I still won’t buy Italian cars

I like the idea of a maximum wage

I hope this encourages them to leave, they threatened they’d rather die, leaving should be an option for them now. Not sure what the long term ramifications will be for Palestinians and the survivability of the occupation, but I’m hoping for the best.

China is so far ahead

Hezbollah was never afraid of the US. It is not Saudi Arabia or Egypt.

Involvement in war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan perhaps

No lies detected. The indigenous peoples know it

It is unique in the perpetrators being colonizers.

I hope I get to sell my house and leave before it all comes crashing down.

Hezbollah never counted on the US, are US leaders this misinformed?

I never thought heat would be an issue in Île-de-France

I used to use macOS and macOS used to have a true root user that you can enable. Sometimes after 2016 I think root was neutered and you can no longer do whatever you want. I don’t like using macOS anymore.

ahead of all* countries

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metro_systems and sort by system length

Do you think Virtua Fighter means the fighters aren’t real?

I can’t even remove the “Recommended” section from the Start menu

I wonder if this will make chime question their faith

Why would they question their faith? The Quran clearly states go to pilgrimage only if you can. Perhaps they felt compelled to go, but surely they knew they didn’t have to.

People who are religious are generally not afraid to die. There are endless risks associated with pilgrimage beyond just a heat stroke.

I don’t know. I guess they could be buried in Makkah or Medinah.

I would argue that Muslims are, by default, required by their religion to make the hajj.

No it does not. The verse is quite clear: {وَلِلَّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا} {And for God is the duty of the people to perform the Hajj to the House, whoever is able to make a way to it} emphasis mine. If someone knows they can’t: sick, poor, etc… the verse says basically don’t go.

While I wouldn’t call myself an Islamic scholar, I would say I do know a bit about it.

Do you know that in certain cases Hajj is haram? Possibly risking your life is one reason why many have prohibited it.

Not the worst outcome for whom? People are dead. I’ll bet there’s at least one child, sibling, or parent who isn’t terribly comforted by the idea that their loved one is a martyr.

For the faithful it is not. I don’t know what to say more than this. They could have not performed hajj but they chose to oblige themselves.

I daydream about it. Sometimes* I curse the discovery of oil. Instead of herding goats I am debugging C++ template errors. Though I do love airconditioning.

* a lie, I never do :) though I do think about goat herding.

It is more impressive that Saudi Arabia can manage to host 1.83 million in a week. Though perhaps it is now time to install more shades and outdoor cooling.