Category Archives: terrorism

The Fortress of the Assassins, DESTROYED!

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Married To The Sea
marriedtothesea.com

The tragic destruction of the Fortress of Alamut, stronghold of the Assassins, expressed as a charming historical engraving/ironically juxtaposed caption mashup, for your viewing pleasure.

Background, from DamnInteresting:

The story of the Hashshashin, or Assassins, is cloaked in mystery, and much of the truth about them was long ago lost to war and time. Their influence, however, changed the course of history and spawned the very word we use today to describe calculated, politically-motivated murder.

The Hashshashin were formed by Hassan-i-Sabah, a follower of the Isma’ili sect of Shi’ite Islam. Hassan left his home in Cairo over a succession dispute between two heirs to the Fatimid Caliphate. After choosing the wrong heir to support, Hassan found himself escaping to Persia after spending a short period in a political prison. Determined to avenge himself upon the Fatimids while also wiping out his traditional Sunni enemies, Hassan sought and found the ideal stronghold: the fortress of Alamut, also known as “The Eagle’s Nest.” Located northwest of Tehran, just south of the Caspian Sea, Alamut was an imposing sight. Nestled atop a 2,100m mountain with only one near-vertical approach to the fortress, the Eagle’s Nest was nearly impregnable.

Nearly.

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The Knicker Vicar on Panty Pilgrimage

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Laurie McIntosh The rat in granny's panties

Talk about a modern-day superhero! Inglewood, New Zealand priest Gary Husband which, come to think of it, is a real funny name for a priest you must admit, has volunteered to undertake a Panty Pilgrimage. It seems the town has been knickerless since the local store stopped carrying ladies’ underwear over a year ago. Apparently, neither the internet nor the Sears catalogue are available in this remote corner of Kiwilandia either, which of course makes the crisis all that much more severe.

The priest organized ad-hoc panty raids to the neighboring settlement of New Plymouth, but now, thanks to the fervent prayers of his parishioners, a regular bus schedule has been organized and paid for by the government.

Big Mama Granny PantiesCouncil’s operations director Rob Phillips says the Tranzit Coachlines trips will be subsidised for a year “to ensure people were really serious about buying those new knickers – and anything else that might take their fancy”.

That’s contemporary socialism for you. From each according to her ability, to each according to how she feels about the Disney print granny panties they happened to have in stock. But it’s not a trivial issue; no indeed, it could accurately be called seminal, at least once more of the local fellows get involved.

In a world fraught with the threat of terrorism, the very last thing you want to do is turn an entire gender into commandos.

coming soon

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uh, blog content.

Blowing My CoverYesterday I unplugged for the entire day and read the only example of chick lit ever to fully engross me: the quite non-fictional Lindsay Moran‘s Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy.

And it occurred to me: given that most women buy their own perfume, rather than leave it to some guy, why are there no perfumes that are marketed using the superhero archetype? Or the superagent one? I would totally buy something that made me feel like Supergirl or Emma Peel; in fact, that’s how I choose perfumes: by balancing alluring qualities with kickass ones, which is how I ended up with Chanel #19, Allure, and (in my dreams) Midnight Poison, DKNY Red, and Stella McCartney, all of which can be described as kickass yet fuckable.

Is it related that today I am wearing my cape? I should totally make an indoor cape, for blogging, just to put myself in the right mindset. Why should imaginary people have all the fun?

Seriously.

Also, it keeps the tentacles warm.

Fundraiser for Trevor Greene tonight!

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Cross-posted from runningthroughrain

Trevor Greene Save the date for No Turning Back – A Fundraiser For Trevor Greene

Date: Wednesday September 26

Time: Doors open: 8pm,

Show starts: 9pm – 12am

MC: Todd Battis CTV News Reporter

Band: So Tight Band & Brickhouse the Band

Place: The Yale Hotel – 1300 Granville Street

Price: $20

On September 26 we are gathering together at The Yale Hotel for a

fundraiser to assist Trevor, Debbie and Grace on their miraculous

healing journey. Captain Greene was attacked from behind and struck with

a taliban axe on March 4, 2006 while sitting in a peaceful Shura

discussing how to bring clean drinking water and basic medical care and

education to the women and children of Afghanistan. His survival has

been called a miracle in the medical profession as he presently

undergoes extensive rehabilitation to speak and to reconnect his brain

and muscles in order to regain function over his entire body. Hosted by

Master of Ceremonies and CTV West Coast News Reporter Todd Battis, the

entertainment line up will feature the infectious sounds of the SoTight

Band (www.thesotightband.com) and Brickhouse

(www.brickhousetheband.com). Tickets to No Turning Back – A Fundraiser

for Captain Trevor Greene are $20 in advance or at the door. Doors open

at 8pm. Show time begins at 9pm. Price of admission includes a silent

auction, 50/50 draws and raffle items. Proceeds from this fundraiser

will go to the Captain Trevor Greene Trust Fund.

Items for door prize, raffle draw and silent auction include two flights

tickets and accommodation to La Penita Mexico, wellness gift package,

one room night in an executive suite and dinner for two, dinner for

four, dinner for two, brunch for two, wine gift basket, chocolate gift

basket and much much more.

Companies that have generously donated are: Casita de la Penita,

Signature Vacations, Foundation for Integrated Health, Fairmont Hotel

Vancouver, Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, Sylvia Hotel, Century Plaza,

Brockmann’s Chocolate, Safeway, The Yale Hotel, In Motion Lotion, Cactus

Club, T tea room and merchant, Terra Bread, Liberty Wine Merchants, The

Atlantic Trap & Gill and Tamsen Ogden Photography.

If you can’t make it to the fundraiser but would still like to

participate following is the trust fund information: Captain Trevor

Greene Trust Fund, CIBC Account #39-31137 (Bank 010,Transit 00500).

You can conveniently purchase a ticket using your credit card through

paypal: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/71765653 . If you do your

tickets will be kept at the door the night of the event.

For more information you can contact Valerie Gibbs by phone at

604.992.4697 or via email at vcg at sfu.ca.

For more information on Trevor here is a few links:

The Globe and Mail’s story

Hazel’s story

My story

Terror Alert Level: Speedos!

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Borat! Yo! MY EYES! MY EYES!

Shocking news from Guantanamo Bay, as reports trickle in that security has been breached, in several, very palpable ways.

Prisoners have been sighted in possession of, and actually wearing, contraband items which have obviously been smuggled in somehow, to purportedly the most secure compound on Earth. Ringed by the Caribbean Ocean, patrolled by endless US Navy and Coast Guard boats, continuously scouted by fighter jets and surveillance drones, nonetheless the Gitmo prison camp has proven as porous as cheesecloth, all the forces of the United States Military no more effective than the elderly, be-aproned greeters at Wal-Mart.

We’re talking Speedos, people.

From the AP, via the Guardian:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Guards at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp found two prisoners sporting unauthorized underwear, and the U.S. military is investigating to determine how they got the contraband.

Both prisoners were caught wearing Under Armour briefs and one also had on a Speedo bathing suit, items the military said were not issued by Guantanamo personnel or sent through the regular mail, according to a Defense Department letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Army Lt. Col. Ed Bush, a spokesman at the jail holding some 340 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida and the Taliban, said more was involved than just an uproar over skivvies.

He said the appearance of contraband raised serious concerns about the potential for smuggling other items that could be used by detainees to harm themselves or staff.

“There is no room for error when working in a dangerous environment, and constant vigilance is of the utmost importance,” Bush said.

Sweetie, if they look half-decent in them, you can be certain that at least some of your guards won’t take their eyes off of them. They’ve been away from home for a long time.

So, how does that work: if we wear the baggies, do the terrorists win?

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