Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Project Valour-IT Voice activated Laptops for Our WIA's

Via Villainous Company:


"It's simple: grateful Americans, providing laptops with voice-activated software for severely wounded troops.

Project Valour-IT began when Captain Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss was wounded by an IED while serving as commander of a tank company in Iraq in June 2005.

During his deployment he kept a blog. Captivating writing, insightful stories of his experiences, and his self-deprecating humor won him many loyal readers. After he was wounded, his wife continued his blog, keeping his readers informed of his condition.

As he began to recover, CPT Ziegenfuss wanted to return to writing his blog, but serious hand injuries hampered his typing. When a loyal and generous reader gave him a copy of the Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred software, other readers began to realize how important such software could be to CPT Ziegenfuss' fellow wounded soldiers and started cast about for a way to get it to them.

A fellow who writes under the pseudonym FbL contacted Captain Ziegenfuss and the two realized they shared a vision of creating libraries of laptops with voice-controlled software that could be brought to the bedsides of wounded soldiers whose injuries prevented them from operating a standard computer. FbL contacted Soldiers' Angels, who offered to help develop the project, and Project Valour-IT was born."

send checks, (with MARINES in all caps)

Soldiers' Angels
1150 N Loop 1604 W, Suite 108-493
San Antonio, TX 78248

Monday, October 30, 2006

Your WalMart, Sam's Club, KMart Shopping List for our WIA's at BNH

Fall list

Updated: October 2006

Needs list for Wounded at BNH



EVERYTHING MUST BE NEW.

Boxer shorts (size L)

Athletic shorts (size L) (like the basketball shorts found at places like Walmart)

Athletic shirts (size L) (can be found at Walmart, Target, etc.)

Break-Away pants (size L and XL) snaps better than zippers

Green USMC shorts (not the silky Daisy Duke ones!, but 50% polyester/50% cotton and tee shirts (L)

(however, should you be able to have Daisy Duke model them I'm sure the men will not mind the percentages of cotton to polyester)

White tee shirts (undershirts) (size L)

White socks (short/ankle socks) especially needed right now

Electric razors (with chargers )

Head and Shoulders Shampoo

Old Spice Body Wash

Axe Body Wash (these are requested by the guys if asked!)

Deodorant

Current/up to date DVDs (borrowed and traded among patients)

Phone Cards

Watches (nothing fancy )

Wallets “

Work out gloves (Neoprene seem to work best for use with wheel chairs, etc.)

Send Items to:

Bethesda Naval Hospital

Marine Liaison’s Office

8901 Wisconsin Avenue

Bethesda, Maryland 20889

301-295-6111

Hanging Out with the 'chillruns'

Hospital Corpsman Samuel L. Blanco, with Iraqi children during a recent patrol in Husayba. He and the Marines of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, paused the patrol to chill with the kids. Blanco, is 25 and from Justin, Texas, a small town 40 miles outside Dallas. When Blanco left for duty the population dropped from 2938 to 2937. Town folk will be happy when he returns.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

VDH on A civilization that asks as much of others as does the contemporary Middle East—and yet so little of itself.

Lessons since 9/11

"It is difficult in history to find any civilization that asks as much of others as does the contemporary Middle East—and yet so little of itself. If I were to sum up the collective mentality of the current Arab Middle East—predicated almost entirely on the patriarchal sense of lost “honor” and the rational calculation to murder appeasing liberals and appease murdering authoritarians— it would run something like the following:

(1) We will pump oil at $3 and must sell it over $50— and still blame you for stealing our natural treasure
(2) We will damn your culture and politics, but expect our own to immigrate in the thousands to your shores; upon arrival any attempt to integrate Muslim immigrants into Western pluralistic society will be seen as Islamaphobic
(3) Send us your material goods, whether machine tools, I-pods, or antibiotics. We desperately want them, but will neither make the necessary changes in our own statist, authoritarian, religiously intolerant, tribal, and patriarchal culture to allow us to produce them ourselves, nor will show any appreciation for the genius of others who can do what we cannot
(4) We ostensibly wish you to stop the killing of Muslims by ourselves and others—Milosevic murdering Kosovars, Saddam destroying Kuwaitis, Kurds, and Shiites, Russians killing Afghans and Chechnyans—but should you concretely attempt to do so, we will immediately consider your intervention far worse than the mayhem caused by others or ourselves.
(5) Any indigenous failure in the Arab Middle East will eventually be blamed on the United States or Israel
(6) Your own sense of multiculturalism must serve as an apology for our own violent pathologies, that can only be seen as different from, never worse than, your own culture.
(7) We must at all times talk of anti-Americanism and why we want you out of the Middle East; you must never become anti-Arab or anti-Muslim, much less close your borders to our immigrants and students.
(8) We will tolerate and often defend those who burn churches, ethnically cleanse Jews from our cities, behead priests, kill nuns, and shoot infidels as the necessary, if sometimes regrettable, efforts of our more zealous to defend Islam. But if any free spirit in the West satirizes Islam, we will immediately demand that Western governments condemn such blasphemy—or else!
(9) Material aid—billions to Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, or the Palestinians—is our entitlement. Any attempt to curtail it is seen as an assault on the Arab nation
(10) We are deathly afraid of nuclear Russia, China, and India who have little tolerance for either Islamism or terrorism, and so will ignore their felonies, while killing you for your misdemeanors."

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Home town News of DSU-3 Cpl's Cheshire and Berg via Keyser Mineral Daily News Tribune


The Hometown Papers are keeping in mind our Riverine DSU-3 Marines. These two Marines put their college degrees on pause to go work on our security 24/7.

Cpl. Jeremy Cheshire

"Cpl. Jeremy Cheshire of Antioch, W.Va., has been deployed to Iraq, departing on October 11. He is the son of Jerry and Debbie Cheshire and brother of Cody Cheshire, all of Antioch. Her maternal grandparents are Pete and Betty Ellifritz.
Cpl. Cheshire is a graduate of Keyser High School, Potomac State College and Shepard University. He was an active member of the football team at all three schools. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and History. Before deployment, he was employed at Frostburg University as an assistant line coach and was working toward his Master's degree.
Cpl. Cheshire was with the 4th LAR(light armoured recon), and now with DSU-3. When he returns home, his plans are to finish his Master's degree and spend time with his girlfriend, Shannon Broadwater of Barton, Md."

John D. Berg

"John D. Berg is a United Stated Marines who is now serving his country along with 101 other men from his Battalion. John is a member of the DSU-3 unit that deployed on October 11.
He had always dreamed of being a Marine, and at age 17, he joined and was trained at Parris Island, SC. He has served 2 1/2 years and will continue for another 5 1/2 years. His future plans are to become a physician."
"Before deploying, he was enrolled as a student as Potomac State College where he was on the Dean's list for both semesters. His hobbies include video games and horseback riding.
John is the son of Ginger and Calvin Bolsey and John Berg. His grandparents are Frederick and Sheila Brantner and Kenneth and SHirley Berg. He is the brother of Kacia, Nikki, Heather, Hannah, and C.J. Everyone is very proud of John and his choices. He and others like him give us the freedom to choose. Remember John and the other men and women who are serving to protect America and our way of life."




Saturday, October 21, 2006

Michael Yon--not worthy to be ride, write or photograph our troops--But CNN ....

Yon, of all people in the entire world, has been refused permission to embed with our troops.




"July 18, 2006, .....
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Mr. Yon;
I do not recognize your website as a media organization that we will use as a source to credential journalists covering MNF-I operations."
LTC Barry Johnson
Director, CPIC
www.mnf-iraq.com

Friday, October 20, 2006

Sheila Kennedy on Faith Based Terrorism or “Jihad vs. McWorld.”

Ralph Peters' blast at 3-24 has me reading COIN and cogitating on whether faith based terrorism is or is not relevant to what FM 3-24 has to say. Trolling through my favorite dumpster, Google, I found this from Sheila Kennedy written in 2003:

In the early 1990’s, Benjamin Barber wrote a prescient book, entitled “Jihad vs. McWorld.” In it, he predicted that the overarching conflict of the twenty-first century would be between globalization and tribalism; between commercial, capitalistic interdependence and insular, isolationist communities that view global capitalism and its accompanying secularism as overwhelming threats to the comprehensive worldviews shaped by their religious beliefs.


America is the pre-eminent symbol of the modern, secular state. We have separated Church from State (following, ironically, the biblical injunction to “render unto Caesar” that which is Caesar’s). We have insisted upon equal rights for those who believe and those who do not; indeed, the prohibition against imposing religious tests is in our Constitution. We have equal rights for women, despite the beliefs of some religions that women should “submit” to men. We teach evolution in our public schools, rather than the doctrine of those who believe that the Earth was created in seven days by their particular God. We allow individuals to choose contraception and abortion, even though some religions consider such choices evil. While we have much progress to make in securing equal rights for gays and lesbians, we have steadily decreased the number of states in which sodomy is criminalized.

In short, we are an abomination to fundamentalists.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

FM 3-24 "Dishonest and Cowardly" "Terrific Manual to Refight Vietnam 1963" : Peters

FM 3-24 will be out, supposedly, in its final version next month and already Army/Marine Corps counterinsurgency doctrine for Killing Jihad Jockeys and their thugmasters is getting less than rave reviews from Retired LtCol Ralph Peters. Peters, not one to sugar coat his views calls FM 3-24" .... dishonest and cowardly." Peters is outraged that the military establishment is pussy footing with politically correct opinions that could lead to needless American casualities by ignoring the fact that we are at war with faith based terrorism. " the doctrine ignores faith-inspired terrorism and skirts ethnic issues in favor of analyzing yesteryear's political insurgencies. It would be a terrific manual if we returned to Vietnam circa 1963, but its recommendations are profoundly misguided when it comes to fighting terrorists intoxicated with religious visions and the smell of blood." "Islamist terrorists who regard death as a promotion are not going to reject their faith any more than an ethnic warrior can - or would wish to - change his blood identity." Peters has a point and a damn good one. Repeatedly, the jihad thuggies and their thugmasters have clearly stated their mission and precisely how they are going to accomplish same. But as Peters states: "...the doctrine writers ignored today's reality."

"Al Qaeda and other terror organizations have stated explicitly and repeatedly that they're waging a global jihad to re-establish the caliphate. Yet the new manual ignores religious belief as a motivation." (FM 3-24) is....morally frivolous and intellectually inert, a pathetic rehashing of yesteryear's discredited "wisdom" on counterinsurgencies and, worst of all, driven by a stalker-quality infatuation with T.E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia," who not only was a huckster of the first order, but whose "revolt in the desert" was a near-meaningless sideshow of a sideshow."



Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Mohammed al-Hakaymah, minor terrorist, Just Reads US Newspapers for valuable Intell---could it be the NY Times?

NY SUN

Mohammed al Hakaymah, unlike Najd Al Rawik, the oblivious author of "The Global Media: A Work Paper for Invading the US Media," (Rawik doesn't know enough American culture to realize US media is already supine) al-Hakaymah" just reads the members of the mainstream media for the tasty bits of intell that turn into much needed field tactical adjustments.

Hakaymah has written "Myth of Delusion," a 151-page manuscript making the rounds on password-protected jihadi Web sites" and includes such such helpful hints as how to buy a cell phone and when to sell the phone to prevent call tracing, as well as care in making calls or risk capture by the CIA. Now where do you suppose he got the heads up alert:

Mr. Hakaymah's book is different from other jihadist tracts on American intelligence. While he makes no mention of the December 2005 New YorkTimes article that first disclosed that the National Security Agency was tapping phone numbers found in cell phones captured from suspected Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, he does devote a chapter to electronic surveillance.

In it, Mr. Hakaymah writes that any electronic communication between operatives can be monitored using key words such as "Mullah Omar," the name of the Taliban leader, or even voice printing.

Two pages are devoted to the Echelon surveillance system, which Britain and America developed in the 1990s. Mr. Hakaymah warns future terrorists not to repeat the mistake of the Kurdish terrorist leader Abdullah Ă–calan, who was captured in Nairobi, Kenya, after making a cell phone call to northern Iraq."

"

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Hamid Rizvi, Muslim, Explains Freedom of Speech to The Dolts of the Western World -"The Koran is not 'a book of violence" (its so simple, see)

A simple miss understanding, Hamid Rizvi, of Toronto, says is at the bottom of all this fuss over Robert Redeker, who recently fled for his life with wife and kiddies in tow after an Islamic Fan club published directions to and mug shots of the former philosophy teacher on their web site. And all for publishing his opinion that Islam practices intimitation upon freedom of thought and expression. And here we have Hamid Rizvi, in a letter to the National Post clearly stating that: quote " Muslims in the world are not against him because he is practising freedom of speech. Islam values the rights of every person and their right to express their opinion." unquote. There you are...knew it all along...a simple misunderstanding. Jack Burton is so relieved. For a moment there Jack acutally thought Muslims were looking for poor old Redeker to lop off his blooming head for no other reason than expressing his opinion. In fact Rizvi offers a simple solution that doubtless will soon appear in a new edition of Free Speech for Dhimmis for anyone dumb enough to trade the 21st century for the 7th:

There is a simple solution to these "violent" retaliations. Let's keep practising free speech, but eliminate the ignorant insulting of Muslim beliefs. The retaliations will stop. It is pretty hard to clap with just one hand.


National Post---Re: Professor Goes Into Hiding After Calling Koran 'A Book Of Violence,' Oct. 12.

What French philosophy professor Robert Redeker has to realize is that Muslims in the world are not against him because he is practising freedom of speech. Islam values the rights of every person and their right to express their opinion. Expressing their opinion is different, however, from openly denouncing or insulting the beliefs and religion of someone else. When Muslims in the world retaliate against such opinions -- or the Danish cartoons -- they are not trying to eliminate freedom of speech. Instead, we are trying to eliminate the unnecessary hatred against us that is based on completely false facts and analysis.

The fact that someone could call the Koran a "book of inherent violence" tells us how ignorant and uninformed that person is about our religion.

Secondly, what I found interesting was Prof. Redeker's comment, "We must distinguish between Islamists and those responsible Muslims out there who should without a doubt support me." I find it hard to understand what he is looking for. Does he want moderate Muslims to support him when he is insulting the basis of our religion without putting in the time and effort to understand it completely? Even though he will not face a violent backlash from moderate Muslims, Prof. Redeker will not gain any kind of support or encouragement either.

Muslim "reactions" and "retaliations" against supposed "free speech" are not coming out of thin air. In fact, authors such as Prof. Redeker are adding fuel to the fire and expecting it to extinguish itself. There is a simple solution to these "violent" retaliations. Let's keep practising free speech, but eliminate the ignorant insulting of Muslim beliefs. The retaliations will stop. It is pretty hard to clap with just one hand.

Hamid Rizvi, Toronto.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Sally Beatty ,Wall Street Journal, Excellent Canidate for GIMF Global Islamic Media Front As "translator"

Debbie Schlussel, has Sally Beatty in her sights as a totally live breathing example of a regurgitating reporter ISO of new career position. This is the type of "reporter" the head of GIMF, Al-Rawi, is searching for in his plans to "invade American Media". Al-Rawi explains, there is a need for a group of people who are proficient in the English language, both spoken and written, to translate all the Arabic messages "which are intended for the American people." Sally Beatty is incapable of using Google to run a simple background check and will parrot anything you tell her. Perfect. Debbie Schlussel states Beatty's qualifications as:

In today's Wall Street Journal, Sally Beatty's "Giving Back" column is subtitled, "Nonprofits Fight Terror Guidelines." In it, she sympathizes with a host of lefty and Islamist charities on our shores who don't want to do due diligence on their recipients, who are often terrorists or terrorist money launderers.

Puh-leeze. Doesn't this woman do a speck of research? LIFE was raided by the FBI just weeks ago. And as I wrote on this site (here and here) and in the New York Post, the "charity" hardly complied with the laws against funding terrorism. They skirted them. The charity apparently violated embargo laws against dealing with Saddam's Iraq, funded HAMAS through its Jordanian operation, had ties to Al-Qaeda, and laundered money to Al-Qaeda terrorist insurgents blowing up our soldiers all over Iraq.

That's bad enough. But, then, this airhead "reporter" goes and quotes extremist, terror-apologist lawyer Ihsan Alkhatib, general counsel for Islamic charity LIFE for Relief and Development, as an example of a Muslim charity that has "struggled to comply" with U.S. Treasury requirements to root out terrorists.

Friday, October 13, 2006

GIMF Global Islamic Media Front Plans to Penetrate U S Mainstream Media

American masters of the thug enabler mainstream media, such as the NY Times, will soon be targeted for invasion by the Jihadi Jockeys with their exclusive message of Peace. Najd al Rawi, is the architect the invasion plans against the US media. Either Najd al Rawi doesn't read the Times or the dude is totally oblivious to the "US media" traitorous acts against America's war on Jihadi Jockeys. Najd, dude, come get them. Your thugmasters have already bought and paid for them. Maybe you didn't get the memo? No problem. Remember, no returns when their diapers need changing.


On 11 August, a jihadist website posted a message entitled "The Global Media: A Work Paper for Invading the US Media, Prepared by Najd al-Rawi," in which Al-Rawi presents a plan to "invade the US media" and explains various types of work needed and instruments to be used to achieve this goal.

A summary of the message follows:

Najd al-Rawi states that while the military battle against the Americans is getting stronger and more serious, the people of jihad should start a media war which must go on side by side with the military war. Because of the significance of the statements and speeches issued by the mujahidin, Al-Rawi recommends that such statements should be accompanied by their translations or subtitles [in case of videos] in English. Therefore, Al-Rawi explains, there is a need for a group of people who are proficient in the English language, both spoken and written, to translate all the Arabic messages "which are intended for the American people." He also states that there will be a need for another group to write articles and powerful messages to the American people and another whose members are capable of working with graphics. Finally, Al-Rawi explains that a fourth group will be required to do the quality control. This group will be responsible for the contents of the resulting media products. In addition to ensuring good grammar, spelling, production, etc., they will have to ensure that the material does not conflict with Islamic principles.

In explaining the type of work these teams will be doing, Al-Rawi says that the translation team will be in charge of translating the military operations against the US as well as speeches, articles, and analysis. They will also be preparing audio messages in English. These messages might be speeches, news reports, or interviews. Al-Rawi stresses the importance of this form of work. In addition, the teams will be expected to translate the statements that were or are issued by "the shaykhs of jihad such as 'the ruling on the usage of weapons of mass destruction' by Shaykh Nasir Al-Fahd" and others. Among the targets where these products are to be used, he lists: American forums, American Pal Talk chat rooms, well-known American newspapers and magazines, American TV stations which have websites and electronic email addresses, and well-known American writers such as [Thomas] Friedman and [Francis] Fukuyama.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Dr Wafa Sultan:"This is my mission in life. Nothing will stop me." "We as Muslims are hostages of our own religion"

From Ynetnews, Dr. Wafa Sultan, a formidable critic of Islam whose voice even CAIR has not been able to silence, declares her mission in her life is to free Islam's hostages to the 7th century.




WASHINGTON - Dr. Wafa Sultan recently became a legend. Her two interviews with al-Jazeera, in which she censured Islam and the way in which it inflicts ignorance and alienation on its followers, have made her into a phenomenon: an educated Muslim that demands that the Arab world take its head out of the sand.
In a recent interview , the only time I see tears creeping into Dr. Sultan's eyes is when she speaks of her family in a small village in western Syria, two or three hours from northern Beirut. In their eyes, she is a shameful stain on the family, which includes seven brothers and three sisters.
Her eldest brother claims that she received a million dollars from the Jews in order to denounce Islam. Her mother, age 74, refuses to speak to her on the telephone.

"I know I'm hurting them," she said. "They feel ashamed. I can understand that." Her sister in Qatar, who is married to a Palestinian, is more supportive. They speak once a week. Dr. Sultan spoke of how hard it was to be able to speak with friends in Syria , but not with her mother and brother.

Wafa lost her family, but won the world's acclaim, with a series of interviews, the most famous with al-Jazeera, in which she attacked fanatic Islam, and the alienation, misery and struggle against advancement that it imposes on its followers.

She is a short woman, but hugely endowed with vision and courage. Warm and free of pretense, she remains aware of the importance of her message. "I think that in 300 years, the name Wafa Sultan will be remembered as someone who helped Islam come out of the Middle Ages," she told Ynet.

Her own departure from the Middle Ages was triggered by the murder of her lecturer at the Halab Medical School in 1979. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood murdered eye doctor Prof. Yusef al Yusef because he was an Alawi (like the family of Syrian President Bashar Assad), yelling 'Allah Akbar', shooting into the air, and driving off on a motorcycle.

Dr. Sultan called this the turning point in her life. She started questioning her life and belief system, with her husband, whom she had met at the time. She stopped fasting and praying. Her husband wandered from embassy to embassy trying to get a visa. It took them ten years to get out of Syria.

Coming to America

When they left Syria, he was an agricultural engineer and she was a psychiatrist. When they arrived in the US in 1989 with two children (a third has been born since then) and 100 dollars, they didn't speak the language. They lived for a few months with friends and worked in every job available.
Sultan told of working as a cashier, gardening, doing everything necessary to survive. It took them years to get on their feet financially, when her engineer husband opened a garage. "Better a mechanic in America than an engineer in Syria," she said.

The garage wasn't the Sultans' only American venture. Within a week of arriving in America, Sultan started writing. She wrote articles for Arab-language newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Every editor stopped her at a certain point and wouldn't publish her thoughts, she said.

Eventually, a few weeks before September 11th, a friend suggested that she start her own website. Thus, anneqed.com was born: Meaning "the critic" in Arabic, it contains articles in Arabic and English.

Wafa received several warning phone calls from CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations). At first, she says, they were able to restrain her to a degree, but after September 11th, she knew she could not remain silent. "Today I'm a completely different person. Let them do what they want."

Interview that shocked Arab world

Wafa's website was read in the Middle East, as well. That's how she received her first appearance with al-Jazeera in July 2005. "They knew the influence of my articles and website…I believe they didn't think I'd be able to defend my views on live television."

Unfamiliar with al-Jazeera or the show on which she was interviewed, she didn't realize that her appearance would be as part of a debate. She was asked if there is a relationship between Islam and terror and then verbally attacked; despite being "ambushed", she was able to gain the upper hand and was invited for a second interview, with a more senior commentator.

The second interview became an internet hotspot. Since its broadcast on al-Jazeera, sections were translated by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) and distributed by various internet users. Millions of surfers in the Middle East and around the world say the interview that took place on February 21, 2006.


Dr, Sultan debated Egyptian professor of Islamic Studies Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khouli, who couldn't keep up with her, asking her again and again "so you're a heretic?" and stating that there was no point in debating with someone who insults the prophet Muhammad and the Quran.

Wafa Sultan said she has received death threats and estimates that someone will try to assassinate her, but she is not prepared to be frightened. "They weren't able to shut my mouth the first time. In February, I took them down again. They won't ever invite me again," she smiles.

Weeks after the interview, one of the announcers from the show published an article claiming that she'd been paid in order to criticize Islam. She answered him in a letter: "Your interview introduced me to the Americans and the international community. Even my neighbor didn't know who I was until you introduced us and now you blame me for being bought by the Americans?"

Penetrating Islamic world

Since then, she has been banned by the Arab media. However, she has managed to penetrate branches within the Muslim and Arab world. Many people enter her website and send her emails, both positive and threatening. In her opinion, any positive message is a good sign.

She believes that her mission - to "breach the walls of the prison of the Islamic world" – is difficult, but that she has succeeded in making a crack. Now it will be easier for others to come after her, she said.

Wafa told of an e-mail from a Moroccan mulla who said that he had bound her internet article into a book and told his 17 year old son that this was his new Quran. She receives e-mails from Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and even Saudi Arabia. She receives mails from Muslim women cheering her on. Sadly, they always use pseudonyms, because they are afraid.

Earlier this week, she received an e-mail from a 23 year old Syrian student who wrote that the government had blocked her website but not her e-mails and asked her to send them via e-mail. "I know that I have a large influence on the Arab world," she said proudly.

When reminded that producer Theo Van Gogh was murdered in Amsterdam for similar reasons, she responded: "I lived in fear for 32 years. 32 years of my life were stolen from me by radical Islam. Let them do what they want. I think they'll succeed one day. It's no big deal."

Possible trip to Israel

Dr. Sultan recounts that when she lived in Syria, she was taught to hate Israel , to think of Israelis as inhuman, a different kind of creature. When she was in California with her husband, she discovered that a shoe salesman was an Israeli Jew. Hysterical, she ran out of the shop barefoot.

When her husband asked her what was wrong with her she answered that the man was her enemy and that she hated him. It was the first time she had ever met an Israeli Jew face to face. "Slowly, I learned how wrong and stupid we were. You're humans no less than us," she said.

Dr. Sultan wants to visit Israel, hopefully soon. Monday, she will meet with the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles to advance the issue. This, needless to say, will only increase the hatred towards her from the radical branches of Islam across the world.

But she clarified: "I'm proud of myself. This is my mission in life. Nothing will stop me."

Monday, October 09, 2006

Church of England Strikes Back....."privileged attention" given to Islam

The Church of England has had enough of the Government's ideas of turning over the whole of Britain into a multi-faith society that has no room at the table for Christian groups. From the Sunday Telegraph:



"The Church of England has launched an astonishing attack on the Government's drive to turn Britain into a multi-faith society.

In a wide-ranging condemnation of policy, it says that the attempt to make minority "faith" communities more integrated has backfired, leaving society "more separated than ever before". The criticisms are made in a confidential Church document, leaked to The Sunday Telegraph, that challenges the "widespread description" of Britain as a multi-faith society and even calls for the term "multi-faith" to be reconsidered.

It claims that divisions between communities have been deepened by the Government's "schizophrenic" approach to tackling multiculturalism. While trying to encourage interfaith relations, it has actually given "privileged attention" to the Islamic faith and Muslim communities.

Written by Guy Wilkinson, the interfaith adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the paper says that the Church of England has been sidelined. Instead, "preferential" treatment has been afforded to the Muslim community despite the fact that it makes up only three per cent of the population. Britain remains overwhelmingly a Christian country at heart and moves to label it as a multi-faith society suggest a hidden agenda, it says.

The leaked report follows a week of tension in which a Muslim policeman was excused armed guard duty at the Israeli embassy in London, Asian and white youths clashed in Windsor, and Jack Straw suggested that Muslim women should not wear the full veil across the face in public.

The report lists a number of moves made by the Government since the London bombings in July last year to win favour with Muslim communities. These include "using public funds" to fly Muslim scholars to Britain, shelving legislation on forced marriage and encouraging financial arrangements to comply with Islamic requirements. These efforts have undermined its interfaith agenda and produced no "noticeable positive impact on community cohesion", the Church document says.

"Indeed, one might argue that disaffection and separation is now greater than ever, with Muslim

communities withdrawing further into a sense of victimhood, and other faith communities seriously concerned that the Government has given signals that appear to encourage the notion of a privileged relationship with sections of the Muslim community."

Insiders at the House of Bishops meeting last week, where the briefing paper was "well received", say it marks a radical departure from the Church's usually diplomatic relations with the Government on the multi-faith issue. One bishop said it was the first time the Church had launched such a defence of the country's Christian heritage.

The paper, entitled Cohesion and Integration – A briefing note for the House [of Bishops], argues that the effort invested in trying to integrate Muslims since the London bombings has had no positive impact on community relations and that Ruth Kelly's controversial Commission on Cohesion and Integration seems doomed to fail.

It can also be revealed that the archbishop met Miss Kelly, the CommThe Church of England has launched an astonishing attack on the Government's drive to turn Britain into a multi-faith society.

In a wide-ranging condemnation of policy, it says that the attempt to make minority "faith" communities more integrated has backfired, leaving society "more separated than ever before". The criticisms are made in a confidential Church document, leaked to The Sunday Telegraph, that challenges the "widespread description" of Britain as a multi-faith society and even calls for the term "multi-faith" to be reconsidered.

It claims that divisions between communities have been deepened by the Government's "schizophrenic" approach to tackling multiculturalism. While trying to encourage interfaith relations, it has actually given "privileged attention" to the Islamic faith and Muslim communities.

Written by Guy Wilkinson, the interfaith adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the paper says that the Church of England has been sidelined. Instead, "preferential" treatment has been afforded to the Muslim community despite the fact that it makes up only three per cent of the population. Britain remains overwhelmingly a Christian country at heart and moves to label it as a multi-faith society suggest a hidden agenda, it says.

The leaked report follows a week of tension in which a Muslim policeman was excused armed guard duty at the Israeli embassy in London, Asian and white youths clashed in Windsor, and Jack Straw suggested that Muslim women should not wear the full veil across the face in public.

The report lists a number of moves made by the Government since the London bombings in July last year to win favour with Muslim communities. These include "using public funds" to fly Muslim scholars to Britain, shelving legislation on forced marriage and encouraging financial arrangements to comply with Islamic requirements. These efforts have undermined its interfaith agenda and produced no "noticeable positive impact on community cohesion", the Church document says.

"Indeed, one might argue that disaffection and separation is now greater than ever, with Muslim

communities withdrawing further into a sense of victimhood, and other faith communities seriously concerned that the Government has given signals that appear to encourage the notion of a privileged relationship with sections of the Muslim community."

Insiders at the House of Bishops meeting last week, where the briefing paper was "well received", say it marks a radical departure from the Church's usually diplomatic relations with the Government on the multi-faith issue. One bishop said it was the first time the Church had launched such a defence of the country's Christian heritage.

The paper, entitled Cohesion and Integration – A briefing note for the House [of Bishops], argues that the effort invested in trying to integrate Muslims since the London bombings has had no positive impact on community relations and that Ruth Kelly's controversial Commission on Cohesion and Integration seems doomed to fail.

It can also be revealed that the archbishop met Miss Kelly, the Communities Secretary, last month to discuss how the Church of England could contribute. Bishops are dismayed that no Christian denomination is represented on the commission.

The bishops' document questions how effective it will be and says the focus for solving the problem should not be placed on one particular minority but "with the 'majority' communities and in the core culture".

"In relation to faith, there has been a divided, almost schizophrenic approach," the briefing paper says. The Government was misguided in "scapegoating the Muslim community as the source of the problem at the same time as believing that they should be uniquely responsible for solutions". It goes on: "The contribution of the Church of England in particular and of Christianity in general to the underlying culture remains very substantial."

The 2001 census showed that 72 per cent of Britons describe themselves as Christian. "It could certainly be argued that there is an agenda behind a claim that a five per cent adherence to 'other faiths' makes for a multi-faith society," says the document.

Mr Wilkinson, who was an archdeacon in Bradford during the riots of 2001, says the Government is wrong to see faith as the cause of a divided society.

unities Secretary, last month to discuss how the Church of England could contribute. Bishops are dismayed that no Christian denomination is represented on the commission.

The bishops' document questions how effective it will be and says the focus for solving the problem should not be placed on one particular minority but "with the 'majority' communities and in the core culture".

"In relation to faith, there has been a divided, almost schizophrenic approach," the briefing paper says. The Government was misguided in "scapegoating the Muslim community as the source of the problem at the same time as believing that they should be uniquely responsible for solutions". It goes on: "The contribution of the Church of England in particular and of Christianity in general to the underlying culture remains very substantial."

The 2001 census showed that 72 per cent of Britons describe themselves as Christian. "It could certainly be argued that there is an agenda behind a claim that a five per cent adherence to 'other faiths' makes for a multi-faith society," says the document.

Mr Wilkinson, who was an archdeacon in Bradford during the riots of 2001, says the Government is wrong to see faith as the cause of a divided society.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

More LAV A2 War Pigs Ordered

The Corps has put out a contract for 151 new and improved A-2 War Pigs due at your home base no later than Dec. 2008 with General Dynamics. The contract for $189 million includes an additional $50 million extra for 394 electric turret drives. The War Pigs will arrive in various improved configurations that War Pig Marines have come to know and love such as our favorite-the CSquare, command and control, armored personnel, anti-tank, logistics and mortars. As per usual the power box is brought to you by a Detroit Diesel with six on the floor, five forward and one reverse, Allison MT653 trany with 275 horses under the hood . There will be an auto fire suppression system in these new war pigs. Four rear wheel drive is permanent and eight wheel drive is on call. Have Fun and Get Some!

Friday, October 06, 2006

USNews.com: Fouad Ajami: The new boys of terror

Fouad Ajami exposes one of the tedious dead ends in liberal thinking regarding terrorism. Unable and unwilling to accept the bed rock idea that terrorism is never justified-liberal thinking tries to find explainations of the root causes or legitmate grievances that will justifiy terror.

"There is a strand of liberal thinking that aims to explain the terror and succeeds only in explaining it away. Terror is justified if we drown it in the search for 'root causes' or if we insist that the terror sprang from 'legitimate' grievances. In this vein, nowadays it is maintained that Islamist terror was fed by the rage over the American invasion of Iraq. This argument is off the mark, the product of naivetĂƒƒĂ‚ƒĂƒ‚Ă‚ƒĂƒƒĂ‚‚Ăƒ‚Ă‚© or of a determined opposition to the war. We should know better. The trail of radical terror, emanating from Islamic lands and Islamic movements, predates the Iraq war. We have three decades of this kind of terror behind us. Our consolation perhaps lies in the fate that awaited the original cult of assassins. In their time, they had fame, and their potential victims feared them. But the world of organized states in the end triumphed, and the fury of the zealots was no match for the determination of mainstream society to shake off the assassins and to defend the normal order of things."USNews.com: Fouad Ajami: The new boys of terror:

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Meet the New Center of Gravity-Mr.& Mrs. Abu Q. Iraqi-Public

The Army and the Marine Corps are planning on learning a new fight song from the same play book called new counterinsurgency doctrine, hard-learned lessons from the front lines and other hit tunes that moves the center of gravity from destroying thugs to placing a higher value on health, welfare and safety of Mr. and Mrs A. Iraqi Civilian. The doctrine is called New but ,of course, it is as old as the proverbial hills. In 'nam, Marine CAC units, Combined Action Companies were in charge of that detail. As a range free correspondent I made them my beat, as not only did CAC make excellent targets for the VC/NVA they also were a good source of photos and stories that illustrated how our young Marines were helping Vietnamese peasants trying to raise a family and a crop of rice in the middle of a war zone. After one such story, I mentioned to one Marine that I hoped their generosity would be repaid by at least little forewarning of incoming VC. 'Naw, he replied, its all bullshit. We help them out during the day but at night the gooks take over, smack them around to remind them who is in charge. There's not enough of us here for us to do anything about that...' Likewise, protecting Iraqi civilians from intimitation, a basic skill of thug insurgency, is going to be a troop intensive requirement that will scare off the weak knee politco's more interested in getting the job done on the cheap and on the fly.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Cool it with the Exploding Mohammeds in Spain

In Spain, this year we aren't going to celebrate the end of 700 years of Muslim domination by exploding Mohammed pinatas filled with firecrackers cause we are fearful of exploding Muslims. Yes, I know we have been exploding Mohammed pinata heads since 1492 . Yes, I know that's 514 years. I can count. But we have been doing the same exploding head routine to celebrate the "Reconquista," the reconquest of Spain by Christians from the Moors and I, for one, think that we need some fresh material. How bout this year, we throw the dummy off the castle wall. What da' ya say. Huh? In February. When nobody is looking? Ok, lets have a show of hands. All those in favor of celebrating our freedom from Muslim domination by not pissing Muslims off raise your hand. Spaniards tone down exploding Mohammed at fiestas - Yahoo! News