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Prayers For The Assassin
''Prayers for the Assassin'' is a political thriller, and a work of speculative fiction, written by American crime writer Robert Ferrigno. The story is set in 2040, after economic strife and a pair of nuclear attacks have led to civil war, causing the United States to split into two hostile and competing nations: one a moderate Islamic republic with its capital in Seattle, the other a breakaway Christian Bible Belt built on the ashes of the former Confederacy and with its capital in Atlanta. The hardcover edition of ''Prayers for the Assassin'' was published in the United States in February 2006 by Charles Scribner's Sons. Plot summary The book starts off during the second American Civil War with a Muslim soldier dying in 2017, at the battle of Newark. Flash forward to the Super Bowl in 2042 in Seattle, the capital of the new Islamic Republic, the majority of whose inhabitants have converted to Islam. The nation's culture is a fusion of traditional American and Islamic: the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Ferrigno
Robert Ferrigno (born 1947) is an American author of crime novels and of speculative fiction. Eight books published between 1990 and 2004 were additions to the detective and thriller genres, while the post 9/11 'Assassin trilogy' is set in an imagined United States dominated by Islam. In February 2009 he was nominated as a finalist for an Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ... and has been reviewed by the LA Times and the New York Times for his book ''Prayers for the Assassin''. Novels * ''The Horse Latitudes'' (1990), his first * ''Cheshire Moon'' (1993) * ''Dead Man's Dance'' (1995) * ''Dead Silent'' (1996) * ''Heartbreaker'' (1999) * ''Flinch'' (2001) * ''Scavenger Hunt'' (2003) * ''The Wake-Up'' (2004) * '' Prayers for the Assassin'' (2006) * ''Sins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim world ( ummah). Historically, the caliphates were polities based on Islam which developed into multi-ethnic trans-national empires. During the medieval period, three major caliphates succeeded each other: the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), and the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258). In the fourth major caliphate, the Ottoman Caliphate, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire claimed caliphal authority from 1517. Throughout the history of Islam, a few other Muslim states, almost all hereditary monarchies such as the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo) and Ayyubid Caliphate, have claimed to be caliphates. The first caliphate, the Rashidun Caliphate, was establi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most-populous city, and Fairfax County is the most-populous political subdivision. The Commonwealth's population was over 8.65million, with 36% of them living in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The area's history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607, the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent English colony in the New World. Virginia's state nickname, the Old Dominion, is a reference to this status. Slave labor and land acquired from displaced native tribes fueled the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies the state as a part of the Mid-Atlantic regionMid-Atlantic Home : Mid-Atlantic Information Office: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics" www.bls.gov. Archived. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north and east, Maryland to the east and northeast, Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. West Virginia is the 10th-smallest state by area and ranks as the 12th-least populous state, with a population of 1,793,716 residents. The capital and largest city is Charleston. West Virginia was admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, and was a key border state during the American Civil War. It was the only state to form by separating from a Confederate state, the second to sepa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, Arkansas to the southwest, and Missouri to the northwest. Tennessee is geographically, culturally, and legally divided into three Grand Divisions of East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Nashville is the state's capital and largest city, and anchors its largest metropolitan area. Other major cities include Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Clarksville. Tennessee's population as of the 2020 United States census is approximately 6.9 million. Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its name derives from "Tanas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to the east; Tennessee to the south; and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River. Its capital is Frankfort, and its two largest cities are Louisville and Lexington. Its population was approximately 4.5 million in 2020. Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the 15th state on June 1, 1792, splitting from Virginia in the process. It is known as the "Bluegrass State", a nickname based on Kentucky bluegrass, a species of green grass found in many of its pastures, which has supported the thoroughbred horse industry in the center of the state. Historically, it was known for excellent farming conditions for this reason and the development of large tobacco plantations akin to those in Virginia and North Carolina i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CenturyLink Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ... of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL (2020), XFL, the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), and OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Originally called Seahawks Stadium, it was renamed Qwest Field in June 2004 when telecommunications carrier Qwest acquired the naming rights. The stadium became known as CenturyLink Field following Qwest's June 2011 acquisition by Lumen Technologies, CenturyLink and was nicknamed "The Clink" as a result; it received its current name in November 2020 with CenturyLink's reb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist, his group is designated as a List of designated terrorist groups, terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries. Belonging to the wealthy Bin Laden family, Osama bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia. His father was Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire from Hadhramaut, Yemen, and the founder of the construction company, Saudi Binladin Group. His mother, Hamida al-Attas, Alia Ghanem, was from a secular middle-class family in Latakia, Syria. He studied at university in the country until 1979, when he joined Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen, Mujahideen forces in Pakistan Soviet–Afghan War, fighting against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dhimmi
' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under ''sharia'' to protect the individual's life, property, as well as freedom of religion, in exchange for loyalty to the state and payment of the '' jizya'' tax, in contrast to the ''zakat'', or obligatory alms, paid by the Muslim subjects. ''Dhimmi'' were exempt from certain duties assigned specifically to Muslims if they paid the poll tax (''jizya'') but were otherwise equal under the laws of property, contract, and obligation. Historically, dhimmi status was originally applied to Jews, Christians, and Sabians, who are considered to be "People of the Book" in Islamic theology. This status later also came to be applied to Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. Jews and Christians were required to pay the ''jizyah'' wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above sea level. Its last recorded population was 1,578,722 in 2015. Its estimated metro population in 2020 is 2.042million, making it the List of cities in Saudi Arabia by population, third-most populated city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh and Jeddah. Pilgrims more than triple this number every year during the Pilgrimage#Islam, pilgrimage, observed in the twelfth Islamic calendar, Hijri month of . Mecca is generally considered "the fountainhead and cradle of Islam". Mecca is revered in Islam as the birthplace of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Hira cave atop the ("Mountain of Light"), just outside the city, is where Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad. Vis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dirty Bomb
A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with radioactive material, serving primarily as an area denial device against civilians. It is not to be confused with a nuclear explosion, such as a fission bomb, which produces blast effects far in excess of what is achievable by the use of conventional explosives. Unlike the cloud of radiation from a typical fission bomb, a dirty bomb’s radiation can be dispersed only within a few hundred meters or a few miles of the explosion. Dirty bombs have never been used, only tested. They are designed to disperse radioactive material over a certain area. They act through the effects of radioactive contamination on the environment and related health effects of radiation poisoning in the affected populations. The containment and decontamination of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suitcase Bomb
A suitcase nuclear device (also suitcase nuke, suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, snuke, mini-nuke, and pocket nuke) is a tactical nuclear weapon that is portable enough that it could use a suitcase as its delivery method. Both the United States and the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons small enough to be portable in specially-designed backpacks during the 1950s and 1960s. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union have ever made public the existence or development of weapons small enough to fit into a normal-sized suitcase or briefcase. The W48 however, does fit the criteria of small, easily disguised, and portable. Its explosive yield was extremely small for a nuclear weapon. In the mid-1970s, debate shifted from the possibility of developing such a device for the military to concerns over its possible use in nuclear terrorism. The concept became a staple of the spy thriller genre in the later Cold War era. Etymology The term "suitcase (nuclear/atomic) bomb" was introdu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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