Say Anything Blog

That’s not cool!

Who are you “smiling” at, Dave?

You do know how important it is to “face Mekka” for Muslims, right?

My last comment was unclear. The stupidity to which I was referring was not the Muslims’ Mecca-stupidity; rather, it was the stupidity of people who think the Memorial intentionally points toward Mecca.

Are these the same type of people who believe in astrology?

Some stupidity makes me laugh. This makes me smile.

The legend at the bottom of the map specifies it is oriented North, whether true or magnetic is not stipulated. (Magnetic declination is between 6 and 9 degrees W.) Drawing a line connecting the tips of the crescent and drawing a perpendicular, you can see which which way it “opens”. Using a protractor, I found the crescent opens between 230 and 240 (southwest) degrees, or taking the reciprocal, between 50 and 60 (northeast). You are invited to do this yourselves and verify the result. . . .

Then next step was to stick these coordinates into Keyhole 2 LT, and both coordinates check out. Keyhole took me to the site with the characteristic two hills and ridge pointing northeast shown in the Flight 93 Memorial winning design. (Keyhole users, tilt the map if you have trouble distinguishing the features.) The coordinates for Mecca likewise go to “Makkah” in Saudi Arabia.

I remember watching a special on PBS when I was younger on people who believed the Pyramids of Egypt contained “secrets” for the future.

They started measuring at the opening of the pyramid, started at the year Zero, and decided that every inch of the first passageway would correspond to one year in history. At 33 inches, there was a door (death of Jesus!); at 1,492 inches there was another one (discovery of America!), etc. The passageway ended at what corresponded to May 5, 2000; thus, of course, signifying the end of the world.

Because, of course, it’s not like the Egyptians just randomly put doors in their Pyramids. No, there must be some deeper significance…

Well, I’ve said all along that I have no idea if this stuff is intentional or not.  Right now, given that the memoria is shaped like a crescent and does point toward Mecca, I’m thinking its on hell of a coincidence.

But that’s beside the point.  What is the point is that, either by design or accident, the memorial as it is planned now is inappropriate and needs to be changed.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Hmmm… then I got what you meant the first time.  Why would it be hard to believe that someone intentionally pointed the “Crescent of Embrace” at Mecca?

I can believe it… With all this political correctness going on in the world, why wouldn’t someone try to sneak this in?  After all, it’s a red crescent at the site where Islamic “warriors” Jihaded their way to crash a capitalist caravan… Why not face it toward Mecca? 

“Your failure is complete.” - D.V.

But that’s beside the point. What is the point is that, either by design or accident, the memorial as it is planned now is inappropriate and needs to be changed.

You know what, I really agree with Rob on this one.  It’s too bad we couldn’t have cancelled the Pentagon’s 9/11 “We Support You” Freedom March - some of the marchers were, I’m sure, walking towards Mecca, which is highly innapropriate.

In fact, I’m having trouble not walking eastwards lately.  I’ve tried to walk sideways, so that I still face away from Mecca, but it’s hard to ignore the jeers and jokes from all those mean liberal Islamofascist-lovers.

When is Bush going to nuke Mecca?  Islam is our enemy, not terrorists - we need to go after the source!  (Islam, of course, not rich Saudis.) And then, after Mecca is a smoldering ruin, I’ll be able to face east without having to worry about comprimising my American-ness!

If you locate the center point of the crescent, and draw a line that bisects the star, and plot the compass point, it leads directly to Barbra Streisand’s beach house on Nantucket!

You know what, I really agree with Rob on this one. It’s too bad we couldn’t have cancelled the Pentagon’s 9/11 “We Support You” Freedom March - some of the marchers were, I’m sure, walking towards Mecca, which is highly innapropriate.

I always take down my American flag whenever the wind is blowing to the east, lest it should accidentally be facing Mecca for a few minutes.

If you locate the center point of the crescent, and draw a line that bisects the star, and plot the compass point, it leads directly to Barbra Streisand’s beach house on Nantucket!

I knew the Jews were behind this… just like every other conspiracy.

It matters if you’re the landscape architect who’s appying his education, training and artistic sensibilities to design an appropriate memorial.

I know how about we redo the tree’s into the shape of a cross. After all it doesn’t really matter what the shape is.

Hey, yeah… if the shape doesn’t matter, then why not a Cross… Or… A pentagram!  Or… A Giant man-eating Bunny!

I know how about we redo the tree’s into the shape of a cross.  After all it doesn’t really matter what the shape is.

How bout we keep the memorial facing Mecca, but instead of a crescent we change it to a big middle finger.

Works for me, Andrew.

Architect offers to alter Flight 93 memorial to appease critics here:  http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-09142005-541451.html

Let’s hope so.

“It’s a disappointment there is a misinterpretation and a simplistic distortion of this, but if that is a public concern, then that is something we will look to resolve in a way that keeps the essential qualities,” Murdoch, 48, of Los Angeles, said in a telephone interview.

Really hit the nail on the head there.

I agree.  Sounds, from that at least, like Murdoch is handling it like a pro.

Too bad so many people overreacted to it.  A bunch of people were talking about how it was intentional.  I do think its all one heck of a coincidence, but I don’t think anyone in charge of the project is trying to dishonor the victims.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

I hope conservatives keep this story in mind next time they blame liberals for stifling free expression in the name of “political correctness”.

You can have all the free expression you want, Dave, when we’re not talking about a tax-funded national monument.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

I heard memorial visitor’s center sells slurpees in the shape of a turban. Let’s hope we can put a stop to that, too!

[...] Since Rob was kind enough to feature a post of mine on his blog (see the previous post), I figured I’d return the favor! I picked out one of his more memorable recent articles to link to - one about the Flight 93 memorial - and made up a graphic for it.Quote from the comments by Rob: “...given that the memoria is shaped like a crescent and does point toward Mecca, I’m thinking its on [sic] hell of a coincidence.” This post is also notable in that it’s one of the very few that doesn’t contain the words “interesting,” “heh,” or “Hmmm...” [...]