A Study in Abuse

We've all heard or read the reports from Guantanamo of how some guards stepped on a Koran, splashed a Koran with a water balloon, and how a guard's urine got on a Koran. But that isn't the worst of it: the very worst Koran desecrations have come at the hands of a suprising group of people: the detainees!

From a piece in the Weekly Standard by John Hinderaker of Powerline, quoting the report by Brigadier General Jay Hood looking to allegations of abuse of the Koran at Gitmo:

On 14 MAY 03, a guard observed a detainee rip his Koran into small pieces. The guard recorded the incident contemporaneously in a sworn statement.

On 5 JUN 03, a guard observed two detainees accuse a third detainee of not being a man. In response, the detainee urinated on one of their Korans. The detainees resided in adjacent cells. The event was recorded in FBI FD-302s, on 5 JUN 03 and 19 JUN 03.

"ripped pages out of his Koran and threw them down the toilet"

On 19 JAN 05, a detainee tore up his Koran and tried to flush it down the toilet. Four guards witnessed the incident and it was recorded in the electronic blotter system.

On 23 JAN 05, a detainee ripped pages out of his Koran and threw them down the toilet. The detainee stated he did so because he wanted to be moved to another camp. Four guards witnessed the incident and it was recorded in the electronic blotter system.

Not to mention the numerous Koran defilings and desecrations that have happened as a result of suicide bombers attacking mosques in the Middle East -- or is blowing them up OK?

EmergentNo

"Exposing and examining those things which are connected to, and promoted by, the 'emerging church' movement."

Interesting read. The discussion in the comments of each post is pretty good from both 'sides'.

"Rapid coloured afterimage"

Cool visual effect (bigger image at link):

"On the right you see a circle of blue-violettish (=magenta) patches, one of which briefly disappears, circling around.

Let your gaze rest on the central fixation cross, but observe with your “inner eye” the patches just when they disappear. With good fixation, you should see a strong greenish colour whenever the violet patch has disappeared.

When you are fixating well, after a few cycles you will actually see a rotating green spot! If your gaze is really steady, the magenta patches will disappear, leaving only a rotating green spot!"