You Never Know What A New Day Will Bring

Chess forbidden in Islam, rules Saudi mufti, but issue not black and white:

Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has ruled that chess is forbidden in Islam, saying it encourages gambling and is a waste of time.

Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh was answering a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas in response to viewers’ queries on everyday religious matters.

He said chess was “included under gambling” and was “a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players”.

Sheikh justified the ruling by referring to the verse in the Qur’an banning “intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination”. It is not clear when the fatwa was delivered.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s supreme Shia religious authority, has previously issued rulings forbidding chess.

Further evidence that Christopher Hitchens was right. Religion poisons everything, including chess.

'Daddy uh-oh': Man gets probation for accidental bomb blast:

A Massachusetts man whose 2-year-old son said to police "Big boom, Daddy uh-oh" after his father accidentally detonated a homemade bomb has been sentenced to two years of probation.

Joseph Capitanio was sentenced earlier this week for what his lawyer described as "one of the dumbest things he's done."

The 33-year-old Capitanio pleaded guilty in October to possession of an infernal machine and other offenses.

Authorities say Capitanio tried to build the explosive in March by packing a carbon dioxide canister with gunpowder, but accidently ignited it when he tried to seal it with a blowtorch.

The Berkshire Eagle (http://bit.ly/1Qj9ik0 ) reports that Capitanio's son was in another room in their Pittsfield home when the blast went off. The boy wasn't harmed, but Capitanio was injured by shrapnel.

His lawyer says Capitanio didn't intend any harm.

Parent of the year? Darwin Award winner for 2016?

Utica suburb Whitesboro changing controversial seal:

The village of Whitesboro will change its controversial seal.

WHITESBORO, N.Y. - The village of Whitesboro is changing its controversial seal.

The current emblem appears to show a white man throttling an American Indian. Village officials say it actually depicts a wrestling match between early settlers and the Oneidas.

The logo was also ridiculed earlier this month on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" after villagers initially voted to keep it.

Village officials will meet with members of the Oneida Indian Nation to design a more "modern" and "culturally appropriate" seal.