One of the most visually beautiful blogs of all is Sisu, published by Sissy Willis. In addition to many humorous and intelligent takes on the news, Sissy features architectural commentary, and many, many pictures of cats, along with a lot of other beautiful photography. Sisu never fails to please me, and I visit often.

Yesterday, however, Sissy outdid herself. She donned her self—described tin foil hat and looked for hidden messages in Osama's April 15th message, offering a 3 month "truce" to European nations, if they grovel sufficiently. Here's what Sissy found:

Three months after April 15. If you're counting days (7 days/week x 4 weeks/lunar month x 3 months = 84 days) that would be July 8, the 905th anniversary of a milestone in the First Crusade in 1099, when "15,000 starving Christian soldiers marched around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders mocked them," according to Wikipedia. In an eerie convergence, it also marks the date, in 1630, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony celebrated its first Thanksgiving Day, not to mention the publication in 1889 of the first issue of The Wall Street Journal.

Alternatively, if Osama's thinking of three months in terms of calendar date, so much the better. July 15, 1099 is the day when "Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders, who slaughtered the Jewish and Muslim inhabitants."

I only hope that the CIA and Department of Homeland Security are paying attention to Sisu.

Posted by Thomas  04 18 04