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
Post contains 298 words, total size 2 kb.

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
Post contains 28 words, total size 1 kb.

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
Post contains 170 words, total size 1 kb.

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
Post contains 427 words, total size 3 kb.

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
Post contains 182 words, total size 1 kb.

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
Post contains 450 words, total size 3 kb.