head	1.7;
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comment	@# @;


1.7
date	2011.04.20.20.27.34;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	1.6;

1.6
date	2011.04.02.07.17.45;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	1.5;

1.5
date	2011.03.16.22.22.24;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	1.4;

1.4
date	2011.02.22.22.08.00;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	1.3;

1.3
date	2011.02.16.21.34.09;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	1.2;

1.2
date	2011.02.06.00.08.20;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	1.1;

1.1
date	2011.02.01.03.29.21;	author baccala;	state Exp;
branches;
next	;


desc
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1.7
log
@*** empty log message ***
@
text
@
NASA had arranged for the _Xplorer_I_ crew to transfer to the space
shuttle _Columbus_ at the end of a two week scientific mission notable
for including the first Palestinian astronaut, Maj. Hassan al-Nass.
The commander, Jeff Reginard, had know Andrea for years.

al-Nass: "Sal\=amu `Alaykum", al-Nass greeted Mercuriou fervently,
kissing both his cheeks after shaking his hand during introductions,
then helping the _Xplorer_I_ crew stow their personal belongings in the
attached Spacehab.

After both crews enjoyed dinner, al-Nass sailed over to the galley,
opened his personal compartment, and pulled out a bottle of arak.
Somehow, he turned so that the green, red and black striped flag on
his right shoulder seemed more noticable than before.

al-Nass: "Captain, you may live the rest of your life as a dog in an
American kennel, but tonight we behave like men."

Andrea raised an eyebrow as al-Nass passed the milky white liquor.

Andrea: "Just out of curiosity, major, what would be the Muslim
solution to the _Xplorer_I_ theft?  Cut off his hand?"

al-Nass: al-Nass shrugged.  "So what if it is?  Is the loss of a hand
too great a price to pay for freedom?  We have our checks and
balances, too."

Reginard: Reginard audibly exhaled.  "I think I like our checks and
balances better."

al-Nass: "Really?!  Let's ask the victim, then - Captain Mercuriou,
would you prefer to lose your hand or spend your life in prison?"

Mercuriou: "I think I'd give the hand very serious consideration."

al-Nass: "You see!  Plus we don't waste our tax money on so many prisons!"

Several of the Americans shook their heads and began to object, but
al-Nass ignored them, appropriated the remaining arak and produced a
bottle of vintage port.

al-Nass: "More to your taste, Captain?"

Mercuriou: "I take it you are a fan?"

al-Nass: Al-Nass first sneered, "I listened to your speech," and then
laughed.

al-Nass: "You're still talking about ammending your Constitution!"

al-Nass: "Look in your own Bible: A beast comes out of the sea, men
worship the beast, asking 'who can make war against the beast?'  The
sea is humanity, _the_beast_is_democracy_!  That's it!  That's your
democracy!  You're not fixing it!  The most crushing military
juggernaut ever, and everybody thinks it's liberty and freedom!  Ask
the people of Gaza what democracy has done for them!"

Reginard: "Well, Israel has a democracy."

al-Nass: "Israel is no democracy.  With their racist Aliyah, they're
as much a democracy as South Carolina was 1860!  Let every Jew come
back to his homeland, and let every Arab come back, too.  Then let's
have an election!  Then let's see who wins!  Mercuriou's right.  You
define your majority however you want."

Reginard: "We do not define the majority however we want.  It's defined
by law."

al-Nass: "So you didn't write the law yourself.  Fine.  Somebody did.
Obviously non-citizens can not vote.  Clearly the State of Israel can
establish its own citizenship policy.  You think it's all so cut and
dry."

"What's the alternative?  Communism?"

al-Nass: "Communism _is_ dead, but not all of us believe that
capitalism is best."

"And democracy?  What happens to the Jews?"

al-Nass: al-Nass shrugged.  "We're defined more by our limitations
than by our abilities.  All these people sing your hymns, talk about
religion, talk about forgiving their enemies, and then they go to work
for the capitalists on Monday morning.  Why?  Because they are
_defined_by_their_limitations_."

al-Nass paused to let his words sink in, then extracted a small vengence.

al-Nass: "Andrea believes that men can walk on water!"

Andrea: "We can't walk on water because our faith in God isn't strong
enough.  I think that's the answer really consistent with the
Gospel."

al-Nass: "A limitation of faith!  Or perhaps a limitation of reality,
or to accept reality?"

Mercuriou intervened.

Mercuriou: "People can overcome their limitations, Major.  Booker
Washington did."

A puzzled look crossed al-Nass's face.

al-Nass: "I'm sorry?..."

Mercuriou: "Booker Washington, a famous black American.  He said that
we should judge men not by what they've achieved, but by what they've
overcome to achieve it."

al-Nass: "Ah, and was Booker Washington defined by _his_ limitations?"

Mercuriou: "Absolutely," replied Mercuriou after a moment of thought.
"He could never accept how bitterly race has divided my country."

al-Nass: "Only Allah knows how bitterly it has divided mine.  But
they're finished!  _Finished_!  The Jews are _finished_!  Your own
prophasy!  The third temple must be destroyed!  Islam will rule again
in Jerusalem!"

Andrea: [whispering to Reginard] "Where did you find this guy?"

Reginard: "Beats me," Reginard shugged. "They told us he was a moderate."

al-Nass: "I am a moderate!  If I were a radical, I'd have C-4 instead of
caviar in my flight kit!"

@


1.6
log
@*** empty log message ***
@
text
@d7 1
a7 1
al-Nass: "Salāmu `Alaykum", al-Nass greeted Mercuriou fervently,
@


1.5
log
@*** empty log message ***
@
text
@d2 1
a2 1
NASA had arranged for the Xplorer_I crew to transfer to the space
d4 2
a5 2
for including the first Palestinian astronaut, Maj. Hassan al-Nass.  The
commander, Jeff Reginard, had know Andrea for years.
d9 1
a9 1
then helping the Xplorer_I crew stow their personal belongings in the
d25 1
a25 1
al-Nass: Al-Nass shrugged.  "So what if it is?  Is the loss of a hand
d40 2
a41 2
Al-Nass ignored them.  Instead, he appropriated the remaining arak and
now produced a bottle of vintage port.
d47 2
a48 1
al-Nass: Al-Nass first sneered, "I listened to your speech," then laughed.
d50 1
a50 1
al-Nass: "You're still talking about ammending the Constitution!"
d54 1
a54 1
sea is humanity, the_beast_is_democracy!  That's it!  That's
d59 1
a59 1
Reginard: "The people of Gaza elected terrorists..."
d61 5
a65 16
al-Nass: "The Jews elected thieves."

Reginard: "No anti-Semitic rhetoric?"

al-Nass: "Of course not!  The Americans are thieves - Manifest
Destiny, the British and their Empire, the Germans - Lebensraum, the
Russians with their Warsaw Pact - all thieves!  The Jews are simply
the particular gang of thieves who have stolen _our_land_!"

Reginard: "Well, they have a democracy."

al-Nass: "Democracy.  Israel is no democracy.  With their racist
Aliyah, they're as much a democracy as South Carolina was 1860.  Let's
have an election.  Let every Jew vote and let every Arab vote, too.
Let's see who wins.  Mercuriou's right.  You define your majority
however you want."
d75 1
a75 15
al-Nass: "But they're finished!  The Jews are _finished_!  Your own prophasy!
The third temple must be destroyed!  Islam will rule again in
Jerusalem!"

Andrea: [whispering to Reginard] "Where did you find this guy?"

Reginard: "Beats me," Reginard shugged. "They told us he was a moderate."

al-Nass: "I am a moderate!  If I were a radical, I'd have C-4 instead of
caviar in my flight kit!"



Commander Reginard
Pilot Preston 'Slick' McGee
d77 2
a78 2
One of the other payload specialists, David something-or-other,
took Andrea aside.
d80 1
d82 4
a85 13
---------

"Communism dies hard?"

"Communism _is_ dead, but not all of us believe that capitalism is
best."

"And democracy?"  /  "And what happens to the Jews?"

He shrugged.  "We're defined more by our limitations than by our
abilities.  All these people sing your hymns, talk about religion,
talk about forgiving their enemies, and then they go to work for the
capitalists on Monday morning.  Why?  Because they are
d88 1
a88 1
Al-Nass paused to let his words sink in, then extracted a small vengence.
d90 1
a90 1
"Andrea believes that men can walk on water!"
d92 3
a94 2
"We can't walk on water because our faith in God isn't strong enough,
I think that's the only answer really consistent with the Gospel."
d96 2
a97 1
"A limitation of faith!  Or perhaps a limitation to accept reality?"
d101 2
a102 1
"People can overcome their limitations, Major.  Booker Washington."
d106 1
a106 1
"I'm sorry?..."
d108 3
a110 3
"Booker Washington," Mercuriou repeated.  "He said that we should
judge men not by what they've achieved, but by what they've overcome
to achieve it."
d112 1
a112 1
"Ah, and was Booker Washington defined by _his_ limitations?"
d114 2
a115 2
"Absolutely," replied Mercuriou after a moment of thought.  "He could
never accept how bitterly race has divided my country."
d117 4
a120 1
"Only Allah knows how bitterly it has divided mine."
d122 1
a122 1
------
d124 1
a124 1
Al-Nass roared out a deep-bellied laugh.
d126 2
a127 15
"My dear, _governments_are_always_changing_in_Moscow_!"

"The difference between freedom and tyranny is whether
your government is the one changing."

"Goverments change.  Governments can be changed."


------

In the next few days, the crew had moved all their personal
belongings, along with anything they wanted to return with into OTV 2,
secured everything else they were leaving on the ship, and finally
fired the OTV's one rocket to drop towards a rendevous with the
partially completed International Space Station.
a128 3
Mercuriou looked back towards his crew, grined, then opened the
pressure door.  For the first time in almost three and a half years,
they set eyes on someone else.  It wasn't who they expected.
@


1.4
log
@*** empty log message ***
@
text
@d4 1
a4 1
for including the first Palestinian astronaut, Maj. Hassan al-XX.  The
d7 4
a10 4
"Salāmu `Alaykum", al-XX greeted Mercuriou fervently, kissing both his
cheeks after shaking his hand during introductions, then helping the
Xplorer_I crew stow their personal belongings in the attached
Spacehab.
d12 1
a12 1
After both crews enjoyed dinner, al-XX sailed over to the galley,
d17 2
a18 2
"Captain, you may live the rest of your life as a dog in an American
kennel, but tonight we behave like men."
d20 1
a20 1
Andrea raised an eyebrow as al-XX passed the milky white liquor.
d22 2
a23 2
"Just out of curiosity, major, what would be the Muslim solution to
the Xplorer_I theft?  Cut off his hand?"
d25 3
a27 2
Al-XX shrugged.  "So what if it is?  Is the loss of a hand too great a
price to pay for freedom?  We have our checks and balances, too."
d29 2
a30 2
Reginard audibly exhaled.  "I think I like our checks and balances
better."
d32 2
a33 2
"Really?!  Let's ask the victim, then - Captain Mercuriou, would
you prefer to lose your hand or spend your life in prison?"
d35 1
a35 1
"I think I'd give the hand very serious consideration."
d37 1
a37 1
"You see!  Plus we don't waste our tax money on so many prisons!
d40 1
a40 1
Al-XX ignored them.  Instead, he appropriated the remaining arak and
d43 1
a43 1
"More to your taste, Captain?"
d45 1
a45 1
"I take it you are a fan?"
d47 1
a47 1
Al-XX first sneered, "I listened to your speech," then laughed.
d49 1
a49 1
"You're still talking about ammending the Constitution!"
d51 6
a56 6
"Look in your own Bible: A beast comes out of the sea, men worship the
beast, asking 'who can make war against the beast?'  The sea is
humanity, the_beast_is_democracy!  That's it!  That's democracy!
You're not fixing it!  The most crushing military juggernaut ever, and
everybody thinks it's liberty and freedom!  Ask the people of Gaza
what democracy has done for them!"
d58 1
a58 1
"The people of Gaza elected terrorists..."
d60 1
a60 1
"The Jews elected thieves."
d62 1
a62 1
"No anti-Semitic rhetoric?"
d64 4
a67 4
"Of course not!  The Americans are thieves - Manifest Destiny, the
British and their Empire, the Germans - Lebensraum, the Russians with
their Warsaw Pact - all thieves!  The Jews are simply the particular
gang of thieves who have stolen _our_land_!"
d69 1
a69 1
Reginard: Well, they have a democracy.
d71 5
a75 5
Al-XX sneered.  "Democracy.  Israel is no democracy.  With their
racist Aliyah, they're as much a democracy as South Carolina was 1860.
Let's have an election.  Let every Jew vote and let every Arab vote,
too.  Let's see who wins.  Mercuriou's right.  You define your
majority however you want."
d77 2
a78 2
Reginard: We do not define the majority however we want.  It's defined
by law.
d80 1
a80 1
al-XX: So you didn't write the law yourself.  Fine.  Somebody did.
d83 1
a83 1
dry.
d85 1
a85 1
But they're finished!  The Jews are _finished_!  Your own prophasy!
d87 1
a87 1
Jerusalem!
d89 1
a89 1
Andrea: [whispering to Reginard] Where did you find this guy?
d91 1
a91 1
"Beats me," Reginard shugged. "They told us he was a moderate."
d93 2
a94 2
al-XX: I am a moderate!  If I were a radical, I'd have C-4 instead of
caviar in my flight kit!
d99 1
a99 1
Pilot Ashton 'Slick' McGee
d120 1
a120 1
Al-XX paused to let his words sink in, then extracted a small vengence.
d133 1
a133 1
A puzzled look crossed al-XX's face.
d150 1
a150 1
Al-XX roared out a deep-bellied laugh.
@


1.3
log
@*** empty log message ***
@
text
@d98 1
a98 1
Pilot Ashton McPhee
@


1.2
log
@Get rid of cannolis; bring back Borzov as el-XX
@
text
@a1 2
T + 1236 days    it must be anti-Semitic

d157 13
@


1.1
log
@Initial revision
@
text
@d2 2
d6 2
a7 1
for including the first Palestinian astronaut, Maj. Hassan al-XX.
d10 8
a17 1
cheeks after shaking his hand.
d19 2
d22 1
d24 2
d27 2
d30 2
d33 4
d38 1
a38 4
Al-XX sailed over to the galley, opened his personal compartment, and
pulled out a bottle of arak.  Somehow, he turned so that the green,
red and black striped flag on his right shoulder seemed more noticable
than before.
d40 9
a48 2
"Captain, you may live the rest of your life as a dog in an American
kennel, but tonight we will behave like men."
d50 1
d52 6
a57 2
"Just out of curiosity, what would be the Muslim solution?  Cut off
his hand."
d59 1
a59 2
Al-XX shrugged.  "So what if it is?  Is the loss of a hand too great a
price to pay for freedom?  We have our checks and balances, too."
d61 1
a61 2
Husband audibly exhaled.  "I think I like our checks and balances
better."
d63 1
a63 2
"Really?!  Let's ask the victim, then - Captain Mercuriou, would
you prefer to lose your hand or spend your life in prison?"
d65 4
a68 1
"I think I'd give the hand very serious consideration."
d70 1
a70 2
"You see!  And we don't have to waste our tax money on prisons!
But this is 
d72 5
d78 2
d81 4
d86 3
a88 1
Al-XX appropriated the arak and now produced a bottle of vintage port.
d90 1
a90 1
"More to your taste, Captain?"
d92 1
d94 2
a96 1
"The Jews are theives."
a97 1
"No anti-Semitic rhetoric in your charter, eh?"
d99 2
a100 4
"Of course not!  Americans are thieves - Manifest Destiny, the British
and their Empire, the Germans - Lebensraum, the Russians
with their Warsaw Pact - all thieves!  The Jews are simply the
particular batch of thieves who have stolen _our_land_!"
d102 2
a103 3
"Israel is no democracy.  With their racist immigration and their
racist citizenship laws, they're about as much a democracy as South
Carolina was 1860."
d106 1
d108 1
a108 2
"Let's have a different election.  Let every Jew on the planet vote
and let every Arab on the planet vote.  Let's see who wins then."
d110 2
a111 2
"Why?  Whose to say my election plan is better than yours or theirs?
Mercuriou's right.  You define your majority so that you win."
d113 1
a113 1
"We don't define the majority however we want.  It's defined by law."
d115 5
a119 5
"So you didn't right the law yourself.  Fine.  You're the majority,
you're entitled to rule, how dare anyone suggest that the votes should
be counted differently.  Obviously non-citizens should be excluded
from the ballot.  Clearly the State of Israel is entitled to establish
its own citizenship policy.  You think it's all so cut and dry."
d121 1
d123 1
d125 2
d128 1
d130 1
a130 1
You're still talking about ammending the Constitution.  [laughs wickedly]
d132 1
a132 5
Here you are in your own book of Revelation: "Noone can conquer the
beast in war, and the whole world worships the beast."  Democracy!
That's it!  That's the beast of Revelation!  It's the most awesome
military machine every created, and everyone thinks it's going to rule
the world!
d134 1
a134 1
What about the Israelites?
d136 1
a136 3
They're finished!  Finished!  Your own prophasy of the temples!  They
are the states of Israel, and the third temple must be destroyed!  We
will rule again in Jerusalem!
d138 3
d142 1
d144 2
d147 1
a147 3
Your religion won't save you!  Your majority don't want religion, they
want freedom!  The majority want to get laid, get rich, and get tough!
Only our religion is tough enough to survive!  Praise Allah!
d149 1
d151 1
a151 1
Andrea: [whispering to Husband] Where did you find this guy?
d153 1
a153 1
"Beats me," Husband shugged. "They told us he was a moderate."
d155 2
a156 2
"I am a moderate!  If I were a radical, I'd have 30 kilos of C-4 in my
flight kit!"
d158 1
a158 2
"I am a moderate!  If I were a radical, I'd have C-4 instead of caviar
in my flight kit!"
@
