Did you know...?

[Galen]

Steve!:

"William Shakespeare coined something like 144 words and phrases that are still used to this day - including "assassin" (or maybe assassinate)."

One source says:

"Hashish-smokers." The plural of hashshash "hashish smoker." Originally an order founded in Persia and Syria, a militant group of the Nizari branch of Ismaeli Muslims. Members received this name from their use of hashish to create celestial visions. They later became associated with the assassination of political leaders, particularly those of the invading Christian crusaders. Today, they are known as Khojas or Mawlas, and live mostly in the Bombay area of India, but some also live in Syria and Iran. The word is the origin of the English word "assassin."

Another source says:

The Hashshashin (also Hashishim), or Assassins were a religious group (some would say, a cult) of Ismaili Muslims (from the Nizari sub-sect) with a militant basis, thought to be active in the 8th to 14th centuries as a group of brigands on the medieval Silk Road. Their own name for the sect was al-da'wa al-jad?da (?????? ???????) which means the new doctrine and they called themselves fedayeen from the Arabic

The group transformed the act of murder into a system and an ideology directed against Muslim rulers that they saw as impious usurpers—often said to be the first to do so. They were careful to kill the targeted individual, seeking to do so without any additional casualties. Their weapon of choice was a dagger, rejecting poison, bows and other weapons that allowed the attacker to escape. However, under no circumstances did they commit suicide, preferring to be killed by their captors.

Another source says:

Etymology of the word "assassin"

The name "assassin" is commonly believed to be a mutation of the Arabic "hašš?š?n" (???????, "hashish-eaters"). However, there are those who dispute this etymology, arguing that it originates from Marco Polo's account of his visit to Alamut in 1273, in which he describes a drug whose effects are more like those of alcohol than of hashish. It is suggested by some writers that assassin simply means 'followers of Al-Hassan' (or Hasan-i Sabbah, the Sheikh of Alamut (see below)). Others suggest that since hashish-eaters were generally ostractized in the middle ages the word "Hashshashin" had become a common synonym for "outlaws". So the attribution of Hassan's Ismaili sect with this term is not necessarily a clue for drug usage.

History of the Hashshashin

Although known as early as the 8th century, the foundation of the Assassins is usually marked as 1090 when Hasan-i Sabbah established his stronghold in the mountains south of the Caspian Sea at Alamut. A Yemeni emigrant and an Ismaili Shiite, Hasan set the aim of the Assassins to destroy the power of the Abbasid Caliphate by murdering its most powerful members. Hasan ibn Sabbah was also known as "The Old Man of the Mountain", however, this is likely to have been a mistake in translation, since "Old Man" is the literal translation of "Sheikh". Much of the current western lore surrounding the Assassins stems from Marco Polo's supposed visit to Alamut in 1273, which is widely considered mythical (especially as the stronghold was allegedly destroyed by the Mongols already in 1256).

Benjamin of Tudela who traveled one hundered years before Marco Polo mentions the Al-Hashshashin and their leader as "the old man." He notes their principle city to be Kadmus.

The group inspired an aura of fear out of all proportion to their power. The members were organized into rigid classes, based upon their initiation into the secrets of the order. The devotees constituted a class that sought martyrdom and followed orders with unquestioned devotion, orders which included assassination. Because of the secretive nature of the order, it has often been invoked in conspiracy theories.

Most of the victims of the Assassins were Sunni Muslims. There were some extremely highly placed victims including Nizam-ul-Mulk. Christians were largely untouched by the depredations of the Assassins; it was not until the middle of the 12th century that they had even really heard of them, although Conrad of Montferrat - the King of Jerusalem - was a victim (the Assassins may have even been hired by Richard the Lionheart).

The power of the Hashshashin was destroyed by the Mongol warlord Hulagu Khan, but several smaller sects remain to this day, such as the sect led by the Aga Khan. During the Mongol assault, the library of the sect was destroyed, and thus much information about them was lost.

The word "assassin" in the English language has come to denote a murderer, usually with a political motive.

Methodology

Legends stated that the Assassins were trained using ideology and drugs to convince them that they were assured a place in paradise if they were successful in murder with their golden daggers. They subdued, kidnapped, drugged and seduced the fiercest caravan guards, convincing them with elaborate means that they had died and awakened in Paradise. Thereafter, on subsequent raids, they fought furiously, believing that their death would only return them to that Paradise. The training technique was sophisticated for its time, especially the use of Ismaeeli dogma, drugs, and sex in combination.

Recruits were promised Paradise in return for dying in action. They were drugged, often with materials such as hashish (some suggest opium and wine as well) then spirited away to a garden stocked with attractive and compliant women and fountains of wine. At this time, they were awakened and it was explained to them that such was their reward for the deed, convincing them that their leader, Hassan-i-Sabah, could open the gates to Paradise.

Sabbah was the legendary leader of a secretive cult of Ismaili Muslims in Iran in the early eleventh century. He ruled the fortress of Alamut in northern Iran, and commanded a group of devotees (or fidayees) whom he would send out to commit political assassinations. There is a lengthy article about Alamut and Hasan Sabbah here. The word "assassin" itself is thought by some (including the Merriam-Webster dictionary) to have come from the word "hashshashin", or smokers of Hashish, referring to the alleged intoxication of Sabbah's followers when they committed murder. Others have contested this claim, contending that assassin has been derived from "Hassassin" or followers of Hasan. Either way it seems that assassination and Hasan Sabbah are etymologically inseparable.

While there is debate over the true identity of William Shakespeare [he did keep his identity a secret during his life], it is generally assumed that he did live a life long after the 8th century. And that he spoke English, not Arabic.

:-)

[Galen]

outofdafog:

That some toothpastes contain antifreeze...."

Many are also terribly radio-active, enough so that submarine crews are not allowed to carry certain brands on-board as their radio-activity would set-off alarms on the atomospheric monitors trying to monitor the reactor.

[Galen]

sharon:

"For beer commercials, they add liquid detergent to the beer to make it foam more."

Not just on the commercials. Check any Beer-making supply store, they all stock 'foaming agents' to make beers to hold their head longer. Soaps change to surface-tension of the liquid so bubbles rising to the top will not pop quickly, rather they make foam and hold it. Beer is commonly judged, and among the qualitys that it is judged for is uniformity of it's head and how long it holds it's head.

A common ingredient.

[Sudo]

Victor Paul Wierwille's secret twin brother becomes Pope!!!

sudo

[Raf]

Excuse me, Sudo, but you knew darned well that originally read:

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger becomes Pope Joe Pesci I

[Raf]

Galen,

Ever go bird hunting with a cannon?

[Galen]

quote:

Originally posted by Raf:

Galen,

Ever go bird hunting with a cannon?

Do you mean like using a black-powder scatter-gun mounted on the bow of a row-boat, load it up with single-ought-shot and rowing out onto a pond trying to aim the whole boat directly at ducks [because the if you shot it off at an angle it would flip the boat over, so it has to be aimed directly ahead].

Is that what you mean?

Nope, I never did that. :-)

Built a couple scatter-guns though; I own one; I helped mount one to a boat once; I may have even helped some body by loading it for them.

But nope I never did hunt birds with one. And I would know very little about how to do such a thing.

Have you?

[Raf]

Ah. It's cumbersome, takes a lot of work, and while it accomplishes the task of killing the bird, it's far more force than necessary, right?

Shakespeare didn't coin the word assassinate.

Check it out.

I try to save cannons for larger targets. :)-->

[LG]

quote:

Originally posted by Raf:

Shakespeare didn't coin the word assassinate.

Check it out.

What your link shows is that he didn't coin the noun assassin. According to what I've read, he did coin the verb assassinate, or at least was the first person known to have used it.

[Galen]

Raf:

"Ah. It's cumbersome, takes a lot of work, and while it accomplishes the task of killing the bird, it's far more force than necessary, right?"

Work? Oh, I thought it was for fun.

"accomplishes the task of killing"?

Yeah, but it kills 20 birds at once.

"... more than necessary"?

Do you never do anything bigger than you absolutely need? Drive a V-8 when a L-4 wold work? Ride a 1000cc bike when a 150cc would do the trick? Work for a high-wage job, when you would do fine at minimum wage?

:-)

Shakespeare didn't coin the word assassinate.

Check it out.

I try to save cannons for larger targets. :)-->

[sharon]

By the time a child finishes elementary school she will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television.

sad huh?

[outofdafog]

That sex is the safest tranquilizer and is 10 times more effective than valium

[GeorgeStGeorge]

quote:

Originally posted by Raf:

What are the odds?

In a group of 23 people, the odds are better than 50% that at least two will share a birthday. Start with one person. The odds that the next person will have the same birthday is 1/365. The odds that a third person would have the same birthday as one of the first two is 1/364, so the odds that any two of the three share a birthday is 1/365 +1/364. By the time you get to 23 people, the sum is greater than 1/2.

George

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Oh, and my sister and I have birthdays on the same day of the month and three of four times on the same day of the week. Her birthday is Feb. 20; mine is Mar. 20. On leap year, our birthdays are not on the same day of the week.

George

[outofdafog]

That if one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will go mad and sting itself to death.....

[Zixar]

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeStGeorge:

In a group of 23 people, the odds are better than 50% that at least two will share a birthday. Start with one person. The odds that the next person will have the same birthday is 1/365. The odds that a third person would have the same birthday as one of the first two is 1/364, so the odds that any two of the three share a birthday is 1/365 +1/364. By the time you get to 23 people, the sum is greater than 1/2.

George

Not quite. Start with person 1. The odds that person 2 will have the same birthday is 1/365, but person 3 does NOT have a 1/364 chance of matching either. He has a 2/365 chance, because he can match either one of the first two. Continuing onward, the sum of the probabilities becomes greater than 1/2 (182.5/365) at the 20th person(190/365), not the 23rd. Remember to count the first person, but not to add a probability to him. (0/365+1/365+2/365+3/365+4/365+ ... +19/365=190/365. 190/365 > 1/2.)

EDIT: I thought something looked funny about that. Turns out you don't ADD the probabilities that two people share the same birthday, you MULTIPLY the probability that they DON'T until it drops below 1/2. So, it's 365x364x363...x343/365^23 which finally drops the probability that no two people share the same birthday to less than .500.

In other words, 23 is the correct answer, but for a different reason. If you added the probabilities together, you'd go over 365/365 when you hit the 28th person--which is nonsense. 28 people can easily have 28 different birthdays in February alone. Doing it the other way assures the probability converges to 1.000 at person 365.

[jardinero]

quote:

Many are also terribly radio-active, enough so that submarine crews are not allowed to carry certain brands on-board as their radio-activity would set-off alarms on the atomospheric monitors trying to monitor the reactor.

Wow, Galen! Really? What brands?

J.

[Zixar]

I'm guessing Crest. Anything with tin compounds in it (stannous fluoride--Crest's "fluoristat") would probably have some level of radioactivity from trace elements.

[Galen]

jardinero:

"Wow, Galen! Really? What brands?"

Long list of them.

I was once told that due to 'truth in advertising', anyone who says: "Whitening" must then have some component that either bleaches or dyes white. To say: "Brightening" it must have some method of increasing the lumins the object gives off [either little light bulbs, or radium, etc].

A lot of guys [including the RadCon guys] commonly smuggled any kind of toothpaste they wanted, saying that "so longs as it did not get airborne it only effected the 'background' levels slightly". Not nearly as much as glow-in-the-dark wrist-watches [which are a huge no no].

I always used dry baking-soda [from 1978 to 2002].

Untill resently I read that book from the former ADA [American Dental Assoc] President, he claims that any strong anti-bacterial would make more sense if your looking at a bacterial infection. So now I use H2O2 with peppermint oil [20% Hydrogen-peroxide with maybe 6 drops of peppermint oil per 10 fl oz].

:-)

[Ham]

Tattooed, biker cats fall with the same acceleration from penthouses as their normal, regular couterparts.

[Raf]

I knew something was wrong with the first equation. Thanks for clearing it up, Zix.

[GeorgeStGeorge]

Yeah. I realized my mistake on my way to work this morning. I was going to edit it before anyone found out :o--> but forgot all about it when I got here.

I think I'm not getting enough sleep.

George

[outofdafog]

That money isn't made out of paper, it's made of cotton......

There are 2,598,960 possible hands in a five-card poker game.........

[johniam]

quote:

A man's ejaculation travels at a speed of 27mph!

He'd get pulled over in a school zone.

[excathedra]

snort snort johnnyam

i gotta read this thread, it looks funny