The Sunday Papers "Fatwa Edition"

by Dousany Sat May 20, 2006 23:32

Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when taken in too large quantities.

by iosaf = o as if Sat May 20, 2006 22:17

Lovely statement - used the words "leave with dignity". In the West of late, "dignity" is more often than not associated with the right to refuse medical treatment. Some see this as an opening on euthanasia, but for many of us of sublime intellectual ability, it really is a beautiful word.
http://www.ireland.anglican.org/pressreleases/index.php...p=662

lovely last photo too - I do like the gardeners.

tonight's illustration is a prelude to the next "Sunday Papers" which might be tomorrow or might be later. Who cares?
It was one of the puzzles set for his friends by John Moreton Drax Plunkett (Lord Dunsany).
Dunsany (as he is more commonly known) was an Irish poet, writer of quite good horror stories, & one of the many exceptional Irish chess players & tactical thinkers of history.
I''ve touched on another of our great Chess players "the master Morphy" in a comment to an article by a fellow contributor Sean Ryan (c/f http://indymedia.ie/article/74447#comment139484 ).

If you can get your head around Chess, the opening, the losing of pawns, the thrust to build a defence, show strength, then control of the central 8 squares, the losing of key players, trade-offs and then the Endgame [so beautifully described by Sam Beckett (our best Nobel prize winner resistance activist and cricket player)]

you know that statemate only occurs in 0.005% of games between players of equal ability. As I pointed out in the comment to Sean's piece - the Master Morphy's ability to play numerous games at the same time whilst blindfolded and win, was probably due to mismatching - he rarely sat opposite a worthy opponent.

This puzzle is a wonderful one, Dunsany set it on December 23rd 1926 - (good day to set a puzzle)
White has only one piece left - the King.
White is to play.
(& will play very very well)
What you need to do - is figure out is on which square is the White King ...
(remember that King can not be on a square where it can be checked, and can not take its next "great move" to a square where it will be in check. In Dunsany's puzzle there is no possibility of stalemate.)

Of course the finest minds amongst you will wonder how did the black pawn get into the right side of the board.... what did it take to get there? why didn't the other black pawns not move? & when you realise where the white King is - you'll be befuddled and bemused and even be irritated or feel tricked .
That might bring you to thinking it is a "contrived puzzle" & not one based on any natural or observed game in Chess or tactical history or mathematical speculation. I hazard to guess you'd be right.
Which is why I like this puzzle. It was Dunsany's first "impossible game-play". hmmmmmmmmmm.
What was happening over Winter Solstice 1926?

I'll now bid you all "adeu!" its a balmy night in my home of Barcelona, I want to be dark-skinned and swim. be strong! be calm! resolute! @ the end you will realise - you can't lose.

©iosaf mac diarmada

Endgame

by iosaf Thu Jul 28, 2005 15:28

"Tiocfaidh lá éigin nuair a bheidh an fonn saoirse seo le taispeáint ag daoine go léir na hEireann ansin tchífidh muid éirí na gealaí."

We may all I suspect agree together in our diversity as peoples of that land what freedom really means, if we do so, it will be useful to so many others.

'tis an odd one indeed & in word.

you can dump those now by 4pm eire summer time. thank you very much.

by redjade Wed Jul 27, 2005 15:29

i just think this is cool - and im gonna post it here because iosaf always is seeing the bigger picture and looking up.

screen shot taken at 14:23 27 July 2005

watch the shuttle fly over using nifty googlemap wizardry at...
http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/lab/googlesat/googlesat_sts.php

look down from the moon

by iosaf - (having a wee blog) Sat Jul 23, 2005 14:29 barcelona

It is now illegal to light a fire or smoke a cigarette in the forests of Spain. Many roads will now be strictly controlled to reduce traffic of tourists and bbq types into the wilderness.
In the end the fire up the road burnt 37hectares of the 70 threatened. Quite Small. as a comparison Stephens Green in Dublin is 9 hectares in size.
The fires which killed 11 in Guadalajara this week destroyed an area of 19,000hectares. Dun laoghaire and Rathdown measure 12731 hectares. Quite Big.
All of Louth measures 82613 hectares. So you can imagine it as a a quarter of Louth burnt.

On the other issue which has taken europeans interest as far away as here, spanish newspapers are beginning to use the key word "psychosis" to describe contemporary London.

If we remember back to July 7th, many here offered advice to the British on how to respond.
Remember the Victims. All who die and their families. Then all injured, their families those who treated them. Then all who travel by public transport, and then all who "rationally or irrationally" felt victimised by what occured.

The British took perverted pride in their "stoicism" their lack of emotion, their "calm". One writer wrote : "we are not mediterranean so we don't publically express". But the second attack, which by "luck" or "chance" or angelic intervention of "God" or "Allah" saw the devices not explode.
And within a day a man is executed on the public transport system in view of commuters. Democratic societies no matter where they are, or how long they have developed, rest for their legitmacy and cohesion on the rule of Law.
If there is to be "no change the way of life", then there truly is "no change". Public Execution is a very big change. There are many who shamefully will seek to minimise the importance of what occured. But in the absence of a public inquiry into all of London's COBRA terror regime, ordinary Londoners of whatever ethnic or cultural background will never know what justified that execution. Countless youth of those communities who do not feel comfortable with the police or security forces will not quickly be encouraged to trust them soon. There has been a definite change in the way of life. The terrorists have it seems suceeded in bringing "w-a-r" to the British capital.
For if London under COBRA means relying so on luck/chance/God/Allah for bombs which do not explode, and on armed agents who publically execute, whilst daily the list of britons killed on holidays grows, then London is at war.
and the deaths so far are-
52 civilians.
4 terrorists.
1 ?un-classified suspected combattant?

Ah! we see the last one is sticky. For many the last one is "a suspect", for others a "plausible threat",
for others a "to be regretted over-reaction", for others "true professionalism", for others "a question which needs to be answered".

Let us be truthful for a moment, shooting someone several times in the head causes instant death. _BUT_ (& this is a big but) if their hands are on a trigger of a gun or explosive device, it does not stop the post-mortem nervous system from squeezing those fingers.

The bombs of july 21 did not go off. This is not something anyone can "rationally explain".

The suspected suicide bomber of july 22 was not a bomber, if his hands had been on a trigger, the bomb would have detonated the moment he died.

It seems odd that chance, luck, angels of God or Allah could deliver such "fortune" and "protection" as it would have been spoken on throughout London's peoples and then within 24 hours, a public execution which many will associate with a very simplistic profile or worse - an execution order. COBRA must answer these questions.
maybe now, maybe in a year, maybe in 30 or 60 or a 100. For if "we are at war", then tradition dictates proper responses from young men.

Where can they enlist?

by blogging - (forgive me my trespasses & all that) Thu Jul 21, 2005 22:52

started at 16h45 and is reported at having flames over 80 meters in height, from as far away as the galician press and has in the last 5 hours destroyed a 70 hectare area. Gone. farm dwellings for 8 and the workplace of 38 workers and a village evacuated. 45 units of fire brigade and 21 aircraft of both catalonia and aragon and 10 other emergency service terrestial units. intense. 70 hectares in 5 hours is a lot of land. A lot of trees, or a lot of people depending on where it is.

I think it was one of national poets, Kavanagh who put the beauty of important dates and important times and important men so well, "that was the year of the munich bother" But thats coz i like Homer as well.

by wrapped in shiny plastic indeed... mint condition. Thu Jul 21, 2005 20:56

As I sit at my qwerty here in Barcelona sea planes fly over head to collect water and bring it to the nearby mountains and extinguish another fire. In the last week, 11 lives have been lost, one politician has resigned, fights have broken out in the corridor of congress between opposing deputies, and all for a problem we see yearly in southern Europe.
Last summer and the two years before an area the size of Portugal was lost in Southern Europe to forest fires the vast majority of which are started deliberately or by negligent human hands.

Tourists. Cigarette Smokers. Unscrupulous land-owners seeking to speculate. Arsonists.
The damage to life, livelihood, and environment will not quickly be repaired. Considered with Climate Change and the lessening seasonal availability of water in Mediterranean countries, we are witnessing a fundamental change in the landscape, and of the ecosystems and food production it may support.

if there are no forests, where will the trolls hide?
So if you go on holidays, think about that cigarette.
It takes 200 years to biodegrade on a beach, jellyfish don't eat them, and they can destroy a forest in less than day. Actually just stay at home.

by collectors items Thu Jul 21, 2005 20:44

" We strongly condemn terrorism and stand united in war against terrorism. We admit we have a problem with terrorism but UK also should address its terrorism problems at home"

He said UK also houses terrorists organisations such as Hizb ul Tehrir and Al-Muhajiroon, which have issued a decree against him.

He said now is not the time for passing statements against each other it is time to collectively address the core issue of terrorism confronting the world.

The President said all the London bombers were born and brought up in UK and blaming Pakistan in this regard is not correct.

He said that the world has been gripped by wave of terrorism and suicide attacks and it is most unfortunate that directly or indirectly Pakistanis and Muslims are involved in these acts.

He said Islam condemns terrorism and suicide attacks and even taking one life is regarded as killing of entire humanity.

The President said that due to this eave of terrorism no purpose is being achieved instead Pakistanis and Muslims living in the Western countries are suffering and being made victims of racism.

He said that at the Muslim Ummah is in deplorable condition facing illiteracy, poverty and below the social sector.

He said the religious seminaries instead of just concentrating on religious education should also focus on imparting world education such as science so that the students emerging from these organisations could adopt professions,

He said Pakistan is suffering the burnt of US war in Afghanistan in 1979 against the Soviet Union. He said we sided with the US at that time as Russian presence in the region was a matter of concern for us, which was a correct decision.

He said that Jihadis taking part in the war later spread to different areas of Pakistan and the country was flooded with weapons from pre soviet war.

On the domestic front the President said that provincial disharmony and sectarian imbalance are the major hurdles in the way of country's development. He said the dam issue would be resolved with the consensus of all the provinces and appealed to Sindh and NWFP to cooperate in this regard.

He said that Kalabagh Dam could have averted floods and all the water which was released could have been stored for future use.

With regards to relations with India the President said that we are in dialogue process with India on various issues. He said we want to settle the Kashmir dispute in accordance to the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

The President said we need to create a balance e in our society and we should rise above sectarianism and extremism and strive for a[prosperous and developed Pakistan so we could stand with our heads high amongst comity of nations.

******************************************************

The General & President also said that the culprits for 7th of July can not be called human, which sort of illustrates the difference between some types and other types of people.

The General & president also said hate literature would be taken off the market, which will probably push the supply and demand of such products "into the black market".

standard english speaking report:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4702609.stm

All the Pakistani TV stations showed the same thing!

by iosaf - "its not a super precise science you know" Thu Jul 21, 2005 16:33

""I often looked up at the sky an' assed meself the question - what is the stars, what is the stars? and at the moon, an' assed meself the question - what is the moon? what is the moon? ah sure the world is in a state of chasis".

Sean O Casey 1880 - 1964
Juno and the Paycock. (from memory might be wrong)
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No-one jumps to conclusions, we normally have taken many steps, some faltering paces yet others lengthy strides, from trepidation to haste, we make our way to conclusions.

by Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI Thu Jul 21, 2005 14:11

these are the best bits:-

"Terrorismus ist irrational - es gibt keinen Zusammenstoß der Kulturen" "Der Dialog zwischen den drei monotheistischen Religionen ist wichtig", "Er kann zum Frieden beitragen." "dieser dreifache Dialog der Religionen, die Abraham als ihren gemeinsamen Vater im Glauben sehen." "Hoffen wir, dass er stärker sein wird als all die Gewalt. Stärken wir diesen Willen noch mehr, der so deutlich sichtbar ist."

=
"Terrorism is irrational, there is no collision bewteen cultures, dialogue between the three monotheistic religions is important, it can contribute to peace, this threefold dialogue of religions who see Abraham as joint father in belief- We hope that it will become stronger than the use of force, we enforce this Wish more, so it is clearly visible"

+
Thats the kathurlicks done. Thank you very much Papa Ratzi. That will help. Enjoy your holliers.

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General Musharraf, the President of Pakistan is scheduled to speak in a televised address to the nation at 8.00 p.m.local time (1500 GMT) (17h00 C€T) (16h00 Eire summer time) I'll report on that when it happens, he'll be clearing up some things for us all like how he will tackle the supply and demand side of the trans-national evangelical hell & brimstone missionaries of terror, travel agents of terror, summercamps of terror, and dvd collections of terror for us.