This explosive new documentary investigates the current crusade being fought against Muslims in Iraq and Palestine. With a running time of 1hr 34m (approx) the film begins with exposing America’s ‘War on Terror’ as a front for its Crusade against Islam. In this section we are introduced to ex-Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg, Shaykh Ali Timimi (awaiting trial in U.S.) and Babar Ahmad (in UK prison).

In a highly emotive manner, the plight of Palestinians is looked at next. The oppressiveness of their lives is depicted for the viewer to witness and take heed. Consequently there will be none who view this and not be stirred by emotion.

The last third of the film is dedicated to the latest chapter in the Crusaders war: Iraq. The section looks at America and its dealing with Iraq and its citizens. It contains recent war footage from Iraq and uncovers the truth behind US casualties.

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Direct Downloads

(Right click and save target as)

Part 1 [40 MB] | Part 2 [39 MB] | Part 3 [41 MB] | Part 4 [36 MB]

New image in the empty plate photoshop contest

metall shining and texture… …
Crusaders photoshop picture

‘101 Ways to Take Advantage of the Chamber’ is back and in full force on this drizzling, mid-November day.

Before we jump into another ten ways you can benefit from our services we should give a shout to the Heelan Crusaders volleyball team as they just beat Marion to go to the state championship tomorrow! Good Luck!

And now….drum roll please….101 Ways!

71) Promote the Area!-  To gain quality of life and a flourishing economy the Chamber of Commerce finds it vital to promote the Siouxland area events and help get involved with them.  Some of the events coming up just around the corner are “Downtown for the Holidays” and the NAIA Volleyball National Championship.

72) Make the link- Become a Chamber member today and get instant access to thousands of potential customers and clients.

73) Contact Executive Vice President Chris McGowan- If you’re a

Executive Vice President of TSI Chris McGowan

Chamber member and you want to grow your business contact Chris!  He specializes in expansion retention for our members and recruitment of new businesses to our area.

74) Dakota Valley Business Council- In affiliation with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, a collaboration has formed to compartmentalize areas to focus on economic development in our different area codes.

75)  Workforce development- Quality of life initiatives can’t be enjoyed  unless the citizens of Siouxland have stable, well-paid jobs.  The Chamber of Commerce works rigourously to bring jobs to Siouxland.  Every two years a Labor Shed analysis is conducted to address underemployment, check the current availability of current and prospective workers, desired occupations, wages, hours worked, and distance willing to commute to work.  These statistics help us to aide the community in “scractching where it itches.”

76) Business Retention- The Siouxland Initiative conducted fifty in depth interviews with companies that ship goods out of the area and bring revenue back in.  TSI did this to gauge what the primary obstacles were in Siouxland that were limiting their growth so we can see what we can do better to promote growth.

77) Positively Siouxland-  Chris Mcgowan every week delivers a special segment titled, “Positively Siouxland” that airs on this blog and 1360 KSCJ.  The audio usually consists of some great events going on here in Siouxland, an inspiring story, a current event etc.  Check the blog here for more in the upcoming weeks!

78) Organic Initiatives- Recognized as one of the leading communities in the country for our commitment to the organic food industry, we invite you to consider the City of Sioux City and Woodbury County in Iowa as your home for all things organic. Follow the link and watch our video on the organic industry in Siouxland!

79) Inter-business-net- The business economy has changed to a virtual playing field where states have to accomodate professionals in providing access for the global martketplace.  The Siouxland Chamber of Commerce understands this important aspect and has pushed for accessibility in Siouxland for multiple providers and a technology friendly environment.

80) Siouxland Washington Conference and Steak Dinner- Instead of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” this is the “Siouxland Chamber goes to Washington.”  They come to Washington with around 75 people strong to lobby aggressively for pro-business issues, including legislation to break down artificial barriers between our communities created by state lines.  For 56 years they have been traveling to Washington meeting with our representatives on behalf of the Siouxland community.

Well, thats all for now Siouxland have a great weekend!

-Ian Banks, Social Media Intern

In the wake of the Fort Hood rampage killings, a tidbit of information came to light that is more than a bit shocking.  The U.S. Military has roughly 1.3 million men (and women)  in uniform, and of that number 500,000 are self-proclaimed Evangelicals!

Yeah, Evangelicals, the American version of the Taliban; Christian jihadists who believe in a concept called The Rapture in which God will punish all non-Evangelicals in a cataclysmic event!

Many people in the media and in public policy  are concerned that Muslims will get targeted by Christian soldiers (now that sounds like somebody on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land), because the Fort Hood Shooter was Palestinian with overzealous Islamic views and beliefs.

Evangelicals invaded the military back in the 1970s, when many a West Point grad got caught up in the fever for the flavor the lord.  General McCristol and Patreaus are part of that movement, so whatever they’re pressuring limp-wristed Obama to do (i.e. raise the troop levels) is perhaps fundamentally rooted in their Evangelical beliefs–which have no place in public policy, politics and especially foreign policy.

I wonder how many Grunts in combat pull the trigger with religious fervor coursing through the mental synapses?  With at least  30% of the military subscribing to a potential zealot-inducing mindstate stemming from religious conviction, it begs the question.

I am on a difficult mission today. I am attempting a brief and dispassionate observation and analysis of American Muslim responses to the Fort Hood mass murder. I want very much to do it in a way that hinders my fellow conservatives from yielding to blind anti-Muslim sentiment. I have to do all this without regard to political correctness, of course. I have to do it also without lying, the way the main, liberal media are dissembling right and left about the Fort Hood massacre. (The ineffable Chris Matthew of MSNBC said recently that trying to contact Al Qaida was “not a crime.” I don’t know if it is. That’s a technical question. It was sure a reason to tell Major Hasan’ s superiors, up and down the chain of command. They might have kept a better eye on him. But, this is an unfair representation of the media, perhaps: Matthew is the guy who confessed on air that he felt a tingle run up his leg when he thought of candidate Obama!)

First, personal considerations, because they matter. I have known Muslims all my life, from kindergarten. I spent a significant amount of time in Muslims countries (Senegal, Turkey, Morocco). I like many aspects of the cultures of some Muslim countries, especially the music. There are Muslims in the favorite branch of my family. I have Muslims friends currently. No, I did not say, like the racists of old, “Some of my best friends are Muslims.” I am simply claiming that my numerous personal contacts, however “anecdotal,” matter a little. The long and the short of it is that I find Muslims easy to like and even to love. There is usually a personal warmth among them that is fairly rare in the US and among Hindus in India, and absent in Western Europe and in Japan, I think. The point is that if I found the company of Muslims detestable, many people would agree that it is useful information.

Second, some facts. Consider all the unarmed people intentionally murdered, assassinated by strangers and near-strangers. Consider only the unambiguous cases, such as shooting people and detonating bombs. Since the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka were destroyed last year, 99% and more of the victims of terrorism were killed by criminals who called themselves “Muslims.” I know there are still ETA Basque terrorists but they kill mostly inadvertently. They are mostly old guys who should have retired from handling explosives. As for the IRA terrorists, they have not killed anyone for years. So, my back-of the envelop estimate is correct. If you don’t like it, make it 95%, or even 90%; it does not affect my argument.

As I have said before repeatedly, the terrorists who call themselves Muslims have killed many more Muslims than Christians, or any other category of non-Muslims. This undisputed fact does not alter my question in the least: Is there a Muslim propensity to slaughter those with whom Muslims disagree and /or don’t like for some other reason?

Confronted with these raw facts, the good people I know who are Muslims go into denial, I think. Their denial takes two forms. First, they seem to say, there are bad apples everywhere. Second, they deny that the assassins can’t possibly be good Muslims because good Muslims don’t do this sort of things – which are explicitly condemned by their religion. My view is that there are too many bad apples and that the public ethical vagueness of contemporary Islam has something to do with this high number. (I say “public” because I don’t know what Muslim preachers say to the faithful in the mosques, obviously.)

I like to check my perceptions in ways that go beyond, I think, what the average reasonably educated working person my be expected to do. Accordingly, on the 11th of November, and on the 12^th of November (a week to the day after the Fort Hood massacre), I visited the websites of four important organizations. My selection may be arbitrary but it’s not biased. It’s the product of limited time and of ordinary but not pronounced laziness. And that’s my first point: If responsible American Muslims want me to understand their perspective better, they are not trying hard enough.

The first organization I consulted was the English website of the mostly Arabic-language news channel Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera has earned my respect for two reasons. First, every tyrant in the Middle-East has tried to get it shut down. Second, it’s the only organization worldwide that consistently supplies in depth news of the Middle-East (and much beyond). I went to Al Jazeera because Hasan was identified as an Arab-American.

What I read on Al Jazeera was a straightforward news report of the Fort Hood massacre, of the kind that you could have got from United Press in the good old days when that news agency was still doing straight reporting. No analysis, no editorial view.

My second visit was to the Arab-American Institute. I went there because I have always liked its director, James Zogby. He often comments on Middle-East affairs on television. I have always found him a fair-minded and rational man. In particular, he does a better job than anyone at presenting the Palestinian viewpoint, in the American media. (And, yes, I know that not all Muslims are Arabs and I know that some Arabs are not Muslims. Don’t be boring!) Zogby learned of the the massacre while traveling overseas. Here is an excerpt from his column on Nov 10, five days after the bloodbath:

Though I wanted to be with them [ his staff at the Institute], to provide whatever guidance I could, as I continued to read their emails, I found that, for the most part, they had the complex demands of this situation well in hand. Since some had sent questions to me (not knowing when I would get them, or whether I would be able to respond in time), I used my wait in the airport lounge to give my best advice on next steps: what a follow-up statement might include; what messages to avoid (I noted that among the emails I had received were statements for some other groups with headlines condemning the killings and warning against anti-Arab or anti-Muslim backlash. My advice was “don’t go there”. This is not about us right now, it’s about the victims and the pain of their families. (My bolding – JD) If it were to be about anyone or anything else, it shouldn’t be about the potential this horrible act poses to Arab or Muslim American groups. Rather concern should be shown for the challenges all this will pose for the thousands of patriotic Arab Americans currently serving with distinction in the US military, some of whom, may now unfairly be targets of suspicion.; how to log and deal with threats should they come, and who should do what before I return.

Zogby’s sentiment is understandable and fair but it lacks any causal analysis. Perhaps it was too early. I shall be watching the Arab-American Institute.

Then, I consulted the Islamic Center in Washington DC. I don’t know what the reality is but the Islamic Center often seems to style itself as the official representative of Islam in America. I found nothing there. The Islamic Center apparently considers that the Fort Hood event is none of its concern. I can’t help but think that sometimes, silence speaks louder than words.

Further, on November 12^th , I visited the site of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) where I found the two relevant announcements reproduced (incompletely) below:

1 (The ISNA) announced Monday, November 9, the launching of a special fund, The Ft Hood Family Fund, for the benefit of the families of the Ft Hood victims in collaboration with various national Muslim and interfaith organizations.

The fund is a collaborative effort involving national Muslim organizations and mosques. The national organizations that have already endorsed the fund include American Arab Anti Defamation Committee (ADC), American Muslim Armed Forces Veterans Affairs Council (AMAFVAC), Freedom and Justice Foundation, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and Islamic Relief USA.Several Islamic centers, particularly Islamic centers based in Texas, have also endorsed the fund and agreed to raise money for the fund, including Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH) – Houston, TX., Dallas Central Mosque – Richardson, TX, Islamic Association of Carrollton – Carrollton, TX, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) – Dulles, VA, Islamic Center of Irving – Irving, TX, Islamic Center of Southern California – Los Angeles, CA,

2 The Fiqh Council of North America – Press Release :

We, the Fiqh Council of North America, have become aware that statements by some individuals and groups around the world have been issued on the internet and elsewhere praising the brutal killings and attacks last week at Fort Hood in Texas and condemning the American Muslim community and major American Muslim organizations of “betrayal of Islam and of hypocrisy” for denouncing the massacre committed by the suspect Major Nidal Malik Hassan. These statements are shocking to us and are totally unacceptable.

We at the Fiqh Council of North America emphasize adherence to Islamic values and principles of peace, justice and fair dealing with all people in every situation. We are deeply saddened with the death and injury of many people in the Fort Hood attack. We express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and pray for the health and well being of the injured.  We denounce such acts of violence and consider them against the teachings of Islam.

The Fiqh Council of North America as a body of Muslim jurists supports the denunciation of this violence as stated by major American Muslim organizations and considers it in keeping with the spirit and values of Islam.  Islam teaches that all Muslim wherever they live must respect the life and property of all people, whether Muslims or non-Muslims.  Muslims must also abide by their pledges. Those who serve in the army should abide by the rules that they have pledged to follow within the general principles of justice and fair dealing as ordered and mandated by God.

The first announcement is heart-warming but it does not address my concern. No one knowledgeable doubts the charitable customs and the generous inclinations of Muslims’ hearts in general.

The second announcement constitutes an unambiguous condemnation of expressions of support around the world for the massacre. (At the same time, note that it acknowledges these expressions of support as real.) This condemnation is important because it emanates from a body of jurists, and therefore, of moralists, in the tradition of Islam. Conservatives, take heed: There are, in our country, Muslims leaders with complete moral clarity on the issue of terrorism.

Yet, and as always, I worry about what’s not there. I see no attempt at analysis. The Fiqh avoids ( so far) what is to me an obvious question:

Is there anything in the teachings of Islam that could have led this very well educated, American man, to think, mistakenly, that it was acceptable to deal with his problems, personal and/or political, by murdering innocent people with great deliberateness?

My Muslim friends and acquaintances (but one) frustrate me in this connection. They tend to respond to every crime by a Muslim with a quote from the Koran to demonstrate that Islam is “a religion of peace.” That’s either disingenuous or silly. At the very least, it’s insufficient. Prophet Mohamed surely said the words they quote. At the same time, he was a celebrated war leader. I realize good Muslims would argue that his were all defensive wars, and that may be completely true. However, his successors, certainly engaged in war of outright conquest. I think Muslim tradition itself says that the Prophet married the wives of some of his defeated enemies. (If I am wrong on this, someone will correct me and if the correction is authoritative, I will immediately post it.) That’s enslavement, in my book, not happy matrimony. It’s warfare on non-combatants, although short of killing them. Many Muslims seem to confuse two things: It could be the case that Muslim soldiers fought more humanely than their pagan and/or Christian contemporaries then. But, that was in the seventh century. There are armies whose policies today include the systematic, deliberate mistreatment of non-combatants. They are considered savages by everyone else, not moral leaders. My point is this: You can’t have it both ways. Either the Prophet’s own conduct is relevant today or it’s not. You can’t simply cite his words as evidence of anything and then argue that his behavior was proper nearly fourteen hundreds years ago though it would not be now. It’s possible to make the transition between actual conduct then and the perennial nature of the Prophet’s words in a truthful way. You have to do it explicitly. Here is what happens when you don’t:

In 1099, an army of Europeans captured Jerusalem from Muslim control. The Crusaders murdered either all or most of the defenders, and nearly the whole population, Muslims mostly, but also the Jews while they were at it. Contemporary chronicles in French, by participants, report that the attackers wielded the sword shouting, “Dieu le veult.” (“It’s God’s will.”)

Why would any rational person think if anyone argued that the Crusaders were not “real Christians” because Christ preached universal brotherhood, as the Gospels show clearly? How would any rational Muslim react if I contended that Christianity, the religion, its teachings, had nothing to do with the Jerusalem massacre, however perversely?

Muslim jurists, moralists, and intellectual have no dealt with this inherent ambiguity in the presentation of Islam, to my knowledge. I would like to be corrected if I am wrong. It’s in the interest of Muslims that this question be tackled because not doing so feeds the growing prejudice against all Muslims in this country and in the world in general.

I will post anything that attempts to answer my question in reasonably polite language. I will not post any excerpt from any sacred scriptures.

British officers, retired and current, and soldiers turned out in force at the Royal Artillery hunter trials in England last month. The Royal Artillery is one of the world's military regiments with a long and storied connection to both horses, hounds, and hunting.

IT’S Veteran’s Day if you’re in America, Remembrance Day if you’re in the United Kingdom, and so it’s a good day to reflect on the deep historical connection between the armed forces and hunting.

It’s less obvious now than it used to be, but you can still see outcrops in a few remaining military (or military-associated) packs, particularly in England. One example: The School of Infantry Beagles, now merged with another pack and called the Wiltshire and Infantry Beagles, retains its links with the infantry school and is a member of the Army Beagling Association (the mere fact that there is such a thing as the Army Beagling Association tells you a lot about the entwined history of pack hounds and soldiers). Britain’s last surviving military foxhound pack, the Royal Artillery Hunt, became a drag hunt after the 2005 hunt ban in England. The hunt’s country is Salisbury Plain, England’s main military training ground, and it is not at all unusual, when riding with the Royal Artillery hounds, to come upon tanks and shellholes. There are few jumps there, the main obstacles being slit trenches and the impressively deep tank tracks that must be navigated safely. And fragments of ammunition and military hardware are common, as parts of Salisbury Plain are impact areas for artillery practice.

For a little more on the history of British soldiers’ involvement in hunting with pack hounds, this is an interesting source, from a Parliamentary exploration of the whys and wherefores of the hunting soldier.

In the United States, the most notable military-foxhunting link is through the Fort Leavenworth Hunt, organized in 1926 by the 10th Cavalry regiment. The pack was disbanded during World War II but was reconstituted in 1964, and today still proudly counts military members among its numbers–including veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The hounds are American hounds.

Current Joint MFH at FLH, COL Joyce DiMarco

For more fascinating history of military foxhunts, especially in the United States, try the blog at A Horse Soldier’s Thoughts.

Xenophon, the Greek military leader and horseman who lived from around 430 to about 354 B.C., wrote of hunting:

The advantages that those who have been attracted by this pursuit will gain are many. For it makes the body healthy, improves the sight and hearing, and keeps men from growing old; and it affords the best training for war.  … In an attack on the enemy they will be able to go for him and at the same time to carry out the orders that are passed along, because they are used to doing the same things on their own account when capturing the game. … In the rout of the enemy they will make straight for the foe without a slip over any kind of ground, through habit. If part of their own army has met with disaster in ground rendered difficult by woods and defiles or whatnot, they will manage to save themselves without loss of honour and to save others.

I have heard far more recent commanding officers who have led troops in modern warfare say they still feel hunting provides valuable training today.

Members of the Royal Artillery's elite King's Troop ride the powerful gun horses in competition as well as in their ceremonial duties.

One, a former Master and huntsman at the Royal Artillery, told me that there were two important things, in particular, that soldiers still can learn from the hunt field: knowledge of the land and the wind and how to use them to their own advantage, and how to improvise and change plans under pressure when, as happens both in hunting and in war, the original battle plan falls apart due to conditions on the ground.

(Incidentally, the officer/MFH/huntsman in question also tells a fantastic tale of his days stationed in Cyprus, when his appointed “fox” for the drag hunt mislaid the line—right down the middle of land held by the Greeks on one side and land occupied by their enemies the Turks on the other. He said he felt he had little choice but to stand up tall in his irons and blow his horn for all he was worth as the hounds went on a screaming run through what should have been a sort of no man’s land. The Turks, he said, remained silent, but the Greeks all stood up and cheered. Nobody, happily, fired.)

Not your usual coop! The final jump at the Royal Artillery hunter trials.

Time with hounds wasn’t only considered good training at home; it was also good sport for troops–or at least their officers–abroad.

The Crusaders took hounds with them, and King Edward III took 60 couple of “large hounds,” as well as greyhounds, for hunting purposes when he invaded France in 1359. In 1812, during the Salamanca campaign, the Duke of Wellington “encouraged his officers to follow hounds, which he kept during this campaign,” according to Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages, by Joseph Thomas, MFH. When forced to retreat, Wellington wrote to his adjutant general: “If you should be pressed by the enemy, and if you should move, take care that all our stores and people (including my hounds at Arevalo) move off.”

Tales of hound packs on the Western Front during World War I also abound.

Again, from Thomas’s book, an account by P.W. Nickalls, an officer of the Northants Yeomanry:

We first had a couple of harriers and a beagle; in 1916, we moved down the line to a village called Harbarque, behind Arras. Someone told us there of a farmer in the neighborhood who had hounds before the war and still kept some. I went to see him and found he still had 50 couple of sorts. Greatly to my surprise I saw four couple of very light-colored hounds that I thought I recognized. Sure enough, they came from my friend Herman Tiarks, Master of the Mendip in Somerset. I knew the brand of old, and returned in triumph with all four couple. Then our regular fox hunting began.

The best hunt of all was when we killed our fox close under Mt. Saint Eloi. … I was riding a good English hunter, but even he was getting beat, and we were longing for the end to come. We were riding straight for the second line. As I jumped into a road I met a party going down to the trenches. The officer halted them, and was waving his tin hat in wild excitement. ‘You will have him in three fields.’ he yelled, and sure enough we did.

There are also numerous documented accounts of British officers, one a Birgadier-General, in the Great War who rallied their men by blowing their hunting horns.

And George Washington (above, in the snazzy hat) was well-known as a keen hunter and hound man who even forgave one of his French foxhounds, Vulcan, when he stole an entire ham right out of the Mt. Vernon kitchen just as a large formal dinner party was sitting down to dine. According to Washington’s butler, a fight ensued between hound and kitchen staff, but Vulcan came out the best and galloped off with the ham in his jaws. Upon being told, Washington laughed.

And one last piece of evidence for soldiers’ historic affinity for hounds and hunting, as described by Thomas:

“In the current year, 1928, we find this enthusiasm reflected on a piece of paper attached to the will of Captain Arthur Marmaduke Whitaker, late Duke of Wellington’s regiment, which reads:

‘Wishes for my wife to carry out at my death: I trust (should it be suggested) that if I die in the hunting season, hounds will not be stopped on my account, as I never can understand why people should be made more miserable than necessary.’

Here’s to you, Captain Arthur Marmaduke Whitaker–and to all of you who serve and have served!

I loathe weak human cattle. I detest fawning sycophants who squirm and grovel at the feet of their masters, singing the praises of those who make their lives a misery. And I vomit upon all those pathetic drones who just do as they’re told, never seeking a better way, and worship anything they see as greater than themselves, which is basically everything.

I like rebels. I respect warrior-poets who value intelligence and the search for knowledge as much as they do bloodshed. I admire those who have the strength and determination to forever banish their false gods, and even to battle against them vigilantly. I vigorously cheer those who accept the calling to free heathens from the bonds of ignorance, and shout a hearty “Hail!” to those who manage to survive the ordeal of breaking away from their miserable pasts!

We all know of one opposition to the evil Microsoft Empire and its false god WinDOH!s, the Macosians, but they are laughably small in number, hidden away in offices and basements, and mostly comprised of artists and other lowlife degenerates, like conscienceless advertising scum. And they’re actually worse when you look at it, because they pay a hell of a lot more to their church than WinDOH!s worshippers.

Many of us have heard of Linuxians, but think they are probably mythical. But they actually exist, albeit in numbers perhaps matching the Macosians, and are the true intellectual zealots of the modern age. Only the most intelligent, and those not pathetically fearful of change, become Linuxians. And that’s why most people think Linuxians are a frolic of the imagination – because most people are stupid.

But recently, a wave of conversions has swept the world, carried out by a sect of Linuxians known as the Ubuntunese. These magnificent warriors bow down to Ubuntu, now the chief deity in the Linux Pantheon. Ubuntu is a much more friendly god to his neophytes (affectionately known as “Newbies”) than the majority of his brethren – deities like Gentoo and Arch require much more dedication, and acolytes must feverishly pray weird incantations several times a day to appease them.

Valiantly the ever-growing army of Ubuntunese crusaders has fought a relentless jihad against the Microsoftites over the last three years, especially since the end of October, when Ubuntu entered his “Karmic“ phase. The fact that while he is in this particular half-yearly cycle (which was long prophesied, I should add) he is “cuddly as a koala” has seen mass conversions take place all over the globe. While he is even friendlier than usual, he is still a god of awesome power, and of course is not money-grabbing like WinDOH!s and Mac’os’X. So with each conversion comes a new stormtrooper, fighting against the corruption of false gods, and freeing those too terrified to escape the bondage they pay for.

I too have been converted, and now proudly proclaim I am a devout Ubuntunese soldier of enlightenment. I shall ridicule Microsoftites at every turn (I won’t bother with Macosians, since they’re so horrifically self-deluded it’s almost terrifying), and with my comrades emphasise the inadequacies of their religion, while expounding the freedoms we enjoy. I shall convert blaspheming, idolatrous infidels en masse, spreading the message of “Humanity to others“ to the ignorant and morally wretched.

If you want to find more about the road to Truth and Freedom, you can go to the church’s official site, or better yet visit the portal to the mind of my “maker”, the one who baptised me into the ways of Ubuntu. He is a man of great intellect and inscrutable character, which you can obviously tell from the fact that his name is also Frank (although, admittedly, with the grip the Microsoft Empire has on the web, he could be using an alias to avoid persecution, but in that case he has proved himself even more awesome by choosing that name).

Oh, and by the way, my ultimate god, Cthulhu, has no problem with all of this. In fact, he’s quite fine with it, especially since he’s sort of busy lying dead but dreaming in sunken R’lyeh. And, if you want to get technical, he’s more of a massive and horrendous alien with powers far beyond our understanding than a god, and actually he’s the high priest to the Elder Gods (but godlike enough for most of us mere mortals). He telepathically communicated to me simply that I should have a shiny black plastic, white-on-black theme for my desktop, and grab a kickass picture of him for my wallpaper.

You might have noticed that my number 18 is missing in my chronology – but this time it is totally planned ! I have my reasons for it, but to let not come up any speculations; it is just because I want this # 18 to stay totally exclusive.

But who would complain, since I am continuing with posting my personal artwork. And this time we have my official # 19 – “The Crusaders”. Well, nothing much to say about this one – it is a pure fan project for a certain film that you might recognize. Well, you should – since it is a well-known hollywood blockbuster with Orlando Bloom in a leading role. It is one of the few shows in which I am focusing myself on one single film only. Of course, this is not easier at all – it is even more difficult since the material is, so to speak, very “limited”. The toughest thing is the selection of possible scenes, and putting them along nicely to the music (and the songtext).

I did not really do this show to “honour” the film itself… it is a good one, but nothing more. In this case it went the other way round: I first heard the musical piece (performed by a german band named Crystallion), and thought about possible visual scenes to it – since I liked it very much. And then I found this film which fitted EXACTLY (according to the theme and text).

So, sit back and enjoy this one… as a rather unusual show. But I guess I can not “shock” you anymore, there is just too much of a variety in my shows…

Disclaimer: My slideshows are my personal work – they shall not be used by you and on your site. I never wanted to harm anybodies copyright, nor personal rights and feelings – if you feel like that is the case, please inform me immediately. I declare all the material used within these works as “fair use” of the corresponding material, with all respect to the respective owners of the source material (goes for films as well as for music). If you feel like the quality of the slideshows is rather poor, that is because of the convertion process on WordPress. However, I did not intend to offer them in the full quality. The material as it is should be enough for all my planned purposes, and for your entertainment. If you wonder about the names in the slideshows, that do not match with my nickname Ikarus – they are also former nicknames of me, I would never steal anybodies personal artwork. Feel free to comment on the slideshows that you watched, wether it is a negative or a positive feedback that you are giving. Greetings ! Ikarus/Jimbo (c) 2009

Hoje apresentaremos o San Diego Rugby, finalista da Copa do Brasil no próximo sábado, e a equipe dos Crusaders, titãs do Super 14. Acompanhando os Crusaders, mais 2 equipes da Air New Zealand Cup e 4 do Heartland Championship: Canterbury, Tasman, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, West Coast e Buller!

Nome: San Diego Rugby Club

Cidade/Estado: Porto Alegre – RS

Campo: Centro Estadual de Treinamento Esportivo (CETE)

Títulos: Campeonato Gaúcho (2008, 2009) Campeonato Gaúcho Sevens (2008)

Site: www.sandiegorugby.com

No início do ano de 2006, um grupo de antigos, e futuros jogadores de rugby começou a se juntar todas as terças, quintas e sábados em um pequeno campo na cidade de Porto Alegre para tanto praticar e expandir as suas técnicas de rugby, como para fortalecer as amizades que haviam sido criadas 3 ou 4 anos antes, com a vontade de crescer em quantidade até chegarem em um número razoável para poderem melhorar suas aptidões. Pouco a pouco os treinos foram ficando mais sérios e mais desafiadores, exigindo sempre um pouco mais de cada jogador, apesar disso a média de pessoas por treino dificilmente passava de quinze.

Não abatido com as estatísticas, o San Diego fez as suas duas primeiras viagens. Com o intuito de fortalecer o desenvolvimento do rugby no Estado, o San Diego viajou para Canela, para jogar contra o conhecido Guará Rugby Clube, e para a cidade de Caxias, apoiar a evolução do Serra Rugby Clube, que, a exemplo do time da capital, tinha  pouco tempo de vida.   As vitórias fortaleceram o grupo de jogadores para os próximos desafios que viriam.

Ainda no primeiro semestre de 2006, os treinos de sábado passaram a acontecer no Complexo Esportivo da PUCRS, – Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul – onde se foi alugado um campo, que permitiu a intensificação dos treinos, levando a maiores desafios: a equipe enfrentou o San Patrício e o Saint Gregory, ambos de Buenos Aires, no mesmo ano.

Desde então, os desafios só aumentaram, e à medida que o Rugby cresceu no Rio Grande do Sul, o San Diego cresceu junto, disputando e vencendo as duas últimas edições do campeonato Gaúcho, tanto no Adulto quanto no Junior, mostrando que a base não foi esquecida, e está se preparando para levar o nome do clube adiante.

Fonte: site do San Diego

Nome: Crusaders

Cidade/País: Christchurch, Nova Zelândia

Estádio: AMI Stadium (capacidade: 41,500)

Títulos de Super Rugby: 7 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 e 2008)

Equipes da Air New Zealand Cup: Canterbury (Christchurch) e Tasman (Nelson e Blenheim)

Equipes do Heartland Championship: Mid Canterbury (Ashburton), South Canterbury (Timaru), West Coast (Greymouth) e Buller (Westport)

Títulos de Air New Zealand Cup/NPC: 6 de Canterbury

Vitórias em Ranfurly Shield: 141 de Canterbury, 7 de Marlborough (Tasman) e 3 de South Canterbury

Sites: Crusaders e Canterbury – www.crfu.co.nz; Tasman – www.makos.co.nz; Buller – www.bullerrugby.co.nz; South Canterbury – www.scrfu.co.nz

A criação da franquia dos Crusaders remete ao ano de 1996, ano do advento do profissionalismo no rugby union e da fundação do Super 12, o grande campeonato entre equipes do hemisfério sul. Criado como Canterbury Crusaders, o time representa mais de metade da Ilha do Sul, englobando não apenas a grande equipe de Canterbury, como todas as uniões da porção centro-norte da Ilha do Sul. Da franquia fazem parte: Tasman (resultado da fusão de Nelson Bays com Marlborough), Buller, West Coast, Mid Canterbury e South Canterbury. Dessa amálgama de uniões, surgiu o maior campeão da história do rugby union profissional, não só do Hemisfério Sul, mas de todo o mundo. Um verdadeiro monumento.

A primeira temporada dos Crusaders foi a mais decepcionante possível. A equipe ficou em último lugar (a colher de pau) da Super 12 de 1996. Muitas mudanças vieram na temporada seguinte. Com a contratação de Wayne Smith, para técnico, e com a promoção do asa Todd Blackadder, para capitão, a equipe alcançou a sexta posição. Apenas um prelúdio do que viria pela frente. Em 1998, veio o tal almejado primeiro título, após uma fenomenal arrancada de sete vitórias seguidas. O título veio em um fenomenal confronto contra os arqui-rivais do Auckland Blues, em Auckland.No confronto de Andrew Mehrtens contra Jonah Lomu, Mehrtens, o grande abertura dos All Blacks, levou a melhor. Também faziam parte do elenco brilhantes jogadores como Justin Marshall, Leon MacDonald, Reuben Thorn, Norm Maxwell e Mark Hammet. O triunfo de 1997 foi, na verdade, o primeiro da impressionante seqüência de títulos, iniciada com um tri-campeonato! 1999 e 2000 também foram dos Crusaders!

A temporada de 1999 foi a última sob o comando de Wayne Smith, selecionado para ser o técnico dos All Blacks em 2000. E foi igualmente bem-sucedida. Após uma campanha inconstante, os Crusaders alcançaram as final. O título foi decidido contra o rival da Ilha do Sul, o Otago Highlanders, de Tony Brown, em Dunedin, na “House of Pain”. O triunfo sobre mais um rival veio. Bicampeões. No ano seguinte, com a saída de Wayne Smith, Robbie Deans assumiu como técnico, e deu continuidade aos anos de triunfo de seu antecessor. A final foi contra os Brumbies, da Austrália. E o terceiro título em seguida foi um feito nunca mais repetido. Glória para os Crusaders, reis absolutos do Super 12.

Mas o reinado vermelho foi por água a baixo em 2001, com a péssima décima colocação. Em 2002, os Crusaders voltaramn a seus melhores dias, garantindo mais um título. Chegaram à final e derrotaram os australianos dos Brumbies. Primeiro título de Reuben Thorn como capitão. A equipe comandada por Robbie Deans era recheada de grandes jogadores: Richie McCaw, Chris Jack, Aaron Mauger, Dan Carter, Marika Vunibaka, Ben Blair, Vilimoni Delasau, Daryl Gibson, Greg Somerville e os já citados MacDonald, Mehrtens, Ralph e Marshall. Entretanto, os anos que se seguiram foram de duras decepções. Dois vice-campeonatos, em 2003 frente aos Blues e em 2004 frente aos Brumbies. Mas nenhuma das derrotas finais foi capaz de abalar a confiança dos supercampeões. O troféu de 2006 retornou a Christchurch, coroando os brilhantes cruzados do sul, verdadeiros donos do torneio. Super 12 sem Crusaders na final não era o verdadeiro Super 12. Supremacia que foi reafirmada com o advento do Super 14, em 2006. Sexto título, derrotando os rivais locais dos Hurricanes, em uma final história, com uma terrível neblina cobrindo o gramado durante toda a partida.

A capacidade de renovação dos Crusaders foi notável ao longo de todo esse tempo de sucesso. De Andrew Mehrtens a Dan Carter, de Blackadder a McCaw, quando o time perdia um grande craque, outro à altura o substituía. Os anos sob Wayne Smith e Robbie Deans foram de incrível constância na ponta e de grandes elencos. O sétimo e último título foi conquistado em 2008, já sem Robbie Deans. Quem o substituiu foi um ídolo do time, Todd Blackadder. Em campo, os Crusaders foram capitaneados por McCaw, com Dan Carter armando as jogadas. De full back, uma lenda os cruzados: Leon MacDonald.

Tendo sido derrotados nas semi-finais em 2009, os Crusaders completaram a incrível seqüência de oito torneios consecutivos alcançando as semi-finais. Os records são muitos. E os Crusaders são e serão por muitos anos ainda os maiores do Hemisfério Sul.

Canterbury

A União de Rugby de Canterbury foi fundada em 1879, sendo uma das pioneiras no esporte na Nova Zelândia. Apesar de todo o sucesso recente dos Crusaders, no Super 12/14, Canterbury não detém nenhuma supremacia na Air New Zealand Cup/NPC, mesmo durante os anos de sucesso internacional. Tem por base a cidade de Christchurch, e o estádio de Lancaster Park, hoje com o nome de AMI Stadium.

No campeonato nacional, Canterbury é o segundo maior campeão, com 5 títulos, sendo três conquistados na era profissional, refletindo o sucesso do grande time dos Crusaders. Mas mesmo com grandes jogadores nos últmos anos, o sucesso nacional de Canterbury ainda não alcançou a mesma grandeza do sucesso internacional dos Crusaders. Canterbury ainda não é um verdadeiro papa-títulos na Nova Zelândia, e nunca foi. A maior campeão do país é Auckland, com 15 conquistas, estando muito à frente do time de Christchurch.

Canterbury também é o segundo maior vencedor do Ranfurly Shield, tendo o vencido pela primeira vez em 1927. Tendo vencido 141 vezes a disputa do escudo, com 128 defesas bem-sucedidas, em 13 seqüência, Canterbury tem os anos entre 1982 e 1985 os mais vitoriosos, com 25 defesas. As décadas de 1930, 1950, 1980 e 2000 as mais bem-sucedidas.

Tasman

A Tasman Rugby Union surgiu em 2006, com a fusão das uniões de Marlborough e de Tasman Bays. A união de Tasman Bays, por sua vez, é o resultado da junção de outras duas uniões: Nelson RFU e Golden Bay-Motueka, em 1967. Trata-se, pois, da região mais a norte da Ilha do Sul, histórica por ser um dos berço da colonização inglesa da Nova Zelândia e o palco da primeira partida de rugby a ser disputada na Nova Zelândia. A primeira grande leva de colonos europeus a chegar à Nova Zelândia se estabeleceu em Nelson, em 1842, na mesma região onde aportou Abel Tasman, navegador holandês que fez a primeira viagem oficial européia às ilhas. A vinda dos colonos se deu dois anos após o Tratado de Waitangi, firmado entre maoris e ingleses, que estabeleceu a Nova Zelândia como uma colônia britânica.

O rugby não tardou a ser praticado na cidade, com a primeira partida sendo dipsutada em 1870, entre o Nelson Football Club e o Nelson College. O promotor da partida foi Charles John Monro, que havia estudado na Inglaterra. Nenhum país teve o início da pratica do rugby tão próximo à data de sua filiação oficial a uma potência européia. Todavia, relatos apontam para partidas de futebol association e de futebol australiano um pouco antes da fundação do Nelson RFC. Os jornais da época também citam uma partida de rugby que fora disputada em 1869, mas a falta de documentação torna difícil se saber mais sobre ela. Desta forma, a iniciativa de Monro foi a primeira bem documentada e organizada experiência de rugby na Nova Zelândia. O fato, no entanto, é contestado por Canterbury, que reclama para si o pioneirismo do esporte no país, já que Christchurch já possuía uma equipe de futebol – o problema está em qual futebol era praticado em Christchurch. À parte de tais discussões, Nelson tem seu espaço privilegiado no pioneirismo do rugby no país. A união de Nelson, porém, foi fundada somente em 1885.

A união de Marlborough, com base na cidade de Blenheim, abrange a ponta do estreito de Cook, a porção norte da Ilha do Sul. A união de rugby local foi fundada em 1888, e conta com 1 conquista com 6 defesas bem-sucedidas do Log o’Wood (o Ranfurly Shield), na década de 1970, época de ouro do selecionado local.

A união de Nelson com Marlborough veio com a necessidade financeira de atender às demandas do rugby profisisonal da recém fundada Air New Zealand Cup. Os primeiros anos foram muito ruins, tanto em resultados como na saúde financeira, com os Makos (apelido do time de Tasman) quase indo à bancarrota. A boa campanha de 2009 veio como uma positiva resposta da união às pressões da NZRU, que por muito pouco não pôs fim à equipe profissional da união. No entanto, o futuro da empreitada de Tasman no profissionalismo segue incerto.

Buller

Passando às equipes amadoras do Hertland Championship que compõem os Crusaders, começaremos com o Buller, selecionado da minúscula região da foz do rio Buller, na porção noroeste da Ilha do Sul. Trata-se de uma das regiões com menor população da Nova Zelândia. A área total do distrito de Buller reúne 5 mil habitantes, quase todos na cidade de Westport, base do Buller RFU. Fundado em 1884, Buller tem um passado incrivelmente forte. A equipe já enfrentou de igual para igual equipes como Wellington e Canterbury, e duelou contra seleções importantes, tais como Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, África do Sul e British & Irish Lions. Sim, os rugbiers da pequena região de Westport já enfrentaram os Lions e os Springboks! O declínio veio a partir da década de 1970.

Buller disputa anualmente a Rundle Cup contra seus arqui-rivais de West Coast.

West Coast

O West Coast representa a costa oeste da Ilha do Sul, região menos densamente povoada e das mais isoladas da Nova Zelândia.  Com base na cidade de Greymouth, West Coast já cedeu 7 atletas aos All Blacks e tem uma longa tradição. As  cores vermelha e branca colorem a pequena cidade de pouco mais de 9 mil habitantes.

A fundação da união data de 1890, e o selecionado local disputa anualmente contra a Rundle Cup contra o Buller.

Mid Canterbury

Mid Canterbury representa os distritos centrais das planícies de Canterbury, logo a sul de Christchurch. A equipe tem base na cidade agrícola de Ashburton, e foi fundada em 1904, como dissidência de Canterbury. Terra de ovelhas, pastores a agricultores, a cidade é apelidade de “Ashvegas”, pelos pubs da região. Dentre os resultados históricos da equipe estão conquistas da segunda divisão, tendo a equipe sempre obtido bons resultados nas divisões inferiores do rugby neozelandês.

Desde 1946, Mid Canterbury disputa o Hanan Shield, contra South Canterbury e North Otago.

South Canterbury

O South Canterbury nasceu como dissidência de Canterbury, em 1888. O selecionado do sul tem base na cidade de Timaru, onde os Crusaders costumam mandar algumas partidas. Todos os anos, South Canterbury disputa o Hanan Shield contra Mid Canterbury e North Otago.

A equipe verde-negra tem em seu histórico sete títulos de divisões inferiores e duas conquistas do cobiçado Log o’Wood (o Ranfurly Shield), em 1950 e em 1974, quando o defenderam ainda com sucesso por uma vez. No entanto, talvez o maior feito do escrete de Timaru foi a vitória sobre a seleção da França em 1961. Além disso, South Canterbury já cedeu mais de 20 jogadores para os All Blacks, sobretudo nos seus tempos áureos.

here comes again something for yalls to dance & move your feet & booty to – I prepared another mix for yalls to download or stream and have a good time while listening! how incredibly nice is that?

as you can already see on the cover above this time we´re moving thru a medieval disco surrounding.
come & see the fearless crusaders riding out of authentic oldschool disco forests straight into the dark electro highlands fighting with the nine-headed hi-nrg-hydra, demonic neodisco dragons, the itchy italo-disco-ifrit and finally approaching and beating the three-headed electro-cerberus and the rave-sirens of death to free the queen of dancing.

I wish yalls much fun with this mix!

DISCO KNIGHTS FROM OUTTA SPACE

p.s.: if you need the tracklist just send me a msg!

O Atlas do Rugby de hoje traz o … e uma chuva de equipes neozelandesas: Crusaders (titãs do Super 14), Canterbury, Tasman (ambos da Air New Zealand Cup), Buller, West Coast, Mid Canterbury e South Canterbury (os quatro do Heartland Championship).

Nome: Crusaders

Cidade/País: Christchurch, Nova Zelândia

Estádio: AMI Stadium (capacidade: 41,5000)

Títulos de Super Rugby: 7 (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 e 2008)

Equipes da Air New Zealand Cup: Canterbury (Christchurch) e Tasman (Nelson e Blenheim)

Equipes do Heartland Championship: Mid Canterbury (Ashburton), South Canterbury (Timaru), West Coast (Greymouth) e Buller (Westport)

Títulos de Air New Zealand Cup/NPC: 6 de Canterbury

Vitórias em Ranfurly Shield: 141 de Canterbury, 7 de Marlborough (Tasman) e 3 de South Canterbury

Sites: Crusaders e Canterbury – www.crfu.co.nz; Tasman – www.makos.co.nz; Buller – www.bullerrugby.co.nz; South Canterbury – www.scrfu.co.nz

A criação da franquia dos Crusaders remete ao ano de 1996, ano do advento do profissionalismo no rugby union e da fundação do Super 12, o grande campeonato entre equipes do hemisfério sul. Criado como Canterbury Crusaders, o time representa mais de metade da Ilha do Sul, englobando não apenas a grande equipe de Canterbury, como todas as uniões da porção centro-norte da Ilha do Sul. Da franquia fazem parte: Tasman (resultado da fusão de Nelson Bays com Marlborough), Buller, West Coast, Mid Canterbury e South Canterbury. Dessa amálgama de uniões, surgiu o maior campeão da história do rugby union profissional, não só do Hemisfério Sul, mas de todo o mundo. Um verdadeiro monumento.

A primeira temporada dos Crusaders foi a mais decepcionante possível. A equipe ficou em último lugar (a colher de pau) da Super 12 de 1996. Muitas mudanças vieram na temporada seguinte. Com a contratação de Wayne Smith, para técnico, e com a promoção do asa Todd Blackadder, para capitão, a equipe alcançou a sexta posição. Apenas um prelúdio do que viria pela frente. Em 1998, veio o tal almejado primeiro título, após uma fenomenal arrancada de sete vitórias seguidas. O título veio em um fenomenal confronto contra os arqui-rivais do Auckland Blues, em Auckland.No confronto de Andrew Mehrtens contra Jonah Lomu, Mehrtens, o grande abertura dos All Blacks, levou a melhor. Também faziam parte do elenco brilhantes jogadores como Justin Marshall, Leon MacDonald, Reuben Thorn, Norm Maxwell e Mark Hammet. O triunfo de 1997 foi, na verdade, o primeiro da impressionante seqüência de títulos, iniciada com um tri-campeonato! 1999 e 2000 também foram dos Crusaders!

A temporada de 1999 foi a última sob o comando de Wayne Smith, selecionado para ser o técnico dos All Blacks em 2000. E foi igualmente bem-sucedida. Após uma campanha inconstante, os Crusaders alcançaram as final. O título foi decidido contra o rival da Ilha do Sul, o Otago Highlanders, de Tony Brown, em Dunedin, na “House of Pain”. O triunfo sobre mais um rival veio. Bicampeões. No ano seguinte, com a saída de Wayne Smith, Robbie Deans assumiu como técnico, e deu continuidade aos anos de triunfo de seu antecessor. A final foi contra os Brumbies, da Austrália. E o terceiro título em seguida foi um feito nunca mais repetido. Glória para os Crusaders, reis absolutos do Super 12.

Mas o reinado vermelho foi por água a baixo em 2001, com a péssima décima colocação. Em 2002, os Crusaders voltaramn a seus melhores dias, garantindo mais um título. Chegaram à final e derrotaram os australianos dos Brumbies. Primeiro título de Reuben Thorn como capitão. A equipe comandada por Robbie Deans era recheada de grandes jogadores: Richie McCaw, Chris Jack, Aaron Mauger, Dan Carter, Marika Vunibaka, Ben Blair, Vilimoni Delasau, Daryl Gibson, Greg Somerville e os já citados MacDonald, Mehrtens, Ralph e Marshall. Entretanto, os anos que se seguiram foram de duras decepções. Dois vice-campeonatos, em 2003 frente aos Blues e em 2004 frente aos Brumbies. Mas nenhuma das derrotas finais foi capaz de abalar a confiança dos supercampeões. O troféu de 2006 retornou a Christchurch, coroando os brilhantes cruzados do sul, verdadeiros donos do torneio. Super 12 sem Crusaders na final não era o verdadeiro Super 12. Supremacia que foi reafirmada com o advento do Super 14, em 2006. Sexto título, derrotando os rivais locais dos Hurricanes, em uma final história, com uma terrível neblina cobrindo o gramado durante toda a partida.

A capacidade de renovação dos Crusaders foi notável ao longo de todo esse tempo de sucesso. De Andrew Mehrtens a Dan Carter, de Blackadder a McCaw, quando o time perdia um grande craque, outro à altura o substituía. Os anos sob Wayne Smith e Robbie Deans foram de incrível constância na ponta e de grandes elencos. O sétimo e último título foi conquistado em 2008, já sem Robbie Deans. Quem o substituiu foi um ídolo do time, Todd Blackadder. Em campo, os Crusaders foram capitaneados por McCaw, com Dan Carter armando as jogadas. De full back, uma lenda os cruzados: Leon MacDonald.

Tendo sido derrotados nas semi-finais em 2009, os Crusaders completaram a incrível seqüência de oito torneios consecutivos alcançando as semi-finais. Os records são muitos. E os Crusaders são e serão por muitos anos ainda os maiores do Hemisfério Sul.

Canterbury

A União de Rugby de Canterbury foi fundada em 1879, sendo uma das pioneiras no esporte na Nova Zelândia. Apesar de todo o sucesso recente dos Crusaders, no Super 12/14, Canterbury não detém nenhuma supremacia na Air New Zealand Cup/NPC, mesmo durante os anos de sucesso internacional.

No campeonato nacional, Canterbury é o segundo maior campeão, com 5 títulos, sendo três conquistados na era profissional, refletindo o sucesso do grande time dos Crusaders. Mas mesmo com grandes jogadores nos últmos anos, o sucesso nacional de Canterbury ainda não alcançou a mesma grandeza do sucesso internacional dos Crusaders. Canterbury ainda não é um verdadeiro papa-títulos na Nova Zelândia, e nunca foi. A maior campeão do país é Auckland, com 15 conquistas, estando muito à frente do time de Christchurch.

Canterbury também é o segundo maior vencedor do Ranfurly Shield, tendo o vencido pela primeira vez em 1927. Tendo vencido 141 vezes a disputa do escudo, com 128 defesas bem-sucedidas, em 13 seqüência, Canterbury tem os anos entre 1982 e 1985 os mais vitoriosos, com 25 defesas. As décadas de 1930, 1950, 1980 e 2000 as mais bem-sucedidas.

Tasman

A Tasman Rugby Union surgiu em 2006, com a fusão das uniões de Marlborough e de Tasman Bays. A união de Tasman Bays, por sua vez, é o resultado da junção de outras duas uniões: Nelson RFU e Golden Bay-Motueka, em 1967. Trata-se, pois, da região mais a norte da Ilha do Sul, histórica por ser um dos berço da colonização inglesa da Nova Zelândia e o palco da primeira partida de rugby a ser disputada na Nova Zelândia. A primeira grande leva de colonos europeus a chegar à Nova Zelândia se estabeleceu em Nelson, em 1842, na mesma região onde aportou Abel Tasman, navegador holandês que fez a primeira viagem oficial européia às ilhas. A vinda dos colonos se deu dois anos após o Tratado de Waitangi, firmado entre maoris e ingleses, que estabeleceu a Nova Zelândia como uma colônia britânica.

O rugby não tardou a ser praticado na cidade, com a primeira partida sendo dipsutada em 1870, entre o Nelson Football Club e o Nelson College. O promotor da partida foi Charles John Monro, que havia estudado na Inglaterra. Nenhum país teve o início da pratica do rugby tão próximo à data de sua filiação oficial a uma potência européia. Todavia, relatos apontam para partidas de futebol association e de futebol australiano um pouco antes da fundação do Nelson RFC. Os jornais da época também citam uma partida de rugby que fora disputada em 1869, mas a falta de documentação torna difícil se saber mais sobre ela. Desta forma, a iniciativa de Monro foi a primeira bem documentada e organizada experiência de rugby na Nova Zelândia. O fato, no entanto, é contestado por Canterbury, que reclama para si o pioneirismo do esporte no país, já que Christchurch já possuía uma equipe de futebol – o problema está em qual futebol era praticado em Christchurch. À parte de tais discussões, Nelson tem seu espaço privilegiado no pioneirismo do rugby no país. A união de Nelson, porém, foi fundada somente em 1885.

A união de Marlborough, com base na cidade de Blenheim, abrange a ponta do estreito de Cook, a porção norte da Ilha do Sul. A união de rugby local foi fundada em 1888, e conta com 1 conquista com 6 defesas bem-sucedidas do Log o’Wood (o Ranfurly Shield), na década de 1970, época de ouro do selecionado local.

A união de Nelson com Marlborough veio com a necessidade financeira de atender às demandas do rugby profisisonal da recém fundada Air New Zealand Cup. Os primeiros anos foram muito ruins, tanto em resultados como na saúde financeira, com os Makos (apelido do time de Tasman) quase indo à bancarrota. A boa campanha de 2009 veio como uma positiva resposta da união às pressões da NZRU, que por muito pouco não pôs fim à equipe profissional da união. No entanto, o futuro da empreitada de Tasman no profissionalismo segue incerto.

Buller

Passando às equipes amadoras do Hertland Championship que compõem os Crusaders, começaremos com o Buller, selecionado da minúscula região da foz do rio Buller, na porção noroeste da Ilha do Sul. Trata-se de uma das regiões com menor população da Nova Zelândia. A área total do distrito de Buller reúne 5 mil habitantes, quase todos na cidade de Westport, base do Buller RFU. Fundado em 1884, Buller tem um passado incrivelmente forte. A equipe já enfrentou de igual para igual equipes como Wellington e Canterbury, e duelou contra seleções importantes, tais como Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, África do Sul e British & Irish Lions. Sim, os rugbiers da pequena região de Westport já enfrentaram os Lions e os Springboks! O declínio veio a partir da década de 1970.

Buller disputa anualmente a Rundle Cup contra seus arqui-rivais de West Coast.

West Coast

O West Coast representa a costa oeste da Ilha do Sul, região menos densamente povoada e das mais isoladas da Nova Zelândia.  Com base na cidade de Greymouth, West Coast já cedeu 7 atletas aos All Blacks e tem uma longa tradição. As  cores vermelha e branca colorem a pequena cidade de pouco mais de 9 mil habitantes.

A fundação da união data de 1890, e o selecionado local disputa anualmente contra a Rundle Cup contra o Buller.

Mid Canterbury

Mid Canterbury representa os distritos centrais das planícies de Canterbury, logo a sul de Christchurch. A equipe tem base na cidade agrícola de Ashburton, e foi fundada em 1904, como dissidência de Canterbury. Terra de ovelhas, pastores a agricultores, a cidade é apelidade de “Ashvegas”, pelos pubs da região. Dentre os resultados históricos da equipe estão conquistas da segunda divisão, tendo a equipe sempre obtido bons resultados nas divisões inferiores do rugby neozelandês.

Desde 1946, Mid Canterbury disputa o Hanan Shield, contra South Canterbury e North Otago.

South Canterbury

O South Canterbury nasceu como dissidência de Canterbury, em 1888. O selecionado do sul tem base na cidade de Timaru, onde os Crusaders costumam mandar algumas partidas. Todos os anos, South Canterbury disputa o Hanan Shield contra Mid Canterbury e North Otago.

A equipe verde-negra tem em seu histórico sete títulos de divisões inferiores e duas conquistas do cobiçado Log o’Wood (o Ranfurly Shield), em 1950 e em 1974, quando o defenderam ainda com sucesso por uma vez. No entanto, talvez o maior feito do escrete de Timaru foi a vitória sobre a seleção da França em 1961. Além disso, South Canterbury já cedeu mais de 20 jogadores para os All Blacks, sobretudo nos seus tempos áureos.

Terrorist

There are a group of international terrorists active in the Maldives and the pose a serious threat to the people of this country. This terrorist group is also training locals to do their dirty work for them as we speak. According to Miadhu News:

In addition to this, joint training programs were under way even now between USA and Maldives military in Laamu Kadhoo.

These crusaders are responsible for the deaths of milions of Muslims around the world. They wage war on Islam and yet here they are in the Maldives at the invitation of the apostate government.

There is no doubt whatsoever that whoever allies with the kuffar who are fighting the Muslims are also themselves kuffar and this is the Islamic ruling on the government and the MNDF.

What is also not in doubt is that these Crusaders are at war with Islam and so we as Muslims are at war with them and it is an obligation for us to repel them and remove them from these lands by whatever means necessary. InsahAllah with the help of Allah we will achieve this sooner rather than later.

The 2010 Baseball schedule was released this morning. Here is the link to the schedule. http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17500&KEY=&SPID=10468&SPSID=87983

Highlights:

The Bobcats once again start the season in North Carolina. This time they start on Friday March 5 in the 1st of a 3 game set against the NC State Wolfpack in Raleigh. Gametime for the 1st game is 7:00 pm with games 2 and 3 at 1:00 on Saturday and Sunday respectivly.

Monday is an off day for the Bobcats who get back in action with a 2 game series against Duke on the other side of the Research Triangle, in Durham. Gametime on Tuesday and Wednesday is set for 3:00. From there, it’s a short drive to Colonial Williamsburg (VA) for 2 games agains William and Mary. Gametime on Friday March 14 is 4:00pm with game 2 on Saturday at 2 pm.

Skip Gooley’s squad continues on the road facing Fairfield on March 18 and Holy Cross on March 20 before begining their home slate on the back end of the home-and-h0me against the Crusaders on Sunday March 21 at noon. From there, the Bobcats will take their traditional trip to Army on March 23 before opening their conference slate with 4 home games against The Mount beginning March 26. Mount St. Mary’s finished in 5th place last year with a 15-11 record in conference.

Other important games include a 4 game tilt at Sacred Heart April 1-3 (Thursday-Saturday with the traditional Easter Holiday off), A Home-And-Home with Fairfield April 10 and 11 (Saturday home-Sunday road), a trip to Hartford Tuesday April 20, 4 at rival CCSU April 23-25, their home wrap up against UConn on Tuesday May 18, and the closing conference weekend May 21-23 at Wagner. The conference tournament will take place the following weekend with the top 4 teams in the conference advancing. Of course, with the tricky weather in the Northeast, these schedules will most likely change and stay with us at The Bobcat Blog for any schedule changes.

Syria, Jordan and the Middle East

April 11, 2007 at 4:40 am · Filed under 77 chapters,

Muslims everywhere have found “The True Furqan” a fake and this so called Quran opposes many Islamic beliefs. In one of its ayats it describes having more than one wife as fornication, divorce being non-permissible and it uses a new system for the sharing out of the will, opposing the current one. It states that Jihad is HARAAM. This book even goes as far as attacking Allah, Subhanahu WA Tahala! The two American printing companies; “Omega 2001″ and “Wine Press” are involved in the publishing of “The True Furqan.” We must stop the distribution of this book. The book can also be found at: http://www.islam-exposed.org
This site should be shutdown.

Allahu Akbar!

what do the americans have to say about it

A New American Quran?
Evangelical Christian group writes book challenging the Quran
During 2004 and 2005, allegations in several countries claimed that the United States was trying to impose a “new American Quran” on Muslims.

These claims are false. A small, private evangelical Christian group in the United States has written a book called The True Furqan, which seeks to convert Muslims to Christianity, but this group has no connection with the U.S. government. Furqan is another term for Quran.
The Allegations

Shaykh Ikrimah Sabri, the preacher of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, inaccurately claimed the United States is “forcing Muslims to renounce the Quran and adopt the book Al Furqan al-Haqq (The True Quran),” according to a July 2, 2004 Internet report by the Palestinian Information Center.

Mustafa Bakri, editor of Egypt’s sensationalist, anti-U.S. Al-Usbu newspaper, made other false claims in the newspaper’s December 6, 2004 edition:

•The first edition of The True Quran was published secretly in the United States and Israel.
•The True Quran was drafted with direct Israeli participation and with direct instructions from U.S. President George Bush.
•Twelve more books will be published as part of The True Quran series.
Bakri has a long history of making disinformation claims. Abbas al Janabi, who served as the personal secretary to Saddam’s son Uday from the mid 1980s until 1998, said in 2003 that Bakri had long been on Saddam’s payroll and was “very loyal to Saddam.”

The Facts

•The True Furqan was published openly, not secretly, in the United States in 1999. It is available on the Internet.
•The True Furqan was not published in Israel, according to its translator, Dr. Anis Shorrosh.
•The True Furqan was written in Arabic and translated into English by evangelical Christian Arabs who have no connection with the U.S. government. The book contains both the Arabic and English texts.
•The True Furqan is a private attempt by evangelical Christian Arabs to convert Muslims to Christianity. Its translator, Dr. Anis Shorrosh, describes it as “a tool to evangelize Muslims.”
•Dr. Shorrosh says the book is similar to the Quran “in style and substance … but contains the gospel message.”
•According to Dr. Shorrosh, there was no Israeli involvement in the preparation of the book.
•According to Dr. Shorrosh, The True Furqan is a stand-alone book, not part of a 12-book series.
The Quran is widely available for sale in the United States. In early January 2006, three large American booksellers, Borders, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, each offered more than one dozen different English translations of the Quran on their Web sites.

…no, that’s not a mistake in the headline…after doing a quick tot-up of the scores and scorers from the weekend’s internationals, I came up with the following table:

Interesting reading, particularly on a weekend where Wales, South Africa and France played similarly ‘easy’ matches to Ireland, though it pains me to point out that Leinster players once again failed to score four tries, as a winning bonus point still evades the first XV this season.

A great weekend for Spartan basketball.  (Not so good for Spartan football — lost to Penn State — it was ugly!)   The basketball team played twice: a Friday night contest against Toledo where the Spartans won despite looking a bit ragged and unfocused, and a Sunday game against Valparaiso where the Green cruised easily.  A couple of tough games coming up: University of Florida (Friday, November 27th) and then their first road trip — down to North Carolina (rematch of last year’s championship game) on Tuesday, December 1st.  Go Green!

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