Global technology supplier Finmeccanica – Selex ES will establish its Australian Naval Communications headquarters in Melbourne, creating 80 manufacturing jobs by 2019. Finmeccanica - Selex ES works across the international defence, security, aerospace, naval and transport sectors.

In her book, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Dr. Crone demonstrates that Islam did not originate in Mecca. Mecca is located in the Hejaz region of what is today Saudi Arabia. It is portrayed by traditional belief as a wealthy trading center, full of merchants trading goods by caravan from Yemen in the south and Syria and the Byzantium empire in the north. Crone shows that Mecca was in fact way off the incense route from Yemen to Syria, which bypassed where Mecca is today by over 100 miles. Further, there is no mention whatever of Mecca in contemporary non-Moslem sources: ... While there may well have been a historical individual named Ubu'l Kassim who was later entitled Mohammed ("The Praised One"), who raised followers and participated in the initiation of the Arab Conquest, he likely came from northeast Arabia in what is now southern Jordan. The deity that Ubu'l Kassim chose to follow was Allah, a contraction of al-Lah, the ancient Arab God of the Moon [note: which is why the symbol of Islam to this day is the crescent moon]. Ubu'l Kassim died, however, some years before the Arab Conquest was fully underway (the traditional date is 632). Al-Rawandi summarizes what then happened:

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Fr. Joseph travels to Pennsylvania to deliver a series of talks based on the Didache. In this episode, excerpts from two OCA parishes: Holy Cross, Williamsport, and Christ the Saviour, Harrisburg.

Rose City Rollers commemorates 20 years by hosting the sport’s global championships on their home turf. by Courtney Vaughn

Twenty years ago, Kim “Rocket Mean” Stegeman put an ad on the back page of the Portland Mercury. She didn’t have a business to advertise. She had nothing to sell. 

“My phone number was on the back of it for three months, and it said ‘Want to play roller derby?’” Stegeman recalls. “I would personally just answer phone calls and round up people.”

She and a handful of friends met at Club 21 and flirted with the idea of starting a roller derby team. Before long, they invited anyone interested in skating or volunteering to meet at Colonel Summers Park. 

“I think at that first meeting it was more than 60 people. It was like, that boom moment,” Stegeman says, reminiscing about a wild idea that birthed, in 2004, Portland’s first incarnation of a modern roller derby league, the Rose City Rollers.

“Largely it was women in their mid-20s, a lot of us who were kind of starting careers,” Stegemen says. “But I think we all had kind of a sense of a need for community and just to have something that was really our own, our thing to be passionate about.”

Stegeman and her friends didn’t know their scrappy roller derby league would evolve into an international juggernaut with four championship wins. Rose City Rollers is now the largest derby league in the world, with four home teams, two adult all-star teams, a recreational team, and nine youth teams.

This weekend, Rose City Rollers’ Wheels of Justice all-star team will compete for a fifth championship win, when Portland hosts the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) Global Championships. The event includes 16 games over three days, with 13 teams competing in a single-elimination tournament. The prize? A metal sculpture of a roller skate and track known as the Hydra Trophy. 

It marks the first roller derby championship tournament since 2019. WFTDA paused all sanctioned competitive play during the Covid-19 pandemic—waiting until leagues across the globe could safely return to the sport and had the resources to do so. 

Now in the league’s 20th year, Rose City Rollers are strong contenders to take the Hydra, but competition is fierce. 

“Everyone is so focused on that tournament and so dedicated to do all this fine-tuning to get there next weekend and to take the Hydra home again,” says Nicole “Bonnie Thunders” Williams, a team captain for Wheels of Justice. In the weeks leading up to the championship games, the team is refraining from major strategy changes. Instead, they’re adjusting a few elements based on a few expected opponents. 

Williams is no stranger to the WFTDA Championships. She is to roller derby what Tony Hawk is to skateboarding. This weekend’s tournament will round out her 19th season playing roller derby, and if her team prevails, it’ll mark her eighth championship win.

Modern roller derby is a game of simultaneous offense and defense, played on a flat oval-shaped track. Each team has five skaters on the track at a time, with one skater from each team—the jammers—both racing through packs of players (called blockers) for up to two minutes at a time. The first jammer to make it past all four opponents gets lead advantage, meaning they can call off the two-minute jam whenever they want. 

Jammers skate laps around the track, scoring a point for every opponent they pass on each lap. Skaters mash and tangle their bodies together to block each other, knock each other out of bounds, or muscle their way past to block the other team’s jammer from scoring.

It’s one of few sports with no ball or object of play. The only goal is to field a jammer—who can make it past a wall of opponents with help from her blockers—in what is usually a grinding, grueling exercise of strength, skill, and strategy. 

The sport requires remarkable endurance and agility. Portland’s all-star skaters spend their season practicing three nights a week in a converted airplane hangar in the parking lot of Oaks Amusement Park. Each practice is a cacophony of referee whistles and wheels grinding against a sport court track. On off days, skaters try to fit in at least one cross-training workout a week.

Despite flat track roller derby’s relatively recent emergence, the sport has evolved significantly over the past 20 years. Rules have changed, and strategies have transformed game play. Most visibly, the game attire worn by skaters no longer includes tiny shorts, funky knee-high socks, or fishnets. The sexualization and personal flair that used to permeate women’s roller derby leagues largely died out. 

“I think the focus has turned to the athleticism of it all,” says Tina “Beans” Tyre, co-captain of Wheels of Justice. “When I first started, it was really badass to do this sport. I remember we made dresses out of long t-shirts that we put frills on the bottom of, because it was playing off a theme, as opposed to being athletic."

The DIY ethos began to fade as derby became more competitive, elevating the sport to eventually getting coverage on ESPN. 

“I’ve really enjoyed—especially being a bigger skater—feeling myself as an athlete in a sport that’s taken more seriously every single year,” Tyre adds.

The sport has evolved in other ways, too. It’s become one of the few athletic spaces that welcomes queer, trans, and non-binary skaters. WFTDA-sanctioned leagues are open to skaters who identify as women or gender expansive. 

Athletes acknowledge that roller derby culture isn’t perfect. Transphobia still rears its head, but largely, homophobia and transphobia are taboo within the sport. 

Competitive roller derby is more than a hobby, and more than a sport. It’s a subculture, a way of life. Skaters say it’s a heavy commitment, but one that comes with a tight-knit community. 

“This community is so beautiful at times,” Tyre says. “I have gone through break-ups and had people to live with, people who pick you up when you’re down. In roller derby, a lot of people say ‘roller derby saved my life’ or ‘roller derby saved my soul,’ and I think it’s true for a lot of people who have joined this community and stuck with it for years and years.”

In many ways, roller derby has managed to both mirror and shape the culture of Portland. 

Stegeman says 20 years ago, Portland’s young demographic and cheap rental market made the city primed to support roller derby. 

“When somebody called Portland ‘a place where 30-year-olds go to retire’ that felt very on-brand for us,” Stegeman, now the executive director of the league, says while recounting the early and mid-aughts. “Because there was an amazing, emerging art scene, and there was just unbelievable amounts of live music going on. On any given night, you could leave the house with $25 and be out for a night and have a great time. There was so much interconnection that it was really a natural place for us to have something like derby.”

Decades later, it’s given thousands of people–predominantly women and girls–a place to try out something new, challenge themselves, and make friends along the way. For many, roller derby’s impact is immeasurably deeper.

“I think a lot of people who joined learned a lot about their sexuality and gender through derby, and having a supportive community that was open to queer people being part of it,” Williams says. 

Eight days before the upcoming tournament, Stegeman’s nerves are raw. There are countless tasks and boxes to check before November 1. For instance, she and the Rose City Rollers crew still have to disassemble the track in the league’s practice space at Oaks Park and haul it to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where it will be reassembled by a team of volunteers. 

The league partners with Travel Portland and Sport Oregon to gauge the economic impact and tourism connected to the international tournament. Last time Portland hosted the WFTDA Championships in 2016, it generated an estimated $1.5 million in economic impact to the city. This year is likely to surpass that. 

Rose City will host teams from Australia, France, Canada, and Sweden, in addition to US teams from Los Angeles, Denver, New York City, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Jacksonville, Florida.

Despite its global reach, derby still has a long way to go before it could be considered mainstream. For now, the sport maintains an interesting hybrid status: It’s played by amateur, unpaid athletes, but still fills major sports arenas during championship events. For the most part, skaters say that’s a good thing. 

It might be a sport relegated to counter culture, but  Stegeman no longer has to blast her personal phone number on the back of the Mercury to recruit new skaters. 

Women’s Flat Track Derby Association Global Championships take over Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 N Ramsay Way, Fri Nov 1-Sun Nov 3, schedules and tickets at wftda.com, $30-$225, all ages

by Wm. Steven Humphrey

GOOD MORNING, SUNDAY! It's the perfect time to catch up on some of the great reporting and stories the Mercury churned out this week! (PRO TIP: If you despise being "the last to know," then be one of the first to know by signing up for Mercury newsletters! All the latest stories shipped directly to your email's in-box... and then... YOUR HEAD.)

• Lawsuits Allege Deceit and Greenwashing by Oregon’s Largest Gas Utility

Advocates hope two lawsuits filed this month against gas utility NW Natural lead to change. The lawsuits say NW Natural has lied to customers and shared greenwashing propaganda, including spreading misinformation about a state climate policy.

• POP QUIZ PDX!

It's the spooooky HALLOWEEN edition of your fave weekly trivia quiz! This week: creepy Trump statues, ghost cars, and Portland's most HAUNTED locales! OoooOOOoooooh! (That's our imitation of a ghost, btw. ????) See how well YOU score!

• The Mercury's November 2024 VOTER CHEAT SHEET!

Filling out your ballot this weekend? GOOD! Need help? Voila, here's your 100% accurate Mercury Endorsement Cheat Sheet to help you fill out your ballot lickety-split!

• How Portland Became a Roller Derby Mecca

Twenty years ago, Portland's first modern roller derby league emerged. It's now the largest derby league in the world. Now, the four-time global champion Rose City Rollers will compete for another title win this weekend at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

• Could the James Beard Public Market Rise From the Corpse of Corporate Failure?

Long envisioned as Portland's version of Seattle's Pike Place, the James Bear Public Market would also provide an answer to downtown’s dearth of fresh produce.

• What to Expect From Portland’s New Government

Good news: Portland is getting a (much needed) new form of city government in January. But what exactly is changing for our elected officials? And, perhaps more importantly, how will all of this impact you?

• THE TRASH REPORT

If you're looking for the trashiest gossip from this election season, then you've found the right garbage can. ???? ????

• TICKET ALERT

Get those tickets now for the shows you don't want to miss, including Tyler, The Creator, country pop princess Kelsea Ballerini, and Berlin-based pianist, composer, and producer Nils Frahm!

• Infinite Life: A Play About Pain That Hurts So Good

Third Rail Repertory kicks off its 2024-25 season with a work by contemporary theater star Annie Baker. Never before have six actors worked their respective chaise lounges with such verve.

• Don't Miss the Mercury's ELECTION NIGHT WATCH PARTY!

Looking for fun on election night? Join your friends at Mississippi Studios for the Mercury's official election night watch party—hosted by the hilarious Alex Falcone and Shain Brenden! (And what? IT'S FREE!)

WOW, THAT IS A LOT OF GOOD READIN'. I hope you didn't have any other plans this weekend! Dig in, and remember: Producing all this hard work costs moolah—so please consider contributing to the Mercury to keep it all coming! Thanks!

California may be getting all the coverage, but Tennessee is offering clever rebates and other perks, too.

The invention relates to a product for pilgrims performing the rites of Haj and Umrah. Used to reduce the crushes resulting from pilgrims colliding because, for example, pilgrims places their shoes close to the gate from which they entered thinking that it will be easy to return to the same place once they have performed the rites of circumambulation (tawaf) and running (sa'ay). However, in reality the pilgrims must walk against the flow, causing collisions and severe crushes, or he is forced to leave his shoes behind, which is a burden for cleaning staff, looks untidy and is a nuisance for pilgrims, the main figures for the inventions are FIG. 7 before wearing the shoes and FIGS. 8,9,10 and 11 after wearing it.

The departure of some of north Queensland's best and brightest students is worrying the region's leaders and prompting them to devise a retention solution.

There is a whole new line of furniture that you can build, just like the toy.

The actress, 26, who quit her role on the cobbles as Sinead Tinker last year, revealed the news on her Instagram account.

The central courtyard of the Great Mosque of Mecca has been deserted as Muslims are forced to celebrate Ramadan in isolation, leaving the holy site practically empty.

Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned religious pilgrims from visiting Mecca or Medina to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the Kingdom

The central courtyard at Mecca's Great Mosque was left deserted except for cleaners on Thursday in near-unprecedented scenes as it was disinfected to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Saudi Arabia has reopened the central courtyard of the Grand Mosque in Mecca but banned people from touching the Kaaba shrine at its centre due to fears over coronavirus.

Saudi Arabia, which has recorded 1,885 infections and 21 deaths, imposed a 24-hour curfew today in the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, an extension of measures to combat coronavirus.

Mecca's Grand Mosque - which is typically crowded during Ramadan as Muslims break their fast each night - was all-but deserted Monday as a few prayed while observing social distancing.

Constance Craig Smith revealed a selection of the best UK gardens for magnolias. Borde Hill in West Sussex, which boasts more than 180 magnolias is set to open again this weekend.

Antwerp is one of the most intriguing cities in northern Europe, particularly if you are interested in fashion and design. Alexandra Schulman headed to the city to check out its creative scene.

South director Raj Kapoor's son Sharook was in Mecca for a pilgrimage with his mother when the young man died of severe cold and weakness.

Ahmad, Irfan, 1974- author

Rotch Library -

Rotch Library - BP187.3.K266 2015