Blog Burst for Dec 4th

Short of making my Feed Reading Lists public, there is no way I way I can link to all the interesting things I find every morning while looking for content for West Carolina Report.

Since currently more people read this than that, I'll try to put some of the more interesting links over here with a brief excerpt:

“Anyone who can get on the Internet now has access to a collection of books the size of a large university library,” said Raj Reddy, professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon. “This project brings us closer to the ideal of the Universal Library: making all published works available to anyone, anytime, in any language. The economic barriers to the distribution of knowledge are falling,” said Reddy, who has spearheaded the Million Book Project.

Source: Al Fin [Reading to Maximise IQ and EF: Million Book Project]

The Iraqi government and Multinational Forces Iraq continue to take the fight against al Qaeda in Iraq and allied insurgent groups in the northern provinces. On the heals of Operation Lightning Hammer II — the multidivision operation in the provinces of Ninewa, Tamin, Salahadin, and Diyala — Iraqi and US forces have launched Operation Iron Reaper, a follow-on operation in the same region.

Iron Reaper, which consists of elements of four US brigade combat teams and three different Iraqi Army divisions, was launched on November 27. "The purpose of Operation Iron Reaper is to continue the pursuit of al-Qaeda and set the conditions for continued reconciliation efforts in key Northern provinces," Multinational Forces Iraq stated in a press release on the operation.

Over 850 mortars, along with 70 rockets, various explosives, bomb-making materials and manuals, and "about a dozen explosively formed projectiles" were found in various caches. Iran has been the primary importer of the deadly explosively formed projectile land mines.

"Task Force Iron’s previous division-level operation, Operation Iron Hammer, began the process of improving security in the north and set in motion reconciliation efforts. The reconciliation paved the way for the signing of 6,000 Concerned Local Citizens," said the press release. The recruitment of 6,000 Concerned Local Citizens in the Hawijah region has set the stage to allow Iraqi and Coalition forces to push into the rural towns and villages in the Za'ab Triangle as well as push al Qaeda and insurgent elements form the population centers of Mosul and Kirkuk.

Source: Long War Journal [Operation Iron Reaper launched in the Iraqi north]

Another unsavory aspect of many of the attacks on Vlaams Belang has been to base them on photographs, or on objects found in the background of videos. A photograph alone is evidence of nothing.Witness the photos of Richard Nixon with Jimmy Carter, or of Winston Churchill with Josef Stalin. No serious person would take these as evidence that Jimmy Carter supports conservative Republicans, or that Winston Churchill was a communist.The use of photos of in this manner is especially disingenuous when the subject’s publicly stated positions, policy initiatives, legislative actions, political alliances, and other public behaviors overwhelmingly contradict the tendentious conclusions drawn from such photographs.If I happen upon a photo of Dennis Kucinich taken alongside Robert Byrd - which is not an unthinkable possibility, given that both are in the same political party - common sense would not lead me to assume that Mr. Kucinich is an enthusiastic supporter of the Ku Klux Klan.

Only an invincible ignorance of (or disinterest in) the facts on the ground can lead to arguments based solely on associations discovered in photographs.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Finally, an explanation is in order about why we have gone to all this time and trouble about such relatively trivial matters.Many commenters and emailers have been advising us to ignore the increasingly shrill and overheated accusations directed at us, Filip Dewinter, Vlaams Belang, etc. Readers are understandably tired of all this pointless argument, and are ready to move on.I’m just as sick of all this nonsense as any of you are. It has consumed all my spare time and energy for more than six weeks, and there is nothing I would like better than to be shut of it.But there is a crucial task that must be completed before we can move on.

Source: The Center for Vigilant Freedom [That Fascist Solar Cross]

The seed of the tipping lies in far western Anbar, in the collection of villages known as Al Qa'im. The village itself is one of the smallest in group, with Husaybah on the border with Syria now being (apparently) the largest. The area was the scene of heavy fighting between insurgents and coalition forces in 2005, with Operation Matador – one of the largest offensives to take place after Fallujah -- resulting in clearing much of the area.

It was against this backdrop that what has become known as the Awakening began, with a tribe that got fed up with the insurgents. The Alba Mahal tribe began fighting al Qaeda and, from all accounts, didn't do fare too well. It was then that the tribe decided to work with the Coalition, and other tribes and groups began to join in. The area around Al Qa'im began to stabilize not just for the Coalition, but for the residents as well.

Those bloody days of 2005 seem in many ways a distant memory to the land, if not the people. Driving through the area, it is clear that better times have arrived. Industry was in full operation, with key mineral and other plants in operation. Markets and other businesses appeared to be doing good business, even well into the evening. A new crossing complex was about to open on the border, expanding already significant trade. Clusters of new homes were being built as part of what appeared to be a significant housing boom.

That boom was reflected in the home of the head Sheik for the area. Whether new construction or extensive renovation, the home was gorgeous and reflected the new prosperity of the region. The meeting that night stood in contrast to the meeting a week or so before in West Rashid.

Source: Blackfive [The Tipping of West Rasheed, Part Two]

Count the ways this is wrong:

Later, Imus chatted with Connecticut Sen. Dodd, who called into the show from Iowa, where he is languishing in the polls.

"Drive time radio has been boring, so welcome home," Dodd said. He also asked Imus to consider coming to Iowa to endorse his long-shot campaign.

"Hillary's got Barbara Streisand endorsing her out here and let me tell you ... More people out here look and sound a lot more like you than they do Babs. So if I can get you out here ... we're home free, I think."

Source: Daily Kos [Dodd begs bigot Imus for endorsement]




And one more from Al Fin:

The Sun gives us life-sustaining warmth and light. The sun also bombards our space with x-rays, gamma rays, high energy electrons, and atomic nuclei, which if not for Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field would kill us all. But wait--the sun's solar wind and magnetic field also shields the earth from dangerous radiation coming from outside the solar system. The Sun is clearly up to both good and bad. What else is the sun doing, that we should know about?

Recently, astrophysicists have become aware of the sun's interaction with the "global atmospheric electric current," and have started looking at the weather and climate implications.

Source: Al Fin [Is the Sun Really Masker of the Earth's Deskiny?]


Commentary

There just aren't enough hours in the day to take all this stuff in, and process it before more comes in. I included the post from Daily Kos as an example of the crap posted on the Lefty Blogs. This particular post demonstrates a lack of appreciation for humor that nearly all on the Left seem to share...plus a very unChristian attitude of forgiving past offenses, especially if they are perceived to be against one of the "protected" victim groups.

And, if you dare, try reading the comments (often laced with foul language coming from foul minds) for some real gems of Lefty Neo-Stalinist Thinking: (click on quote to read in context)

"More people out here look and sound a lot more like you than they do Babs" is pretty damn miserable thing to say.

Tell me how I'm supposed to read that and not read it as perilously close to "there aren't a lot of Jews out here."

I included the military stories, and the science stories simply because (unless you listen to talk radio or read blogs) you will not see them except in passing, and wrapped in a political agenda designed to make the case that things are going badly, whether it is the fabled Global Warming, or the Iraqi Front of World War IV.