Thousands flock to haj

Herald Sun ^ | 26 December 2005

[Aussie Dasher]

SAUDI Arabia has said more than half a million Muslims had arrived for next month's haj pilgrimage to Mecca and had been checked for disease, amid fears about the global spread of bird flu.

State news agency SPA quoted Health Minister Hamad al-Manei as saying the 622,000 pilgrims who had arrived up to now for the rites, due to begin in the second week of January, were "clear of any virus or illness". "Anyone found to have an illness is sent back to his country immediately," he said, adding the kingdom had beefed up health checks at arrival points around the country. He did not say how many had been sent back so far.

Around 2.5 million Muslims from over 160 countries head for Mecca each year in one of the world's biggest religious rituals.

Many come from Asian countries, where the deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has killed more than 70 people since 2003.

Health experts have warned that the hundreds of thousands of people gathering in Mecca this year could risk creating the conditions in which a pandemic strain of flu could emerge.

[Aussie Dasher]

Sounds like an ideal place....to stay away from!

[clee1]

Sounds like an ideal place... to drop a MOAB on.

[ovrtaxt]

Ah, a target rich environment.

[ncountylee]

Target Coordinates:

Latitude: 21° 26' North

Longitude: 39° 49' East

[ThreePuttinDude]

Sounds like natures way of culling out the ........well you know.

[Aussie Dasher]

I've got a fair idea :)

[injin]

bird flu bird flu bird flu bird flu bird flu bird flu ......
Freebird!

[festus]

If there was ever an opportunity for carpet bombing........ ( or at least bombing of carpets ).

When do the stampedes start ?

[Aussie Dasher]

I love the smell of stampedes in the morning...

[Young Werther]

DGZ, (Designated Ground Zero), is usually measured in degrees, minutes and seconds. Today, with GPS targetting the refinement is even greater.

[montag813]

"Yeah"

[pointsal]

Where's the bird flu when it could really do some good...

[festus]

DGZ, (Designated Ground Zero), is usually measured in degrees, minutes and seconds. Today, with GPS targetting the refinement is even greater.

No need to be precise. Just lob em in like we did over Germany with the conventional ones.

I belong to the school of "There's no kill like overkill"

[TexGuy]

"Round the ragged rock the ragged rascals ran ..."

[ncountylee]

usually measured in degrees, minutes and seconds

True, but I prefer to adjust the lack of seconds with additional megatons.

[rawcatslyentist]

Hey give the rock kissers a break, they only have two ways to get into hell err.. heaven.
One-- kiss the black turd/kuhbah.
Two-- kill anyone while screaming satan is great.

Aap aap ahh dap dap!!!!!
It's a religion of peace
It's a religion of peace

It aint Slim W, but this'll gitr done!
Kill A Commie For Mommie

Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

[noblejones]

Look for the upcoming 10 part series on "Haj" in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But please don't use the word Christmas in their presence.

[noblejones]

>>
Where's the bird flu when it could really do some good...
<<

That's why Karl Rove developed it.

[Young Werther]

When I was stationed at Minot AFB in the early 70s our B-52s were equipped with B-71 1 megaton gravity bombs and Houndog missiles with 50 kiloton weqpons. Whenever a B-52 flew a bomb run there was a SAC targeting site which would calculate the miss distance. They would report these distances to the crew, their bomb wing and SAC Hq. If it were an ORI or bomb competition there was alot of betting on the side. I once won over $1000 because my best buddy was the radar bombadier in our best combat crew. They flew our semiannual ORI mission and registered three shacks out of four gravity bombs and one shack for their hounddog missile.

A shack was when you missed your DGZ by less that 100 feet. My buddy had a total miss distance of 780 feet with 4 of his six weapons at 100 feet or less!

A ground burst 1 megaton weapon's fireball will "dig a crater" a half mile across and 1000 feet deep. It tickled me to think how little the bomb damage was ameliorated by missing the target by, say 400 feet!

[CzarNicky]

A swine flu would be ironic.