#salim laying down the rules | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yeeyeetyeehaw · 5 years

Text

The Arcana

The Main six with a pregnant MC

Asra:

Touchy. He likes to feel you and the baby, he can sense their magic.

“Their aura...it’s beautiful...”

Cannot WAIT to see his child

Very insistent on proper diet and exercise while you’re expecting, he wants both of you to be healthy

Faust keeps herself wound around your belly for protection, so she can keep the baby safe. She’s very excited to meet them. “...Baby!”

He’s very accommodating to your requests, especially the cravings. He knows what you want before you do. “Asra-“ “The skink is on the stove, love.”

But you’ll never lift anything over five pounds either. Not in this house.

Very invested in the pregnancy, reads up on childcare, and makes a list of everything your baby will need.

Aisha and Salim are over a lot, too happy to be grandparents.

They missed out on Asra’s childhood and they’ll be damned if they miss their grandchild’s

Nadia:

Loves your baby bump so much. She always has you sit by her side with a hand sitting on it protectively

Has a nearby wing converted into a nursery after she cleanses burns Lucio’s

Summons private physicians and midwives to look after you during the process, carefully taking note of your needs.

The chefs will have a specialized pregnancy menu for you, and will suit any cravings you may have

Bath time for when you’re sore, and she’ll give you a massage afterward.

“Come now my darling, you’ve had a long day.”

Chandra keeps a careful eye on you while Nadia attends to court business, always making sure you are safe and comfortable

Takes you on strolls through the garden to keep you active, is always careful of your limits though.

Cuddles are an all day affair, they don’t come often, but Nadia will spend endless hours with you in bed if you asked it of her

Nasrin and Namar frequently send gifts, and eagerly await the birth. Nadia’s sisters visit often, especially Natiqa. Nazali checks in on you from time to time

“Oh Didi! You’ve made us aunties!” —Nasmira or Navra at some point.

Julian:

Through the roof at first, PUMPED to be a dad. “I’m gonna be a father!....I’m gonna be a father.” He’ll get over it.

Very insistent you get ample amounts of rest and food. “Bed rest my dear.” “Ilya, I’m only a month in...”

Do not even THINK about lifting anything yourself. “Don’t strain yourself!” “Ilya it’s a PAPERCLIP!”

A bit overbearing, but he means well

On top of your cravings. As soon as the words leave your mouth he is out the door

Malak likes to perch on your windowsill and sing to the baby, the kicks you get in return are worth it.

Tries to spend every waking moment either with you or at the office to earn money for the baby

Is probably going to try and deliver his own child. Mazelinka won’t have it.

Mazelinka stops by almost daily, and brings delicious healing brews for your morning sickness and food (you can actually keep down) with her.

Portia will spend time with you and bring little knitted clothes for the baby. “Auntie is best” is on most of them. “Auntie Portia, I like it!”

Gives you baths with salts from Nevivon for swelling and muscle aches

Cuddles solve everything else, especially pregnancy migraines.

Muriel:

Knows little about babies, but he’s so happy he’s having one with you

Very concerned...you’re so small...and your belly is so big

Inanna never leaves your side, she is a constant companion and cuddles with you when you’re sore

Muriel carries you everywhere. there will be no walking by yourself

Gives you little charms for any morning sickness and nausea

Sends Asra to buy things for your cravings, he doesn’t want to leave your side, but he’ll brave the crowds if need be

Always has wood in the fireplace

You get the best furs, without question

Has Julian, as much as he dislikes him, over often to check on you

Takes you to the river to cool off, pregnancy makes women hot, and you might coerce him to join you

Will let you feed the chickens if you want exercise

Uncle Asra is over as much as possible, sometimes with gifts. “This is from Nopal, it’s good for fussy babies who don’t sleep, and I brewed this one for you, for the soreness.” (He’s such a sweetheart)

Portia:

“I’m a mommy!!!”

Through the roof! She’s so happy!

Knows all kinds of herbs to help with nausea and morning sickness

Keeps you at home to rest

Mazelinka is proud, she likes to see you two happy, occasionally brings some brews to help the baby’s health

Uncle Jules is over often, as both your physician and an aspiring ‘fun uncle’

“Ilya If this baby gets any ideas...” Portia is pretty serious about his (admittedly) harebrained shenanigans

Pepi is always curled up on your belly, and will lay there even when the baby is kicking.

Knits baby clothes w matching sets for Pepi. Tiny little booties!!! And caps!!

Nadia gifts you an extension on your house for a nursery, and Portia spends hours decorating it

Takes you on walks or lets you help tend certain areas of her garden for some light exercise

Lucio:

Is ecstatic to meet his child

“They will be my legacy!!”

Already spoiling the both of you, with gifts and an entire wing of the palace dedicated to his child

You are NOT allowed out of bed. Ever.

Anything you want, servants are waiting hand and foot

Cravings? You have a personal chef.

Soreness? You have a personal masseuse

Nausea and morning sickness? He’s hired the top physicians and they are here to stay

Throws grand celebrations to welcome his heir properly. The masquerade is yesterday’s news.

Buys lavish baby clothes and gives your child precious gems and metals.

“They need a crown if they’re going to rule.” -Lucio, handing you a diamond encrusted golden crown

722 notes · View notes

questionsonislam · 4 years

Note

Is it sin to sleep by lying face down? What are the manners of sleeping?

It is not haram to lie face down. However, the Prophet (pbuh) did not find this style of lying appropriate. The Prophet awakened a person who lay like that in the mosque and said,

"Lying like that is a styleof lying that Allah does not like." (Abu Dawud, Adab, 95; Tirmidhi, Adab 21)

As it is seen, the Prophet (pbuh) did not find lying face down appropriate and stated that it is "a style of lying that Allah does not like".

Therefore, it is not haram or a sin to lie face down – without the intention of resembling non-Muslims – but it is contrary to good manners and it causes man to be deprived of the thawab of sunnah.

Islam has determined all of the principles of good manners including when it is appropriate to sleep, when it is wrong to sleep, what to do before sleeping and what to do after waking up.

First, let us have a look at the “sorts” of sleep. Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, who says, "Sleep is of three sorts" states the following as an interpretation of verse 4 of the chapter of al-Araf, which ends as follows: "…or while they slept for their afternoon rest."

Sleep is of three sorts:

THE FIRST is `Ghaylula'. This is from pre-dawn to forty-five minutes or so after the sun has risen, the time when prayer is lawful but reprehensible. Sleep at this time is contrary to the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH), since according to Hadiths, it leads to a decrease in one's livelihood and to be its being unfruitful. The time most appropriate for preparing to labor for one's sustenance is when it is cool. When this time has passed, a lethargy descends. It has been established through numerous experiences that just as this is detrimental to that day's labor and indirectly to one's livelihood, so also is it the cause of unfruitfulness.

THE SECOND is `Faylula'. This is from the afternoon prayer till sunset. This sleep leads to a diminution of life, that is, it makes life that day shorter and makes it pass in a state of semi-sleep due to drowsiness, thus causing a physical deficiency to life. So too in an immaterial aspect, since most of the results of that day, material and immaterial, become apparent after the afternoon prayer, to pass that time in sleep as though prevents those results being seen and makes the day as though not lived.

THE THIRD d is `Qaylula', which is in accordance with the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH). It is from mid-morning to just past noon. This sleep is part of the Practices since it allows a person to rise at night to pray. So also in the Arabian Peninsula to rest from work at noon when it is intensely hot is the custom of the people and of the area, so has further strengthened this Practice of the Prophet (PBUH). This sleep increases both life, and sustenance. For half an hour's Qaylula sleep is the equivalent of two hours' sleep at night. That means it adds one and a half hours' to a person's life every day. It saves one and a half hours from the hand of sleep, the brother of death, and makes it live, adding it to the time of working for one's livelihood. (Flashes, Twenty-eighth Flash, Fourth Point) p.269)

That is,it is not a good thing to sleep from the time the sun rises to about forty-five minutes after the sun rises. What is essential is to go to bed early and to get up early. One should not sleep after performing the Morning Prayer; he should read the Quran, hadith, tafsir, catechism and then start to work.

The Prophet stated the following:

"There is abundance and success in the early hours of the morning." (Lawaqihul-Anwar, Sha'rani, p. 295)

The wisdom behind the unfruitfulness and failure that has recently increased gradually should be sought under the light of the hadith above.

Unfortunately, television faces man as "the enemy of going to bed early". It is necessary to overcome this fierce enemy, to go to bed as early as possible, to get up for tahajjud prayer, to get up for the morning prayer in a vigorous way before sunrise and to start work after that without sleeping again. Our grandfathers and grandmothers, whom we saw as vigorous and hardworking people, did like that. When this nice habit disappeared, health, abundance and peace disappeared too.

It is necessary not to sleep between the afternoon (asr) and the evening (maghrib). Everybody experienced the harm of sleeping in that period. A person who sleeps and gets up during that period becomes dopy; he cannot come round easily.

To sleep for a while after the noon prayer (qaylula) is very useful.

When Going to Bed

Let us have a look at what is necessary to do before sleeping at night.

* It is necessary to put out the fire before going to bed. Today, it is necessary to check whether, the oven, stove, boiler, central heating, etc is off or not. If central heating boiler, etc is not safe, it is better to turn them off before going to bed.

Hz. Salim reported the following from the Prophet (pbuh):

"When you go to bed at home, cover and put out the fire."(Ramuz, II/467-4)

In particular, those who use wood and coal burning stoves should be very careful.

* One should make wudu before going to bed.

According to what is reported from Bara bin Azib, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"When you go to bed, make wudu as you do for prayer (salah) and lie down turning to your right side. Then, prays as follows:

'O Allah! I have submitted myself to You. I have committed my affairs to You. I have relied on You since I fear and love You. I take refuge only in You. My salvation depends on you. I believe in the Book You revealed and in the Prophet You sent.'

"If you do so and die during the night, you will die as a Muslim. Let this supplication be your last words before sleeping." (Muslim, Dhikr: 56)

* There are several prayers to be read before going to bed.One should read the one(s) that he can read easily. For instance, the Prophet (pbuh) prayed as follows: "O Allah! Protect me from your punishment on the day You resurrect your slaves!"

The Prophet (pbuh) also recommended reading the chapter of al-Fatiha and another chapter (Ramaz, I/26-1) and saying,"La Ilaha Illallah, Wahdahu La Sharika Lah, Lahu'l mulku wa Lahu'l Hamdu wa huwa Ala Kulli Shay'in Qadir (There is none worth of worship but Allah alone, Who has no partner, His is the dominion and to Him belongs all praise, and He is able to do all things)" and "La hawla wala quwwata illa Billah (There is no might and no power except by Allah's leave)" and saying "Subhanallah" 33 times"Alhamdulillah" 33 times "Allahu Akbar" 34 times (totally 100)

Hz. Huzayfa reports the following about how the Prophet (pbuh) prayed before going to bed and what he said after waking up:

"When the Prophet went to bed, he would read the following du'a (prayer):

'Allahumma bi'smika amutu wa ahya' (O Allah! I die with your name and revive with your name). When he woke up, he would read the following du'a: 'Alhamdulillahi'lladhi ahyana ba'da amatana wa ilayhi'n-nushur' (Praise be to Allah, who revives us after killing us and to whom we will return)" (Shamail-i Sharif, p.281)

* It is sunnah to get up for tahajjud after sleeping for a while. This is the custom of righteous people. This prayer will be your light in the grave.

* One should not put his hands in any plate, glass or jug without washing his hands three times after waking up. (Ramuz, I/30-2)

* One should not lie face down.The Prophet prohibited lying like this. The Prophet awakened a person who was sleeping like that in the mosque and said, "Lying down like this is a kind of lying that Allah does not like." (Abu Dawud, Adab: 95)

- What should one do when he has a dream?

Dream is a part of sleep. Almost everybody has dreams. What is necessary to do when one has a dream? The Prophet (pbuh) stated the following regarding the issue:

"When one of you has a dream that he likes, he should not tell it to anybody except the ones he loves. If he sees a dream that he does not like, he should spit three times to his left side and take refuge in Allah from the outcast Satan and his evil. He should not tell anybody about this dream. In that case, the dream cannot harm him."

- What are the basic rules regarding manners of sleep?

Allah Almighty granted us sleep to enable our bodies to rest. Sleep is a great bounty. If you ask a person who suffers from insomnia (sleeplessness), you will understand how valuable sleep is.

- It is necessary to use the night well, which is the most appropriate time for sleep. One should go to bed early and get up early as much as he can.

- He should make wudu before going to bed and pray Allah; he should praise and pray Allah when he wakes up.

- One should turn to his right side when he lies down and put his right hand under his right cheek. (Even if he turns and changes his position afterwards, this sunnah is regarded to have fulfilled.)

- He should not lie face down.

- If he has a bad dream, he should spitthree times to his left side and take refuge in Allah from Satan. He should not tell anybody about this dream.

- He should try to get up for tahajjud prayer and make this his habit.

- He should go to bed early so as not to miss the morning prayer.

- He should not sleep again after the morning prayer if it is possible and he should start work.

2 notes · View notes

loftwingsuarus · 5 years

Text

I’m here to deliver on my promise of cursed fanfiction!!1! Thanks for introducing me to this headcanon- now if I have to imagine this so do you.

@lazyvoyager

~~~

Warm light creeps in through the windows as Illain looks out over the oasis. Asra lays still under the covers, sleeping in another day. Illain smiles fondly at him before he opens the tea cabinet-

His fingertips brush something that is decidedly not tea. He reaches out again for nothing, and then pulls the drawer all the way out. Only a deck of cards gazes back up at him. He can’t remember any voices besides his own and Asra’s, but the one calling out for him now sounds so awfully familiar. Before he knows what he’s doing, Illain takes the card off the top and turns it over to see The Fool-

A flood couldn’t even begin to compare to the torrent in his mind, the flashes of a whole lifetime he had never known but could see so clearly. Glimpses of a lively city and crowded markets and an old magic shop were like a force pushing back on him. Illain tumbles back until he slams into the wall. His hard, deep breaths are only interrupted by the sound of Asra, now getting out of bed.

“Illain?” His vision is spinning, too much for him to comprehend anything else. “Illain, what’s wrong?” Footsteps fall fast until Asra is right in front of him. His gaze trails up to Asra’s eyes, empty of all light. Visions of faces he yearns to know still float in his mind’s eye, and his mind starts reaching for their missing names.

“Asra… Who’s Nadia? Julian? Muriel.” Illain knows that he isn’t imagining it when Asra winces. “Portia, Aisha, Salim…” Asra looks like he’s in pain, all color drained from his face. Illain’s heart thunders in his chest, but he can’t leave this moment, he can’t just go back to normal without answers. “Do I…” He takes a shaky breath. “Do I know these people?” Asra takes another step towards him.

“And if you do?” he says. Illain presses his hand against his head. He vaguely notices his vision is blurring with tears between ragged breaths. Asra goes to hold him with comforting arms, resting his chin on top of Illain’s head. He doesn’t even know why this is happening, why he’s so unsettled and upset.

“Then why can’t I remember?” Asra curses under his breath.

“... I never was good at keeping secrets,” he whispers. Silence falls.

“Tell me, then.” Somehow the prospect of Asra hiding things from him is a familiar pain. Illain still looks to him for answers, and the tragic, almost regretful look on his face isn’t enough of an answer right now.

“They… used to be our friends.” The aching truth fills Illain’s chest from inside out.

“And they aren’t anymore. Why? Where are they?” Asra startles at the desperate urgency in his voice. He pulls away a little, but still puts his hands on his shoulders. The world Illain knows is suddenly too small, too suffocating, not real enough for him. Knowing that they once hadn’t been alone together like this is enough to make the solitude they shared impossible to bear any longer.

“What matters to you more?” Asra asks, “You, me, and Faust? Or these people you’ve never known?” There’s a dark tone in his voice, but he doesn’t sound angry. Instead, Illain notices tears in his eyes. He never wanted to see him like this, and panic starts rising up in his chest.

“You’ll never know how much your past made you suffer. How much agony you’ve gone through.” Tears fall freely down his face. “I’ve made sure of it… Unless you want to know. If you think you can even bear it.” Illain stares back at him with wide, frightened eyes and his mouth feels dry and all he can think is that he’s said the wrong thing. Even though Asra is trembling, Illain is the one who feels like his whole world is crumbling.

“Asra, I…” Asra shakes his head. “I’m sorry-”

“No, don’t. Don’t be. Everything I’ve ever done, I did it to protect you. Would you ever leave me? Put yourself in danger again, for nothing?” They’ve had this conversation before, and once upon a time Illain might have known his answer. But now he’s being held captive by his own convictions as much as he is by the sight of fiery magenta eyes burning into his soul.

“N-no,” Illain stammers, “I wouldn’t.” All he needs is something to be certain of, even if he has to convince himself of it. Asra breathes a sigh of relief and pulls Illain into a close embrace.

“I’m sorry,” Asra whispers, “I know you wouldn’t… Stay here, where it’s safe. Let me take care of you. All you need to do is trust me.” Illain only nods listlessly in his arms. The lost may find their way, but he resigns himself to being a prisoner in a gilded cage. It’s safer here, he thinks. Asra slowly lets go of him, but his hands go to cup his cheek. “And just to be safe… let’s get rid of these.”

His magic carries the rest of the cards into the air. He vaguely remembers but very much knows how much work and time and effort Asra took into making them… Only to be destroyed now. When the first spark lights and catches on the cards, Illain sees them for what they are- the beginnings of a fire from a world more real than the one he knows, where nature isn’t ruled by his and Asra’s whims. And what the flames devour is gone forever. Illain knows standing by and watching it turn to ash is an unforgivable mistake, but he can’t bring himself to move. He can only look away from its angry orange glow when Asra cradles his head against his shoulder and holds him steady.

“Here…” Asra whispers against his ear, “Let me put some magical protections on you.”

…

The only thing Illain remembers is being held in Asra’s arms.

#illain #yeah #myposts

165 notes · View notes

douxreviews · 5 years

Text

American Gods - ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ Review

"Peace is a beautiful, but sh*tty idea."

A series whose intrinsic premise revolves around new gods forming around things that Americans actually worship finally gets around to the most obvious example. Hello there, Money.

Also, Mr. Nancy brings all the real.

Let's just get this out of the way up front, because otherwise the rest of the review is just going to be me marking time until I can bring it up.

Every single word of Mr. Nancy's monologue is amazingly written, outstandingly performed, and should be played on repeat in every single social studies and civics class in the United States until the country as a whole finally decides to do something about fixing things. I can't imagine that it won't be available to view on its own on YouTube within the next 24-48 hours, and when it does you should absolutely go watch it. Over the course of a few uninterrupted minutes, Orlando Jones lays out slavery, human trafficking, the alt-right, systemic violence and institutionalized failure, the school to prison pipeline, knee taking and the NFL, and more. It's angry, and it's powerful, and I expect high school speech competition judges will get tired of hearing it in a few years.

I've been a little focused this season on noting the things from season one that we lost with the transitions behind the scenes, but I've neglected to mention one thing that the new season has really improved. That's the interactions between the Gods themselves. In the first season, that interaction was almost exclusively limited to Wednesday and whichever old god he happened to be making his sales pitch to that week. We saw Czernobog and the three sisters in their home life together, but they were already from the same belief system and closely intertwined. This season we're starting to see how the other gods relate to one another just on a day to day basis, and it's really been great.

Which is how we get to Mr. Nancy's speech, and its context gives it its real edge. Mr. Nancy, Bilquis, and Mr. Ibis have gathered at the Ibis and Jaquel funeral parlor, and have a good, solid talk about race. This is in itself amazing, as television has a pronounced tendency to avoid a real and messy talk about race. We have three African gods, all played by actors of color, two of which seem to have made the choice to let things in America continue as they are, only to have the third one essentially sit them down and say, 'Here is what is happening, what has always been happening, to the descendants of your worshipers. How can you possibly be all right with this? How can you look the other way? How can you let this happen?' That's just not something you see on television. And I could not look away.

Meanwhile, in the A plot, Wednesday and Shadow head out to track down yet another new American God in order to persuade them to join Wednesday's side in the war. This time they're trying to track down 'Money.' Unfortunately, his trio of security girl scouts won't give them access, because Shadow has never had a line of credit, and Money hates that. Yes, you read that correctly. Security Girl Scouts. OK, technically 'Penny Scouts,' so as to avoid getting sued by the Girl Scouts of America. They are selling candy named 'Payback,' because not all of the metaphors in this show are subtle.

And on the other team's bench, Mr. World sends Technical Boy to find a replacement for the recently murdered Argus. TB goes to Silicon Valley to find someone who isn't named by the show, but is the head of a company called Xie Comm, so one assumes his name is Xie. This same CEO is the boy we saw in the opening sequence, playing video games and practicing Bach, until he realizes the link between music and math, programs software to write new Bach-like music, and apparently brings Technical Boy into being to play electronic classical music at his father's funeral. It's actually a really well structured and meticulously pieced together dissertation on the interrelationship between faith, love, music, and numbers, and it works all the better for throwing us into it without giving us any context or information whatsoever. I'm not always a fan of the cold open on this show, but this was really well done.

Technical Boy refers to this man whose name we have to assume is Xie as his friend. What's more, he refers to himself as being Xie's only friend, and we're given no reason to doubt that statement. Which makes it all the more heartbreaking when World shows up, uses New Media to steal Possibly-Xie's attention, and then leaves Technical Boy to die.

Oh, yeah. Technical Boy dies.

I did not see that coming. But we did have an extended discussion with New Media earlier about whether old Media had died or just been reformed, so maybe that was foreshadowing for New Technology. I hope not though, because Bruce Langley was fantastic in a part designed to be unlikable, and it would take away from his shock death if they just brought him back again. "I was literally your only friend..." he says to Possibly-Xie. But it seems much more likely that what is breaking his heart is that the reverse was also true. Goodbye Technical Boy. I spent a lot of time hating you, and then you made me cry for you, and then you died. RIP. Unless of course I read the situation wrong and he isn't dead. Then I'll feel foolish for writing this paragraph.

So, having 'retired a god' in Technical Boy, World gets past the sinister Girl Penny Scouts, and he and Wednesday both sit down in front of Money, or 'The Bookkeeper' as he's credited, to make their sales pitch. Money gives a hard pass to both of them and leaves. Neither Wednesday or World seem that miffed about it, so it was probably more about preventing him from joining the opposition than getting him to join the team.

Quotes:

The Father: "This is Grief. And yet, the rising notes of joy shattering his own rules. Can you hear it?"

Ibis: "Like any formative life experience, death changes you."

Bilquis: "A woman’s heart should never be so hidden in God that she cannot hear her own truth."

New Media: "I wonder if the next version of me will feel me inside of her."

Mama-Ji: "You think America was eager to hand over her moneybags to the hungry, the tired, and the poor? We battle for every goddamn scrap."

New Media via a sign on a wall: "You’re only as good as your last win." Technical Boy: "Eat a giant bag of dicks."

Bilquis: "This country has not been kind to my face." Ibis: "You are as perfect and vibrant as the Euphrates."

Nancy: "Y’all done yet? ‘Cause I’m getting bored watching this bullshit."

Bilquis: "Suffering is not sacred."

Bilquis: "This country has done things to us." Nancy: "We have done things to us."

Wednesday: "I’m gonna win this one. People like me more than they like you." World: "I prefer to be feared."

Bits and Pieces:

-- A note for the pedantic. Yes, technically Bilquis is from Persia, and as such is not technically an African God. However, Ibis greets her as his queen, and he's clearly from Egypt, and Nancy refers to all three of them as African Gods, so I'm going with that read. Besides, our understanding of the Persian Empires geography is far from clear.

-- Is it strange that Jacuel/Anubis wasn't anywhere to be found for the discussion of African God's obligation to fight racial injustice?

-- It's strongly implied that Wednesday was instrumental in getting Bast to have sex with Shadow in his dreams, possibly fulfilling his promise that Shadow would wake up feeling great. That felt gross and robbed Bast of her own agency, which is particularly egregious in her case.

-- On that note, this is a rare case where without reading the book it would have been very difficult to know what the Hell was going on during the sex scene. They sort of half-explain it afterwards, but I don't think I would have understood it at all.

-- The direction of the sex scene was telling. In season one it would have been far more graphic, laying everything on screen in a non-exploitative and almost clinical way. See, for example, Salim and Ifrit's sex scene in 'Head Full of Snow.' Here it's directed much more conventionally, right down to Shadow having the sheet discretely draped over his personal business afterwards.

-- I wish they hadn't leaned so heavily into the Asian father who makes his son practice music thing, but it was really the only way to tell the story of how music and math intersected in the boy's life to create Technical Boy, or at least his friendship with Technical Boy. It's just kind of a tired trope.

-- Speaking of, and just for the record; music and math are incredibly connected. In many important ways they're the exact same thing. A software program that can be taught to understand and recreate Bach isn't unfeasible by any stretch of the imagination. It probably already exists, I haven't googled it.

-- It's a little messy, structurally, that Wednesday got Shadow to the funeral home only to take him away on a day trip right away so that Bilquis could stop by and have an important conversation. That feels like a vestigial remnant from the book, i.e he goes from the train to Cairo there, so that's what he does here.

-- No Laura or Sweeney this week. Looks like they're back next week.

-- It also appears that next week we'll see more of Bilquis' new friend Ruby Goodchild. I liked Ruby a lot. She felt like a real person.

-- The actor playing Money was William Sanderson. You might know him from literally every movie and television show ever made.

A really great episode that leaned into the new regime's strengths as opposed to leaning away from the previous ones'.

Three and a half out of four Emmys for Orlando Jones. Please, can we get an Emmy for Orlando Jones?

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

#American Gods #Shadow Moon #Mr Wednesday #Mr Nancy #Mr World #Tech Boy #Bilquis #American Gods Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

9 notes · View notes

bountyofbeads · 4 years

Text

After invading Iraq on false accusations of WMDs and spending trillions of dollars and losing thousands of American lives, the United States can’t even maintain an embassy in the heavily guarded Green Zone in Baghdad. This is an utter failure of epic proportions and a disgrace.

Kataib Hezbollah protesters breaching the gates of the US embassy in Baghdad. They say they will stay till US troops leave. It’s the biggest US embassy in the world & supposedly secure but hard to see how diplomats can remain now.

Protesters chanting ‘Death to America’ break into U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad

By Mustafa Salim and Liz Sly | Published

December 31 at 8:06 AM EST | Washington Post | Posted Dec 31, 2019

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of angry supporters of an Iranian-backed militia shouting "Death to America" attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, trapping diplomats inside in response to U.S. airstrikes that killed or wounded scores of militia fighters.

President Trump responded angrily Tuesday to the protesters' action, charging that Iran was behind a deadly militia attack that led to the airstrikes and blaming Tehran for the embassy siege.

"Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many," Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. "We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!"

A spokesman for the Kataib Hezbollah militia said the demonstrators intend to besiege the embassy until the facility shuts down and U.S. diplomats leave Iraq.

But the angry demonstrators defied appeals delivered over loudspeakers by the group’s leaders not to enter the embassy compound and smashed their way into one of the facility’s reception areas, breaking down fortified doors and bulletproof glass and setting fire to the room.

American guards inside the embassy fired tear gas to keep the militia supporters at bay. U.S. troops could be seen nearby and on rooftops, their weapons drawn, but they did not open fire. Embassy civil defense workers just inside the gates attempted to put out the fires with water hoses.

The protesters also smashed security cameras, set two guardrooms ablaze and burned tires. They made a bonfire out of a pile of papers and military MREs (meals ready to eat) found in the reception area, where guards normally search visitors. Kataib Hezbollah flags were draped over the barbed wire protecting the embassy’s high walls.

The embassy’s sirens wailed continually as dense black smoke billowed into the air.

Inside the embassy, U.S. diplomats and embassy staffers were huddled in a fortified safe room, according to two reached by a messaging app. They declined to give details but added that they felt secure.

Iraqi security forces, who had initially made no attempt to prevent the demonstrators from attacking the embassy, took steps to prevent them going farther inside the facility only after an Iraqi army commander arrived and ordered them to do so. By early afternoon, the Iraqi security forces had formed a buffer between the demonstrators and the embassy guards.

The embassy compound lies inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is normally off limits to ordinary people. But earlier in the morning, thousands of people walked unimpeded into the zone to join the demonstrations, as many Iraqi security forces simply mingled with the crowd.

Their chants of “Death to America” carried echoes of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when Iranian students seized control of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and detained American diplomats and other personnel there for 444 days.

Many were wearing militia uniforms and carried flags signifying their allegiance to the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, which had vowed to retaliate for the U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 militia members.

Among the crowd were some of Iran’s most powerful allies in Iraq, including Hadi al-Amiri, leader of the Badr Organization; Qais al-Khazali, who heads the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia and was once imprisoned by the U.S. military; and Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, who spent years in prison in Kuwait for bombing the U.S. Embassy there.

The demonstrators daubed graffiti on the embassy walls signifying their allegiance to Iran: the names of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and powerful Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani. Other slogans simply read: “America get out.”

Some protesters began erecting tents nearby, indicating that they intend to remain for the long haul. Jaafar al-Husseini, a Kataib Hezbollah spokesman, said the group plans to encamp outside the embassy until it closes and all U.S. diplomats and troops leave Iraq.

U.S. Embassy officials did not respond to requests for comment, and it was not immediately clear how many U.S. diplomats or troops are trapped inside the compound, the largest U.S. diplomatic facility in the world. Opened with much fanfare over a decade ago as a symbol of American influence in Iraq, on Tuesday it seemed as much a symbol vulnerability of the United States in an Iraq in which it now has few friends.

The demonstration comes amid an outpouring of rage in Iraq directed against the United States for carrying out airstrikes Sunday against Kataib Hezbollah bases near the Iraqi-Syrian border. The strikes were in response to the death of an American contractor in a rocket attack last Friday on a base housing U.S. troops in Kirkuk. The United States blamed the rocket attack on the Iranian-backed group.

U.S. officials said the airstrikes were “defensive” and aimed at deterring further rocket attacks against U.S. personnel by Iranian allies in Iraq.

But in Iraq they have been widely denounced as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and of the rules governing the presence of the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops based there to help in the fight against the Islamic State.

0 notes