Judging by the newly arrived décor I am seeing in storefronts, the holiday season is evidently upon us once again. As you already know, two friends and I are going to spend our holiday in Africa to film footage for a documentary (Christmas in Darfur), capture the feel of conditions on the ground, and interview the extraordinary people who have given and risked so much to lend a hand in a portion of the world that needs all the help it can get. I would like to thank you for your help and generosity in getting us started towards our goals. more...

Posted by: Bravo Romeo Delta at 10:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Say you were from Pakistan. Say you came to Canada and became a blogger speaking out against Islamic terror. Say Canada might send you back to Pakistan. Would you be say, "a bit worried", about the attachment of your head to the rest of you? Say you blog with Mushiloon? Does that result in an automatic link from The Jawa Report?

Via Michael van der Galien at Liberty and Justice: As all of you who have read (some of) his articles will know, Isaac is very critical about radical Islam. He witnessed the results of a culture of radical Islam, he saw the effects of this ideology of hatred and ignorance, how people are forced to live, first-hand. As a result, he understands that Muslim extremists do not just pose a threat to the West, but also to every single person living in 'Muslim countries'.

As a result, it should be obvious to anyone with any basic knowledge about this subject, it is not exactly safe for him, an apostate, to live in a country in which Muslim extremists have quite some power. He came from Pakistan, was educated in Saudi Arabia, later in the United States and now lives in Canada.

He is currently involved in the battle of his life: in January 2007 one judge will decide whether he should be granted refugee status in Canada or be deported to Pakistan.

Posted by: Howie at 11:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I have a young Airman that has a tremendous family emergency on his hands. I can't give out all the details but essential his wife and two-day-old son are in critical condition.

I'm trying to get three of the Airman's family members and his immediate family some assistance with airline tickets (already bought) and hotel rooms (already paid for). I'm calling in every favor I can to help this family out in their darkest days and now my call is going out to you.

Please donate some cash if you can and I will guarantee it will go to good use in helping everyone out.

Thanks,
Chris Short, SSgt, USAF

Posted by: Chris Short at 11:05 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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About two weeks ago Adam, who hails from Denmark, left the following comment:

I saw a statistic the other day - Danish export to the US has gone up more than 17% since the cartoon incident. I guess there is nothing else to say but a big THANK YOU to everyone on your side of the pond who decided to give our country a bit of support when we needed it the most! Pass it onÂ…!

I attempted to look up the information to cover it because I do consider it great news that people are sticking up for Denmark and the right of free speech, but I was unsuccessful instead finding old information or sites that were completely in Danish. Who knows if the information I found was actually applicable to the topic at hand. I emailed Adam asking where he saw that information and today he got back to me sending along a link to a brief article TV2 Finans.

I have run the article through a translator that I use for other issues, but unfortunately it did not come out very well. Adam also wrote the following for a summary of the article in English:

This is in danish, but the gist of it is that increased export to USA and Germany far outweighs lost export to arabic countries, and is partly due to the Muhammed-incident, according to the Institute for Trading Conditions.

The article also states, if I am reading it right and the translation is even somewhat accurate, that the percieved loss to the Danish economy over boycotts was far more than the actual loss therefore Danish exports have increased overall. Again, great news and thank you, Adam, for the correspondence.

Posted by: Chad at 04:49 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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The Islamists pick 7/11 to bomb trains in Bombay. *Insert Dick Durbin joke here* But more seriously, pray for the victims and their families.

Posted by: Catholic at 08:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Should Christians convert to Islam so they don't offend Muslims? That a questions that I am sure European and "progressive" American Christians will be asking in about ten years. more...

Posted by: Catholic at 10:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Below are some interesting tidbits about the signers of the Declaration of Independence (Hat Tip: Coming Anarchy) more...

Posted by: Catholic at 09:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Congratulations.

4th July - fireworks, food and fun.

Congratulations on the result of a revolution that some of us Brits think ought to have happened here as well. So, for British 'subjects' like me looking to join in the fun, can I recommend Jonathan Freedland's excellent book "Bring Home the Revolution: The Case for a British Republic" :-)

"...the spirit that inspires the American secret is actually our own -- a British revolutionary fervour mislaid across the Atlantic. This is what has made America the diverse, freedom-loving, self-sufficient, independent icon to the world: the place where socialism never took hold because it is inherent in the founding vision, where capitalism at the same time has reached its apogee; where many cultures contribute to the national fabric and yet the sense of belonging to the nation and reverence for its symbols is unmatched across the globe. It's time Britain shared the vitality: time to reclaim the revolution and bring it home."

Have a fun day, I'll be in the office :-(

Posted by: Sheward at 04:22 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Pyjamasmedia reminds us that the blurting out of vital secrets by a reckless media is not new. The NY Times, in disclosing the details of US intelligence operations in time of war, is simply continuing a long tradition.

The example they give is the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut that resulted in over 200 casualties, a bombing that might have been prevented had the media not disclosed that US Intelligence was intercepting signals between terrorists in Syria and their paymasters in Tehran.

Reading the story reminded me of an incident during the 1982 Falklands war. The Royal Navy task force was operating several thousand miles away from its nearest base, without proper aircraft carriers. Air defence was, too say the least, a problem. Thankfully a combination of a few very good Harrier pilots and the Sea Dart missile system made life very difficult for the attacking Argentinian airforce, forcing them to operate at extremely low altitudes and release their bombs sometimes as little as 40ft above their target.

There were 2 consequences of this. Firstly the Royal Navy developed a certain professional respect for the skill and bravery of the Argentinian airforce pilots (the only people in the Argentinian military who acquited themselves well in the war). Secondly the Argentinian bombs, because they were released so low, didn't have sufficient time to arm themselves before hitting their target. A large percentage of the small number that hit didn't explode as they'd been configured for medium altitude release (these were pre 'smart bomb' days).

And then the BBC stepped in.

The BBC World Service, after receiving what was probably a confidential briefing on the matter from the Ministry of Defence, decided to broadcast the nature of the problem to the world. Shortly afterwards Argentinian bombs began to explode with greater frequency.

The Royal Navy task force commander, Admiral Sandy Woodward, later said in his memoirs that the BBC were more concerned with being "fearless seekers after truth" than with the lives of British servicemen.

In a separate incident in the same war Lieutenant-Colonel H. Jones, threatened to lead the prosecution of senior BBC officials for treason after they disclosed British plans for an attack on an area of the islands known a Goose Green. He was unable to do so as he was later killed in action in that same area.

We don't yet know what damage the leak via The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal will cause, if any.

What we do know is that these "fearless seekers after truth" can be trusted about as far as you can comfortably spit a rat.

Posted by: Sheward at 04:04 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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My type of game.....

Now, you too can rub out the former al-Queda-in-Iraq leader.

Kuma Reality Games announced today the release of Kuma\War’s 75th episode, “The Death of Zarqawi", whicb simulates the strike that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on June 7th.

Created within two weeks of the real-life bombing, the episode allows gamers to join the U.S.-led coalition stationed just outside the house where al-Zarqawi is meeting with other insurgent leaders and choose between two strategies of attack: calling-in the real-life air strike that killed Zarqawi, or an alternate on-foot ambush which involves storming the guarded house and attempting to capture the terrorist leader alive.

Naw, much better to off him in the most brutal and painful way imaginable for bonus points.

Companion OpiniPundit

Posted by: Traderrob at 10:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Hey guys. I have a plan which could turn into something really interesting. But before I can continue I need to know if there is anyone who can read Turkish or Arabic.

Posted by: Catholic at 09:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ever notice how no one in Israel ever asks the question "Why do they hate us"? Unlike the left and media in this country, security is paramount. As for the rest, they simply don't give a damn.

Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nasser a-Shaer, who evaded capture by Israel Defense Forces troops during mass arrests of Hamas officials before dawn Thursday, has gone into hiding in the West Bank. A-Shaer has disconnected all his cellular telephones out of fear Israeli security services would again attempt to track him down and arrest him.

The mass arrests of senior Hamas officials were part of Israel's expanded military operation against the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority.

IDF troops launched the major arrest operation against Hamas officials overnight, detaining 64 of the ruling militant group's ministers and parliamentarians in the West Bank and 23 military operatives.

Companion OpiniPundit

Posted by: Traderrob at 02:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As some here may know, my "day job" involves exposing an increasingly anti-American, and anti-Enlightenment cult within academia. I recently took part in an informal project that, in part, compared academia to the blogosphere. We analyzed the results of Google searches on the internet sites of the top 100 colleges and universities in the nation, wanting to observe how frequently the word "diversity" came up, in comparison to the more conventional ideological and political terms: "liberty", "freedom", "equality", and "democracy". We figured this would give us a rough idea of how preoccupied academia has become with some of the faddish counter-enlightenment concepts of the "left of the left" that Howard Dean seems to think will soon redefine politics in America.

more...

Posted by: Demosophist at 01:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Poor Japanese. You've read about their disinterest in sex, wives turning into porn actresses to get some action, and lonely women turning to male love dolls. A recent poll says things really are bad:

The magazine bases its judgment on a survey of 3,000 single men aged from 20 to 39 in which it discovered two thirds do not have a girlfriend and a startling one-third haven't had a partner for three years or more...

"That's precisely why I'm unattached," says Dragon Odawara, a manga artist who's become famous by drawing cartoons about remaining a virgin well into adulthood. "When you go out with a woman, you've got to meet once a week, call her up and all that stuff. I hate all that obligation. Besides, how often do relationships go as you want them to?"...

"Guys who don't have much of a chance to meet women, and instead relieve themselves through such alternatives as adult movies or sex services, get used to being aroused by the beautifully-built women they see in these things and can't be satisfied by the average woman on the street."

There is only one thing to do: post another Japanese edition of Filipina Celebs. Ladies and gentlemen, Jun Natsukawa. Please help her find love.

Posted by: cbjohnson at 09:23 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Hey all! Welcome back!

Above is the Democrat leadership plan for the war effort. Well, at least a portion of it (knowing full well that all options which aren't "win first, withdraw when ready" are untennable and irresponsible).

Q & O nails the left down with one of their new glaring and laughable inconsistencies. Do these people ever think their arguments through before spouting them?

The logical fallacy:

Oh, and one final note on the whole withdrawal/national reconciliation issue: If your position is that US troops should be withdrawn from Iraq immediately, you are automatically foreclosed from complaining that an amnesty negates the sacrifices of US troops. If your primary policy goal is a US withdrawal from Iraq in a fixed time frame, regardless of the security situation, or the consequences to US interests of such a withdrawal, then please, at least have the courtesy of refraining from shedding crocodile tears for the sacrifices of our troops at the prospect.

Cross-posted at Mein Blogovault.

Posted by: Good Lieutenant at 07:09 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Sung Hi Lee says hello and welcome back!!

Posted by: cbjohnson at 10:45 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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3PO: Yes Master Vinnie we ran into some...

Master Vinnie: 3PO! I'm in kind of a hurry, so would you shut up and listen to me! I need you to have R2 shut down all the blog smashers on the Mu.Nu level! I repeat, shut down all the blog smashers on the Mu.Nu level!

3PO: Sir?

Master Vinnie: Have R2 shut down all the blog smashers on the Mu.Nu level!

3PO: We're trying Master Vinnie! Hurry R2!

R2: Whistle-beep, chirp.

Master Vinnie( with louder and more desperate screaming): Shut down all the blog smashers on the mu.nu level!

3PO: No! No! R2! Shut them all down!!!!

R2: Affirmative beep.

(Rusty and The Princess screaming in background).

Howie(In very short wookie suit): "AAAARGHHH!"....then all screaming......

3PO: Listen to them! They're dying R2. Curse my metal body. I wasn't fast enough. It's all my fault. My poor master.

(Sound over the com becomes cheering)

Master Vinnie: You did it 3PO!!! You did it! (sound of all cheering)

Rusty : Let's hope the old man was able to knock out that tractor beam, otherwise this could be a real short trip. Hit it Chewy!

Posted by: Howie at 07:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Eat cat too
Fish eat frog
And I eat....

Hat Tip Filthy Allah.

Posted by: Howie at 02:12 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Joseph Godfrey, Jr. had only been home from his tour in Iraq for three months when he was stabbed to death on the banks of the Oswego River. His killer bragged to friends that Godfrey "...went down like a bag of rocks."

The only mercy shown to Godfrey's family is that his murderer plead guilty. They will not have to endure a trial. Paul Leary was sentenced today to 17 years to life in Oswego County Court. Here's hoping that his prison guards, who will know about his crime, provide this scumbag with an appropriately enthusiastic cellmate. And privacy.

From Newsday:

Leary killed Joseph Godfrey Jr., a 24-year-old former Army specialist from Mexico, N.Y., by severing his spinal cord with a knife during a late-night fight in an Oswego park in January 2005. Leary, who netted $60, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in the deadly confrontation, told police he had been drinking with Godfrey at a bar earlier.

Posted by: Bluto at 01:24 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Melissa has an interesting bio: she is a freelance artist (sculpture and oil painting), currently attending the Academy of Arts in San Francisco after getting an Associates Degree in Computer Graphics. She is 23, 5'2, 100lbs, Filipino-mix. More of her here, along with the daily roundup.

Posted by: cbjohnson at 02:42 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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