Ahem, Guys...

___& Not___

_____A Camel......____________ ---______A Cow.

That's why she isn't going to have to kiss anybody, or have another baby, or get married; she can laugh at the Funnies and continue to do the Crossword with impunity; she can cuss like an Old Salt if she feels like it; and yes, it didn't go unnoticed that her browser grabbed that F-bomb session without her having to click 'Publish Post'. Oh, and it does 'Save Now' by the self-same magic.

He Said: 'You know, you gained a few...'

She Said: 'Why should I care when You've already killed me umpteen different times? What can I Diet next?...I know it's not because You want to see me in a bathing suit... So it must be that You are looking for the Camel to Pass through the Needle's Eye!'

None shall Despair of God's Mercy:

Surah 7 A'raf

7:40 إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَاسْتَكْبَرُواْ عَنْهَا لاَ تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاء

وَلاَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى يَلِجَ الْجَمَلُ فِي سَمِّ الْخِيَاطِ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُجْرِمِينَ

7:40 Truly, they who deny Our Signs and scorn them, for them the gates of Heaven will not be opened nor will they enter the Garden until the camel (large twisted rope) can pass through the needle's eye. This is how We requite the miscreants.

Note: If you must let fly with the Camel TOE jokes, then I stake a claim right here, right now to my share in helping to develop the Theory Of Everything (TOE); just to put some salve on the wound.

How It Was, What It Is

He finally catches up with her just as she goes for a GPS constellation, and needless to say, she has been on a Time Out ever since. What conventional vehicle could she possibly find acceptable after the one He jacked?

--and that's why He owes her a Godzillion-bizjillion (that's a number bigger than a google) bunch of money to get over it!

Somewhere in my spotty memory I remember making a minor contribution to the development of sensors for the AEGIS program, but then I might be dreaming or it's NURD GURU for me again.

Dog Days Of Summer

...or Sirius Poetry

53 Al Najm (The Star/Revelation)

53:49 وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ رَبُّ الشِّعْرَى

53:49 He is the Lord of Sirius (the 'Shining One')


What is it about the brightest star, Sirius, that makes people wax poetic? Even Edgar Allan Poe was not immune to its charm.

EVENING STAR
by Edgar Allan Poe
1827

'Twas noontide of summer,

And mid-time of night;

And stars, in their orbits,

Shone pale, thro' the light

Of the brighter, cold moon,

'Mid planets her slaves,

Herself in the Heavens,

Her beam on the waves.

I gazed awhile On her cold smile;

Too cold–too cold for me-

There pass'd, as a shroud,

A fleecy cloud,

And I turned away to thee,

Proud Evening Star,

In thy glory afar,

And dearer thy beam shall be;

For joy to my heart

Is the proud part

Thou bearest in Heaven at night,

And more I admire

Thy distant fire,

Than that colder, lowly light.

26 Ash-Shu'ara (The Poets)

وَالشُّعَرَاء يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الْغَاوُونَ 26:224

26:224 And the 'errant' follow the poets. (This is the classical interpretation; the primary meaning of مغو is not 'errant' but any one of the following: inductor/seducer/seductive/inticing/incidious/tempting)

A more accurate translation appears to be:
26:225 And the Poets are followed by the Seductive/Seducers...

16 An-Nahl (The Bee)

وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالْنَّهَارَ وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالْنُّجُومُ مُسَخَّرَاتٌ بِأَمْرِهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ 16:12

16:12 And He has made the night and the day of service/benefit to you, and the sun and the moon and the stars are subservient to His command; in this there are messages for people who use their reason.

86 At-Tariq (The Tariq)

86:1 وَالسَّمَاء وَالطَّارِقِ
86:2 وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ
86:3 النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ

86:1 By The Heavens And The Tariq
86:2 And Do You Know (Who Has Tought You) What Is The Tariq?
86:3 A Piercing Star! (A Light/Revelation That Pierces The Darkness)

For homework; what may seem like a disparate collection of poetry and Signs really comes together for the field astronomer who happens to like Egyption mythology and dabbles in linguistics. Connect 'The Dog Star' to the idiomatic expression 'Dog Days of Summer' and the Arabic name of Sirius (Ash-Shi'ra) which if mispronounced can be misconstrued for the Arabic word for Poets (Ash-Shu'ra) to Osiris and then see how that relates to Judaism and Christianity and other World Religions. A special gold star to anyone who can tell me why, in this given instance, the train can and did jump the tracks before my next post. Bonus points if you can relate Poe's 8,8,6 verses to music.

PS I quite enjoyed Sunday's Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle. Thanks.

History 101

...or 'Captain Procrastinator'™

There is an interesting entry in Wikipedia regarding Thierville, France with respect to War casualties:

"In France, where the human cost of War was higher than in Britain, Thierville was remarkable as the only village in all of France with no men lost from World War I, nor any memorials constructed in the subsequent period. Amazingly, Thierville also suffered no losses in the Franco-Prussian War and World War II, France’s other bloody war of the modern era."

Time and again, it seems the promise of the Hereafter, is God's MO for how Justice is meted out and what is percieved to be a time lag in realizing such Justice is nothing other than to allow for a way to Respond Mercifully rather than React Viscerally in settling a score.

That is why it is best to stick to 'You Shall Not Kill' and 'Vengeance is Mine! Says the Lord.'

12 Yusuf (Joseph)
12:109 وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلاَّ رِجَالاً نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَى أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ
فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَدَارُ الآخِرَةِ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ اتَّقَواْ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ

12:109 And We never sent before you any but men, from among the people of their own communities, bearing our Revelation. Do they never journey about the Earth and see what happened to those who lived before them?-And haven’t they learned that to those who are conscious of God the life in the Hereafter is indeed better? Will you not reason?

10 Yunus (Jonah)
10:98 فَلَوْلاَ كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلاَّ قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ آمَنُواْ
كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَى حِينٍ

10:98 There has never been any community that attained to faith and (in so doing) benefited by its faith, except the people of Jonah. When they came to believe, We removed from them the suffering of disgrace in the life of this world, and allowed them ease (pleasure) for their term.

84 Inshiqaaq (Splitting)
لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَن طَبَقٍ 84:19

84:19 you will (surely) travel from stage to stage (level to level, plane to plane)

Wine,Women, And Song

Hmmmmmmmm, a caning in Malaysia?

Here we go again, thinking our ofds!

Is the unfortunate Malaysian woman's crime that she drinks in public or that she tipples at all?
Honestly, You say 'Land! Land!' and yet I am better off at Sea because I don't know what's making News around the 'landed gentry'--certainly not anything on the basis of any Book I've ever read. Bunch of ILLiterates!

FranklyI, myself, find nothing relieves joint pain better than a long cool sip of Rum-n-Coke Cola; and in a pinch rum-soaked-raisins will do just fine.

So, once more from the top:

There shall be no compulsion in religion.

2 Al-Baqara (The Cow)

2:256 لاَ إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِن بِاللّهِ
فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىَ لاَ انفِصَامَ لَهَا وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

2:256 Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And God Listens [and is] Omniscient.

There is some benefit to drinking and gambling but best to eskew it. (While sinful its not like Murder!)

2 Al-Baqara (The Cow)

2:219 يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَآ أَكْبَرُ مِن
نَّفْعِهِمَا وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ قُلِ الْعَفْوَ كَذَلِكَ يُبيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

2:219 They ask you about wine and gambling. Say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit." They ask you how much they are to spend; Say: "What is beyond your needs."God Expounds to you His Signs: In order that you may reflect-

If you judge be sure to temper your judgment with Mercy since that's how you expect to be Judged.

35 Fatir (The Originator of Creation)

35:45 وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللَّهُ النَّاسَ بِمَا كَسَبُوا مَا تَرَكَ عَلَى ظَهْرِهَا مِن دَابَّةٍ
وَلَكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَإِذَا جَاء أَجَلُهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِ بَصِيرًا

35:45 Now if God were to take men to task for what they do, He would not leave a single living creature upon its surface [the face of the Earth]. But He grants them respite for a set term: when their term expires- they [come to know that] God is Vigilant (of His) servants.

Wine happens to be the drink of choice once you make it past the 'Gate. '

83 Al-Mutaffifin (Those Who Deal in Fraud)

يُسْقَوْنَ مِن رَّحِيقٍ مَّخْتُومٍ 83:25
خِتَامُهُ مِسْكٌ وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ 83:26

83:25 They [the ones who make it to Heaven] will drink a nectar bearing a seal [stamp]
83:26 pouring out with a fragrance of musk. To that [nectar, or 'wine of paradise'], let them aspire...

PS Please don't have your 'researchers' ruin my lunch again; the food would have gone down better without the 'comments from the galley' about how many courses the meal was or how simply doing the crossword puzzle somehow turns into a fact-finding mission. (And since when does an eggroll count as a third course?) There seems to be a lot of money flying around for mundane stuff like this inane pursuit, so please do as promised and divert it all to my bank account so I can put as much distance between me and what's leftover of them as practicable on ALL Levels.

CNN August 20, 2009 'Malaysian Model, Mom To Be Caned For Drinking In Public'

Swine Flu, What Next?

The question is H_G_T?

Well, for that you might want to ask the 'House' keeper if he ever figured out how that 'bird' got in that day? I wouldn;t know fo_sho.

Distance RA

53 Najm (Star, Revelation)
وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَى 53:1

53:1 And If the Star Falls Down (When Revelation is Handed Down)

مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَى 53:2

53:2 Your Companion is Neither Crazy Nor Deluded

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى 53:3

53:3 And Does Not Speak Of his Own Accord

إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى 53:4

53:4 He is Revealing What is Revealed

عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَى 53:5

53:5 Someone Mightier Has Taught him

ذُو مِرَّةٍ فَاسْتَوَى 53:6

53:6 Who in Time Assumed His True (Stately) Form

وَهُوَ بِالْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَى 53:7

53:7 As He Was At A Higher Level (In the Highest Part of the Horizon)

ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّى 53:8

53:8 Then He Drew Nearer And Alighted

فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَى 53:9

53:9 Until He Was (The Distance) Very Near Two Bows’-Lengths at Minimum

فَأَوْحَى إِلَى عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَى 53:10

53:10 And He Revealed Unto His Servant What He Revealed