[singpilot]

Zoltan explained to me why he removed a casual flippant joking reference to the deaths in Mecca. I accept his reasons.

Nonetheless, one of these final rituals of the Hadj is a 'ceremonial' stoning of a devil (you know, an infidel), and this blood lust ceremony results every year in a stampede to exit the arena, and go do Allahs' work (stoning infidels). I hope that point is made here.

I thought it was funny that several hundred obviously devout followers die in that very stampede to go do gods' work every year.

I used to do charter flights to the Hadj, as recently as 1998. We got tired of dealing with toilets that were not flushed (it's a religious thing), goats that were drugged and smuggled aboard, then slaughtered, and prepped to be cooked on fires that were set in the aisle. It's a religious thing. We got to the point that pax were vigorously searched, and the cost of completely refurbishing the interior, and having the plane out of service during that refit, were included in the cost of the charter. The cost of holding us infidels at gunpoint in our hotel rooms in Medina or Riyadh for the entire stay was also factored in.

If you had ever dealt with this insanity, you'd have a different view of things. And I don't think anything I have ever seen at Mardi Gras comes even close.