Due to special circumstances (that amount more or less to general ennui on my part), I am officially resigning from the Triumvirate, from my post in the Verthandic Rangers, and taking an indefinite leave of absence from the JU 2.0 Project.

             I have been with the Jihad since the summer of 1995.  Through that time, I have seen things go up and down, back and forth. But never have I lost any faith that the Jihad would persevere, that it would continue.

              Now... I don't know anymore. I really don't. 

              The Jihad has been in a slump for more than two years. In those two years, almost nothing has happened; no new blood was infused, few stories were written (and even fewer released), and all the "active" Jihaddi did was sit around on IRC and trade Linux tips and dumb cow jokes. I don't claim to have been above
            that; I wasn't. I sat on IRC just as willingly as anybody else involved.

             For a long time, I treated the whole idea of "The Jihad is Doomed" as just another thing to mock the newbies and the occasional expatriate with. I think that I had some justification for that; after all, during those moments of internal strife, the Jihad managed to close ranks and stand together as a community. It certainly looked like it was impossible to break.

             But now, I think the Jihad has fallen into a fatal apathy. Nobody has any more real interest in the Jihad's activities. Only a handful want to continue writing/role-playing in the fictional universe, and even less want to talk about the real-world effects of a Barney-educated generation on society as a whole.

             That great departed Jihaddi (loved and hated by many) Deadlock said once -- I think he was quoting somebody -- "The Jihad is about having fun making fun of Barney."  Well, it's not happening anymore.  The joke has died. It died a long time ago, perhaps, but it's died the true death now.

             Therefore, as my last action as a Triumvir Praetor of the Jihad, I am recommending to my partners in crime, Melanie Davies and Shadur, that you and my successor draft a procedure for the orderly dissolution of the Jihad, shutting down *.jihad.net, and ensuring that alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die is properly rmgrouped.  I will personally assist Fireball and the other members of the JU 2.0 Project in closing that out, as well. If the Jihad is going to die, then dammit, it should close up shop with dignity, instead of wasting away as it has been.

             I don't expect this to be well-received. Still, I feel it has to be said, and it has to be done.

             It was fun while it lasted, but all things must end.

             Goodbye, farewell, amen,
             Reverend Sean M. Breen
             "Malaclypse the Seeker"