Bill Quick, inspired by LaShawn Barber, is fulminating about our leaders’ catastrophic failure to control our borders:

	Is that so hard for for the vote-drunk fools who are charged with protecting our borders and our nation to understand?
	Do I “expect the government to round up each illegal alien and kick him out?”
	Why, yes. Yes, I do. And a heck of a lot more Americans expect the same thing. I suggest we get together in 2006 and start kicking out the politicians who won’t kick out the outlaws. Is anybody with me? Remember: every single member of the House of Representatives, as well as a third of the Senate, is up for election next year. Now is not too soon to start researching your representatives and their records on immigration. If they are unsatisfactory, let’s spread it across the blogosphere. Immigration can be a huge issue, but not if the liberal MSM has anything to say about it. This issue can be the first great issue of the blogosphere.
	I am represented by Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and Representative Nancy Pelosi. I’ll take a look at their records on immigration and post the results here. If they aren’t satisfactory, I’ll be pushing hard to knock off Pelosi, who is the only one of the three running next year.

Michelle Malkin also weighs in:

And here, as elsewhere, while politicians pay lip service to protecting the public, they look the other way as illegal alien gang members get driver’s licenses, go to school (where they freely recruit new members), and congregate at taxpayer-subsidized illegal alien day labor centers were local police are discouraged from inquiring about immigration status or reporting suspected illegal aliens to the Department of Homeland Security.

This issue is worth a swarm. Bloggers of like mind: climb aboard!

Our senators are John Warner and George Allen. Warner is past hope, but Sen. Allen wants to be president, and thus may be malleable. Our representative is the Hon. Virgil Goode, a true fiscal conservative. We will soon be finding out where he stands on this issue.

I’ll even mint a new slogan:

The nation which fails to control its borders will fail to control its future.

Stay tuned.

 

Over at Little Green Footballs, on Mr. Johnson’s open thread for Katrina conversation, the lizardoids are discussing which corporations, the red or the blue, are giving more to the rescue operations in the aftermath of the hurricane. Red? Blue? Is this like halal and haram? Kosher foods?

We lead a sheltered life at Gates. Living in the Middle of Beyond, sans media except for the internet and a few magazines (books don’t count as media. They are stacked everywhere. The Baron, who claims he can do anything that requires brains and no skill, has suggested we call someone with both attributes — i.e., a carpenter — to add more bookcases to our collection). Thus, we were not aware of the depth of the political polarization in our good country. The breadth is obvious, but the depth is disturbing. Corporations, it seems, are either Red or Blue.

At BuyBlue.org, there is an alphabetical listing that lists the colors various companies fly. Some are deep blue, some lighter. Some are blood red, some a bit pink. And still others are white; these evidently are neutral. BuyBlue has a motto: In today’s America there is a more powerful act than voting blue and that’s BUYING BLUE (their emphasis).

This is a fascinating balkanization. Do you remember when Christian groups were ridiculed by liberals for suggesting that Christians should support Christian stores and businesses? Now it seems the Politically Correct thing to do. Imitation remains the sincerest form of flattery, doesn’t it?

Things I noticed: my car insurance is deep blue. Geico is blood red. Google, upon whom these words are written, is deep blue — something one can see in their screening of news stories sometimes. If a rival to Goog rose up, would the Vast Right Wing fly off in their direction? Does it make you uneasy that Google is so very friendly with the Chinese government?

There was no need to check Walmart’s color. Just from the invective flecks of foam spuming from the mouths of the progressives (love that new term) one can surmise that Walmart is too, too red for words. Or at least that appears to be the reason for their irrational reactivity regarding Walmart’s very existence. While I don’t shop at Walmart — it’s depressingly large somehow — I do go there online, especially to compare prices. And they deliver by mail.

What do you think? Is the color of a company’s politics a good reason to buy there or to boycott those who support programs you don’t like? Or should you simply continue to go to those places which provide value and service?

What a strange divide. What a strange website. What a wild and wooly country. To BuyBlue I say, bring it on, Blueseys!

Hmmm…I wonder what color my shoe store is? And how did Amazon turn red? Jeff Bezoz, why did I suppose you’d turn up blue and cyanotic like Google?

UP to now, there’s not been any reason to put up the whole of another blogger’s post on a subject. However, in this case, Florida Cracker is making an offer that only the hard-hearted can refuse.

In the interests of objectivity, Dymphna will admit that animals are not her favorite thing. She is subject to the will of two cats — both strays. Their various ailments have proved pricey, especially the neutered male. And then there is the (mostly) Lab puppy that the Baron’s Boy found in our woods one Christmas Eve; never content with us she has lived for many years at a neighbor’s house while we supply vet care and upkeep. It always seemed that she was a dog who knew where she belonged, and it wasn’t here, much to the Baron’s Boy’s heartbreak. As he said at the time, “How can you expect me to be normal if I grow up without a dog?” How, indeed?

The fact that the neighbor has three other dogs for company might have something to do with Sandy’s decision to absent herself. The Baron’s Boy used to pick her up and take her swimming at the river but he’s off to college now so that era has passed.

Meanwhile, Florida Cracker has made this appeal. In the interests of all those poor animals left alive after Katrina’s destruction, please consider F.C.’s offer:

	As I’ve written before, whenever there’s a disaster, the Humane Society of the United States sends out emergency response teams. The HSUS holds a formal agreement with FEMA and the Red Cross to provide disaster relief for animals, and works side-by-side with them.
	If any of my readers send in a donation HSUS Disaster Fund, the Louisiana SPCA, the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, or the Humane Society of South Mississippi; I’ll match it. Just e-mail me the receipt they provide. When it gets to $1000, I’ll holler.
	The Humane Society of South Mississippi doesn’t have a way to donate online, but clearly they couldn’t be left out.

Go to her site for the links you’ll need to make your contribution.

Let your conscience be your guide.

 
They must be holier than we.

The Brussels Journal calls the tax revolution that began in Estonia “walking on water,” but it’s really just doing what your Grandma told you as she thwacked your noggin: “use your common sense, child.”

Here’s what happened: The Estonian Prime Minister in 1992 (who governed for three years and then came back in 1999 until 2002) was Mart Laar. Mr. Laar was not a poliltician. His area of study was Europe’s 19th century national movements. Not being an economist, and figuring he’d better learn something quick, he sat down and read Free to Choose by Milton Friedman. Seeing all these ideas about the benefits of privitization, the abolition of tariffs, the economic advantages of a flat tax was a real eye-opener for Mr. Laar. He also thought that these were reforms already in place in the West.

It seemed common sense to me and, as I thought it had already been done everywhere, I simply introduced it in Estonia, despite warnings from Estonian economists that it could not be done. They said it was as impossible as walking on water. We did it: we just walked on the water because we did not know that it was impossible.”

So in 1994, Estonia introduced the flat tax with a rate of 26%. What did they have to lose, after all? When Laar took over, Estonia’s inflation rate was over a thousand per cent. The economic growth rate was neagative thirty per cent, and the employment rate was thirty per cent and rising. The government owned just about everything, and virtually all Estonian trade was with Russia.

So how do things look now? We should be so lucky:

Today, inflation is 2.5%, economic growth is between 6 and 7%, unemployment is low, the government budget is balanced and there is a high level of investment. Moreover, Estonia is leading the world in the field of e-government.

And Estonia is not the only country with a flat tax and a thriving economy. The Brussels Journal lists Lithuania and Latvia, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Georgia and Romania as having implemented versions of the flat tax. They say Iraq is consdering such a move.

Meanwhile, Mart Laar has returned to writing history, this time about the anti-communist partisan fighters in the forests of Estonia. “They saved the soul of my country.” That may well be true, but Mr. Laar saved its bacon. And all it took was common sense.

Okay, everybody — out of the boat, start walking.

If you want a latte in Moscow, you’ll have to resort to what we do here in the Middle of Beyond: get your own espresso machine. Meanwhile, Starbucks was less-than-vigilant when it came to guarding its name and got caught with its capitalist knickers down:

The U.S. coffee giant has been eyeing the Russian market since 1997, when it registered the Starbucks trademark with patent agency Rospatent.

Maybe Starbucks’ attention wandered? An entity calling itself OOO Starbucks has taken over the name and now the case is in court.

Rights to the trademark first became an issue in 2002, when a Russian company called Press appealed to Rospatent for the rights to the Starbucks name, as it had not been used for more than three years, and later that year sold the rights to OOO Starbucks, which is unrelated to the U.S. company.

Needless to say, what OOO wants is a whole bunch of money and they’ll go away. A “whole bunch” in this case is $600,000.00 — surely not much more than the average New York City daily take at a local Starbucks’ café?

The U.S. company’s position is looking stronger, as it has secured the support of a number of influential figures in Russia, the report says, including Arkady Volsky, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Volsky is also co-chairman of the Russian-American Commercial Energy Dialog.

Maybe it’s the principle of the thing? Whatever. For the moment, things are up in the air:

U.S. Embassy spokesman David Foley declined to say whether the embassy was in talks with Starbucks. He added, “If a Starbucks were to open here, it would be in the embassy cafeteria.”

Well, there you are. Another luxury posting for the people from Foggy Bottom.

 
The Australians have such style, such finesse:

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law should get out of Australia, a senior government minister has said, hinting that some radical clerics might be asked to leave.

Peter Costello is Australia’s treasurer and hopes to replace John Howard when he retires. Looks like he might make it, based on these statements:

	“If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you…”
	“I’d be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that that is false.
	“There’s only one law in Australia — it’s the law that’s made by the parliament of Australia and enforced by our courts. There is no second law.
	“If you can’t agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country which practices it, perhaps, then, that’s a better option,”

In addition to all this plain speaking, Prime Minister Howard called a meeting of mainstream Muslims, all of whom disowned Osama and pledged to fight Islamic terrorism.

It doesn’t look like there will be any Ottawa-style Sharia courts in Sydney real soon. And don’t hold your breath for the Law schools to start hiring Sharia professors.

Sounds like Australia has made a firm commitment to reality. How refreshing.

Hat tip: American Digest. Look in the Side Notes.

 
There’s a new sport in Northhampton, England. It’s an imported game. All it takes are a couple of cars, a little strategy, and some timing.

The timing first: wait for the bars to close. Watch to see which women are alone and lurching home.

Having spotted your prey use two cars to close the street, blocking her getaway.
Then grab the woman and off you go, in caravan, to some secluded spot. Do your business — however many of you there are to have business to do — and then drop her back where you found her. Or not.

This violent pasttime is called “jack rolling” and it’s from South Africa, where apparently it is well-known.

	Jack rolling became notorious in South Africa during the 1990s, when gangs of youths in cars blocked off streets and raped every woman caught in their net.
	Three women have been grabbed from the street and raped since July 31, while two more have escaped in a town where “stranger rape” is almost unknown. A climate of fear has taken hold since the latest rape, which came to light when the 30-year-old victim was found with head injuries near a housing estate in the early hours of Monday.

Please note the one important variable: available women.

	Four of the five victims were initially approached in and around Northampton’s rowdy pub and club quarter. Drunk women can be seen drifting home on their own in the early hours of most mornings, according to Helen Grattan, the manager of The Auctioneer’s pub on Drapery.
	“I wouldn’t walk around here on my own at night,” she said. “There’s a lot of dark alleyways that girls could be pulled down and a lot of shady people hanging around on street corners.

No doubt about it; this is a vile and violent crime. But ignore the feminists who will scream about “unfairness” and “male violence.” This is limited to a very few criminals, but it is open season on a woman foolish enough to (a) go to a bar alone; or (b) walk home alone in the wee hours, even if she’s leaving Grandma’s after a night of whist with the old folks.

Fear is a normal human response. It is an especially handy survival skill for women to develop. Not fearfulness, but common-sensical appreciation for the probablity factors in any given situation.

Teach your girls that they can’t “have it all” nor should they esteem having everything as a worthwhile goal.

The violence in the world grows apace as the globe becomes a village.

Hmm…why do you think that is?

Hat tip: Mangan’s Miscellany

Gates of Vienna has recently been plagued by comment spam. Regular readers know what I’m talking about:

	Great blog you have here! I’m bookmarking you right now.
	If you’re interested, I’ve got a buggy whip-related site which you might be interested in. For buggy-whip related topics, that is.

As a result, we have decided to enable “word verification” for comments. That is, commenters will have to type a string of characters based on an image, in order for their comments to be accepted.

It’s a pain in the butt, but it keeps out the spam bots.

Hat tip: World History Blog.

 

The Baron’s List: Small Is Beautiful

In the last two years I have gradually switched from news sites to blogs as my way of gathering news on the web. If you stay current on a range of blogs, you will encounter all the news stories that you want to know about, many of which would never show up on CNN, or even on Fox.

At first my sources were mostly the “big blogs”, the reliable and informative ones that perform such a valuable service. But I found that as I spread my net wider, acquiring new contacts through the comments on Gates of Vienna, the “little blogs” can be just as informative and interesting as the big ones.

So today we are celebrating some of the blogs we like to visit, ones that are less well-known than some but still deserving of attention. They feed us a lot of our traffic, and we in turn spend time lurking on their posts, commenting on their threads, and poking around in their archives.

I can’t include everyone on this list, but here is a representative sample:

• At the top of my list has to be Fjordman, who is performing an invaluable service for the world. He blogs from Norway, so he is living dangerously, since European laws restrict speech for PC reasons, and he is as un-PC as they come. He has a dark view of the European future, so don’t go to him for reassurance. But rely on him for wide-ranging news from all over the world, and not just Scandinavia. He may be taking a sabbatical soon, and we will miss him. So go check out Fjordman while you can.
• Florida Cracker brings a crusty and eccentric voice to the blogosphere; there is no one else quite like her. She has an eye for strange and whimsical news stories, and her blog will supply you with very interesting links, ones she culls from her careful perusal of the South Florida newspapers. Warning: don’t join in one of her comment threads if you have a sensitive nature, because she pulls no punches.
• For extensive digests of the news, nobody tops Cuanas. If I just want to find out what’s going on in the world, particularly as it relates to the Great Jihad, I drop in on Cuanas.
• Indus Valley Rising is a new voice in the ’sphere, looking at the Great Jihad from a Hindu perspective.
• For pure unadulterated history, the place to go is World History Blog. Miland posts on every historical topic imaginable.
• El Jefe Maximo, blogging at Kingdom of Chaos, is another history buff. I have to stay on my toes, because I know that if I make a historical error, Jefe will soon appear in the comments to set me straight.
• The boys at Redneck’s Revenge are another important source of Jihad news. In addition, interesting and knowledgeable people turn up in the comment threads there.
• There are many important milblogs, but one of my favorites is CDR Salamander, who has quirky personality all his own.
• I also count The Word Unheard as a milblog, even though the Vet is not currently serving. He ranges widely through military, intelligence, and historical topics.
• Neddy has opinions, and doesn’t mind blogging them. She can be found at two locations: Neddy’s Palaver and Kerfuffles.
• Jamie Jeffords, blogging at Eye of Polyphemus, took up serious blogging after experiencing a host of medical troubles, ones that would have driven a lesser man into terminal despair. He provides informed commentary on many subjects, and can entertain the reader with the medical expertise that he has acquired.
• Robert Pearson blogs at New Victorian, and is an “unabashed admirer of human freedom and dignity. An unapologetic opponent of those who would take them from others by force. Cultural relativists will be beaten with a logic stick. Finally, if you really believe that ‘A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,’ then don’t come around my boy, or you will get the real stick upside the head.”
• Those of us who have lived in Northern Virginia know that it is a significant front in the American Theatre of the Great Islamic Jihad. Northern Virginiastan monitors the ongoing absurdities and the incipient dhimmitude in the D.C. area.
• For outrageous satire, don’t miss Point Five. When the Wizbang awards come along this year, I’ll be voting repeatedly for a4g and his accomplices in the satire department.
• Bill Keezer keeps a wary eye on the world at Bill’s Comments. Brief posts with extensive links give the reader access to a wide spectrum of information.
• Greg at Toe in the Water is a relative newcomer to the blogosphere, blogging extensively on all current topics.
• Minh Duc is a Vietnamese-American, a former member of the military, and an astute analyst. Read his take on events at State of Flux.
• Last, but not least, is Neo-neocon. She is a recovering liberal, and speaks eloquently of the difficulties and soul-searching that led her to her new political views. Liberals jolted out of their former place by the Great Jihad are in a thankless position: they are often reviled and repudiated by their former friends and colleagues, and if they work in the federal bureacracy, academia, or the media, they can face ostracism and harassment. The center-right blogosphere is a big tent, with plenty of room for differing views. Stop in at Neo’s place and hear what she has to say; it’s worth listening to.

One other person who should be included here is PD111, known to his friends as “111”. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t have a blog of his own, but he comments widely in the blogosphere; if you drop in on almost any comment thread, he is likely already to have commented there. Virtually everything he has to say is well-written, informative, and worth reading. (PD111, if you are reading this: You need your own blog. Seriously. Dymphna and I would invite you to blog here, if we could obtain an email address for you.)

These are some of the voices that can aggregate to form the perfect swarm I’ve been talking about. Readers are strongly advised to pay them a visit.

UPDATE: I have been taken to the woodshed by Texas Gal, so I now know that I should have said, “The boys ’n’ girls at Redneck’s Revenge are another important source of Jihad news. In addition, they are alert and ornery critters.”

Another response was from Donnah, aka Florida Cracker: “‘Crusty and eccentric’? I did not know that about myself. Now show me a picture of the back of my hair.”

Remember how Adam was given the power — the permission — to name things? It’s in the story because we deeply understand that naming things bestows a kind of authority on the one passing out the labels. At least this is so if the label sticks, and this one ought to have glue all over it.

By now, we’re familiar with the Islamic idea of dhimmitude. It’s repugnant to the Western ideal of equality and brotherhood. Bat Y’eor has described only too well the dhimmitude of Eurabia. One prays that her predictions are too dysphorically tuned to be correct. Meanwhile…

…in Canada, they have dummitude, a neologism coined to meet the need to address the diminishing wits of our neighbors to the North. Sisu points out the latest hilarity (it’s hilarious if you don’t live in Toronto. If you are one of its benighted denizens, you might consider moving. If there is any safe place left. Ottawa has got another lock on the rapidly shrinking culutural IQ):

You’ve heard of dhimmitude — the denial of equal rights and dignity to infidels under Sharia law. Now there’’s dummitude, the denial of human nature under Canadian law.

At issue is the presence in Canada of Natalie Glebova, this year’s Miss Universe. A nice coup, no? She’s gorgeous. She’s Canadian. What’s the problem?

Here’s the problem. In the place where feminists and Islamicists meet — and it’s obviously not any place you, dear reader, would want to visit — beauty pageants are bad. Awarding beauty for its own sake is so politically incorrect it makes the peecee meter melt. Thus, while Miss Universe does not yet have to wear the hijab, it is against the law for her to show up at any public function in Toronto wearing her tiara and sash:

	According to a city bylaw, “activities which degrade men or women through sexual stereotyping, or exploit the bodies of men, women, boys or girls solely for the purpose of attracting attention,” are not permitted at Nathan Phillips Square.
	Glebova could still open the festival, organizers were told, but under strict conditions. She couldn’t wear her sash or tiara, and couldn’t be referred to as either Miss Universe or a beauty queen.
	Instead, organizers were told, they could refer to her as “an individual of note contributing to our community.”

Dymphna, not given to using profanity — mainly because it could be an indication of a limited mind — had to leave the keyboard momentarily to go outside and scream “WTF???” before getting out the smelling salts for the more dignified part of her, a part equally upset at this display of dummitude. This is a particular burden since Dymphna was conceived in Toronto and takes its slide into silly irrelevance personally.

How long, Oh Lord, how long?

Hat tip: sisu. Be sure to check out the site. For the sake of brevity, some of her best analysis was left out. This blogger writes with panache; you will also find her point of view fresh and sympatico. “Dummitude” sums it up, though. We shall no doubt have cause to refer to it again.

 

From The RP comes your Sunday morning contemplation –

The Saudi Airplane at Prayer:

He claims no humans were hurt during the making of this piece of art. Of course, I have my doubts as to whom the Religious Policeman considers to belong to this species.

 
There’s a buzz in certain pockets of the blogosphere. A buzz that needs to be a swarm.

For a while now, we have been reading Michael Yon’s dispatches from Iraq, amazed at his pictures and awed by his ability to move with the men he reports about. His readership probably began to reach critical mass when he posted the haunting picture of Major Bieger carrying the little Iraqi girl, Farah, wrapped in a blanket with one bloody ankle dangling from his arms. It was a breath-stopping frame — literally, it was breath-stopping, since Farah died despite the Major’s desperate attempts to save her. And she died from wounds inflicted by terrorists. She was not “collateral damage”, because the terrorists are intent on targeting civilians, including children. It is one of the ways they hope to break the will of the Iraqis and of the American soldiers and the people who support them.

Mr. Yon is an independent journalist. In fact, his singular efforts do much to restore some shine to the once-respected field of “journalism.” Not hunkered down in the safety of the Green Zone, Yon is out there in the midst of the maelstrom armed only with his camera and his gift for words. Both those weapons are taking their toll; they are making inroads into the MSM battle plan strategy to vietnamize this war. It isn’t Vietnam, it never will be. And Michael Yon is one of the generals in charge of making certain you aren’t led down that particular MSM primrose path. Remember that road, the one that ended in perdition and national shame and wasted lives, thanks to the “reporting” by the national press? We won’t go there again, no matter how loud the moonbat Greek chorus urging us to return once again to those days of yore, the 1970’s oh-so-hip self-hatred. Been there, as they say. Done that. Fini. Next song.

Here’s a brand new tune, written specifically for the blogosphere. It’s meant to be hummed, a capella. No Moaning Joanie strums here, just the buzz of the aggregate blogs, humming along till they join in a grand chorus of directed movement and noise. Here at Gates, we call it The Perfect Swarm. It is the wisdom of crowds —the blogosphere crowd — moved to action on the behalf of our country and the individuals who are making a difference.

Michael Yon is one of those individuals. Once you start reading him you have to find out what happens next. I happened upon his site late one night and stayed up in front of the screen much too late, reading the whole month’s dispatches for March. I was hooked. No doubt many of you have similar stories to tell. Rather like stumbling across The Belmont Club a year ago and being gob-smacked by Wretchard’s intelligent and far ranging analysis. They are nothing like one another, but they have the same affect on their readers: a galvanizing sense that this can be comprehended and parsed in such a way that events make sense. We may not always like the “sense” they make, but at least we’re less in the dark than we were. And the excitement generated by simply knowing more than we did before results in an increase in the distributive political intelligence in this country, an intelligence that has been retarded for years by the efforts of the information gatekeepers.

Speaking of the dark: Mr. Yon does not say how he manages to support himself in the field. He did acknowledge that Paypal donations permitted him to get a better camera; you could see the improvement in the quality of his photography immediately upon his acquistion of better equipment. Of course, even with the old camera he had an innate ability to compose his shots. And even on the run, the composition of his work is stunning. But he is literally in the dark without the night vision gear the soldiers have:

	Thursday night, a revised plan had me following some Deuce Four soldiers on a midnight raid. They had night vision gear, so they moved quickly. I had only moonlight, so I nearly broke my leg keeping up. Sleeking around Mosul under moonlight, we prowled through the pale glow until we came upon a pond near a farmhouse. Recon platoon had already raided one house and snagged some suspects, then crept away in the darkness to another target close by.
	Five soldiers from Recon—Holt, Ferguson, Yates, Welch and Ross—were moving through moon-cast shadows when an Iraqi man came out from a farmhouse, his AK-47 rifle hanging by his side. Suddenly encircled by the rifles, lights and lasers of four soldiers, the man was quickly disarmed. A fifth soldier radioed for the interpreter and together they sorted out that he was a farmer who thought the soldiers were thieves skulking around his property. Recon returned the man his rifle, and started making their way back, umbral and silent across the ploughed fields.
	During a halt in some trees at the edge of the field, I overheard the voice of LTC Kurilla, the commander of the Deuce Four battalion, quietly praising one of the soldiers for showing discipline in not shooting the farmer…

As you can see, Yon needs to see; he needs to be able to see at night when he goes along on patrol. Thus, a generous response from the blogosphere to Mr. Yon’s Paypal donations would permit that to happen.

Meanwhile, all you experts out there: where does one go to purchase this kind of thing? Can we get together and buy a gift certificate at Ye Local Battle Geare Shoppe so Mr. Yon can purchase his own night sight kit?

But there is a larger need for on-going support for Mr. Yon’s work. Sure, he’s going to write a book someday — provided he survives — and that will provide some income. But who knows when that will be, or when he will get enough aesthetic distance from the immediacy of battle to give us a fuller picture. Meanwhile, he has to live, however simply. It is up to us, those who are grateful for his willingness to go above and beyond the meaning of “journalist” to bring us one person’s invaluable view of things Over There.

Go over to Michael’s site and donate. Make it a regular thing, like paying the bills. Since we here at Gates of Vienna don’t tithe to our cowardly national church any longer we can contribute more than we might have previously. If you’re in same position please consider this as a possibility that it is your work, too: just one more form of spreading the good.

You will notice in Mr. Yon’s sidebar that he is the author of the book, Danger Close. Here’s part of the blurb from Amazon:

In 1982, one month after graduating from high school, Florida native Mike Yon joined the Army to earn tuition money for college. At that time, President Reagan had begun channeling massive amounts of funds into Special Operations units such as the Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, and Special Forces in response to the calamitous failure of a U.S. Special Ops attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran. For a brief time, writes Yon, “the Army allowed kids straight out of their initial military training to try out for Special Forces”–and Yon jumped at the chance. By July of 1983, at the remarkable age of 19, Yon had survived rounds of grueling training and graduated into the Green Berets. One day later, a bizarre encounter in a Maryland bar landed Yon in jail, accused of murdering a fellow patron with his bare hands.

Reading that, can you resist? There’s another way to support his effort: buy the book.

UPDATE: Mr. Yon is getting big now and he’s had to change the rules. His previous request that his pictures be linked to and not posted was mostly ignored. People have begun to use huge chunks of his posts without their own commentary — lazy blogging — and are dissipating the impact of his stories. So now he has a new and more imperative warning posted:

	This website and blog, and all text and photographs contained herein are Copyright Michael Yon 2005. Any reproduction without authorization will be considered copyright infringement and will be pursued. You may link to this site and excerpt no more than 75 words of one dispatch for identification purposes. Any affiliation, beyond the aforementioned linking and excerpt, of Michael Yon or this website with another website, individual, company or organization will be considered in violation of Michael Yon’s rights.
	Contact for media and copyright inquiries: John Mason: jmason@bktc.net

I violated this rule, using 212 words. But if it gets that night vision gear on Mr. Yon’s eyes, I do hope to be forgiven in time. Meanwhile, I will have to write and apologize, with a firm purpose of amendment to go and sin no more.
Send money and keep me out of trouble.