-swine sperm beer, to please Allah of course. Muhamhead's Allah approve swine sperm beer. Brewed right in Mecca. Made of nothing but pure pig c um taken in the traditional way, by mullahs giving blow jobs to the mosque's pigs.
Just like the koran calls for.

Sura 53: 21-24 "And Muhamhead rose from the desert and was dry in the mouth. Allah our might pagan pig moon god spoke and instructed Muhamhead to suck swine penis and save the sperm to be brewed in the Whorehouse Kabba Bar of The Black Stone in Mecca."

Yes my fellow goat herding camel fuckers, allah approve Swine Sperm Beer will help you get those 9 year old girls drunk. After all it worked for our False Prophet Muhamhead (piece of pork be upon him)

That's right Muslims, no Arab pedophile wedding or liberal appeasment would be without Koran approved "Allah's Swine Sperm Beer.

Get it a a Mosque near you.

Everyone knows that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism, so why the big deal about a crescent? Anyway, all right-thinking people know that the martyrs of Flight 93 were simply punishing Amerikkka for what we did to the Indians, Africans, Arabs, and so on. The Little Eichmanns of Flight 93 should not be celebrated at all. They should be condemned for preventing the martyrs from achieving their goal of having the chickens come home to roost. In their remaining time on this earth, the fascists of Flight 93 should have taken the opportunity to convert to Islam, the one true religion, and helped the martyrs direct the plane into the house where Chimpy McBushitler lives. The memorial could then be in the shape of a giant oil well.

I think I'll post this on Kos or DU now, and see how it is received. They usually like this kind of stuff.

'I use claymores with trip-wires."

THIS SIDE TOWARD CERVIDAE

I'd like to point out that I mentioned this whole idea back on the 8th. Not that I did anything to prove it, mind you...

http://blog.mu.nu/cgi/splorp.cgi?entry_id=116972

Search for "Sean"

re: the qibla-- Wretchard does the math.
One of my brothers is an architect, with an additional degree in landscape design--no way is the choice of plantings bare of a message--trees that turn red at a certain time of year?
It maybe that the message is i-am-so-fracking-clever-and-you-dull-proles-will-never-get-this mixed with the profound insight into tragedy and conflict that only les artistes can confer upon us lesser humans.

I did another little diagram calculated from Somerset instead of Philly. It's Zombified; that is, animated with a frame of the crescent from Zombie's animated gif.

Rats, I missed a pair of quotes.

Here is a link to the Somerset qibla zombified diagram.

I love the diagram, but two points:

There are adjacent stands of two species of maple, both native to the area and appropriate for the climate and soil: red maple (red in autumn) and sugar maple (orange in autumn).

The semicircular shape, a standard in the landscape architect's repertoir, responds to the existing lay of the land.

:)

. . . repertoire . . . I should have previewed.

How can you tell it's pointing towards rather than turning its back towards Mecca?

Been 15 years since I worked for a defense contractor - had to call a friend to confirm my vague recollection, I didn't work directly on this program.

We did aircraft mods, including Air Force One. Byproduct of that deal was a lot of "head of state" planes, other countries paying us to create what we called "Good Times Vans" of the skies.

We did 8 planes for the Saudis. Very extravagent... gold trimmed plumbing in the lavs, shag carpeting (kidding),

on one, a rotating prayer platform (upper deck of a 747 stretch)..no matter how the plane was oriented, the platform turned to point to Mecca

the software we wrote calculated qibla using 1) great circle and 2) shortest distance.

Sissy, don't bother.

They're rolling.

The argument is ending up to be, even if it was a complete coincidence, which I do believe it was, any feature with a red crescent is inappropriate for this particular monument.

If the city of Mecca could not avoid cross-streets, and didn't get anal about making sure they weren't created (and lord knows those people obsess over symbols), I don't see why we should get obstinate about a monument which follows the lay of the land; contains the color red which symbolizes blood, valor, and sacrifice; and honors our valorous dead with a peaceful place framed by spectacular trees which blaze amazing colors about the time of their sacrifice.

Wretchard said that even though there was a 1 in 9 chance that the crescent would be oriented the way it was, it is still inappropriate.
Well, if the plan from the outset was to plant sun-hungry red maple trees around it, the chances were waaay better than 1 in 9 that they'd be oriented this way. More like 1 in 2.

I wouldn't be surprised if the trees were chosen before the final design of the central area, red maples are that special and desirable for landscaping.

Look, when I see somebody holding the American flag in the wrong direction, I get angry.
But this isn't the same thing.

As far as the designer's 'poetry' references; again, poetry has different meanings to different people.

I think red trees flaming forth as near as possible near the time of their sacrifice is a tribute. Kill me! I really do.
The rest is a coincidence. And let's not get anal about it.

Lefty Architect use of color red for
blood and fire it quite sensitive.

And we over 35 also seem to recall the relationship of the color RED and a crescent like shape to that enemy now
part of the "memorylessness" (Wretchard's word) of the Left Stream
Media:

THE USSR - OFF THE MAP - OUT OF HISTORY. but RED China is still on map.
You wrote:
"The Crescent Points to China, Not Mecca?: Nope, not according to that picture. The FAT PART of the crescent is not quite centered on the crescent; indeed, if you take the midpoint of the *fat part* of the crescent, that doesn't point to Mecca. Conceded.

But the midpoint of the whole crescent, starting at one slender tip, ending at the other, does seem to point straight to Mecca.

Coincidence? Or design? "

So both are correct. A great sophomoric
trick by the elite left artsy fartsy community.

They must be so proud.

May I suggest that the monument be used as is, but with a museum nearby? A single, long building with curved sides, a brown roof coming to points at each end.

Let's see, where should it be located?

Perhaps, oh, end on to the crescent, to the north east of the center of the crescent?

If the crescent means nothing, then why not swap it with another shape that also means nothing?

I agree with this. However, I do not agree that this was done intentionally.

We in the blogosphere have a responsibility to maintain a certain objectivity towards such things. Whether the designers meant this or not (and again, I DO NOT think they did) is not relevant. Unfortunate? Yes. But this is mere speculation and, as such, belongs in that realm.

Many of your commenters respond to this as if it were fact, and that's troubling. We should all consider the facts of the case and go from there.

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I am a Muslim who has lived in both Eastern and Western societies. I grew up listening to the Doors, Led Zepplin, Fleetwood Mac etc, watching Hollywood movies and American sitcoms, educated in English and had the opportunity to travel extensively. With out any doubt, whatsoever, I can say that there are far more similarities than differences between the two cultures. It is sad and most distressing to see that political leaders on both sides are using religion and politics for their own political gains. This cancerous mentallity is spreading worldwide and we, as rational human beings must fight this myopic mentality. There are good and bad people on both sides of the fence, and we i.e. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists etc. must become one. Please ... lets stop the hatred and misconceptions and together build a peaceful world. Lets fight this cancer together. Lets build understanding. All religions teach peace, lets begin with ourselves.

Lost Verses of the Koran

Surah 115: The Pig

Bismillah:

The hurried flight of the Hegira had led the Muslims to a fertile oasis, where they were at last safe from their many enemies in Mecca.
Pausing, each thanked Allah the moon-god for their good fortune.
Assembling at a long table, they enjoyed rare delicacies brought by bare-breasted sirens whose faces were veiled. During the feast Muhammad sternly forbade his disciples to partake of pig flesh, while fondling the youthful breasts of a Nubian girl named Sheba.
Obeying the Prophet, the pilgrims partook of the succulent flesh of jackals and vultures, washing their food down with strong wine.
“I never dreamed I’d have to eat the loins of a jackal, let alone the bitter entrails of a cursed vulture,” observed a hungry pilgrim named Ahmed to a fellow Muslim, choking on the unpalatable morsels.
“Neither did I, but the Holy Prophet has ordered it,” grumbled another starving follower, almost heaving as he consumed greasy vulture flesh.
“A rancid pork chop would taste a hell of a lot better than this crap does,” retorted Ahmed.
“It’s an acquired taste brother, you’ll get used to it,” spoke up another, smiling with a mouthful of rotten teeth.
“I don’t think so,” replied Ahmed, forcing down a burned jackal testicle.
An uncaring Muhammad, famished, greedily wolfed down roasted jackal in enjoyment, quaffing from an earthenware wine carafe on occasion, while choosing which of the sirens that would soon endure his favors.
The meal finished in the late afternoon, a drunken, lustful Muhammad initiated a sex orgy with the sirens, the debauched Holy Prophet, Allah speaking through him, declaring all earlier betrothals or marriages of the women he knew null and void.
The Muslims celebrated their good fortune, again thanking Allah for the bounty they had been blessed to receive.
Later, as Muhammad sat half-naked under a palm tree, masturbating to the thought of molesting little girls, Ahmed chanced by and remarked, "Oh great prophet, why does Allah say that we cannot dine on delicious porcine flesh?"
"Why?" asked Muhammad blithely, closing his filthy, tattered, moth-eaten robe, "Because Allah's younger retarded cyclops brother is a pig, and Allah doesn't want us killing his holy kinfolk."
"Allah is a pig?" asked an incredulous Ahmed, staring at Muhammad.
"Of course," replied the deranged Prophet Muhammad, hallucinating thanks to ingesting strong hashish minutes earlier.
"That's ridiculous, why in hell do we worship pigs?" asked Ahmed sharply, thinking his flight from Mecca may have been the result of heeding the words of a false prophet, possessed of a capricious desert demon who delighted in seeing them consume the flesh of vermin.
"Because they're better than we are," answered a smiling Muhammad, now fantasizing about raping little boys, "Look at me, I'm little more than a lecherous child molester, thief and murderer!"
"True, but pigs can't even talk!" exclaimed a sardonic Ahmed, digging a heel into the sand.
"Allah can, he speaks to me in my dreams," retorted the wildly hallucinating Muhammad, barely able to focus on Ahmed, seeing him in double vision.
"You're a madman Muhammad," declared a disgusted Ahmed, "I'm heading back to join the infidels in Mecca!"
"Who cares?" retorted Muhammad, slurring his words and breaking into riotous laughter.
Prophet Muhammad, opening his robe and again reaching for his flaccid sex organ, was too occupied with masturbating his building erection to reply further, while Ahmed, shaking his head in disbelief, disappeared behind a sand dune.
"What a stupid, perverted, licentious bastard," spat Ahmed, walking off, adding, "Muhammad is crazier than a shithouse rat!"

Surah 116: The Pervert

Bismillah:

And it came to pass that Prophet Muhammad was growing ever hornier and more depraved: In a dream it was revealed by Allah that he was to molest a young girl named Ayesha.
Drunk on strong wine, the Prophet looked to a follower named Khalil and announced, “Allah has said I am to have sex on this day with a child; the virgin daughter of my brother in law Abu.”
“What?” asked a frowning, incredulous Khalil, holding a wine bottle, taken back by the remark and turning to Muhammad.
“I am to know Abu’s daughter Ayesha,” declared Muhammad, a finger in the air, becoming visibly aroused at the thought having sex with her.
“She is but a little girl who plays with dolls; her womb does not yet weep, are you insane?” asked Khalil, knowing in his heart that the Prophet was little more than a pervert, thief, liar and murderer.
“Probably, but it is the will of Allah”, a chuckling Muhammad stated to himself, staggering off to the hovel of Ayesha.
“What a twisted devil the Prophet is – the will of Allah my ass, he’s just an evil, depraved monster who lusts after the flesh,” Khalil mumbled disgustedly, putting the bottle to his parched lips.
An oblivious and uncaring Muhammad blundered down the street, weaving as he went, arriving at the hovel shortly thereafter.
Knocking on the door, Ayesha’s mother Umm appeared.
“What do you want Prophet?” she asked with disdain, staring at the debauched Muhammad, clad in a filthy tan robe covered in dust and wine stains, a lone flea crawling upon his moustache near his nostrils.
“Bismillah, I am here to take your daughter Ayesha in bed,” the Prophet answered bluntly, slurring his words.
“You licentious beast!” exclaimed the girl’s mother, “She is only six years old, if it is indeed the will of Allah, take me instead to satisfy your wanton depravity!”
“Taking you is not the will of Allah,” retorted a smiling Muhammad, the scent of wine heavy on his foul breath, “You are a wrinkled and faded flower without comeliness; be gone with your favors; I could never get a hard on at the likes of you.”
Enraged by her rebuff, Muhammad smote her upon the face with a backhand.
“That is what one gets for disobeying the will of Allah,” declared Muhammad, his words punctuated by a loud belch, “Take me to Ayesha, that I may know her on this day!”
Obeying, Umm reluctantly led Muhammad to the room of Ayesha, opening the door.
“This perverted Prophet here wants to screw you,” announced Umm with a frown, Muhammad ogling the virgin child in double vision.
“But you knew my cousin Abdullah, younger brother of Ahmed not an hour ago,” replied a shocked Ayesha, dropping her doll, revolted by the sight of the filthy, lascivious pedophile Muhammad.
“Be that as it may, Allah has said I will also know you,” answered Muhammad with an expectant smile, the gleam of lust in his eyes.
“Why me?” asked Ayesha, looking to the Prophet with trepidation.
“Because Allah has said it and I am horny, let us lay down, that I may know you,” ordered Muhammad blithely as he removed his robe, Ayesha’s mother shaking her head in helpless disgust and closing the door.

Surah 117: The Murderer

Bismillah:

Mohammed and his followers enjoyed many days away from Mecca at the oasis, home of his oafish brother in law, Abu Bakr, who was also Muslim.
Dining on roast jackal, vultures and snakes, their strength was renewed by the bounty Allah the moon-god provided: plentiful food for their bellies and plentiful sirens for their carnal pleasure.
Khalil was upset that the Prophet was an evil lecherous pedophile who had known a little girl, so he went to the home of Ayesha to speak with her father, Abu the oaf.
He made his way to the hovel, and knocked on the door.
Ayesha’s mother opened the door, frowning as she beheld another of Prophet Muhammad’s followers.
“Is life not bad enough, what are you here for, to rape my daughter, me, or one of my sons?” she inquired with disdain.
“Indeed not woman, I must speak with your husband, not you,” replied Khalil sharply, who as a good Muslim, looked down upon women as little more than objects of pleasure, or dogs to be beaten into submission.
“My husband Abu is very drunk,” she related, lowering her gaze in respect for Khalil.
Khalil entering the hovel, the oaf Abu appeared from a side room holding a wine bottle, and slurred, “What do want here, follower of the Prophet?”
“I must speak with you regarding your little daughter Ayesha,” answered Khalil.
“What about her?” asked Abu, blinking his eyes and trying to focus on the man.
“The Prophet came unto her in her room a fortnight ago; do you not know?” asked Khalil bluntly.
“He has come unto her many times since, she is his wife,” replied the unconcerned oaf.
“His wife you say - you permitted it?” asked Khalil, stunned by the revelation.
“Of course; he has come unto one of my nephews too, Muhammad is a pederast, it is the will of Allah,” declared a shrugging Abu.
“He’s raping our child you drunken bastard!” exclaimed a tearful Umm, looking to Khalil.
Abu smote her across the face, admonishing, “Take care woman, speak not ill of Prophet Muhammad, it is the will of Allah. The Prophet first knew Ayesha in a dream, when Gabriel showed her to him, uncovering her body for him to see.”
“That is really sick, she’s only six years old,” observed Khalil, shaking his head.
“Better for the great Prophet to know her than one of the infidels,” declared a smiling Abu with arms in the air.
“Prophet my ass, Muhammad is a depraved monster possessed of a demon; how could permit such a thing, you are her father!” exclaimed Khalil in utter disgust.
“Yes I am, and the Prophet says I will know her too,” confessed Abu, contemplating the odd thought of having sex with his own daughter.
Umm burst into tears and sobbed, throwing herself to the floor upon hearing Abu’s repugnant words.
A fearful Khalil fled the hovel, not knowing what to think; realizing Muhammad and his brother in law Abu were licentious perverts and vicious rapers of children, possessed of capricious and malevolent demons.
Later, Abu spoke with the Prophet while they entered a brothel together. He told him of the strange encounter with Khalil.
Khalil’s an idiot, he takes Islam much too seriously,” replied a chuckling Muhammad, looking to his oafish brother in law.
“It is a bad omen Prophet, Khalil woefully disdains your marriage to Ayesha, and disdains that I am to know her too,” declared Abu, even he feeling deep down that such a liaison was distasteful, but knowing it was the unalterable will of Allah, the moon god.
“It is the will of Allah for you to know your daughter, did not Lot of Sodom know his daughters in the cave?” asked a slurring Muhammad, quite drunk, leaning against a wall to steady himself.
“Yes Prophet, he did,” answered Abu with firm resolve, nodding.
“Indeed, it was and is Allah’s will,” replied Muhammad confidently, picking a flea from his beard and crushing it between his fingernails, “As for our problem, I will have a dream tonight, and Allah will order me to kill Khalil.”
“He will?” asked Abu, putting a hand to his chin in confusion, “But I thought the Perfect, Most Merciful Pig Allah never revealed his intentions until you had a dream.”
“No matter oaf, he is making his will known to me by making me drink strong wine on this day,” corrected a quickly lying Muhammad, holding up a bottle.
“Don’t you drink strong wine everyday?” asked a sardonic Abu.
“Not as strong as this stuff,” replied the Prophet with a broad smile, “It has hashish oil in it; let us partake of a pair of this brothel’s women and enjoy wine together.”
As Muhammad and Abu descended into more revelry and debauchery, a troubled Khalil approached another of the Prophet’s followers, the one with rotten teeth. Telling him of his woes, he awaited the reply.
“Who cares what he does, have vulture and some wine,” declared the man, tearing a leg from a roasted, maggot-ridden carcass and offering it to Khalil.
“You don’t care that Muhammad is a deranged pervert who has sex with little children?” asked Khalil, taking the leg.
“Hell no, I’m only here for the food, I was starving in the alleys of Mecca before I met Muhammad,” replied the rotten toothed man, grabbing more vulture flesh and a wine bottle.
“Oh,” answered a defeated Khalil, taking a bite from the leg and reaching for wine.
Late evening came, with Khalil and the other followers drunk and passed out in their tent.
Muhammad and Abu awoke at the brothel after midnight, rested and refreshed.
“What are we to do about Khalil?” asked Abu as they left via a side door, avoiding an encounter with the brothel’s madam, to whom they owed money.
“Leave that to me oaf,” answered the Prophet blithely, holding up a hand, “In my dream Allah told me how to deal with him.”
Muhammad headed down the street and stealthily entered the tent of his followers, intent on taking Khalil’s life. Abu Bakr followed him through the entrance, looking about for possible witnesses.
Holding an oiled leather garrote, the smiling Prophet mercilessly strangled the sleeping Khalil, knowing in his heart that it was the will of Allah.
The helpless follower struggled defiantly as a determined Muhammad gritted his teeth and pulled the garrote tighter, crushing Khalil’s windpipe, the Prophet letting out foul gas from his posterior due to the exertion. The struggling ceased; he and Abu then quietly removed the body from the tent and carried it into the desert.
“That takes care of that problem,” declared a satisfied Muhammad as he pocketed the garrote, he and Abu making their way to his hovel so he could know his young wife Ayesha again.
“When will I know her Prophet?” inquired Abu in the lamplit hovel, looking to his daughter’s room.
“Very soon, Allah has said it, go know your wife Umm for now, oaf,” suggested Muhammad with a smile, opening the door to Ayesha’s room.

Surah 118: The Liar

Bismillah:

Time passed, and a strengthened Muhammad and his followers left the fertile oasis. The Prophet was joined by his young wife Ayesha and her father, oaf Abu, who left the remainder of his family stranded at the oasis, his wife Umm dying of grief shortly afterward.
Not one of the party dared question the vanishing of Khalil, some fearing that they too would vanish, perhaps due to Allah’s will or worse.
Muhammad told his followers that Khalil was an evil infidel, and had fled because he had coveted Ayesha, the child looking to her husband the Prophet, she and her father knowing he was not telling the truth.
“That is not true my father, Khalil only came to tell you of the Prophet knowing me,” Ayesha whispered, she and Abu standing only a few cubits from Muhammad.
“Take care in what you utter among others child, some things are better kept to oneself,” answered Abu quietly, not half the oaf the Prophet thought he was.
The rotten toothed man was listening intently; he had watched from the shadows while a smiling Muhammad strangled Khalil, but wisely kept this knowledge to himself, vowing to flee the group at the earliest opportunity.
Abu Bakr, fulfilling the will of Allah, came unto his daughter Ayesha over several evenings in a tent at the beckoning of the Holy Prophet, oddly finding her favors more satisfying than those of his wife.
Feeling strange from the experience of knowing his own daughter, a troubled Abu sought wise Muhammad’s advice.
“It was the will of Allah,” declared the debauched Muhammad, drunk on strong wine, “Allah has also revealed it is you which will sire her firstborn in her twelfth year; her bastard child Fatima.”
“I will?” asked Abu, incredulous that he would be siring a child by his own daughter.
“Yes,” replied the Prophet, removing his filthy robe, “But first I must satisfy my carnal urges, by indulging in her favors myself.”
Prophet Muhammad entered the tent and came unto the young Ayesha, who complained that she was sore from knowing her father three times in one day.
Striking her across the face, Muhammad admonished, “Keep your mouth shut wife and be thankful to Allah that only I and your father are knowing you.”
“Yes Holy Prophet,” Ayesha replied, closing her eyes and wincing in pain as Muhammad again knew her.
Arriving in Medina the following week, the Muslims found friends in this city, delighting in drunken revelry and the favors of veiled, tempting harlots with dark eyes.
A lecherous Muhammad, Ayesha and his brother in law Abu took up residence at a fine brothel, the Prophet and the oaf sampling the offerings over many weeks, finding that Medina had the finest of all harlots in the land.
Many residents of Medina found that Islam was a faith that appealed to them, Allah’s unalterable will moving the people, they abandoning their staid ways, joining with Prophet Muhammad in idleness, licentious revelry and drunkenness.
Abu later visited the Prophet in his tent, informing him of dreadful news that Medina was host to a band of Jews.
“Jews you say, the people of the book,” answered Muhammad, “They are bitter enemies of Allah and Islam; we will not suffer such people to live in our midst.”
“But there are 40 score or more of them in the city Prophet, do the warriors of Allah have the numbers to defeat them?” asked Abu.
“Of course oaf,” declared the evil Muhammad, “We shall wait until the dark of night, prowling by stealth, and then cut their throats as they slumber; Allah has willed it.”
Listening in the shadows, the rotten toothed man determined it was time for him to flee. Regardless of the free food, he wanted no part of a group of vicious, skulking cowards who would slaughter people as they slept.
Allah’s will was fulfilled on the next night, 40 score Jews meeting their end at the hands of the deranged, murderous pedophile Muhammad and his obedient Muslims.

Surah 119: The Thief

Bismillah:

A fortnight passed, with many of the remaining people of Medina embracing Islam, and others fleeing for their lives, with the exception of a wealthy merchant named Sabri and his family.
Sabri vexed the followers with his words that Prophet Muhammad was little more than a drunken liar, murderer, and wanton sexual pervert; a lascivious monster and pedophile who kept the company of prostitutes, drunks and the slothful.
In another dream, the Holy Prophet learned that the vexing merchant had to be silenced, and that he had been chosen by Allah to murder him.
Telling Abu of his dream, he and Abu plotted the murder of Sabri the merchant. After enjoying strong wine together, they headed to his home on a dark late evening, let in by a lovely servant girl.
Muhammad and the oaf Abu observed the opulence of his residence; Sabri dressed in a fine silk robe with a silk turban, seven rings of gold and silver on his fingers.
His wife and the lovely servant girl brought food and a carafe of diluted wine for her husband, they disdainfully looking upon the filthy, debauched Prophet and his henchman Abu.
“Why will you not submit to Islam, it is the will of Allah,” declared the evil Muhammad, looking to Sabri, looking for the chance to end his life.
“The will of Allah my ass, you Muhammad are a murderous debauched lecher and raper of children. Your loathsome followers feed on the rancid flesh of vermin instead of fine pork roasts, and defile all that they touch,” declared a disgusted Sabri, noting that the Prophet was drunk, dressed in a filthy tattered robe, with his unkempt hair and long beard matted with dirt.
“I consume the flesh of vermin too, Great Allah is a Holy, Merciful Pig, it is not halal to dine on the sacred flesh of his younger brothers,” declared Muhammad with a finger in the air, Abu nodding in agreement.
“No, it is you who are a pig, you deranged cretin possessed of a vile demon,” retorted Sabri angrily, looking upon the Prophet with hatred in his eyes.
“Those who do not submit to the will of Allah will suffer dire consequences,” threatened Abu, looking about for anyone who would dare stop them. Observing only two women in the house, he smiled, knowing that the will of Allah was about to be fulfilled.
Sabri paused, staring at the Prophet and Abu in contempt, hoping he could in some way persuade them to leave the city, noting that business had fallen off to practically nothing since the arrival of the Muslims.
“Look, if I give you money, will you and yours flee Medina and never return?” asked Sabri with folded hands, hoping he could encourage them to leave with a payment of fine gold.
“I can’t leave,” declared a smiling Muhammad, “I am serving Great Allah, the Most Merciful Pig.”
Sabri, confused for a moment, replied, “But I thought Allah was the moon goddess of Mecca.”
“Whatever,” retorted a shrugging, uncaring Muhammad while picking his nose, he knowing that Allah didn’t exist anyway.
“You are destroying Medina with your vile harlotry and wicked ways!” exclaimed Sabri.
The Prophet laughed, and replied, “Indeed not, Allah is guiding my hand in this and all my actions, providing me and my followers with what we desire: food, fine drink and the company of willing sirens, like your lovely servant girl back there.”
“My servant girl is betrothed to a good man in Mecca, you will not speak ill of her, nor will you covet her favors,” declared Sabri, noting Muhammad leering through an open door, ogling the girl and his wife.
“I will do as I wish,” retorted the evil Muhammad with another laugh, reaching into his tattered, filthy robe and producing the garrote, “I covet the favors of your servant girl, and will take her to my bed for a concubine on this night. Those such as you will not stop the will of Allah or his Messenger.”
Abu rose while the Prophet was speaking and smote Sabri upon the face with a closed fist, knocking the silk turban from his head. Muhammad descended upon him like a viper, pulling the garrote tightly around his throat, strangling him in his chair while his wife and servant girl screamed.
“Be silent women, it is the will of Allah!” Muhammad yelled through gritted teeth as he took the life of Sabri. Oaf Abu moved into the room and beat them into submission while a struggling Sabri kicked the wine carafe from the table, it shattering on the floor.
Sabri’s life vanquished, Prophet Muhammad exhaled loudly and let the lifeless body tumble to the floor.
The trembling women remained silent as Abu returned to the Prophet with them.
“Where is your money?” asked a greedy Abu of Sabri’s wife.
“A box of gold and silver is in our bedroom,” answered his tearful wife, almost fainting from Abu’s foul breath.
“I’ll get it,” volunteered a smiling Muhammad, pulling the garrote from the body, “Get the rings from his fingers oaf.”
The Prophet returned with a box of glittering coins, pleased that Allah had provided such bounty for his followers.
“I can’t get the last ring off,” complained Abu, having pocketed six others.
“Cut off his finger to get it, and take his robe and turban too,” ordered Muhammad, determined not to leave one valuable item in the house.
Abu obeyed, reaching for a knife on the table, slicing off the finger and pulling the ring from it.
Arriving at the brothel, the Prophet celebrated his good fortune by knowing Sabri’s wife and the servant girl, annulling the widow’s marriage and the girl’s betrothal in the eyes of Allah.
Later that evening Abu was given Sabri’s widow for a concubine, as he had grown weary of Ayesha’s favors, also needing an able slave to cook and serve him.
Having to beat her before he knew her, Abu thanked Allah and Muhammad for the welcome gift of Sabri’s wife.

Surah 120: The Hypocrite

Bismillah:

More time passed, with some of Muhammad’s followers finding the Prophet’s actions in Medina going against everything he had preached in Mecca, seeing him as Khalil, the rotten toothed man, and the merchant Sabri had seen him: an evil, debauched rapist, pedophile, liar, and murderer.
These and other apostate followers were quickly slaughtered as infidels, fulfilling the will of Allah; a smiling Muhammad strangling many of them as they slept.
Even Abu began to think that Muhammad’s wanton depravity may have been going too far when he encountered him in a tent knowing several young Jewish boys that had been taken captive.
“Prophet, some of the followers are complaining that you are denying them participation in the bounty given us by Allah, and that you are also practicing strange acts that Allah has forbidden to others,” related Abu, frowning at the displeasing thought of Muhammad knowing little boys.
“They want some of the gold, right oaf?” asked a drunken Muhammad, dressed in Sabri’s silk robe and turban, seven rings of gold and silver upon his greasy fingers, the fine garb growing filthier with each passing day.
“That, and some of them would also like to have some of the girls and boys for concubines,” answered Abu.
“They cannot have the little boys, Allah has given them to me for my carnal pleasure,” declared the lascivious Prophet, “As for the little girls, give them to the followers as wives, so that their carnal desires can be sated; it is the will of Allah.”
“Others say that you don’t practice what you have preached,” added a fidgeting Abu, hoping not to arouse Muhammad’s maniacal wrath.
“I’m only the messenger, Allah’s revelations don’t apply to me,” retorted Muhammad, releasing a tearful Jewish boy from his carnal embrace.
“What about me?” asked Abu.
“They don’t apply to you either oaf; would you like a lovely little boy for your carnal pleasure?” slurred the depraved sodomite Muhammad, lustfully leering at another boy he had chosen next to debauch.
“No, I find not that boys appeal to me,” answered Abu quietly, though he was a lecherous pedophile and pervert, he had no desire to sodomize little boys.
“Suit yourself oaf, more for me to enjoy,” answered the Prophet with a chuckle, undressing another captive boy, returning to his lecherous pederasty as Abu left the tent.
The city of Medina had been taken completely by the conquering Muslims, they reveling in their murderous victory over the infidels and Jews.
In another dream, it was revealed to Muhammad by Allah that they were to attack and conquer the city of Mecca. They were to subdue it and convert the inhabitants there to Islam, after which the Prophet was to take a pagan shrine called the Kaaba and defile it in the name of Allah.
“In Mecca there is glittering plunder, fine gold to steal, and many women to be taken for concubines,” declared the Prophet, “Allah has said to have faith in him and we will not fail; are you with me, warriors for Islam?”
The devoted followers answered, shouting in unison: There is no god but Allah the Pig, and Muhammad is his prophet!”
“We will need weapons to defeat them,” Abu observed, looking to the Holy Prophet.
“Easily done oaf,” replied an unconcerned Muhammad, ordering several henchmen to plunder the city of metal so weapons could be quickly fashioned.
Bronze implements were seized from every home; plowshares were heated and beaten into fine scimitars for the devoted followers.
As his followers labored over hot forges, Muhammad gave a sermon, declaring that vengeance, blood and death would rain down upon Mecca in the name of Allah.
The work completed over several days, a feast was held by the warriors of Islam to further strengthen them for the long journey; the flesh of rats, snakes, vultures and jackals gracing their tables. The hungry Prophet had a willing siren prepare his favorite of all dishes, fat dung beetles boiled in seasoned vulture broth.
“We should give Allah our thanks for the bounty he has provided,” declared Muhammad, seated at the head of his table beside Abu, crushing the hard shell of a dung beetle between his filthy brown teeth.
All bowed their heads in prayer, thanking Allah for the food he had provided.
“Would you like to enjoy a tasty dung beetle oaf?” asked the Prophet, turning to his brother in law, offering one to him.
“No thanks,” replied a nauseated Abu, choking down a plateful of greasy rat flesh.
Washing the unseemly morsels down with strong wine, Muhammad and his followers filled their bellies with the bitter flesh of vermin and then enjoyed the welcome favors of tempting, veiled harlots with dark eyes.
The Muslims, their women and their captives set out for Mecca on the following week, determined to exact Allah’s revenge on the people who dwelt there.
“There are many able men in Mecca, much more than we have,” observed Abu, realizing their numbers were wanting when compared to the teeming hordes of infidels occupying Mecca.
“Allah will watch over us oaf,” replied Muhammad, a sharp scimitar on his hip, he unsure as to what the outcome would be, but keeping this from the others and preparing for the worst.
“There aren’t enough of us Prophet – how will we win?” asked Abu with his arms in the air, looking at their limited numbers, no more than 50 score of able men in the service of Allah.
“Great Allah has said it, they in Mecca will embrace Islam or die for resisting his will,” the vengeful Prophet declared as Medina disappeared behind them in the distance.
A thoughtful Abu wondered why Allah would wish his followers to attack a fortified city where they were outnumbered, and also as to why Allah would have chosen a debauched murderer and licentious pervert for his Prophet.
“Oh well, it is the will of Allah,” agreed a sardonic Abu, much too committed to the deranged Prophet and Islam to back out, checking for the scimitar on his hip.

Surah 121: The Coward

Bismillah:

Returning to the oasis to gather strength before attacking Mecca, Muhammad and his followers again feasted on the bitter flesh of vermin and partook of the favors of eager women, the depraved Prophet coming unto the veiled, bare breasted Nubian harlot Sheba.
Oaf Abu learned that his wife Umm had died, Muhammad stating to him over strong wine that it was Allah’s will.
A grieving Abu came unto his new wife, the widow of Sabri, and also knew his daughter Ayesha, fulfilling the will of Allah the Pig.
The Holy Prophet also lusted for Abu’s bride, demanding that he be permitted to lay with her again.
A shrugging Abu handed her over, an angry Muhammad having to beat the stiff-necked infidel woman once again before he knew her.
“You evil murderous beast!” she screamed in tears as Muhammad was knowing her, “May the gods of my fathers destroy you and all you have wrought!”
“How dare you attempt to curse me or Allah,” grunted the Prophet as he reached orgasm, his fetid breath causing her to heave, “Take care woman, or I will expose you as the sorceress you are, giving you over to be stoned by my devoted followers.”
“Better to be dead than to endure your vile attentions again,” Abu’s wife retorted as the Prophet rose from her bed.
“Bitch,” Muhammad muttered as he left Abu’s tent, adjusting his filthy silk turban.
Leaving the oasis on the third day, the devoted Muslims resumed their journey to Mecca, Abu still troubled about their limited numbers and telling the Holy Prophet of his doubts.
“Don’t worry oaf, we will remain behind while the first wave of our brothers besiege and subdue the infidels in Mecca,” Muhammad declared in a low tone of voice, Ayesha looking up to him and frowning.
“Do you have a problem with that wife?” asked Muhammad, strangely controlling his compulsion to beat her for daring to disagree with Allah’s unalterable will.
Ayesha remained silent and looked to the ground, Abu answering, “I thought we would lead them in battle.”
“No, we are to remain behind and observe the followers take the city, it is the will of Allah,” replied Muhammad, he filled with doubts and preferring to watch from afar, as the strong hashish he had eaten in Medina had worn off long ago.
Arriving outside the city walls under cover of night, the Muslims prepared for battle in the only way they knew: skulking by stealth and murdering defenseless people while they slept.
As a full moon rose, a vanguard of devoted followers scaled the city walls, only to be discovered and cut down by the defenders of Mecca.
“Attack in the name of Allah!” shouted Muhammad while retreating to a bluff with Abu, his wives and several trusted followers, the Meccans opening the city gates to meet the glorious warriors of Allah in battle.
Seeing the Holy Prophet on the bluff by moonlight, this sight strengthened the attacking Muslims.
“The battle is not going very well,” observed Abu as the moon rose higher, watching the Muslim army being wiped out.
“Yes, Allah is displeased that our faith was not strong enough,” replied a strangely detached Muhammad, staring from the bluff at the carnage outside the walls of Mecca.
“That, or we didn’t have enough men, I told you,” retorted Abu, watching several followers being hacked to death by the defenders.
“That is possible oaf,” admitted Muhammad, Abu frowning at the reply.
“What do you plan to do to save your followers Prophet?” asked Ayesha.
“Nothing, it is Allah’s will,” replied Muhammad with a shrug, still watching the battle.
Abu’s frown grew into anger as he watched a smiling Muhammad delight in the butchery of his followers.
“You’ve lost at least 30 score since the moon rose, do you intend to stay until we are slaughtered too?” asked Abu’s wife.
“How dare you speak to me unless spoken to!” exclaimed the Prophet, preparing to smite her across the face.
“My good wife Fahimah makes a wise observation,” declared Abu, using her given name for the first time, grasping Muhammad’s forearm, preventing him from striking the widow.
Pulling away from Abu, the Prophet paused and replied, “It’s time for us to leave oaf, we shall retreat to the oasis to pray and fast.”
A defeated Muhammad and his trusted followers left the bluff and headed back toward the oasis in the moonlight. Looking over his shoulder, the Prophet feared that vengeful Meccans might pursue them.
“Let us make haste,” declared Muhammad, fearing for his life.
Several days passed as they retreated from Mecca, the remaining band of Muslims at last pausing for needed rest and making a camp in the desert.
The captive Fahimah had grown to respect her new husband Abu, as he had prevented the Holy Prophet from striking her outside the walls of Mecca. Making him a meal of jackal flesh soup, she presented it to him in his tent.
“Thank you woman,” Abu replied, taking an earthenware bowl and strong wine, she nodding and leaving him to eat.
As Abu was eating, a stir rose in the camp: a lone survivor of the battle having at last caught up to the followers. Putting down his bowl, he left the tent to find the survivor admonishing Muhammad.
“You coward,” he gasped, “You left us to die, have you no faith in your visions, or are they only lies coming from your vile mouth?”
The Prophet, drunk, answered, “I had a dream after the battle, it was Allah’s will that we were defeated, as it was his will that you survived. We lost because our faith in Allah was not strong enough.”
“You lied, telling us of easy plunder and women; there weren’t enough of us to take Mecca, 50 score died outside the gates for nothing!” the man exclaimed.
“No matter, have dung beetles and strong wine to renew your strength,” slurred Muhammad, picking fleas from his beard and flinging them into a small fire at his side.
The man, much too exhausted to argue further, gratefully took a plate of boiled dung beetles and a bottle of wine, trudging off from the deranged Prophet in disgust.
A shocked Abu observed this from the shadows and retreated to his tent. Such knowledge set heavy upon him, he meditating privately on the events.
Finishing his meal, he called for his wife Fahimah, she appearing before him.
I would hear your words wife on this matter: Muhammad preaches Islam, yet he does not follow the words of Allah.”
“He is your Prophet, you have sworn to serve him and Allah, my words are those of an infidel,” she answered respectfully.
“Still I would hear them, for there is wisdom in what you utter,” Abu replied.
Fahimah, still fearful of her brutal husband, yet bound by her personal honor to obey, told him of her thoughts on the Prophet and his actions.
“I care not what god he worships, but this demon in man’s guise is not a prophet of a clean desert god,” she began.
Abu looked at her as she continued, “He forces his followers to consume the flesh of vermin, delighting in their disgust. I truly believe him to be so perverted as to rape an infant - he has others carry out his murderous work while he has no courage to fight himself: you should draw a knife across your daughter Ayesha’s throat and my own to save us from the corruption of this man.”
Abu, oaf that he was, looked at her silently as she urged him to destroy the demon Prophet Muhammad, her wise words much harder to ignore than the screechings of his deceased wife Umm.