Womens' Rights Day for Muslims, 3/8/2007

This is a very touching story about a woman who can never go home, although that is her dream. Why not? Because she turned away from Islam and its' brutality. 25.32 minutes.

This is a remarkable woman who speaks very well about what she is demanding from society in general and Islam in particular. The one thing that saddens me about her speech is that while she has turned her back on the religion of Islam, she has lost all faith in religion (IT APPEARS). This I find rather sad, since my life has been so enriched by it. 19 minutes or so.

This woman is also incredible, although an interpreter is used. She speaks German rather well! I do not. lol. Please listen to what these ladies have to say. You claim you want to hear someone speak out? Well. Then listen. 19.17 minutes.

A great big Hat Tip to Serendip.

You will be able to view this video over at Causes of Interest.

Update: Nathan is having an open-trackback weekend, and you MUST add this URL to your post. It is only proper! He is a very nice Christian man who I met quite a while ago (through the net, not face to face). He has very good articles, and he likes to stay on top the news as we do. You may want to add him to your blogroll, because I guarantee you will read news you may have missed. Thanks, and have a great day.

ME, Sudan, and Germany News Round-Up

Let's start off with some good news for a change, eh? Iran releases 8 women's rights activists from jail! This is a good start, but we still have to pressure Iran for the other 25 women they are still holding. If that link no longer works, try this one.

Another good news article is this: Iraqi MP: Some lawmakers to lose immunity. This could have something to do with the government official's whose son was stopped at the border while returning from Iran. The news neglected to mention that the official had his office searched on suspicious of ties with death squads. If that link no longer works, try this one.

The situation in Darfur, Sudan, has finally reached the ICC: Impunity for war crimes against women. This article confronts the daily abuses and victimization of women. If that link no longer works, try this one.

Here is an article that could be perceived as either good or bad. It depends on whether you'd like to know before hand if there is a threat to your person. Saudi authorities warn foreigners of attacks. If this link no longer works, try this one. Please be careful if you have any plans on travelling anytime soon. To find out if there is a threat level increase, check here.

Syria is not doing anything uncommon. It amazes me how so many people are surprised when they find them to be bad actors, including the USA. This time, however, it was the Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht who left the country with his hands in the air and he shaking his head. If the link no longer works, try this one.

"BERLIN: Bomb-building instructions have been found on the deleted hard drive of a computer belonging to one of the suspects in the attempted bombing last summer of two trains in Germany, a newspaper reported on Wednesday."

I found this to be partial good news. I'm still quite upset about the leader of Hizbullah's brother being released some 2 years ago. If that link doesn't work, use this one.

Update: Nathan is having an open-trackback weekend, and you MUST add this URL to your post. It is only proper! He is a very nice Christian man who I met quite a while ago (through the net, not face to face). He has very good articles, and he likes to stay on top the news as we do. You may want to add him to your blogroll, because I guarantee you will read news you may have missed. Thanks, and have a great day.

Political movement in Iraq could shuffle more than paper

There is very interesting news coming from Iraq the Model yesterday by Omar. It appears that many people in Iraq are getting very tired of the daily murdering of innocent Iraqis, and they may be ready to warm up to a non-sectarian bloc of politicians. As Omar states:

The political scene in Iraq these days is registering a level of activity like we haven’t seen since right after the elections, when the blocs squabbled over who got to be the new premier.

Political alliances are being redrawn right now —and three developments are shaping the change and dominating local news headlines at stories of violence’s expense. Continue reading Back to Politics!

The main ideas I seemed to come away from this news are that the bloc would be non-sectarian, inclusive of Sunni, Shia and hopefully Kurds and bringing to power the adults. The religious bloc of Shiites will have less power, especially if they lose the majority of seats. This may ease tensions across the entire country.

If this can be accomplished, maybe, just maybe, the Iraqi people can finally start to get a glimps of things recognizably coming together the way they had hope for in the beginning. This would turn the tables on the terrorists. With the Iraqis starting to see their country as Iraq and not what sect they belong to, they will start to feel a sense of unity. This is great news for all involved. Well, except for the terrorists! But that IS what we want, isn't it Senators and Congresspeople? Sometimes I wonder...

Update: Nathan is having an open-trackback weekend, and you MUST add this URL to your post. It is only proper! He is a very nice Christian man who I met quite a while ago (through the net, not face to face). He has very good articles, and he likes to stay on top the news as we do. You may want to add him to your blogroll, because I guarantee you will read news you may have missed. Thanks, and have a great day.

Uncle Jimbo in Madison at Wando's

Uncle Jimbo and his friend Kevin are going to have a video for us each Friday night. It probably will be posted on Saturday. You should check out their first one: Kev & Uncle J discuss the plan to De-Baathification. It shall be on YouTube under the category of News & Politics.

They discussed many topics, and I was quite taken back. I did not understand why Uncle Jimbo took some of the positions he did, but I figure he was just yanking my chain. At least, that's what I hope!

However you look at it, it is really fun, entertaining, and imformative. (Yeah, I just threw that one in for good measure. :)

Hat tip: Blackfive.

Jim interviews Sgt. 1st. Class Troy Smith

This is a very good and detailed interview between Sgt. 1st Class Troy Smith, stationed in Iraq, and Jim of Thinking Right. It appears that the Soldiers over in Iraq are more optimistic about the future of that country than the politicians are back home. It is only natural.

Let's face it. Who would have the best information? A politician who hardly lifts a finger all day except to shake it at you to tell you how stupid you are, or someone who is out there risking it all so you and I may live in peace and freedom? Yes, my feelings precisely...

First Generation Roundtable (R)

Justin has done something incredible. He has invited some teens to a roundtable to discuss issues of substance. The full text can be read here. There are some intriguing questions and answers, and I recommend we listen. Thank you, and have a nice day.

"Operation Imposing the Law" according to Iraqis

There has been much talk about this new operation, depending on which side of the discussion you find yourself. We all know what we think, so I thought it would be good if we just stepped back and out of the way for a moment to listen to what the Iraqis who live right there have to say.

Obviously I am going to bring you their personal beliefs from their blogs. Sometimes it was the only news I could get from this war. I feel confident in the sincerity of these people whom I am going to quote. Shall we?

First I would like to share with the opening of operations as seen through the eyes of Omar at Iraq the Model. This was written on Feb. 15, 2007 and is named, "Operation Baghdad Update":

Despite the traffic jams and though this is the largest deployment for troops in the capital, daily life and civilian activity-contrary to what was expected-still continues at a rather normal level, unlike previous crackdowns where life came to near paralysis. Read more.

He also goes into detail about Maliki and his observations as to this man's actions in the recent days.

His brother, Mohammed, has written an article titled, "Attacks in Baghdad down by 80%" on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007:

Since the multiple bombings in Shroja market district on the 12th, Baghdad hasn’t seen any major attacks and there’s a tangible decrease in all kinds of attacks.

Not only official statements say so (Defense ministry officials said today that attacks are down by 80% in Baghdad). It’s a reality I live in nowadays, at least in my neighborhood and its surroundings. It is also what I hear from friends and relatives in other parts of the city.We are hearing fewer explosions and less gunfire now than two weeks ago and that, in Baghdad, qualifies as quiet. Read more.

This is an awesome post. I never would have guessed any of this just by reading our own newspapers. Do we have journalists over there?

The latest post from the ITM brothers (Mohammed) is titled, "Bombs strike again but hope remains" and was written Monday, Feb. 19, 2007:

Although soldiers and policemen are filling the streets, the terrorists are too coward to face the troops and choose to massacre unarmed civilians instead. What are they trying to prove with these cowardly acts? They can’t defeat the troops, so they attack civilians to discredit the security plan. But I don’t think such attacks can change the course of events on the long term; the Baghdad plan is a strategic effort that will go on for months, and time doesn’t seem to be on the terrorists’ side right now.
...
Although attacks happen here and there, the general feeling is still closer to hope and appreciation of the plan than pessimism. More families are returning to the homes they were once forced to leave, and we’re talking about some of the most dangerous districts such as Ghazaliya and Haifa Street.

Al-Sabah reports that yesterday alone 327 families returned home and that the scene of vans loaded with furniture of refugees leaving Baghdad is no more. There were times when the average was around 20 a day. The 327 figure brought the total to more than 500 families across Baghdad. Read more.

They seem to be able to find the confidence within themselves that our politicians are sorely lacking. Alas, let us keep the pols out of this.

Here is another person who has written about the recent events. IraqiPundit has this to say in this post written Mon, 2/19/2007. The title is, "A Baghdad Homecoming":

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Baghdad security crackdown, from my own family’s point of view. My story involves only a single household, but – so far – it has a happy ending. I don’t pretend that this one household’s story is a counterweight to all the misery and murder that the crackdown is intended to address, but it’s my profound hope that this story is – or soon will be --representative of many other such individual tales that will be told by many other Iraqi families. Read more.

IraqPundit has a very keen sense of what is happening in and around Iraq. Very nice and moving article.

All of these posts are insightful and informative. They have much more news than you will find in our dinosaur media. You may also wish to read Pajamas Media. This is a collection of several citizen journalists who dedicate their time going after the news that is really out there but we never see. Have a great day.