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ariel-seagull-wings · 1 year ago

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POMEGRANATE SEED

@themousefromfantasyland @faintingheroine @princesssarisa @softlytowardthesun @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @the-blue-fairie @inevitablemoment @thealmightyemprex @tamisdava2 @natache @gstone97 @lord-antihero @professorlehnsherr-almashy

(Arab folktale from Palestine and Israel. Recorded by Yoel Perez, from the mouth of Zahia Ghurayfât (60) of the 'Arab al-Ghurayfât tribe of Bayt Zarzîr, September 11, 1982)

Oh, honored listened to the words, shall we tell a tale, or shall I sleep? Let's tell a tale.

There was a woman who was not able to become pregnant, and she could not bring forth children. Her husband was a working man.

One day a merchant came and was hawking his goods, saying:

"Pomegranate for pregnancy! Pomegranate for pregnancy!"

The woman came, took a mug full of pomegranate seeds and said:

"Oh Allah, Allah be praised and exalted! With Your might and by Your miracles and Your exalted state and Supreme Being, let me have a daughter or a son like the seeds of this pomegranate, red and good. Praised be Allah sublime, who is mighty with His ability, power and supremacy!"

Twenty years later she gave birth to a daughter whom she called Pomegranate Seed. The daughter was very pretty and and beautiful. Her beauty was incomparable. When anyone saw her, they would say:

"Pomegranate Seed is more beautiful than her mother!"

Then her mother became jealous and angry, whenever she heard that her daughter was more beautiful than she. Then her father started to like the daughter more than the mother. The mother, upon hearing this, would ask him:

"Why do you love the daughter more than me?"

He said to her:

"Because she is more beautiful and better than you."

Subsequently she started to ask the stars:

"Oh Stars, who is more beautiful, I or Pomegranate Seed?"

The Stars replied:

"Pomegranate Seed."

Then she asked the Moon:

"Oh Moon, who is better, I or Pomegranate Seed?"

The Moon replied:

"Pomegranate Seed."

She asked:

"Oh Arabs, who is better, I or Pomegranate Seed?"

They said to her:

"Pomegranate Seed."

In the end she asked all the people, and all of them prefered Pomegranate Seed. Then she said:

"I want to spill the blood of that girl and to slay her."

The mother prepared provisions for a journey and said to her daughter:

"We want to go to your uncles."

The daughter said to the mother:

"No, how can we go? I don't know my uncles."

The mother said to her:

"I want to introduce you to your uncles."

Then she took the daughter through mountains and valleys in which there was nothing except hyenas and ghouls, and other such creatures. They both stayed in an area full of rocks until night fell, the sun set, and the world became dark. There was no moon.

The mother said to her daughter:

"Let's go to sleep."

The daughter said to her mother:

"My hair is joined to yours, my flesh is tied to your flesh, and I shall sew my dress to yours, and your will be beneath my head, and my arm will be beneath your head."

The girl remained asleep until the Sun rose upon her, and she became hot. She woke up to find that nobody was beside her. She started screaming:

"Mother! Mother!"

There was nobody near her.

Then a ghoulah came and said:

"May Allah watch over you, Oh darling Pomegranate Seed! Allah be with you! May the safety of Allah be with you, and whoever forsakes you will be forsaken by Allah! From where did you come to me? From the gate of happiness to the gate of hell?"

The girl said to her:

"I was brought here by good fortune and by luck."

Thereupon the ghoulah took the girl with her.

The ghoulah was roaming freely with gazelles, and she took the girl along with the gazelles to a cave, to a natural cave, like the ones used by goats. She let the gazelles into the cave, and brought the girl in was well. She warmed her and dressed her. She said to her:

"You are my daughter, by the covenant of Allah, and whosoever betrays you will be betrayed by Allah! For I have been looking for you for a long time, Oh Pomegranate Seed!"

The ghoulah roamed with the gazelles, and every day she would take the gazelles with her as she roamed about. When she returned, she would shout:

"Oh Pomegranate Seed! Open the door for the gazelles!"

And Pomegranate Seed would clear the door for the gazelles.

The ghoulah led the girl in the cave, and all of a sudden she saw houses in the interior of the cave. The ghoulah showed her a door and a faucet, and told her that she was allowed to open them, but warned her that whatever room was closed she should beware of opening it. She gave her the keys to the entire place.

Once the ghoulah was absent, the girl went around and started to open the places which she had been warned not to open. She opened the first faucet, and dipped her finger into it. All of a sudden, her finger was all gold, and then the gold stuck to her finger. She tried to remove the gold from the finger, but could not. She opened another place, and all of a sudden there were two girls there, hanging by their hair. She did not speak to them, but closed the door, and while doing so she injured her finger, and wrapped it up.

The ghoulah came back, and said to Pomegranate Seed:

"Open the door for the gazelles! They give milk from their horns, they give milk from their teats. Oh Pomegranate Seed! Open the door for the gazelles, they give milk from their horns, they give milk from their teats!"

She opened the door and, behold, the finger of Pomegranate Seed was wrapped up. The ghoulah asked her:

"Why is your finger wrapped up, Oh my darling?"

She said to her:

"It was injured."

The ghoulah knew the truth, and she said to her:

"Let me see it!"

The girl said to her:

"No, it hurts me."

"Let me see it!"

"No, it hurts me!"

The ghoulah said to her:

"Did I not tell you not to open that door?"

However, the matter was of no importance, since the girl was dear to her.

One day, a merchant was hawking his goods, shouting:

"Buckles, combs for sale!"

It was the first time that a merchant came to this place on a donkey.

Pomegranate Seed looked at his wares, because she had much gold to spend. She asked his permission to take his merchandise. He asked her:

"Are there any human beings in this place?"

She said to him:

"I am a human being, I am Pomegranate Seed."

He said to her:

"Pomegranate Seed used to live in our neighborhood, but her mother took her and shed her blood."

She said to him:

"I am Pomegranate Seed. Is my mother still there?"

He said to her:

"Yes."

She said to him:

"I want to entrust you with a little gold to give to my mother."

He said to her:

"Good."

She gave the merchant a little gold wrapped in an envelope, to deliver to her mother.

Her mother was very upset about her daughter. She wanted to kill her, she no longer wanted to have a child. She wondered, saying:

"I abandoned her among the debris of rocks, and yet she is still alive! I want to kill her!"

She said to the merchant:

"Return to me!"

She bought a poisoned comb for her daughter and when the merchant returned, she gave it to him for her daughter. She told him:

"I entrust you with it for my daughter. Let nobody else open it, except my daughter, and when you arrive there let her wash and clean herself, and make sure that she combs her hair."

The merchant set on his rounds, carrying his gold and his property. He went to Pomegranate Seed, and told her:

"This is what your mother entrusted to me!"

Thereupon she heated up water on the fire, and washed her hair. Then she started to comb it. The first time she combed her hair the teeth of the comb broke on her head. The second time her fingers were broken.

The third time Pomegranate Seed died.

The ghoulah came back from afar, and started to shout:

"Pomegranate Seed! Open the door for the gazelles!"

Nobody answered. The ghoulah said to herself:

"If I find her asleep, she is safe, may Allah be with her, and may the trust of Allah be with her! But if I should find her alive and awake, by Allah, there is nothing else I can do but eat her, eat Pomegranate Seed!"

The ghoulah went to open the door, and there was Pomegranate Seed dead.

"Oh darling! Oh Pomegranate Seed! Oh Pomegranate Seed! Oh Pomegranate Seed!"

Pomegranate Seed did not answer. The ghoulah put rugs and carpets on the floor, dressed Pomegranate Seed in the finest clothes of the most expensive kind. The gold that the ghoulah heaped on Pomegranate Seed could not be heaped on the backs of the camels of love.

She sad:

"Oh camels of love! I beg your trust, don't descend unless you are told the phrase 'By the life of whoever is on your back!' Only then descend!"

The camels of love flew. There were some children playing ball in the field. Among them was a poor man. He was saying:

"Come down, Oh camels of love!"

But the camels did not come down.

The poor man then said:

"By the life of whoever is on your back, come down, camels of love!"

The camels of love came down. When they came down, the poor man said to them:

"Keep all the money and gold, I want to take only the girl! I shall ask my mother to wash her, and we shall bury her."

The youth, took the property and the gold, and the rugs and carpets, and he took Pomegranate Seed and brought her to his mother. He said to her:

"Oh my mother!"

She said to him:

"Oh my son!"

He said to her:

"Heat up some water, Oh my mother, and wash this young woman. I found her dead on the back of the camels of love. Let us wash her and bury her."

She said to him:

"Yes, Oh my son!"

Thereupon she started to light the fire, and she brought a pot that resembled a jar of copper, and brought water and heated it. She carried in the girl and spread mat under her, and started to wash her for burial. Who would be willing to bury her? As she was washing her, the woman shook the girl's head, and behold there was four or five teeth of a comb in her head. She plucked out the first one, whereupon Pomegranate Seed said:

"Ouch!"

She plucked out the second one, and again Pomegranate Seed:

"Ouch!"

Then she plucked out the third one, and she said:

"I witness that there is no God but Allah, and I witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah!"

When she said that, the woman said:

"This girl was dead, and now she has come back to life!"

She brought clothes for her, and dressed her, and she woke up, and behold, she was Pomegranate Seed!

The woman stopped showing her to the Arabs (i.e., she hid her), fearing that somebody would her and take her to marry his son, or that the king would take her for his son.

Day after day the old woman would go to the water, and Pomegranate Seed would ask her:

"Let me go with you to the water!"

But she said to her:

"No, Oh my darling!"

One day the king's son saw her and fell in love with her. He told his father and mother:

"I want the sister of the poor boy!"

They said to him:

"He has no sisters."

He said to them:

"I shall never get better if I don't get that girl!"

They went to the old woman and told her.

She said to them:

"This is my son's wife, and her story is such and such and such. She is not my daughter."

They said to her:

"We want her even so, even if by force!"

The old woman took the girl and went to the king's son. He was told her story, from its beggining to the end. The king's son did not stop wanting to go to see the poor girl. They told him:

"Allah sent her as a gift to the poor man; it is a sin for you to take her away. You can take any girl you want."

He said:

"Yes, of course!"

He came and gave the poor man fifty sheep, fifty goats, and fifty cows, and gave him property. He then married Pomegranate Seed, and brought her to the poor man.

#fairy tales #folklore #fantasy #literature #arab folktales #snow white #the fairest of them all

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aii-xo · 1 year ago

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ʚɞ ━ a b o u t m e ━ ʚɞ

₊˚⊹♡ ━ hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read this section :) i'll just be using this post as a little introduction to who i am, what i like, what fandoms i write for, and all that lovely stuff <3

˚₊‧꒰ა❤︎໒꒱ ‧₊ — b a s i c i n f o

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — i go by aishi online! i use she/her pronouns, i'm nineteen, i'm xnfj 2w1, and i adore dark-haired, brooding, pretty anime boys.

note. while my irl name is no secret, please do not use it here if you know it!

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — faves. diluc ragnvindr. megumi fushiguro. aki hayakawa. rin itoshi. dan heng. keiji akaashi. giyuu tomioka. shuu sakamaki. yuuma mukami. neuvillette. satoru gojo. tetsurou kuroo.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — kins. koushi sugawara. tooru oikawa. raiden ei. kaveh. fischl. k-angel/ame. ai hoshino.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — loves. drawing. cosplaying. singing. writing. psychology (uni course). pink. plushies. fashion. makeup. anime merch collecting. cats. sleeping.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — hates. bugs. needles. wearing pants (skirt supremacy). early mornings. assignments. closemindedness. overly oily foods.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — music. mainstream vocaloid/utaite - eg. proseka music, kikuo, eve, mafumafu. kpop - eg. blackpink, bts, (g)i-dle. space ambient. slow & reverb remixes. lofi.

˚₊‧꒰ა❤︎໒꒱ ‧₊ — w h a t i w r i t e f o r

note. i am open to write for any of the fandoms below, with special emphasis on the characters listed. feel free to request characters who aren't listed (read rules first), but remember that i reserve the right to reject requests for certain characters.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — genshin impact. albedo. al-haitham. ayato. baizhu. childe. cyno. dainsleif. diluc. itto. kaeya. kaveh. kazuha. lyney. neuvillette. thoma. tighnari. wanderer (kunikuzushi). wriothesley. xiao. zhongli.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — haikyuu. kei tsukishima. keiji akaashi. kenma kozume. koushi sugawara. koutarou bokuto. shinsuke kita. tetsurou kuroo. tobio kageyama. tooru oikawa.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — jujutsu kaisen. kento nanami. megumi fushiguro. satoru gojo. suguru geto. toge inumaki. toji fushiguro. yuuta okkotsu. yuuji itadori.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — blue lock. hyouma chigiri. michael kaiser. nagi seishiro. rin itoshi. yoichi isagi.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — honkai star rail. blade. dan heng (imbibitor lunae). gepard. jing yuan. luka. luocha. sampo. welt.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — chainsaw man. aki hayakawa.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — diabolik lovers. shuu sakamaki. ayato sakamaki. subaru sakamaki. ruki mukami. yuuma mukami. kou mukami. azusa mukami.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — obey me. mammon. leviathan. satan. beelzebub. simeon. solomon.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ — seduce me the otome. james. erik. sam. damien.

— the artwork (excluding the background) in the post's banner is mine, and of my original character. copying, tracing, stealing, and reposting are expressly forbidden.

#aii-xo #₊˚⊹♡ cover page #aishi about me #visnov bg by NoranekoGames

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n1ght1ng4le · 1 year ago

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TIME TO DO THIS THING! YAYY! :)

1) scott pilgrim ( @thereal-yippee 's fault), tmnt (also @thereal-yippee 's fault), brooklyn 99 (for the ninth time)

2) black ankle socks. plain, simple.

3) YES SMOOTHIE SUPREMACY

4) baby blue tshirt, beige long jeans (the ones with the complex pockets), brown belt and black heel boots

5) sunny side up

6) my brain (i remember page numbers)

7) it is a rainbow of colours :> (black. the answer's black.)

8) i collect rocks. but like, the really really complex, nice looking ones (NOT CHRYSTALS) :D (i have almost 20 :3)

9) the intro to warsaw by lovejoy. if im crying (which i havent done in 5 years, well done me), play that and i will immediately stop and do the warsaw wiggle

10) dunno, never done one (i'll have to guess colour)

11) used to swear glasses. stopped last week. was about to say glasses.

12) @thereal-yippee the obsessions. so random.

13) PEN.

14) a basketball court (dont ask me, idk either (i love basketball)

15) no and no

16) its not a hoodie (dont wear them) but i have this brown sweater that goes well with like everything that my sister bought me and its like one of the only times she's been like proper nice to me so yeah i love it :D

17) food.

18) the french revolution

19) i live in malaysia, we dont celebrate halloween here.

20) none. (except for multiplication. thats my shit)

21) im compelled to say da vinci (once again, @thereal-yippee ‘s fault)

22) hot drinks. i hate how cold cold drinks are and how cold they make your hands and how bad they taste after the ice has melted and euurjrhh

23) lovejoy.

24) too young. cant drive.

25) i dont have any tattoos but i got an earlobe piercing when i was seven and want to get another one but my school wont let me (good im moving)

27) no and no. im not very SEASONED in the art (hehehe)

28) was on the swim team for two years but then quit because i dont like swimming

29) not that much but i did build a motorbike once!!

30) one side it school uniform, the other side is stuff thats too small that my mum keeps forgetting to give to charity, the middle is a mess of all my fav clothes

31) portrait of a blank slate by lovejoy. EPIC.

32) i like my brown hair but i want like small specks of like a lighter brown but my school (again) doesnt allow it

33) EARBUDS.

34) yes ^^

35) massive pink teardrop shaped thing with closed eyes and flowers

36) air hockey >:)

37) cant do either so i dont give a shit

38) the shaggs

39) talking with one of my moots and trying to get them to go to sleep. i felt very helpful (theyll probably see this is the morning. hi al)

40) redwoods cus they tall (cant relate)

41) (and i quote) “shower fresh”

42) no. i dont play games

43) ON. who doesnt.

44) let it rot in my wallet

45) i would say no but everyone says i do so… no.

46) will wood. (FOR THE IM TOO LAZY TO COUNTETH TIME, @thereal-yippee ‘s fault)

47) if i have to i will but i wont ACTIVELY get up and go for a walk

48) no

49) stay inside and listen to msr (mammalian sighing reflex)

50) in a bed

FINISHED. YAY.

Let's play the ask game :)

What are three shows in your watchlist that you’ve been meaning to get to?

Describe your favorite pair of socks

Do you like smoothies?

What do you wear when you have to dress nicely?

How do you like your eggs?

What do you use to keep your place when you’re reading a book?

What color dominates your closet?

Do you collect anything? If so, what?

What sounds or scents calm you down?

What’s your favorite kind of uquiz question? (Lyric, color, aesthetic, etc)

Do you wear glasses or contacts?

What’s something about your best friend that you love?

Do you prefer to write in pen or pencil?

What are some places where you feel most at home?

Do you have any houseplants? Do any of them have names?

Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

What’s the last thing you ordered online?

What’s one historical event that you would have liked to have witnessed?

What’s your favorite Halloween costume from when you were a kid?

What kind of math are you best at?

What’s your favorite period in art history, your favorite famous work and/or your favorite style of art? If you don’t know any that’s ok!

Iced or hot drinks?

Which songs do you like to sing in the shower?

Are you a good driver?

Do you have any piercings or tattoos? Are there any that you want?

Can you cook or bake? If so, what are some of your specialties?

Do you have any keychains on your home or car keys? Describe them!

Can you swim very well? Do you like swimming?

Did you play with Legos as a kid? What was your favorite set?

Is your closet organized? If so, how?

What’s the last music video you watched?

If you could dye your hair any color, regardless of how you think it would look, what color would you choose?

Headphones or earbuds?

Can you read analog clocks?

Describe your favorite stuffed animal, either now or from when you were a kid.

What’s an arcade or table game (air hockey, ping pong, etc) that you’re really good at?

Do you mind if others are in the kitchen when you’re cooking or baking?

What’s one show you watch or musician you listen to that your friends know nothing about?

What was the best part of your day today?

What’s your favorite kind of tree?

What scent is your deodorant?

Do you have any games on your phone? If so, which one(s) is/are your favorite?

Do you shower with the lights on or off?

What do you do with spare change?

Do you have good handwriting?

What’s the last thing a friend recommended to you that you looked into and actually liked?

Do you like to go on walks?

Do you have a favorite plate or bowl?

What’s your favorite thing to do when it’s raining?

Describe your perfect sleeping conditions

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lover-of-trash-and-people · 4 years ago

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netflix shadow and bone s1 e5 pt3: peak darklina

the first kiss scene Alina is so beautiful Her little smile as she picks up his kefta after he hears him call out for Ivan to get it like ooh I'm gonna play a little trick on Alek Her making him smile with a joke that's not even funny The tentativeness of it all, them tiptoeing around each other, testing the boundaries Him being taken aback by her offering to help him put on his kefta but still wanting her to and immediately resorting to business voice asking questions about official sun summoner stuff And putting on his serious business face him trying to explain away the gloves by calling them a safeguard, not a sign of him not trusting her abilities the face he makes after saying spectacle either depicting his distaste for the showiness of the event or depicting his embarrassment at how he phrased the sentence, like what the fuck did I just say (more likely the first one) Her quickly turning around and walking away after the eye contact makes her realise how close they are and him pulling a puzzled look as she does so Just. Just how adorable the energy is. Both of them making jokes to diffuse the tension, her gripping the table to maybe steady or calm herself, the looks they give to each other as if engaged in a delicate dance; god-like Him straight up just blinking and looking down and gulping as she says 'we can offer Grisha and Ravkans hope' (could be multiple things he's thinking at this point, and all of them interest me) 'That means a lot to me, Alina.' *her turning to look at his face* 'You mean a lot...' *her immediately lowering her gaze and tracing where her mal scar used to be lmao* 'to everyone' *her raising her gaze to him again* The music swelling as she walks up to him, her barely grazing her fingers against his collar, his eyes looking across hers as if in disbelief, her looking at his lips, and then her closing the gap between them. Him being a little stiff, indubitably from being shocked, and yet giving into it almost instinctively as if he can't help it. The violin coming in powerfully yet softly to emphasize the tenderness of it all. This thing has been made with so much love and I can't contain myself about it. Him opening his eyes half a second after Alina, almost as if waking up from a dream and then, following a relaxing of his facial muscles as he clearly regains his composure, immediately looking inscrutable. Her doubting herself, not losing eye contact as he stands up from the desk, but her sudden fear, regret, and embarrassment clear on her face. Her sides of her lips slowly rising giving way his own self mirroring her and breaking into smile and composing himself and breaking into smile again before saying 'Not many people surprise me, Miss Starkov'. Her now fully breaking out into a smile, her face a picture of unguarded joy, she looks down only to have his gaze follow her face. Both of them giddy in the other's presence and the audience can feel it. It feels like he is leaning in for another one when the sound of the door opening makes them spring apart, regaining their composures and standing at a respectable distance from each other. Her poorly suppressing a smile, him looking at her visibly, her mimicking him with a glance out of her periphery, causing her to give in to her smile completely. Him looking visibly distracted as he attempts to pay attention to whoever came into the room. the Jesper of it all Jesper the mega idiot not being able to control his face from doing a thing as he realises the person who caught him where he wasn't supposed to be is the same person he was making sexy eyes at before and yet regaining his composure in record time The poor stable hand actually being interested in Jesper and being adorable with Jesper just being like charm itself Can you believe looking at Jesper Llewellyn Fahey in the flesh and having him make sexy eyes at you and then forgetting about it? Because I simply cannot. The line about light role play? Felt a little not right. GO OFF STABLE HAND WHO PUSHED JESPER AGAINST A WALL AND KISSED HIM, HE LITERALLY SAID IM POPPING OFF AND

THEN HE DID Zoya Zoya saying fuck off to the random racist comment made by one of the guests, but she was racist to Alina herself? (I mean South Asian-East Asian hate is not uncommon so idk) David omg the cutie pie adjusting his hair at the fete HEARTRENDER FUCKING HUSBANDS Fedyor insisting on Ivan eating the sweet and Ivan's solemn head shake like no babe im on a diet and Fedyor being like heart eyes please eat the sweet my love and then Fedyor holding Ivan's face to make him nibble off a corner and Ivan's face splitting into a reluctant grin Kaz the actor Seeing Kaz the actor instead of Kaz the master of trickery and plans is an interesting thing Kanej being Kanej cute banter interaction, would recommend, 10/10 hints at Arken being sus The look Kaz gives Arken when Arken leaves, I really should have known, I was simply being a clown Darkling and the dumb royalty We love the Darkling suppressing his anger at these otkazat'sya rulers dissing the grisha and the little palace Alina's entrance The soft hum that we hear when Alina enters but we don't see her face Alina's adorable peeking The Darkling's expression changing despite being done af with these mfers and instantaneously on catching a glimpse of Alina, she really has that power huh He really made it look like his pupils dilated and who knows maybe they did Him trying to call her out for not following protocol but him melting and saying 'you look lovely, by the way' Her saying 'you look like you needed saving' I can't breathe you're so cool ballroom at the little palace I must confess I expected the ballroom of the winter fete to be bigger

GENYADAVID looking at each other and pretending not to look at each other, my fucking heart Kanej being Kanej Kaz implying they're gonna try to trick the people into thinking that the fake sun summoner is real and Inej being done with his shit Alina's demonstration HER NAME IS ALINA STARKOV yes mfer The way people back away as he steps, god the power of this man Inej looking at Kaz omfg Okay him clapping the darkness into the room was cool af I love the shadow summoning effects so fucking much The first bit of light that Alina summons lighting up the gold parts of her black kefta, absolute perfection Alina just enjoying her power and then looking to Alek, his lips parting when she does Aw Fedyor looking at Ivan in a I told you she could do it way Genya and Fedyor exchanging glances as Alina besties THE CROWD SAYING SANKTA ALINA INEJ SAYING SANKTA ALINA WITH HALF A TEAR IN HER EYE DAMN THIS IS POWERFUL Jesper and Dima IMMEDIATELY TRANSITIONING TO JESPER SAYING 'SAINTS' AS A NAKED STABLE BOY GETS OFF OF HIM AGAHSJSJSJKS I CAN'T IM CACKLING AT THE AUDACITY OF THIS SHOW HOW ARE THEY SO PERFECT (his name's dima btw) Poor fucking Dima getting frightening orders from his superior as his hookup sneaks out with horses that are definitely not his Arken the little shit Ah Arken why'd you have to go and do this I was actually amused by you before the malyen factor omg Mal's here and someone saw him getting here apparat and faith? The apparat literally jumping out of the palace walls at Alina lol man I do love the religion angle of this universe and it would have been so fucking cool if it were explored a bit better ew apparat that grab was very violent mal/darkling interaction the darkling's reaction at his recognition of mal was so funny ah yes my arch nemesis, the other angle of this teen immortal love triangle how utterly delightful someone explain the darkling's 'are you alright' to mal, is it because Alina was worried sick, is it mind games, is it curiosity, what is it Im still don't know how to feel with them attaching a literal symbol to the sun summoner, to Alina's dreams and to the stag itself 'not until I see Alina' THE LOYAL HIMBO ENERGY IN THIS ONE ISTFG I have never known nose acting until I saw Ben Barnes, he uses his nose in his acting and it is absolutely wonderful; case in point, the 'i beg your pardon' to mal with the rage making his voice shake okay but why is every mal darkling interaction like, everything the prompt answer our baby mal gives and the satisfaction it brings to his face, fucking amazing the darkling being literally struck by this, his mouth literally agape, king this is a 20 year old lmao Baghra! OMG WE GOT A GLIMPSE OF BAGHRA'S FIRE YES Genya supremacy Genya beating Arken up let's fucking go Marie's plot influence and Racism? Yellowface? again? hmm bardugo (then again, I have no authority over this, I'm south asian) Ive already talked about how I'm interested in knowing if and how changing Marie's time and place of death going to influence the plot much because in the books it caused a chain reaction doing a lot of stuff Alina, my love Alina just, laughing with other Grisha, feeling at home, ah be still my treacherous heart Mal's confrontation scene with Alina that was in the books being retconned to Mal calling out to her body double, hmm, probably to make Mal more likeable, I don't have any feelings about this particularly Nadia and Fedyor Okay the both of them, smiling and walking, hand in hand, cute mlm wlw solidarity moment that I missed during the first watch Kanej interacting with Alina Why is Alina literally so adorable The music picking up as the Inferni catches sight of the 'limping man' (what? it was funny when he said it) Blue Irises Alina's face showing a certain sense of calm when Alek shows up Alina's face after the Darkling says 'for you' and presents her with blue irises is something like gasp okay you've got game sexy shadow man mal fite time omg I thought she was taking mal to talk to Baghra or smth not to kill him 🤡 aren't oprichnikis like

otkazat'sya or am I missing smth? Because Baghra's spy is obvs a fabrikator THE DESK SCENE omg the scene hath arriveth the fact that Alina can't stop smiling gods, the flirting 'I don't recall this, being part of the schedule' him turning back and saying 'it isn't' her hiding her face through the cover of smelling the flowers and just how coy she acts, like the literal eyelid batting Ma'am how embarrassing for you to have feelings rn these two are my absolute favs of all time the camera moving as they move from their spots on which they had to stand on to get the shot of their shadows almost kissing her nodding and smiling at him saying 'she'll probably be alright' like okay I'm ready for smooches kiss me already and him going 'don't you think' trying to savour this moment IM SORRY BUT THE FUCKING SCORE AT THE MOMENT THEIR LIPS MEET YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I CANNOT COPE the way his hand is so big that he can almost hold her entire face in it the way she grips the back of his head I'm sorry I feel so disrespectful saying this but the sounds they make+I think that's a um titty grab or maybe it's just a holding someone and the placement was um unintended but I doubt it because everything in this fucking show is so intentional+ the lift up onto the desk+ the faces they make+ um god I'm going to hell for this but when they sort of grind into each other (I understand this is acting and they're just good at their job) but god does all of this make my heart race and also makes me happy I guess LITERAL GIGGLES I can't I'm soft 🥺🥺🥺 his little head shake at the knock on the door when he goes in for one last kiss before she gets off the desk and her eyes going all oy you, go get the door, I'm not going anywhere don't make whoever it is wait is so adorable and domestic her just standing there mouth agape to herself when he walks away HIM STILL FLUSHED AND BLUSHING AND HIS HAPPINESS CLEAR AS DAY ON HIS FACE WHEN HE OPENS THE DOOR his gaze flits to her when Ivan says Alina was the target 'I'll be waiting' love, I physically can't anymore Little cheek hold and walk away Her little smile to herself nearly fading before he jumps back in again to her surprise and to ours to hold her face with both his hands and kiss her one last time, and yes, he does kiss like he's being drafted for the war in the morning Her little mouth open and close and then her little smile to herself after he leaves I refuse to watch the rest of the episode right now because no let me steep in the darklina bliss

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creepingsharia · 5 years ago

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He Simply “Hates Christians”: Muslim Persecution of Christians, January 2020

By Raymond Ibrahim

The following are some of the abuses Muslims inflicted on Christians, categorized by theme, throughout the month of January, 2020:

The Slaughter of Christians in Nigeria

During several separate incidents, militant Muslims—whether Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, or generic terrorists—continued to attack and massacre several Christians.

As one example, on Friday, January 17, Muslim Fulani tribesmen on motorbikes raided a Christian village at a time they knew people were congregating at the village square where Christian fellowship often took pace. They opened fire. “As the people fled into nearby bushes to take cover, the attackers retreated and left,” an area resident explained. “We are sad about these attacks on our people, which seem to be unending.” Two young Christian girls—Briget Philip, 18, and Priscilla David, 19—were killed, and at least three other teenagers were seriously wounded.

In another incident, “[a]t least 32 people [including a pregnant woman] were killed and a pastor’s house and church building were burned down in two nights of attacks [on predominantly Christian regions] this week by Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Plateau state,” a January 30 report noted.

In the early hours of January 20, gunmen invaded the Lutheran Church of Christ, where its pastor, the Rev. Dennis Bagauri, lived; they opened fire on “and shot him dead at night when all persons in the area had gone to sleep,” a local confirmed.

Boko Haram (whose name roughly means “Western education is a sin”) released another execution video. In it, a masked Muslim child holding a pistol appears standing behind a bound and kneeling hostage, later identified as Ropvil Daciya Dalep, a 22-year-old Christian and member of the Church of Christ in Nations, who was kidnapped on January 9 while traveling to his university, where he majored in biology. After chanting in Arabic and launching into an anti-Christian diatribe, the Muslim child proceeds to shoot Ropvil several times in the back of the head.

Execution of Ropvil Daciya Dalep.

On January 2, Islamic gunmen abducted Reverend Lawan Andimi, a pastor and district chairman of the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. After the terrorists demanded an exorbitant ransom for his release—two million Euros, which his church and family simply could not raise—they beheaded the married father-of-nine on January 20. Earlier, in a January 5 video that his abductors released, Pastor Lawan had said that he hoped to be reunited with his wife and children; however, “[i]f the opportunity has not been granted, maybe it is the will of God. I want all people close and far, colleagues, to be patient. Don’t cry, don’t worry, but thank God for everything.”

In a statement prompted by all these unchecked killing of Christians, Kwamkur Vondip, the director of legal and public affairs of the Christian Association of Nigeria, blasted the Muslim-led government of Nigeria of “colluding” with the Islamic terrorists:

In the light of the current developments and the circumstantial facts surrounding the prevailing upsurge of attacks against the church, it will be difficult for us to believe that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari is not colluding with the insurgents to exterminate Christians in Nigeria, bearing in mind the very questionable leadership of the security sector that has been skewed towards a religion and region. Is that lopsidedness not a cover-up for the operation of the insurgency?.… Since the government and its apologists are claiming the killings have no religious undertones, why are the terrorists and herdsmen targeting the predominantly Christian communities and Christian leaders?

The nonstop massacres of Christians which are met with impunity from the Nigerian government also prompted Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto to express his disgust with the government in a January 3 report: “The only difference between the government and Boko Haram,” he said, “is that Boko Haram is holding a bomb.” The Nigerian government is “using the levers of power to secure the supremacy of Islam, which then gives more weight to the idea that it can be achieved by violence.”

The Slaughter of Christians Elsewhere in Africa

Kenya: Armed Muslims connected with neighboring Somalia’s terrorist group, Al Shabaab (“the youth”), murdered three Christian teachers during a raid on a primary school in the early hours of January 13; a fourth victim managed to survive.

Another local teacher said “We are sad and at the same time scared because we are targeted for being non-local government workers that belong to the Christian faith.” While discussing this incident, a separate report adds that

Today’s attack comes against the backdrop of a series of attacks from the terrorist group in the last five weeks, leading to the loss of 25 people total … On December 6, 2019, four teachers were among the 11 non-local Christian passengers killed … when al-Shabaab flagged down the bus they were traveling in. The militants separated the passengers and killed those on the spot who failed to recite the Islamic Shahada.

Central African Republic: Militant Muslims shot and killed two Christian pastors as they travelled together by car after having conducted a Christmas Day church service. According to the January 6 report, after murdering the Christians, the “jihadists” continued “shooting, preventing efforts to recover the bodies. The men had to be buried later at the scene of the attack.” The report adds that the “Christian-majority Central African Republic has been blighted by violence since 2013, when the Seleka Islamist armed group briefly overthrew the government…. Christian communities continue to be the targets of attacks…. In November 2018, more than 40 people were killed and many were forced to flee when members of an Islamist militia attacked a Christian mission in Alindao.

Cameroon: “Not a day passes without attacks on the villages on Cameroon’s frontier with Nigeria,” lamented Bishop Bruno Ateba in reference to the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram’s increased incursions into Christian villages in a January 24 report: “Boko Haram is like the beast of the Apocalypse, or a many-headed Hydra—whenever you cut off one of its heads, it seems simply to grow another…. Within my own diocese there have been 13 attacks in the last weeks.” One of those attacks saw a church torched on the feast of the Epiphany. “We are still investigating who was behind the incident, but everything points to the fact that it was a terrorist attack.” Bishop Barthélemy also shared his experiences: “My birthplace, the village of Blablim, no longer exists. The terrorists have murdered a young man of my family and totally devastated the entire village, including the house I was born in. Everybody, with the exception of the sick and elderly, was forced to flee to Mora, 10 miles away. It will be impossible now to gather in the cotton harvest.”

Egypt: On January 12, a Muslim man crept up behind a Christian woman walking home with groceries, pulled her head back with a hand full of hair, and slit her throat with a knife in the other hand. Nearby people restrained the man in al-Wariq, Giza, where the incident took place. Catherine Ramzi was rushed to a nearby medical center, where her throat was sewn with 63 stitches; despite initial heavy bleeding, she managed to survive. The doctor told her that had the knife penetrated one millimeter more—her now mangled sweatshirt had provided some buffering against the knife—it would have reached her jugulars and killed her. During an interview, she explained that she had never before seen the man. All she heard him say during the assault is that she “deserved it” because her “hair was exposed.” He may have also identified her as a Christian because, like many Copts, Catherine bears a visible tattoo of the cross on her hand.

Separately, on January 14, in the region of al-Maraj, another Muslim man tried to slaughter a Christian man with a sharp box-cutter in a public space. He managed only to slice off a portion of the Copt’s ear. After Muhammad ‘Awad, 32, was arrested and questioned as to why he tried to murder Rafiq Karam, 56, he confessed that he did not know him, but that he simply “hates Christians.”

Attacks on Christian Churches

Sudan: Three churches—a Sudan Internal church, a Catholic church and an Orthodox church—were simultaneously burnt down twice over the course of three weeks in the Blue Nile state. The arsonists are suspected to be area Muslims. According to a January 20 statement from a human rights group published in the Sudan Tribune,

On the evening of 28th December 2019, three churches in three different neighbourhoods … were set on fire (burnt) at the same time by arsonists. The worshipers quickly rebuild the three churches using the local materials as it was before. However, for the second time, on the evening of 16th January, the arsonists burnt down the three churches,” said the group…. [L]ocal authorities did not take any measure to protect the churches or to investigate the attacks.

“This incident is true, the three churches were set on fire twice in less than a month,” a local pastor confirmed, adding that “area Muslims were upset about the presence of the churches there, and they are suspected in the fires.”

Philippines: On January 19, police arrested two Muslim men from the Islamic terror group Abu Sayyaf (“the sword-forger”) before they could carry out a planned bomb attack on a Catholic cathedral in Basilan, which both men confessed to. Explosive materials—including more than 3 kilos (6.6 pounds) of assorted nails, blasting caps, 1.5-volt batteries, and wires—were recovered from their hideout. Abu Sayyaf earlier “masterminded a twin bombing at a church on southern Jolo island in January 2019 that left more than 20 people dead.”

Egypt: “The security apparatus prevented Copts in Faw Bahri … from holding the New Year’s Eve prayer on Tuesday, 31 December, in the home of a local Copt. Several Copts gathered in the building and complained about being prohibited from completing the prayer,” the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo based think tank with an emphasis on human rights, said in a January 6 press release:

The building that security shut down and prevented prayer inside of is owned by a village Copt and has been used for worship services for four months [and apparently set on fire before for this reason]. Security promised to rapidly secure a building permit for a new church on a 460-meter tract of land purchased by the church a while back. All the necessary surveys have been conducted by official bodies and a wall was built around the plot. All that is needed to start construction is the permits. The closest church to the village is 10 km away…. 3,000 Christians live in the village and used to pray at the house that was shuttered by security. They are all waiting for security to keep its promise to issue permits for the construction of a new church.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) further criticized the “glacial pace” of the Sisi-government’s hitherto much lauded church construction law adopted in September 2016. More than “three years after its adoption, the church construction law has failed to end violations of Christians’ right to worship and address related sectarian tensions…. [T]he process to regularize the legal status of churches is moving at a glacial pace and lacks transparency,” the press release added:

The EIPR has documented at least 36 cases of sectarian tension and violence since the church construction law went into effect and through the end of 2019, all of them associated with the worship practices. In the same period, interventions by various state institutions led to the closure of 25 churches and the prohibition of collective worship services in the areas in question. In many of these cases, customary reconciliation sessions were convened that concluded with agreements to shut down the church while promising to grant the necessary permits when papers were officially filed. Yet, when church officials applied for official permits, state agencies refused to grant permits or allow them to organize religious services or mass.

Indonesia: Construction of the Bethel Church of Indonesia (GBI) My Home church, plans for which began in 2016, was “abruptly halted” after its building permit was revoked. The church would have served 1,200 registered congregants. In response, on January 16, Amnesty International Indonesia in a statement urged the authorities to annul their decision to revoke the permit:

This is a clear case of persecution and discrimination against a religious minority. The authorities in Tanjungpinang have failed to provide any legal justification for denying this permit and blatantly disregarded the Constitution and their obligations to respect the right to religious freedom and ensure equal enjoyment of human rights.

In a separate case in the same in the region, Muslims halted construction of another church. According to the January 24 report,

Built in 1928, St Joseph’s Catholic Church needs to be renovated and enlarged. Originally it could accommodate 100 people, but now it has more than 700 members. Despite having all the permits, the project is opposed by a small group of young Muslims who threaten action against public order…. Local Catholics are critical of Karimun district chief who, bowing to extremists, has turned against the project even though it has all the required permits.

Although area Christians had “explained to Karimun officials [that] there will be no symbol or ornament outside the church; no cross, no statue, no image of Mary will be displayed visible outside the church”; and although this decision by the Christians was taken reluctantly, as it would make the building look like “a gym or a conference hall”—Muslims still rejected the church.

France: A suspected Muslim man was arrested for desecrating a church, including by writing Koran verses on its walls. According to the January 16 report,

The arrest comes just under a year after another church in Toulouse, the Notre-Dame du Taur, was vandalised by an individual who wrote “Allah u Akbar” on the doors of the building…. Church attacks in France have become a major issue in the last several years, with a report from March of last year claiming that there are as many as three attacks on churches or graveyards per day on average, with a total of 1,063 cases in 2018.

One recent attack “saw human faeces smeared into prayer books at a church in the commune of Tarbes.”

Sweden: After a series of arson attacks on St. Maria Syrian Orthodox Church—one of which was started by someone pouring and lighting gasoline to its exterior—church members have begun to patrol its premises at night in the hopes of preventing further attacks. The January 10 report adds that, “Church attacks in Sweden are relatively uncommon in general but attacks on communities targetted by radical Islamic Sunni extremists, such as Syrian Christians and Shi’ite Muslims, are a concern in the country.”

Attacks on Apostates and Blasphemers

Iran: A court sentenced Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, 65, a Muslim convert to Christianity, to three years imprisonment on the charge of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs,” said human rights group Middle East Concern in a January 22 report. The Christian was initially charged with “propaganda against the state and insulting the sacred Iranian establishment,” but during “a hearing on 22 October, the judge further accused Ismaeil of apostasy [that is, turning away from Islam, which is a capital crime according to some interpretations of Islamic law] and increased bail demands from 10 million to 100 million tomans (US$9000). Friends provided pledges to cover the bail demands. There were further hearings in November (when the apostasy charge was dropped), December and January.” On January 8, he was found guilty of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs in cyberspace”—a reference to the claim that “Ismaeil had forwarded a message sent to his phone that was deemed to be insulting to the ruling Iranian clerics”—and sentenced to three year imprisonment. According to a human rights activist associated with the case, the sentence is “a disproportionate reaction to something so ordinary. The other charges that Ismaeil is facing, as well as the quashed charge of apostasy, (are) related to his conversion to Christianity. This may reveal the real reason why he’s been charged with something that most ordinary Iranians do on a daily basis.”

Pakistan: Muslims beat and falsely accused a Christian man, Shahbaz Masih, 40, of blasphemy, which led to his and his friend’s arrest. According to the January 14 report,

His [Muslim] accusers, Shahzaib and Ahmad, hold a grudge against him for being a Christian. On 27 December the two surrounded him at the market, dragged him to a nearby landfill where children collect paper, and beat [him there]. His screams drew the attention of his friend Ishaq [a moderate Muslim], who came to his aid. At that point, the attackers accused both of blasphemy, of burning pages of the Qurʼān. A riot followed, with a nearby mosque calling on Muslims to kill both men. When police arrived, it took the two friends to a police station, questioned them and moved them to a prison, where they are still being held. Human rights groups slam the cops for giving in to extremist pressure and formally recording the case. For their part, radicals threatened to burn the homes of Christians as well as that of the Muslim man, “guilty” of being friends with the Christian. For this reason, the families of the accused went into hiding at an unknown location.

Generic Hate for and Violence against Christians

Egypt: Muslim students at a Minya school “rejected” Mervat Seifein, a school teacher, “for the explicit reason that she is Copt,” that is, a Christian, a report noted. After “a routine promotion in which she replaced the previous school director who is a Muslim,” both boy and girl “students protested and held a sit-in in the school courtyard asking for her removal.” “We don’t want a Copt!” they cried. Some Muslim teachers joined in the protests. Police were unable to disperse the boys’ demonstration in the courtyard. “The girls who demonstrated against me don’t know me,” Mervat responded, “so why the antagonism? Simply because I am Coptic? The only explanation I can fathom is there has been fanatic incitement going on against my promotion, possibly by persons who are purely extremist or who have an interest in keeping me out of that post.” Ezzat Ibrahim, a human rights activist, added that a prompt official investigation should be conducted into the matter:

This is flagrant religious discrimination. It brings to mind the incident in the southern province of Qena when the Islamists rose against the appointment of a Coptic governor in the past-Arab Spring weeks in 2011, and the State gave in and went back on the appointment. It is catastrophic that some 50 or 100 teenage girls or boys should impose their will on the State. And it is equally disastrous that these students were pushed to do so by a group of fanatic Islamists. The positive official response to their preposterous demands amounts to an invitation for religious discrimination. The deputy minister who did that must be dismissed.

Bangladesh: Twelve Christian Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were attacked and injured by Muslim Rohingya “due to their faith.” (Rohingya are overwhelmingly Muslim). “[E]arly Monday [January 27, they] attacked us, the Christians. They looted our houses, and beat up many Christian members. At least 12 Christians have been undergoing treatment at different hospitals and clinics,” a Christian named Saiful reported. “We came under attack due to our faith,” he insisted. “On May 10, 11, and 13 last year, this same group of terrorists attacked us. They want us to leave this camp. They have been attacking us systematically.” Although official Bangladeshi reports denied or underplayed the religious dimension of the attacks, other sources, such as the Rohingya Christian Assembly from India, confirmed them: Muslim Rohingya “attacked the whole Christian community in Kutupalong Camp,” the group said. “Approximately 25 Christian families are displaced. It is winter and very cold, the victims have many minor children with them.” The group added that mobs armed with machetes—“hundreds in many groups”—invaded and destroyed every Christian home at night.

Iraq: Four Christian humanitarian aid workers—three French, one Iraqi—were kidnapped in Baghdad on January 20. No ransom demands were made. According to the report, “The four went missing during a time of heightened tensions in Iraq after a U.S. drone strike on Baghdad airport that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and a senior Iraqi militia commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The attack has drawn anger from Iraqi officials from across the political divide …. Iran-backed militia groups have also sworn to avenge the killings.”

Iran: Authorities demolished the grave of the only Christian to be officially executed for apostasy in the Islamic republic. A born Muslim, Pastor Soodmand converted to Christianity before the 1979 revolution. He was arrested, tortured, and eventually executed for apostatizing from Islam to Christianity in December 1990. Now, thirty years later, “all that remains of the pastor’s unmarked grave is the soil under which he was once buried.” His daughter, Rashin Soodmand, who now lives in Europe, gave her reaction:

As a member of the family of this martyred pastor, I can say that the recent disrespect shown to our father’s grave wounded our hearts yet again. Our father was killed cruelly and contrary to the law. They buried him in a place they called la’anatabad [accursed place], without our knowledge, and did not even give our family the opportunity to say goodbye to him, or to see his lifeless body. For years we had to travel to this remote place to visit his unmarked grave, and we were not even allowed to construct a gravestone bearing his name…. We will take our appeal to any relevant national or international institution about this disrespect and cruelty.

The report adds that,

Rev Soodmand remains the only Iranian Christian to have been executed for apostasy following an official court order, although others have been sentenced to death including Rev Mehdi Dibaj and Yousef Nadarkhani. Rev Dibaj was eventually acquitted after nine years in prison but then killed in suspicious circumstances five months later. His body was found days after his disappearance, in a park in a suburb of Tehran, with multiple stab wounds to his chest. Yousef Nadarkhani was also eventually acquitted of the charge but later rearrested on the now much more common charge of ‘actions against national security.’ He is now serving a ten-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Raymond Ibrahim, author of the recent book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

About this Series

The persecution of Christians in the Islamic world has become endemic. Accordingly, “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed in 2011 to collate some—by no means all—of the instances of persecution that occur or are reported each month. It serves two purposes:

1) To document that which the mainstream media does not: the habitual, if not chronic, persecution of Christians.

2) To show that such persecution is not “random,” but systematic and interrelated—that it is rooted in a worldview inspired by Islamic Sharia.

#Islam #Muslim #Jihad #Sharia #Persecution #Religion #Mosque #Immigration #News #Politics #Travel #Legal #Media

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superchartisland · 6 years ago

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Lemmings (Psygnosis, Amiga, 1991)

Gallup all formats individual formats chart, Computer & Video Games Issue 114, May 1991

[Elements of this post are based on sections of a previous piece I wrote on Oh No! More Lemmings.]

AAA of the 1980s has been a story of computer games as a source of surging creativity in the UK, but also a story of a local audience in splendid isolation. The compromised remakes of Japanese games that made it to #1 in the UK were pretty much a one-way trade. By the end of the 1990s, British developers would be responsible for two of the world's most famous and successful games. Those games would be made to a much bigger scale. In 1991, as mainstream games got more complex, for them to be the effort of one or two individual programmers was already increasingly rare. It was a time when having the right conditions for teamwork paid off.

A small team called DMA Design made Lemmings, which is not quite one of those giant British games but did sell millions and get ported to a large proportion of the world's game formats. Lemmings’ hook is inspired by the Disney-constructed idea that the rodents of the title deal with over-population by rushing off cliffs en masse. The game’s ‘lemmings’ are more human, tiny people with white skin, blue clothes and green hair who drop into each level from an undisclosed location and walk steadily forward until instructed otherwise, even if it's to their own doom. Each level has an exit back out of its world, and your task in Lemmings is to use a set of limited abilities to work out a route to get your team of charges from A to B, where sometimes B is across the C, or A and B are both in L. You can get lemmings to knock through walls, block others from moving forwards, build bridges, blow shit up, and so on, with each level giving you both a different map and a different number of each of the abilities.

Once Lemmings has got through teaching you how its abilities work, it moves on fast to both using them in increasingly complicated combinations and making you think laterally about ways to use each one. The form of the appeal of this is highlighted in a mock warning on the game’s cover and title screen text scroll disclaiming responsibility for “loss of sanity, loss of hair, loss of sleep”. The suggestion is that the appeal to the player lies in their own frustration, or at least in building that frustration to the point where the relief of release from it is ecstatic. The ideal Lemmings level, perhaps, should appear initially impossible until a sudden mental breakthrough that reveals it’s really easy, followed by the realisation of a complication that renders it impossible again. And so on, perception swinging wildly but settling in on a mid-point final realisation that yes, everything is accounted for and it’s just about doable. Here is where the decision to make each level goal a percentage of lemmings safely to the exit, and often a percentage below the optimum outcome, is a particularly smart one. The slack sometimes allows a sudden realisation that you are losing lemmings to lead to an improvised solution on the fly and resultant success, and that’s another exhilarating feeling of its own.

As a logic puzzle loving, computer game playing child, when I got a brief chance to play Lemmings on a family friend’s Amiga it immediately became one of my favourite things ever. It was an unusual type of game, but it’s easy for me to see how its developers’ policy of getting as many demos of it as they could out there worked so successfully, and how Lemmings had such an impact across the UK and beyond.

There is still a statue of lemmings in Dundee, the game’s hometown. A port city on the East coast of Scotland, Dundee is something like the 50th biggest urban area in the UK and has a totally outsized place in the UK video games story. You could put it down to random happenstance that the handful of people led by Dave Jones who made up DMA Design were from Dundee. But a game like Lemmings coming from Dundee is no more complete coincidence than the procedural space exploration of Elite being the work of Cambridge maths and science students was.

Dundee was once the centre of the jute industry, making fibre for bags and ropes. As the economic viability of that dried up, many skilled (and mostly female) workers transferred to working in a new form of production at the Timex watch factory. Later on, watch sales not being what they had been, that factory diversified into making other technology. It was perfect for our old friend the ZX Spectrum. For Dundee, that meant lots of Spectrum computers available on the cheap, a low-risk chance to experiment, and other opportunities besides. And with that availability, there was an increased chance for connections and community. The Kingsway Amateur Computer Club, where many of the makers of Lemmings met, for instance. For Dave Jones in particular, the Timex connection was more direct as he worked there as a Spectrum tester. When he was made redundant, he used the money to support him and his friends in Dundee to form DMA Design and a few years later they developed Lemmings.

With their own experience with home computers and with British audiences in mind, they made Lemmings for the Amiga first. DMA also drew on a recent British lineage of games led by resource management and clicking on menu options, like Supremacy and Populous (almost as crucial to Lemmings’ form as the lemming was that other rodent-derived computer item, the mouse). Lemmings was a collaboration right from the start, even the most basic animation of the tiny characters being the work of two people. Lemmings wouldn’t be the same without all of those contributions. To take one obvious example, it wouldn’t have the same warmth without Brain Johnston and Tim Wright’s familiar but copyright-avoiding soundtrack, taking “Ten Green Bottles”, “London Bridge is Falling Down” et al on a toytown funk trip. Beyond even a list of credits though, as the series of particular circumstances which brought DMA together in Dundee show, every game is the result of a whole community, providing skills and resources in the right place and right time along the way.

Even above its problem-solving, what stands out about playing Lemmings is that the same message of collaboration is integral to the game itself. So many games that I’ve played for AAA have been about the lone wolf, the highly able individual prevailing against the odds. In the Britain of the late ‘80s, perhaps it’s no surprise that messages of individualism resonated with the prevailing culture. For alternatives, we have seen sports games where you take collective charge of a group of people, and there were precedents for successful games that had you overseeing large populations, even if Populous and SimCity didn’t make it to my UK #1s list. But sports games are limited to a different kind of competitive narrative, Populous had the player as a God and SimCity as combination planner-architect-builder. You were still the one responsible for taking all of the actions. In the more radical Lemmings, you can’t create earthquakes or new electricity supply lines or do anything at the macro level. All actions must be carried out via an individual lemming. The player is but an advisor, or as Martin called the player’s role in the Lemmings post for his original AAA, “an avatar of community spirit”.

It’s not long into Lemmings before you reach situations where you need different lemmings to support each other. Two lemmings might need to be send ahead so one can turn the other around to dig their way back to the group. One lemming might need to build a staircase to put another in place to remove another obstacle. Individual lemmings take actions but afterwards they get subsumed back into the herd. You can only succeed by getting lemmings organised to work together, and they succeed or fail as a group. Each lemming that reaches the end of a level has depended on the resources of the level and the skills of other lemmings being in place along the way. Text on the title screen tells players to remember that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

The lack of narrative ego is striking. While as the player you are in a head-to-head battle of minds with the level designers, within the narrative world of Lemmings the player is taken out altogether. Even outside of the game itself, Lemmings welcomes further collaboration. There are tests of physical precision and speed in some levels, but with so much of test the game provides being mental, it lends itself to sharing thoughts and ideas. My best memories of playing Lemmings aren’t of playing it by myself, but of sitting with my mum and my brother and working as a team to come up with different possible solutions. Fittingly, it turns out that this was similar to the process by which DMA themselves designed the levels.

There are signs of something darker in Lemmings too, particularly in hindsight. It's in the choice it offers you each time you play a level, a more dramatic version of the deal in Dizzy that if you lose, at least the game will entertain you in the process. If you decide that you can’t complete a level, or you just get bored, you can double click the mushroom cloud icon and watch all of your lemmings explode to maximum dramatic effect, a choreographed carnival of cute violence. The lemmings’ tiny stature and outsized physical expressions, wonders done with a few pixels like the way they shrug when they finish building a staircase, encourage the player to care for them, but the player can blow them all up too.

That’s only a discordant note if you don't look too closely. The game is filled with grizzly traps that kill lemmings in inventive ways, squashing or incinerating them out of nowhere. It turns out, in fact, that those animations were the origin of the whole game, the point in another project at which it became clear that the tiny animated people had the personality to stand alone. There's an irreverence and black humour very recognisable from other British culture in going on to make the cute save-the-lemmings game but still leaving the horror in there. Lurking within Lemmings is the power of a particular kind of anarchic freedom and its possibilities. DMA would go on to take the idea of just letting the player blow everything up and make Grand Theft Auto, after all.

Wherever it started from as a game, though, the strongest message that comes through from Lemmings is the generous one about the importance of people working together. Without everything that community and collaboration provided along the way, Lemmings wouldn’t have been possible, just as its lemmings can only reach their goal by building on the work of many.

#every number one #Lemmings #Amiga #retrogaming

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genuinetonki · 2 years ago

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Battle cry of freedom iraq war

On Sunday, Al Jazeera English presenter Peter Dobbie described Ukrainians fleeing the war as “prosperous, middle class people” who “are not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war these are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa, they look like any European family that you would live next door to.” “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” White supremacy is a core European value. The BBC presenter responded: “I understand and of course respect the emotion.”īut people with 'blue eyes and blonde hair' dropping bombs over the Middle East and Africa is OK.Īnd 'Blue eyes and blonde hair' is Hitler's words from the Mein Kampf about the superior Aryan race. “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blonde hair and blue eyes being killed every day with Putin’s missiles and his helicopters and his rockets,” Sakvarelidze said. On Saturday, the BBC hosted Ukraine’s former deputy general prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze. Absolutely disgusting dehumanization of people of color.ĭ’Agata later apologised, saying he spoke “in a way I regret”. is a relatively civilized city where you wouldn’t expect this to happen.” Ditto for Iraq (before the American attack in 2003) Afghanistan was also a peaceful and “civilised” place in 1979 before the Soviets invaded (and became the battle zone between the West and Soviet block). Utterly stupid and ill informed statement. The racist subtext: Afghans, Iraqi & Syrian lives don’t matter, for they are deemed inferior-“uncivilized.” /hC1JAkIHym His comments were met with derision and anger on social media, with many pointing out how his statements contributed to the further dehumanisation of non-white, non-European people suffering under a conflict within mainstream media.Ītrocities start with words and dehumanization.Ītrocities unleashed upon millions in the ME, fueled by dictators labeled as reformists in the west. This is a relatively civilised, relatively European – I have to choose those words carefully, too – city where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen.” Media pundits, journalists, and political figures have been accused of double standards for using their outlets to not only commend Ukraine’s armed resistance to Russian troops, but also to underlying their horror at how such a conflict could happen to a “civilised” nation.ĬBS News senior correspondent in Kyiv Charlie D’Agata said on Friday: “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. On social media, the speed of such an international response – which includes the exclusion of Russia from some cultural events and treatment of it as a pariah in sports – has raised eyebrows at the lack of such a reaction to other conflicts across the world. The war has triggered swift condemnation by several countries, immediate sanctions by the United States and other countries targeting Russian banks, oil refineries, and military exports, and marathon emergency talks at the UN Security Council (UNSC). The United Nations says more than 360,000 Ukrainians have fled the country, with the majority crossing the border into neighbouring Poland. Ukraine’s health minister said at least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed so far during the invasion. The war began on Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to enter Ukraine, following months of a heavy military build-up on the border. Mission flown by the 15th USAAF out of Foggia, Italy.As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues into a fourth day, an outpouring of support for Ukrainians has been witnessed across much of Europe, Australia, and the West in general. Please go to theįiles for The Boardgamer's Guide to B-17, NOT BEING UPDATED and will remain, as is, forever. These old "alphabet pages" are being retained due to the many external links that refer to them.

#Battle cry of freedom iraq war

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blackkudos · 7 years ago

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Fredi Washington

Fredericka Carolyn (Fredi) Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an accomplished African-American dramatic film actress, one of the first to gain recognition for her work in film and on stage. She was active during the period known as the Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s). She is best known for her role as "Peola" in the 1934 version of the film Imitation Life, in which she plays a young light-skinned black woman who decides to pass as white. Her last film role was in One Mile from Heaven (1937), after which she left Hollywood and returned to New York to work in theatre and civil rights.

Early life and education

Fredi Washington was born in 1903 in Savannah, Georgia to Robert T. Washington, a postal worker, and Harriet Walker Ward, a former dancer. Both were of African-American and European ancestry. Fredi was the second of their five children. Her mother, Hattie, died when Fredi was eleven years old. As the oldest girl in her family, Fredi helped raise her younger siblings, Isabel, Rosebud and Robert, with the help of their grandmother, whom the family called "Big Mama." After their mother's death, Fredi was sent to the St. Elizabeth's Convent School for colored girls in Cornwells Heights, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her sister, Isabel, soon followed her. At some point her father, Robert T. Washington, remarried. His second wife died while pregnant. He later married a third time and had four children with his last wife. Fredi had a total of eight siblings from her father's two families.

While Fredi was still in school in Philadelphia, her family moved North to Harlem, New York in the Great Migration for work and opportunity in the industrial North. Fredi followed her family to Harlem, where she graduated from Julia Richman High School in New York City.

Early career

Fredi's performing career began in 1921, when she got a chance to work in New York City, where she was living with her grandmother and aunt. She was a chorus girl in the hit Broadway musical Shuffle Along. She was hired by dancer Josephine Baker as a member of the "Happy Honeysuckles," a cabaret group. Baker also became a friend and mentor to her. Washington's friendship with Baker, as well as her talent as a performer, led to her being discovered by producer Lee Shubert. In 1926, Washington was recommended for a co-starring role on the Broadway stage with Paul Robeson in Black Boy. She was very attractive, as well as a talented entertainer, and she easily moved up to become a popular featured dancer. She toured internationally with her dancing partner Al Moiret; they were especially popular in London.

Later career

Fredi Washington turned to acting in the late 1920s. Her first movie role was in Black and Tan (1929), in which she played a dancer who was dying. She also had a small part in The Emperor Jones (1933), based on a play by Eugene O'Neill and starring Paul Robeson.

Her best-known role was in the 1934 movie Imitation of Life; Washington played a young mulatto who chose to pass as white to seek more opportunities in a society restricted by legal racial segregation in some states and social discrimination in others. As Washington had visible European ancestry, the role was considered perfect for her, but it led to her being typecast by filmmakers. Moviegoers sometimes assumed from Washington's appearance–her blue-gray eyes, pale complexion, and light brown hair–that she might have passed in real life. In 1934 she said the role did not reflect her off-screen life, but "If I made Peola seem real enough to merit such statements, I consider such statements compliments and makes me feel I've done my job fairly well." She told reporters in 1949 she identified as black "Because I'm honest, firstly, and secondly, you don't have to be white to be good. I've spent most of my life trying to prove to those who think otherwise ... I am a Negro and I am proud of it."

Imitation of Life was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, but it did not win. Years later, in 2007, Time magazine ranked it as among "The 25 Most Important Films on Race". She also appeared in the 1939 film Mamba's Daughters, along with popular singer Ethel Waters. In an effort to help other black actors and actresses to find more opportunities, she founded the Negro Actors Guild in 1937; the organization's mission included speaking out against stereotyping and advocating for a wider range of roles. Washington served as the organization's first executive secretary.

Despite receiving critical acclaim, she was unable to find much work in the Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s. On the one hand, black actresses were expected to have dark skin, and were usually typecast as maids. On the other hand, directors were concerned about casting a light-skinned black actress in a romantic role with a white leading man; the film production code prohibited suggestions of miscegenation, so Hollywood directors did not offer her any romantic roles. As one modern critic explained, Fredi Washington was "too beautiful and not dark enough to play maids, but rather too light to act in all-black movies." She also tried to find work in radio, where most opportunities for black performers were as musicians in bands, or as comedic sidekicks, such as Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, in his role as Jack Benny's valet.

Washington had an important dramatic role in a 1943 radio tribute to black women, Heroines in Bronze, produced by the National Urban League. But there were few regular dramatic programs in that era with black protagonists. Washington wrote an opinion piece for the black press in which she discussed how limited the opportunities in broadcasting were for black actors, actresses, and vocalists, saying that "radio seems to keep its doors sealed" against "colored artists."

In 1945 she said:

"You see I'm a mighty proud gal and I can't for the life of me, find any valid reason why anyone should lie about their origin or anything else for that matter. Frankly, I do not ascribe to the stupid theory of white supremacy and to try to hide the fact that I am a Negro for economic or any other reasons, if I do I would be agreeing to be a Negro makes me inferior and that I have swallowed whole hog all of the propaganda dished out by our fascist-minded white citizens."

She played opposite Bill Robinson in Fox's One Mile from Heaven (1937), in which she played a mulatto claiming to be the mother of a "white" baby. Claire Trevor plays a reporter who discovers the story and helps both Washington and the white biological mother who had given up the baby, played by Sally Blane. According to the Museum of Modern Art in 2013: "The last of the six Claire Trevor 'snappy' vehicles [Allan] Dwan made for Fox in the 1930s tests the limits of free expression on race in Hollywood while sometimes straining credulity."

Washington was also a theatre writer. She was the Entertainment Editor for People's Voice, a newspaper for African Americans founded by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., a Baptist minister and politician in New York City. For a time he was married to her sister Isabel Washington. It was published 1942-1948. She was outspoken about racism faced by African Americans. She worked closely with Walter White, then president of the NAACP, to address pressing issues facing black people in America. Her experiences in the film industry and theatre led her to become a civil rights activist. Together with Noble Sissle, W.C. Handy and Dick Campbell, in 1937 Washington was a founding member with Alan Corelli of the Negro Actors Guild of America (NAG) in New York.

In 1953, she was a film casting consultant for Carmen Jones, which starred Dorothy Dandridge, another pioneering African-American actress. She also consulted on casting for George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, an opera performed in revival on Broadway in 1952, and filmed in 1959.

Marriage and family

Washington dated Duke Ellington for a while but, realizing he was not going to marry her, she started another relationship. She married Lawrence Brown, the trombonist in Ellington's jazz orchestra, a relationship which ended in divorce.

Washington later married Anthony H. Bell, a dentist. Bell died in the 1980s. Washington died after a series of strokes on June 28, 1994 in Stamford, Connecticut, aged 90. According to her sister, Isabel, Fredi never had children. One of Washington's sisters, Isabel Washington (May 23, 1909 – May 1, 2008), was a singer and nightclub performer. She married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the first African American elected to Congress from New York state. They later divorced. At her death, Washington was survived by her sisters Isabel Washington, Rosebud Smith and Gertrude Penna, and a brother, Floyd Washington.

On "passing"

Throughout her life, Washington was often asked if she ever wanted to "pass" for white. Washington, a proud black woman, answered conclusively, "No." She said this repeatedly, "I don't want to pass because I can't stand insincerities and shams. I am just as much Negro as any of the others identified with the race."

"I have never tried to pass for white and never had any desire, I am proud of my race. In 'Imitation of Life', I was showing how a girl might feel under the circumstances but I am not showing how I felt."

"I am an American citizen and by God, we all have inalienable rights and wherever those rights are tampered with, there is nothing left to do but fight...and I fight. How many people do you think there are in this country who do not have mixed blood, there's very few if any, what makes us who we are, are our culture and experience. No matter how white I look, on the inside I feel black. There are many whites who are mixed blood, but still go by white, why such a big deal if I go as Negro, because people can't believe that I am proud to be a Negro and not white. To prove I don't buy white superiority I chose to be a Negro."

Legacy and honors

1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

Wikipedia

#Fredi Washington #12-23 #06-28

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genuine-history-blog · 6 years ago

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Armenia - the oldest Christian nation in the world

HISTORICAL ARMENIA in Classical and Byzantine times covered a large area to the east of Asia Minor and to the south of the Caucasus range. To the south-east was the land of the Medes and Persians. The Black Sea lies north-west of Armenia, and the Caspian to the north-east. However, the Armenians have never enjoyed continuous access to these important seas.

The best known landmark of Armenia is Mount Ararat, on which according to the Book of Genesis Noah’s Ark alighted after its long voyage from Mesopotamia. Mount Ararat which the Armenians call ‘Masis’ is situated today a few miles inside the Turkish frontier, but is fully visible from many parts of Armenia. This fact helps to keep alive the feelings both of frustration and of national pride which are characteristic of Armenians everywhere.

The geographical name ‘Ararat’ is closely linked with that of Urartu, which is the name given by the Assyrians to the ancient kingdom which once existed on the territory of historical Armenia. This kingdom, originally a confederation of local tribes, flourished as a unified state from the ninth to the early sixth century 30; it constituted a formidable rival to Assyria for supremacy in the Near East.

The Urartian capital was the ancient city of Van, today in modem Turkey. Van is situated on the eastern shore of the large lake of that name. The plain of Van is very fertile, and this fertility was enhanced by magnificent aqueducts built by the ancient Urartians - some of the water channels remaining in use right up to modern times. Another Armenian granary is the broad Araxes valley, particularly in the vicinity of Erevan and near the ancient capital of Artashat. Some authors have even maintained that this region of Armenia was the original Garden of Eden.

Soon after 600 BC, Urartu was invaded by various warlike hordes, including the Scythians, the Medes (ancestors of the modem Kurds), and also a tribe known as the people of Hayasa. These Hayasa people came from central Anatolia, close to the old Hittite state. The Armenians call themselves ‘Hai-k’, and their country, Hayastan, and many modern scholars consider that this Hayasa element forms an important constituent in the makeup of the modern Armenian nation.

Less than a century after these invasions, we find the ethnic names ‘Armina’ and ‘Armenians’ or ‘Armenioi’ mentioned in Persian inscriptions and in Greek sources. Thus, the people of Armina were known to Great King Darius I Hystaspes of Iran (521 - 485 BC), who mentions them in an important royal inscription, and Herodotus, Father of History, was familiar with the Armenians.

The Armenian language is an independent, one-language subgroup within the Indo-European language family. However, the identification of ethnic origins with linguistic affinity is deceptive. It seems clear that the Armenians themselves, in the majority of cases, belong to an ancient population stratum of eastern Anatolia, akin to the ancient Hurrians and Urartians. We have only to look at ancient Hittite, Assyrian and Achaemenid sculptures to pick out the prototypes of the modern Armenians, praying, toiling, and bringing tribute to the Great Kings of the ancient world.

Up to the great dispersal between 1895 and 1915, Armenian life was generally marked by ethnic continuity and social conservatism. Considering the pressures which the Armenians have undergone over the centuries to become assimilated in various foreign environments, they have contrived to maintain a remarkable ethnic and cultural individuality, especially where they have been able to set up an offshoot of their ancient Apostolic Church. Some Armenian communities are in fact rather inbred, and many Armenians are still reluctant to tolerate intermarriage with non-Armenians, who are referred to rather contemptuously as ‘odars’ - an equivalent of the term ‘gentile’. Like the British in India under the Raj, Armenians have sometimes tended to create various taboos and erect invisible barriers to maintain their community ethos intact. This group solidarity has in turn helped to preserve over the centuries certain readily identifiable physical traits.

”The ‘Armenoid’ physical type is well known to anthropologists, and forms one of the three brunette subgroups of the broad-headed complex of white races This Armenoid type is quite conspicuous it has the skull abruptly flattened behind, while the head is characterized by a lofty vault, with what physical anthropologists call ‘outward-drooping orbits’. The hair is usually brown or black. The eyes are large, mostly hazel, brown or black in colour, often framed by bushy eyebrows. Occasionally one meets Armenians with lustrous blue eyes, which are very striking.

The Armenian physique is renowned for toughness and endurance. This befits the rugged terrain of most of the Armenian homeland. Although the Araxes valley and the Van region can be described as a land of milk and honey, more than half of historical Armenia consists of barren upland with a harsh climate. The landscape is cut up by enormous mountains, and prevailing weather conditions are more like those of the Scottish Highlands or the Rocky Mountains than those of most of the Fertile Crescent lands.

Nowadays, the Armenian mountaineers are athletic and relatively tall. However, the general type found in the older generations both in Armenia and the diaspora communities is rather short and compact. The nose is often prominent and bulbous or else aquilinc and high-bridged. The facial complexion is rather swarthy, and features are strongly marked. There is a tendency to chunky solidity in middle age. A bristling moustache, turned up at the ends, is often seen in the older generation of men.

Wherever fate may have led them, one is impressed by the Armenians’ intelligence and quick-wittedness. ‘Nothing escapes them,’ remarks that seasoned traveller, Sir Fitzroy Maclean. ‘They have read one’s thoughts almost before they have had time to take shape." Even in pagan times, two thousand years ago, Armenians were renowned as poets and musicians, as builders and sculptors, as orator: and philosophers, as generals and as hotel keepers.

In modern times, Armenians consistently display a high intelligence and are successful in a wide range of professional activities. They are renowned as scientists, mathematicians, doctors and dentists. They excel in the arts and in literature. Armenians are numbered among film directors, book illustrators, and among orchestral conductors and soloists. They are excellent cooks and famed for their hospitality. In spite of their tragic history, Armenians are noted for their sense of humour. They have also produced many outstanding administrators and military leaders.

A fine description of the manners and customs of ancient Armenia is provided by the Greek historian, philosopher and military adventurer Xenophon, who led his Ten Thousand followers through that country in the winter of 401-400 BC. After a gruelling march north wands through the wilds of Kurdistan, Xenophon’s men were happy to reach Armenia, west of Lake Van. The local Armenians offered the Greeks excellent wine, strong ale, lamb, kid, pork, veal and poultry. We learn that the Armenian aristocracy used beautiful drinking cups, and reclined on couches whose legs were cased in silver. The common people lived in houses partly tunnelled underground, both for security and to keep out the bitter winter cold. During this season, the family livestock was kept inside the houses, including goats, sheep, cattle and fowls together with their young. Such underground houses have continued to exist in Armenia and in Georgia right up to modern times.

After Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian Empire in 331 BC, the dynasty of the Orontids held sway in Armenia, until they were replaced by another ruling family, the Artaxiads, in 200 BC. In addition, there were smaller principalities and minor kingdoms in Western Armenia.

The most famous ruler of the Artaxiad dynasty was Tigrana the Great (95-55 BC), thanks to whom Armenia became, briefly, a world power. Tigranes built up an empire stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, and from the Pontic Alps near the Black Sea right down to northern Mesopotamia. He profited by the decay of the hybrid Greek and oriental Seleucid dynasty to take over Syria, which he ruled quite successfully for fourteen years, from 83 to 69 BC. Tigranes erected a magnificent new capital at Tigranokerta, close to present-day Farkin, in southern Turkey.

Emulating the conquerors of Assyrian times, Tigranes deported many thousands of Greeks, Jews and Syrians to populate his new capital. He grew arrogant and cruel as he got older: he used to humiliate vassal rulers by making them run along on foot beside his royal charger whenever he went out for ‘a ride. He was so bad-tempered and superstitious that he would kill any messenger who brought him bad news, so that nobody dared to tell him the truth. Seeing the Roman general Lucullus approaching with a well trained army of ten thousand men, Tigranes uttered the famous but ill-judged witticism: ‘If they are coming as ambassadors, they are too many; if as enemies, they are too few !’

The territory of Great Armenia much exceeded in size that of England and Wales combined it amounted to about 100,000 square miles. But much of Armenia has always been unfit for human settlement. In addition to the two great inland seas of Van and Sevan, there are mighty mountains and extinct volcanoes, some topped by eternal snow. Ravine: and canyons break up the landscape, and make comunication difficult. Earthquakes add to the hazards of life.

The average height of the Armenian plateau, often described as a ‘natural fortress’, is over 5,000 feet. Outside the Araxes valley and the plain of Van, the windswept uplands have a harsh climate, winter persisting for seven months of the year. The short, dry summer extends for little more than three months. A typical highland Armenian town, such as Gyumri, has an average winter temperature as low as 12° F, or minus 11 C.

Even more unfavourable to the development of Armenia as an independent country is the lack of convenient road and river transport, and of assured access to the sea. Armenia lies astride main invasion routes leading from Asia Minor into Iran, and from the Caucasian isthmus southwards into Mesopotamia. But the land itself is poor in trunk roads., Whereas three great river: the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Araxes -all have their source in Armenia, none of them is navigable for any but the smallest vessels while still flowing through Armenian territory.

Despite these natural handicaps, combined with remorseless Roman pressure, the Armenians survived remarkably well throughout the Classical period. They were helped by their strategic position and inaccessible strongholds, and also by support from the Parthians, the warlike ruling dynasty of Iran. In fact, the Roman emperor Nero invited the founder of the Armenian dynasty of the Arsacids, King Tiridates I, to come to Rome in AD 66, and solemnly crowned him in the Forum in spite of the fact that Tiridata was himself a scion of the ruling Parthian royal family. On his return to Armenia, Tiridates built a magnificent temple in the Classical style at his summer capital of Garni. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1679, this monument has recently been re-erected by the Armenian Academy of Sciences, under the direction of Dr A. Sahinian.

During the Classical era, the Armenians laid the foundations of their rich and splendid national literature. It is true that the distinctive Armenian alphabet was not invented until after the introduction of Christianity, but pagan Armenia was far from being illiterate. From Moses of Khorene, the national chronicler, we have the texts of ancient ballads and legends, which were earlier handed down by word of mouth. Official documents and inscriptions were written in Greek or else in Iranian using Aramaic characters an ancient form of the Semitic alphabet. King Artavazd II, son of Tigranes the Great, maintained a Greek theatre in his palace, and himself wrote dramas in Greek to be staged there. Roman legionaries brought Latin script with them, notably in the reign of Emperor Trajan, though this failed to take root among the local population.

A key event in early Armenian history was the conversion of the country to Christianity by St Gregory the Illuminator, a missionary from Parthia, during the reign of King Tiridates III. This event determined the entire future course of Armenian history. It occurred in or about the year 301, though according to hallowed legend Armenia is supposed to have been visited by the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus much earlier, about twenty years after Christ’s crucifixion. Armenia is thus the oldest Christian nation in the world, if we except the now vanished Christian realm of King Abgar of Edessa.

#Armenia #Christianity #Christian #History #byzantine #jesus christ

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thetruthseekerway · 6 years ago

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Pilgrimage and Its Universal Lessons

New Post has been published on http://www.truth-seeker.info/jewels-of-islam/pilgrimage-and-its-universal-lessons/

Pilgrimage and Its Universal Lessons

By Faisal Kutty

Pilgrims return home enriched by this more pluralistic and holistic outlook and with a new appreciation for their own origins.

Millions of pilgrims from all over the world will be converging on Makkah in the coming days. They will retrace the footsteps of millions who have made the spiritual journey to the valley of Makkah since the time of Adam.

Hajj literally means, “to continuously strive to reach one’s goal.” It is the last of the five pillars of Islam (the others include a declaration of faith in one God, five daily prayers, offering regular charity, and fasting during the month of Ramadan). Pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for those who have the physical and financial ability to undertake the journey.

The Hajj is essentially a re-enactment of the rituals of the great prophets and teachers of faith. Pilgrims symbolically relive the experience of exile and atonement undergone by Adam and Eve after they were expelled from Heaven, wandered the earth, met again and sought forgiveness in the valley of Makkah. They also retrace the frantic footsteps of the wife of Abraham, Hagar, as she ran between the hills of Safa and Marwa searching for water for her thirsty baby (which according to Muslim tradition, God answered with the well of Zam Zam). Lastly, the pilgrims also commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son for the sake of God. God later substituted a ram in place of his son.

Yet, the Hajj is more than these elaborate rituals. The faithful hope that it will bring about a deep spiritual transformation, one that will make him or her a better person. If such a change within does not occur, then the Hajj was merely a physical and material exercise devoid of any spiritual significance.

As all great religions teach, we are more than mere physical creatures in that we possess an essence beyond the material world. Indeed, this is why all great religions have a tradition of pilgrimage. In the Islamic tradition, Hajj encapsulates this spiritual journey toward this essence. The current state of affairs — both within and outside the Muslim world — greatly increases the relevance of some of the spiritual and universal messages inherent in the Hajj.

As Islamic scholar Ebrahim Moosa asks rhetorically: “after paying homage to the two women Eve and Hagar in the rites of pilgrimage, how can some Muslims still violate the rights and dignity of women in the name of Islam? Is this not a contradiction?”

Indeed, the Qur’an teaches: “I shall not lose sight of the labor of any of you who labors in my way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other.” (Aal `Imran: 195)

Clearly, the white sea of men and women side by side performing tawaf (circling) around the Ka`bah (the stone building Muslims believe was originally built by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael) should lay to rest any claim that Islam — as opposed to some Muslims — degrades women. The fact that millions of Muslims transcending geographical, linguistic, level of practice, cultural, ethnic, color, economic and social barriers converge in unison on Makkah, attests to the universality of the Hajj. It plants the seed to celebrate the diversity of our common humanity. Pilgrims return home enriched by this more pluralistic and holistic outlook and with a new appreciation for their own origins. One of the most celebrated Western Hajjis (one who has completed the Hajj) is none other than African-American civil rights leader El-Hajj Malik El-Shabbaz, more commonly known as Malcolm X. The man profoundly reassessed his previous views during the Hajj. This transformation, of course, sealed his break with the Black Nationalist Movement of the Nation of Islam.

Contrary to the teachings of the Nation, he concluded that Islam encompassed all of humanity and transcended race and culture. Malcolm X later said, “In my 39 years on this Earth, the holy city of Makkah had been the first time I had ever stood before the Creator of all and felt like a complete human.”

In Makkah, he discovered himself mixing with, “fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was whitest of white.” Malcolm X was so inspired by what he witnessed, that, in letters to friends and relatives, he wrote, “America needs to understand Islam because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.”

Upon returning to America, he embarked on a mission to enlighten both blacks and whites with his new views. Malcolm X understood that in order to truly learn from the Hajj, its inherent spiritual lessons must extend beyond the fraternal ties of Muslims to forging a common humanity with others.

In fact, as part of the spiritual experience, the pilgrimage links people across religions through a past shared by several Abrahamic traditions. This combined with the Islamic teaching of the common origin of humanity holds out much hope. Indeed, the Qur’an teaches: “We created you from a single pair of a male and female (Adam and Eve), and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other and not that you might despise each other. The most honored of you in the sight of God is the most righteous of you” (Al-Hujurat: 13). This is a great celebration of the differences and at the same time unity of all of humanity.

Another essential spiritual message of the Hajj is one of humility to God and His supremacy and control over all that we know. The multitude of people and their inner beliefs and practices are all to be judged by God and God alone in His infinite wisdom and full knowledge. Indeed, as the Qur’an insists, “Let there be no compulsion in matters of faith, truth stands out clear from error.” (Al-Baqarah: 256) The result of a successful Hajj is a rich inner peace, which is manifested outwardly in the values of justice, honesty, respect, generosity, kindness, forgiveness, mercy and empathy. And it is these values – all attributes of God almighty — that are indispensable to us all if we are just to get along in this world.

———-

Faisal Kutty is a lawyer and writer. He is an adjunct professor of comparative law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He is also a past vice chair of the Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations. His articles are archived at www.faisalkutty.com.

#Allah #Faith #Featured #God #Islam #ka`bah #monotheism #pilgrimage #Pilgrimage and Its Universal Lessons #Prophet Muhammad #umrah

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

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7 Strange And Surprising Ways That Human Have Lately Progressed

When we learn about evolution in school, it feels old-time and slow.( Charles Darwin’s impressive beard later in life probably doesn’t help here .)

But evolution is very much still happening today and it’s happening to us.

Right here, right now.

It’s too soon to say what humen will look like a few thousand years from now, but here are some of recent developments foibles and even superpowers we’veacquired thanks to the supremacy of selection.

1. Drinking milk as adults

liz west/ flickr

Drinkingmilk is one of the characterizing peculiarities of mammals, but humen are the only species on Land to grasp it after infancy, though even now, more than7 5 %~ ATAGENDof the world’s population is still lactose intolerant.

After weaning, all other mammals, and most humen, cease producing lactase, the enzyme necessary to break down lactose, milk sugar.

But a mutation that appearedon the plateaux of Hungaryabout 7,500 years ago allowed some humans to digest milk into adulthood. We likely started with cheese cheddar and feta contain little lactose than fresh milk and softer cheeses, and Parmesan contains almost no lactose.

Thismay seem nutritionally immaterial( though luscious) now, but capacities necessary to digest fantastically calorie-dense dairy concoctions was incrediblyuseful for humen existing the cold wintertimes of Europe.

2. Disease fight

Rod-shaped Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteriaCDC

Evolution is about the survival of the fittest and a big part of evolutionary fitness is not dying from an illness before you’ve had children. So it reaches sense that growth would be giving us a increase against some common diseases.

The most-studied sicknes we’ve been outrunning lately is malaria. If you’ve taken an introductory biology track lately, you are able remember a strange alliance withsickle-cell anemia. That’s because there’s a specific gene that, if you have one copy, will protect your red blood cell from intrusion by the malaria parasite but two copies will falsify red blood cell and block their excerpt through blood vessels.

But that isn’t the only trick that’s derived in the face of malaria. There are also more than a hundred somewhat different genes that justification a shortage of a protein involved in breaking down red blood cells. That makes it harder for the malaria parasite to sneak into a red blood cell.Another character of mutation that’s been spreading lately bricks malaria parasites from hanging out in the placenta.

And it’s not just malaria evolution has helped spread adaptations that protect against leprosy, tuberculosis, and cholera in certain populations as well. Some scientists have suggested that living in metropolis facilitates this process along.

3. Blue gazes

Flickr/ Antoine K

Blue attentions are another recent-evolved traitand scientists have determined it came from a mutation in a single ancestor 6,000 -1 0,000 years ago.

Themutation affected the OCA2 gene, which codes the protein necessary for producing melanin, which grants our surface, “hairs-breadth” and see their color. This essentially “switched off” the ability to have brown eyes by limiting the melanin products in the iris, and “diluting” the eye emblazon from brown to blue.

Having lighter attentions didn’t throw anyone a particular existence advantage, but because the gene for blue-blooded attentions controls similarly to a recessive character( though it’s a little more complicated ), blue-eyed papas could betterguarantee that their children were, in fact, their own.

4. High-altitude gasping

Tibetans live in one of the least sociable, and thereforeone of the lastpopulatedareason the planet: the Himalayan mountains. And their ability to handle the low-oxygen levelsup there is not due to mere hardiness it’s coded into their genes.

One learn equated indigenous Tibetans, who live at altitudes above 10,000 paws inthe Himalayan highlands, withHan Chinese from Beijing, who are closely related genetically but live claim around sea level elevation.

REUTERS/ Damir Sagolj

The investigates found that the Tibetans’blood was genetically predisposed to produce more of the oxygen-transporting hemoglobin protein.Still up for conversation is when this mutant occurred, but some geneticists have estimated it happening as recently as 3,000 years ago( though unsurprisingly, archaeologistspush that appointment far out of range back ).

5. Missing gumption teeth

Steven Fruitsmaak/ Wikimedia

It’s not only oral surgeons who are removing wise teeth( third molars) from human mouths evolution is playing a part too.

On our evolutionary road to becoming humen, our large-hearted intelligences crowded our skulls and narrowed our jaw, shaping it difficult for the third largest sequence of molars to emerge from the gums.

And afterwe began cooking our food and developed agriculturethousands of years ago, our diet became softer. This was changed to soft specks and starches expected less strenuous ruminating than our past hunter-gathererdiet. This signified our mouth muscles didn’t develop as strong as they used to, keeping the knowledge teeth beneath the gumsincreasingthe risk of painful and deadly infection.

A few thousand years ago, a mutant popped up that prevented profundity teeth from growing at all. Now one in four people are missing at least one wisdom tooth.Thepeople who are most likely to be missing at least one profundity tooth are the Inuit of the northernmost regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska.

6. Alcohol flush action

Alcohol flush action, also known as the “Asian radiance, ” is not only a real thing, it’s likewise a recently advanced trait that are able to keep East Asian populations froma deadlycancer.

In about 36% of East Asians( Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans ), booze booze makes facial flushing and nausea. This is due to a defect in the enzyme known asALDH2.

While this may cause some social defies amidst peers of more heavy-drinkingancestries, it’s its significant benchmark of a serious health risk.People with an ALDH2 deficiency are also at greater peril of developingesophageal cancer from sucking alcohol.

Curiously, scientists believe this mutant appeared after the developing agriculture which built producing alcohol possible.

PJ Brooks et al ./ Wikimedia( CC BY 2.5 )

7. Shrinking mentalities

We believe fairly highly of our psyches, but it is about to change they’ve actually been flinching for more than 20, 000 years. The total change contributes up to a piece the size of a tennis dance in an adult male. But scientists don’t is considered that means we’re getting dumber.

One theory is that each of us relies more on such structures of society to help us get by, so we don’t necessitate as much brain space as individuals. But as we’ve domesticated animals like the bag of cats and bird-dogs, we’ve watched their psyches diminish more. That symbolizes somescientists envisage smaller psyches may actually mark most peaceful animals.

PBS/ YouTube

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carlesteph14-blog · 8 years ago

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*Nationalism, Ethnicity, & Violence: Indications in Rhetoric of a Rising Syrian Genocide*

After the horrors of the Holocaust, scholars across disciplines have devoted decades of study to what leads an individual to commit such heinous acts of violence or support a man who promotes them. Rhetoric plays an important role in the rise of leaders such as Hitler, not only the specific language used but the style and use of the language. The study of this type of leadership can be applied to the mass killings carried out by governments that followed. Genocides and ethnic cleansings employ a specific style and implementation of rhetoric, based in nationalistic and/or ethnic identity construction, that unify those within these identities and separate from those constructed to be outside of them. In places such as Burma and Rwanda, highly nationalistic and ethnocentric rhetoric sparked and perpetuated genocidal violence. As tensions and conflict rise in Syria, the rhetoric of the government has begun to reflect the language of those in power during these historical genocides.

In his analysis of Hitler’s rhetoric in the 1930′s and 40′s, Kenneth Burke identifies what he describes as a unifying device (Burke 190), and breaks down the various steps within this device that allowed Hitler to lead a nation under German-Aryan supremacy. It requires that his constructed idea of a German (blonde-haired, blue-eyed, and Christian) unite both amongst their common identity and against those that do not fall into the ideal, whom the leader constructs as sorts of “devils” (Burke 190). Once the audience subscribes to his constructed identity, manipulation becomes much easier. Rowan Savage applies this idea specifically to genocide in a 2013 article; he attributes the actions of followers not only to what he calls dehumanization from rhetoric but to the external- social and political- conditions surrounding those who carry out genocides (Savage 145). Dehumanization of the victims of genocide is brought on not only by the rhetoric of the inciter of violence, but is primed by the experience and belief of the receptor of the rhetor.

The genocide of the Tutsi minority in Rwanda in 1994 provides a unique application of this model. Colonization had already created ethnic divides, as Tutsi were placed above the Hutu majority. When the Hutu staged a revolt and gained control over Belgian colonizers, the Tutsi minority was immediately the target of the new- and previously oppressed- leadership. After the death of the Rwandan president in April of 1994, a power vacuum lead to a military coup. Shortly following, military posts were placed throughout the country and all citizens were issued ID cards, indicating their ethnic identity. Tutsi’s were systematically killed by those manning these stations. As conflict escalated, Hutu’s began taking the streets en masse, slaughtering any who identified as Tutsi, or Hutu’s deemed moderate or sympathizers.

A unique use of rhetoric makes this genocide stand out among others. Hutu-run radio stations played a constant stream of anti-Tutsi programming, now known as Rwandan hate radio. Hate radio was frequently played over loudspeakers in towns, heard at all times. These stations attributed current and historical violence to the Tutsi, often referring to them as violent, immoral, and inhumane (Habiyambere 3). The rhetoric enforcing Hutu superiority- as described by Burke- and the dehumanization of Tutsis- from Savage’s article- were constantly present during the months of the genocide. This rhetoric was designed to create an idealized in-group as well as demonized out-group. The dehumanizing and demonizing rhetoric towards Tutsis demanded a violent and extreme response, while the unifying and idealizing rhetoric justified the Hutu’s right to carry out this violence.

In Syria today, violence between the government and rebel forces in a civil war that began in 2011 continues. Violent fighting has occurred throughout the country, leaving over 50% of the population displaced- internally or as a refugee- 11.5% killed or seriously injured, and over 75,000 stranded or stuck in areas of immediate conflict (Amnesty International). In one of the largest humanitarian crises in history, it becomes even more complicated in that the deaths of many of these civilians are attributed to the government- specifically President Bashar al-Assad. In 2013, al-Assad was suspected to have commissioned the use of Sarin gas on Syrian civilians by Human Rights Watch, an attack that lead to the death and serious injury of hundreds, including children. In recent months, attacks in East Aleppo and the most recent use of chlorine gas on civilians have caused concern among human rights organizations. In his most recent address to parliament, he vows to gain control of “every inch of Syria” in this war.

While this may seem to be completely separate from the genocides of the Holocaust and Rwanda, the rhetoric of al-Assad follows an eerily similar pattern to the language of governments involved in genocides. In his 2014 inaugural address, Bashar al-Assad addresses the “true Syrians”, those who voted in his election. He creates a Syrian identity that is entirely grounded in birthplace and support of the national government. However, simply being born Syrian is not enough; all those that actively oppose the government in rebel forces, called for a hold on the election, or did not brave the violence in order to vote lose the Syrian identity Assad is constructing. He puts these true Syrians in an ideal state, aligning them with moral rightness and justice; he places this identity in enmity with the West and all those who sympathize with it. He places this enemy as a direct threat to the true Syrian, and those who oppose the president are equally as threatening.

This highly nationalistic identity he creates follows the model of both German and Rwandan societies during their violent conflicts. While it is not ethnically or racially driven, Assad’s use of rhetoric to create a unified identity against a nearly inhuman enemy to be defeated at all costs does reflect the motivations of other historical genocides. Violence towards both combatants and civilians continues to rise as well as the president’s highly nationalistic rhetoric. The system of rhetoric historically has begun to develop, and in combination with high levels of violence could be indicators of a potential genocide of non-militant Syrians.

Works Cited

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/02/syrias-refugee-crisis-in-numbers/

Al-Assad, Bashar. "Inauguration Speech." Inauguration 2014. People's Assembly. 16 July 2014. Global Research. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://www.globalresearch.ca/president-bashar-al-assad-transcript-of-inauguration-speech/5391709>.

Burke, Kenneth. "Rhetoric of Hitler's "Battle"." Rhetorical Criticism. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 188-202. Print.

Kantana, Habimana. Radio-Télévision Libre Des Milles Collines. Radio Rwanda. 29 May 1994. Rwanda File. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://www.rwandafile.com/rtlm/pdf/rtlm0015.pdf>. Transcript.

Savage, Rowan. "Modern Genocidal Dehumanization: A New Model." Patterns of Prejudice, vol. 47, no. 2, May 2013, pp. 139-161. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/0031322X.2012.754575.

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apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

7 Strange And Surprising Ways That Human Have Lately Progressed

When we learn about evolution in school, it feels old-time and slow.( Charles Darwin’s impressive beard later in life probably doesn’t help here .)

But evolution is very much still happening today and it’s happening to us.

Right here, right now.

1. Drinking milk as adults

liz west/ flickr

After weaning, all other mammals, and most humen, cease producing lactase, the enzyme necessary to break down lactose, milk sugar.

2. Disease fight

Rod-shaped Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteriaCDC

3. Blue gazes

Flickr/ Antoine K

Blue attentions are another recent-evolved traitand scientists have determined it came from a mutation in a single ancestor 6,000 -1 0,000 years ago.

4. High-altitude gasping

REUTERS/ Damir Sagolj

5. Missing gumption teeth

Steven Fruitsmaak/ Wikimedia

It’s not only oral surgeons who are removing wise teeth( third molars) from human mouths evolution is playing a part too.

6. Alcohol flush action

Alcohol flush action, also known as the “Asian radiance, ” is not only a real thing, it’s likewise a recently advanced trait that are able to keep East Asian populations froma deadlycancer.

In about 36% of East Asians( Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans ), booze booze makes facial flushing and nausea. This is due to a defect in the enzyme known asALDH2.

Curiously, scientists believe this mutant appeared after the developing agriculture which built producing alcohol possible.

PJ Brooks et al ./ Wikimedia( CC BY 2.5 )

7. Shrinking mentalities

PBS/ YouTube

The post 7 Strange And Surprising Ways That Human Have Lately Progressed appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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