Monday, February 11, 2008

A religion destroying itself


The Archbishop of Canterbury is the gift that keeps on giving - usually to the Islamists - but for those who are watching a once proud people stand by and let the misguided lead them over the cliff.
The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK "seems unavoidable".

Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.

Dr Williams argues that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion.

For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.

He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".
He really doesn't get it - or more likely, he doesn't want to. Sharia isn't like cafeteria Anglicanism, it is an all or nothing thing. Like this.
But on Monday, when the power failed in her company's offices, Yara and her male colleagues decided to use a nearby Starbucks, which has wireless Internet, as a temporary workspace.

She settled into a booth with a male colleague and opened her laptop. Moments later, she was arrested.

"Some men came up to us with very long beards and white dresses. They asked, 'Why are you here together?' I explained about the power being out in our office. They got very angry and told me what I was doing was a great sin," Yara recalled.

The men were from Saudi Arabia's Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a 10,000-strong police force charged with enforcing dress codes, sex segregation and the observance of prayer times.

Yara said they grabbed her mobile phone and pushed her into a taxi bound for Riyadh's main prison. There she was interrogated, strip-searched and forced to sign and fingerprint confessions of guilt.

Later, she was made to stand before a judge who condemned her behavior, telling her she would "burn in hell."

She said she spent hours in a filthy prison cell with dozens of other women who had been arrested by the religious police, before her husband used his political connections to secure her release.
...
Yara said she carries her American passport with her as a precaution. But on Monday, she said, her identification was confiscated by the religious police, who told her they didn't care about her citizenship.

She is taking medication to treat post-traumatic stress while she recovers from her ordeal at her family's home in Jeddah.

"Thank God they did not harm her more," said her husband, Hatim.

"The psychological impact is beyond description," Hatim said. "She's normally a very calm, stable woman. Now she's afraid to leave our compound."
....and to think the head of the established Christian Church of the nation that gave the world one of its greatest gifts, English Common Law, this is just a madness that is hard to describe. Watch this and ask - why does he claim to advance Christ? There is hope, his own Church is starting to see the rot at the head.
Dr Rowan Williams was urged to quit by angry members of the General Synod, the Church's "parliament", who claimed he was undermining the Christian faith.

To add to his woes, Lord Carey, his predecessor at Canterbury, and the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, challenged his view that aspects of Islamic law could be incorporated into the English legal system.

The row erupted on Thursday when Dr Williams suggested the introduction of Muslim laws into the UK was "unavoidable".

The strength of the backlash represents one of the most serious blows to the Archbishop's authority since his appointment five years ago, and he faces more turbulence when the Synod convenes for a five-day meeting in London on Monday.
More.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Special Sunday Orders

Shipmate, commenter, MilBlogger and friend to this blog, Rotorhead, is headed into cancer surgery tomorrow (MON 11 FEB).

Please take some time today to add him to your prayers.

Sunday Funnies

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Reports & Returns


Last week when I stated I had to drop off the grid; well, I meant it. Since a week ago I have been without newspapers, TV, Internet, radio, mail; nor have I had a conversation with anyone about anything that might be happening in the wider world. Let's call it "Active Avoidance."

My info-fix as I departed was last week's Sunday paper, the last three months unread Proceedings (more on that next week), the last two National Reviews, and the outstanding book,
Last Flag Down. You will hear more about that book soon as I think it needs its own post sometime soon and I gleaned a few FbF from it.

I don't think I have done that pure a departure since - well - in memory. For an information addict, it was both a step into the dark, and - in the end - a very clarifying week. With each passing day, the moment to moment tinnitis of my information soaked life and hobbies faded to the point they were well outside my concern; the 24-hr news cycle side tracked to the don't-give-a-d@mn zone.

In a word; peace. Especially during the flowing talk from the results of "Super Tuesday" (more on that later next week).

So, I'm back. I haven't even had a chance to - YIKES - look at the 90+ comments on the Open Thread from last week. Gal says there's some good stuff there, so I will read and comment there Sunday.

Thanks for keeping things going; good to be back in formation.

Friday, February 01, 2008

One week open thread

Folks, I have to drop off the grid for about a week. Should be back a week from Sunday.

You kids behave yourselves and don't take and wooden nickels. Please come back in the 10th or so - I get so pouty when my StatCounter numbers collapse. Sniffle.

An open post is an open post, so it is all up to you guys and gals .... but let me get it started.

Subject: Shipbuilding.

Question: Ponder the proven/evolutionary AFCON. Should we buy the F310, the Corvette or both? If we do both (Salamander choice), can and should we make the Corvette a LCDR Command (Phib says yes)?

Discuss this if you want - if not, whatever comes up around the bar; and see 'ya!


Displacement
(tons)
9,217 5,800 5,120 2,600
Length
Overall
(m/feet)
155.5/510 146.7/481.3 133.2/437.0 102/334.6
Beam Max
(m/feet)
20.4/67 18.6/61 16.8/55.1 13.9/45.6
Draft Full Load
(m/feet)
6.4/21 4.84/15.9 5.0/16.4 3.75/12.3
Crew 380 229+21 120+26 60+20
Propulsion 4 Gas
Turbines
CODOG,
2 Diesels,
2 Gas Turbines
CODAG,
2 Diesels,
1 Gas Turbines
CODAD
4 Diesels
Shafts 2 2 2 2
Electric 3 GT
Generators
4 Diesel
Generators
4 Diesel
Generators
4 Diesel
Generators
Flight Deck 2 Helo
Hangar
1 Helo
Hangar
1 Helo
Hangar
1 Helo
Hangar
Speed 30+ kts 28.5+ kts 27+ kts 27+ kts
Other
Active Fin
Stabilizer
Active Fin
Stabilizer
Active Fin
Stabilizer

AFCON



PS: did you notice I am stealing their bandwidth for the pic? Heh, heh....wonder how long they will let me; though it is free advertising to their target market.....

Thanks to
Ken T for the idea.

OK, don't take it from me...

Take it from the immediate past SACEUR, General James L. Jones, USMC (Retired).
NATO forces in Afghanistan are in a "strategic stalemate," as Taliban insurgents expand their control of sparsely populated areas and as the central government fails to carry out vital reforms and reconstruction, according to an independent assessment released yesterday by NATO's former commander.

"Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," said the report by the Atlantic Council of the United States, chaired by retired Gen. James L. Jones, who until the summer of 2006 served as the supreme allied commander of NATO.
NATO is just not, as an Alliance, stepping up to the plate.
Jones said several steps are needed to "regain the momentum that appears to have been lost" in Afghanistan: a comprehensive campaign plan that integrates security and reconstruction work; the appointment of a United Nations High Commissioner to coordinate international efforts; and a new regional approach to stabilizing Afghanistan that would include conferences with neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran.
...
"The United States and the international community have tried to win the struggle in Afghanistan with too few military forces and insufficient economic aid," the report said. It highlighted the lack of a clear strategy needed to "fill the power vacuum outside Kabul and to counter the combined challenges of reconstituted Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a runaway opium economy, and the stark poverty faced by most Afghans."
That is about right. He also mentions something I have been bringing up both here and professionally - it is well past the time to take AFG away from CENTCOM and give it to EUCOM - a COCOM who is very used to working with NATO and the Russians.
The study group said the United States should "decouple" Iraq and Afghanistan to establish a clear distinction between the funding and programs underway in the countries, which, it said, face different problems. It also called on Washington to appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan.
The Canadians are so fed up - they are ready to take their ball and go home.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper escalated diplomatic pressure on Canada's NATO allies yesterday, warning Britain's Gordon Brown that Canada will end its combat mission in Afghanistan next year unless the military alliance supplies 1,000 more troops for southern Afghanistan.
They aren't bluffing. They have been more than pulling their load, and we know it and thank them for it.

We are putting more and more pressure on NATO; but don't hold your breath.
The United States has written a strongly-worded letter to Germany and other NATO members urging them to send combat troops to dangerous areas in southern Afghanistan, the German defence ministry said on Thursday.

A spokesman for the ministry confirmed a newspaper report which said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had last week written to his counterparts in NATO countries asking for 3,200 extra troops.

"We confirm that we received the letter," said a spokesman for the ministry, noting that he had written to other NATO partners as well as Germany.

The spokesman also said NATO defence ministers would discuss the alliance's activities in Afghanistan at a meeting in Vilnius in February.
That is Gates playing bad cop again, but even our good cop is a bit miffed.
The next three to five years will be crucial for the people of Afghanistan, for the NATO alliance and for the community of democracies. The Afghanistan mission is an investment in our collective security; it is also the catalyst for the 21st-century transformation of our democratic alliance. If we can get it right in the Hindu Kush, we will also be stronger the next time we are called to defend our security and values so far from home.
Yep, we are thinking about the car keys.....

Fullbore Friday


If this picture doesn't give a Sailor even a brief moment of Zen, then he is truly lost.

Soak her in, but behind her beauty is a warrior through and through. I'll let
Old Ironsides speak for herself.

Behold, the USS CONSTITUTION - Fullbore to the core.