My Preview summary…
 

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiYU3DZCepQ

^ The story appears to start with the Abbasid Caliphate and focuses heavily on mystical powers of meteorites.

Each of the 99 appear to posses and gain powers from their meteorite Noor Stone, similar to the Black Stone of Mecca which gives off sin cleansing power to those who kiss it :D
Attachment 16768

It doesn't go into detail which of the 99 gets to carry the “Black Stone” :confused:

It is not meteorites in the story. Go to the web site and read the comic and the character bios. The story is when Baghdad was being sacked in ancient times, all of the libraries and books were being destroyed. The librarians made "King's Water" and soaked several gems in it. This was supposed to allow the gems to absorb all of the knowledge and wisdom in the books. After the city and library were destroyed, the librarians took the stones away and built a huge repository. One of the "Guardians" tried to absorb all of the knowledge of the stones, turning himself into pure matter and destroying the repository. The other "Guardians" took the stones and hid them all over the world. The rest of the story is the stones are found, infusing the kids with special powers. The "Guardian" who was turned to matter is reincarnated as the "bad guy". Supposedly, some of the stones bearers are aligned with him and some are aligned with the "good guys".

If I weren’t color blind I would have used the pink font :D the parallel that came to mind regarding the 99 stones and their mystical powers reminded me of the meteorite in the Ka'ba for some reason :D

My family was part of a pilot program back in the 80s.

The cable box had a modem and would make its calls about 0200 to upload what we had watched.
We also had a card which gave discounts while shopping (related to the cable box agreement).

The pilot program was to see the effectiveness of advertising/viewing patterns/etc.
In this day and age, collecting such data is trivial and multi-sourced (credit cards, discount cards, internet surfing, dvd rentals, television viewing patterns).

Many of the advertisments people now receive in the mail, email, pop-ups, etc., are specifically targeted to the individual.
They know all of the psychological buttons to push.

Ian Ayres wrote a pretty good book called Super Crunchers which addresses the power of such data collection.

Some other easy reads which address how we can all be easily manipulated for others' profit:
-Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
-Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
-Influence by Robert B. Cialdini


I don't worry too much about my kids exposure to mass media.

-Don't have cable/sattelite.
-Don't have internet at home.
-Don't have sattelite radio.
-There is no TV reception in this area of the nation.
-There are only a few radio stations that can get a signal into here.
-Those few stations either suck and/or broadcasts are in Navajo.
(actually heard rap music in Navajo on one of the stations...)
-Kids don't go to public school.


At the level of the individual family, problems with the effects of media upon children are voluntarily accepted.

Ok, you might need to explain that one to me. I have no idea what the Ka'ba is.

The Ka’ba in Mecca, Circumambulating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6VHhkt3fAM

The Black Stone:
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/s...bia/mecca-kaba

http://www.crystalinks.com/blackstone.html


The following gets straight to the point and the first Arab must certainly have a fatwa:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsGvSCNC1D8

http://www.answering-islam.org/Muham...e_kissing.html

:D :munchin


ETA

Shia have built Ka’ba’s in Iraq and Iran…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEO3UcSP_sA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFUDw6J0G4c

Or could be it just needs a good cleaning.:rolleyes:

Thanks for that TRock. I see some of the parallels you were talking about. That was some interesting material. When I watched the first video, of the circumambulating, the first thought was idolatry. Then, the narrartor in the second video just layed it out. His explanations of an ancient sexually based religion and their inclusion in modern Islam were a little surprising.

Not understanding Arabic, I found the comments on the latter videos more interesting, especially one stating "I know the Shia are evil but is this real?" , talking about the mini-Ka'ba built supposedly in Iran. It is interesting that one Muslim is supposed to think of any other Muslim as a brother, yet the Shia and Sunni seem to be at polar opposites, or is my understanding flawed. Actually, I guess a good parallel would be the views of Catholics and Protestants a few hundred years ago.

You're welcome Sir, the same thought crossed my mind too...

The similarities between the pagan rituals (star/stone worship) of the Harranians (Sabians) and the Mandaeans - performed at the City of Harran - which included praying five times a day as well as the ceremonial washing before each prayer, is virtually the same Islamic ritual as practiced by Muslims today.

Originally, the Quraish neglected the Ka'ba of Mecca and participated in the Hajj to the Ka'ba of Ta'if.

What's interesting as well, is the similarities between the Ka'ba of Mecca and the Ka'ba of Ta’if, or the Ka'ba of Ellat, also known as the Ka'ba of the Sun, which is significantly older than the Ka'ba of Mecca. The Arabs of Quraish, from which Muhammed came, venerated this Ka'ba. The Istar ( استار ) of the Ka'ba of Ellat (Ta'if), also covered sacred stones, similar to what is found at the Ka'ba of Mecca today.

The pre-Islamic Ka'ba of Ta'if (Ellat) had a large "Black Stone" containing mystical powers in which the people of Ta'if circled, just like the current day Ka'ba and "Black Stone" of Mecca...

There's something about the stones... :D

The following book gives great detail regarding magical "Black Stones" and other ancient rituals:
http://www.amazon.com/Islam-Light-Hi...7371823&sr=8-1

(Reuters) - "The Simpsons" just got a blessing from the Vatican.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69H54K20101018

Peter Griffin from Family Guy is too, but I suspect that the Pope won't be issuing any sort of similar announcement concerning that show :)

Looks like the creator of "the 99" has a fatwa on his head...lol


>. http://news.kuwaittimes.net/isil-cal...ng-99-creator/


Edited to add....


Keep in mind though....Lol......, Allah is the greatest of all deceivers....

Wamakaroo wamakara Allahu waAllahu khayru al-makireena!

Lol.

Qur'an 3:54—And they (the unbelievers) planned to deceive, and Allah planned to deceive (the unbelievers), and Allah is the best of deceivers.

Qur'an 7:99—Are they then safe from Allah's deception? No one feels safe from Allah's deception except those that shall perish.

Qur'an 8:30—And (remember) when the unbelievers plotted deception against you (O Muhammad), to imprison you, or kill you, or expel you. They plotted deception, but Allah also plotted deception; and Allah is the best of deceivers.

> http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Allah_the_Best_Deceiver