A glacial torrent pours over a 40-foot-high ledge at Gođafoss, “waterfall of the gods,” in Iceland. After the Icelandic assembly adopted Christianity in A.D. 1000, its leader threw his pagan idols into the falls. The mossy island in the foreground, notes geographer Guđrún Gísladóttir, “is protected from sheep.” Photograph by Orsolya and Erlend Haarberg, National Geographic.
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Fellow blogger The Templar Knight takes umbrage with a claim by Norwegian mass murderer Andres Behring Breivik that he’s part of the “Knights Templar,” the legendary religious crusaders of medieval Europe. Giving a Hitleresque salute in court the other day, Breivik admits he set off a bomb that killed 8 people and then shot 77 more to death last summer as part of his personal crusade against Norway’s Muslim population. It was the worst political attack in Europe since World War II and shattered the calm demeanor usually associated with Norwegian society.
The original “Knights Templar” first appeared in France in the 12th century. Hugues de Payens, a French nobleman, gathered 8 of his knight relatives and began what he called the “Knights of the Temple of King Solomon.” Their mission was simple but direct: protect pilgrims on their journey to visit “The Holy Places,” mainly Jerusalem. They became an elite fighting force; highly-trained, highly-motivated and well-equipped. Even their horses were trained specifically for battle and shielded by protective armor. One of the Templars’ earliest and most noteworthy battles took place in 1177. The famed Muslim military leader Saladin was attempting to invade Jerusalem from the south with a force of 26,000 soldiers. With only 500 men, the Knights Templar ambushed Saladin and forced him to retreat.
Breivik first described the Knights Templar in his 1,500-page manifesto “2083: A European Declaration of Independence,” in which he called the group “a nationalist military order and military/criminal tribunal.” He designed and modeled uniforms, badges and other insignia for the military. In his proclamation, which was distributed to about 1,000 people immediately before Breivik detonated a car bomb in Oslo, he also tried to recruit “Justiciar Knights” for the crusade. “As a Justiciar Knight you will go into history as one of the most influential individuals of your time,” Breivik wrote in “2083.”
As horrific as Breivik’s crimes are, his views are nothing new. Europe has seen a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in recent years. A 2010 survey in the United Kingdom found that 52% of respondents believe Britain is divided sharply along religious lines. In Malmö, Sweden, in November 2010, a man was arrested in connection with a dozen unsolved shootings of immigrants, including 1 fatality. Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel told fellow Christian Democrats in October 2010 that multiculturalism “has failed, utterly failed.”
Officials haven’t determined whether Breivik acted alone, as he claims. But, this case is destined to be the subject of much attention and scrutiny in both Europe and the Muslim world.
Read the rest of The Templar Knight’s blog post here.
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“I acknowledge the acts, but I don’t plead guilty, as I claim I was doing it in self-defense.”
– Anders Behring Breivik, responding to a judge in an Oslo courtroom on April 16. The 33-year-old Breivik is charged with killing 77 people last July at a Labor Party youth camp on the island of Utøya. Breivik also has denied being insane and has dubbed himself a contemporary “Knight Templar.”
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Survivalist Tip: Previously, I mentioned you should stockpile bananas, as they’re a good source of nutrients. But, you also should stockpile apples. Unlike bananas, apples don’t ripen as fast and therefore, last longer. Apples have always had a bad rap, since the “Garden of Eden” scenario in the Christian Bible. But, since the Mayans existed long before the Bible, that rule doesn’t apply here. Although the crab apple is the only type of apple native to North America, there are currently 2,500 varieties grown in the United States. Europeans brought more varieties of apple trees to North America in the 17th century, but since Native Americans adapted quickly to them, that sort of makes up for the whole small pox fiasco and anything Custer did.
More importantly, apples are extremely nutritious. A single apple has about 80 calories and 5 grams of fiber. Apples are also free of fat, sodium and cholesterol. In the chaotic aftermath of the apocalypse, you’ll need a high caloric intake to search for food and fend off predators. You definitely don’t need more fat and sodium in your diet amidst the ruckus. Don’t peel an apple; about 2/3 of the fiber and lots of antioxidants are found in the skin. And, don’t worry about making apple cider and apple pies until things have settled down. You’ll have plenty of time for that later. As long as you all keep your apples in a relatively cool, dark place, they’ll be good for a while. I know there’s a bad joke in that, but I won’t go there.
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If your birthday is today, “Happy Birthday!”
Jazz musician Warren Chiasson (Warren Chiasson Duo) is 78.
Actress Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet, Ice Cream Man, Death on the Nile) is 61.
Actor Sean Bean (Goldeneye, Patriot Games, The Lord of the Rings series) is 53.
Singer – songwriter Liz Phair is 45.
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1790 – Benjamin Franklin died at age 84 in Philadelphia.
1885 – Author Isak Dinesen (Out of Africa) was born in Rungsted, Denmark.
1894 – Nikita Khrushchev, Russian premier 1958 – 1964, was born in Kalinovka, Ukraine.
1897 – Novelist Thornton Wilder (The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth) was born in Madison, WI.
1941 – Igor Sikorsky accomplished the first successful helicopter (or heliocopter as it was called then) lift-off from water near Stratford, CT.
1969 – A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy the previous year.
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Straddling the borders between Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Virunga Volcanoes Massif is an 8-volcano chain of one of Earth’s most active volcanic regions and a veritable salad bowl for mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, and other wildlife. Photograph by Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis.
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“I believe there are about 78 or 81 members of the Democrat Party that are members of the Communist Party. It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.”
– Rep. Allen West (R-FL), during a town hall meeting with constituents last week.
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For any writer, getting a book published is the first hurdle in the business end of the overall writing journey. Marketing is the second – and perhaps toughest – hurdle. If you’re like me, your mind spits a slew of creative plot lines and story ideas. But, actually marketing the final product is worst than a job interview. Obviously, no one outside of your close circle of family and friends will read your book if they can’t find it. Whether it’s traditional publishing or e-publishing, getting your name out there is critical to your success.
Otis Chandler, founder and CEO of Goodreads, uses the title of the classic Jacqueline Susann book, Once Is Not Enough, to describe the need for readers to take interest in a particular tome. Unless you’re simply a compulsive person, he states in this article, you need to run across a title multiple times before it will stick and motivate you to buy it. Today, amidst heated discussions about the future of bricks-and-mortar bookstores, retailers must realize, when it comes to books, “rediscovery trumps discovery.”
Goodreads is a privately run “social cataloguing” web site Chandler, a former software engineer, started in December 2006. Individuals sign up to create a personal library of their favorite books. It also allows them to discuss books they’ve read and suggest them to fellow readers. Just like when people walk into a traditional brick and mortar bookstore, determined to find one particular book, they often walk out with even more.
When shopping online, people are faced with a number of options – to buy, save it to a wish list for later, share it through social media. Everything they might want is available through a mouse-click. At the same time, though, there’s no urgency to buy.
If enough people become interested in a particular author, the writer develops a following, or what Chandler simply dubs a “tribe.” I think in rock n’ roll terminology, it’s a groupie. Whatever the verbiage, every writer hopes to gain a following. We write for the joy of it, yes, but we also want to become recognized.
This pie graph displays the 10 primary means people discover books on Goodreads:
Social networking has become invaluable for writers, as the publishing industry evolves and gravitates towards the electronic format. Nothing can replace the often difficult creative process. And, nothing can replace the equally great challenge of marketing.
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