A shout out to my British and German Readers.

First up the Senior Service

HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and her Task Group.

Now the Deutsche Marine.

The Sachsen class frigate Seeb

RN image is fullsize, DM nearly so. unfortunately niether the RN or DM are willing to give you US like hi-res photos.  Maybe they figure it will save them in terms of bandwidth costs

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     Of late there has been something of a hullablo over suppouesdly 'dangerous' Shoujo comics in Osaka prefecture.  It raises an interesting set of issues, what exactly can any liberal, pluralistic, democratic society do to control the distribution of materials that some people may find offensive but others have the right to create and consume.  This is at best an extremely delicate balancing act.  When such a controversy arises in society that places a high value on public consensus it blurs the lines even further.  Japan is a country that at times intrigues me and at others, confounds me.  The Japanese constitution enshrines an absolute right to freedom of expression but censorship laws go unchallenged, or even if ruled unconstitutional they remain on the books.  The need for consesus and cultural tradition has largely kept the Japanese Supreme Court from becoming what the allies intended it to be.  It was hoped it would be a court not unlike the US Spreme Court, acting as a co-equal branch of government and counter balancing the power of the legislative and executive, that has not been the case.  Sadly the Japanese judiciary is lacking a Thomas Franfurter, Hugo Black or Earl Warren.  Lacking a strong proponent of individual rights on the bench a bizarre duality continues to exsist where nearly anything can be published, so long as you somehow alter or cover up genetallia.

     While I appluad Japan for all that it has done to become a more open and forward looking society I am also keenly aware that in some respects it remains trapped in its feudal past.  This leads to the contradictions noted above, and many others.  A pacifist nation with the worlds third largest navy, an enviromentally concous nation that is awash in concrete, a trading nation that remains somewhat hostile and even discriminitory toward outsiders.  I appreciate Japan for what it is, but like my own nation I refuse to view her through rose colored glasses just because she is foreign and distant.  I see both the good and bad, and I appreciate all the more for how much more good there is than bad, for no one is perfect, because perfection is boring.

Go here for full background on the Osaka story.

(And I am well aware of the irony of posting this directly above a dirty picture post.)

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Lovely pics of even more lovely Rukia.  Need I say more?

More revealing pics below the fold.   Enjoy

Below the fold is Totally NSFW!

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All Stories from Defend America.

From Afghanistan:

Afghan Soldiers Undergo 'Commando' Training, Volunteers learn infantry tactics and first aid.

Bagram Outreach Program Brings Aid to Local Villages.
Medical mission breaks barriers, builds trust with villagers.

Operation Diablo Dragnet Links People to Government.
Collaborative effort yields trust and discourse with Afghans.

Afghan Government Provides Aid to Flood Victims. Hundreds of pounds of food and water help 250 villagers.

Ready Reserve Soldiers Respond to Country’s Call. Soldiers receive recognition, promotions.

From Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, Camp Lemonier Djibouti

Task Force Members Survive in Djibouti Desert. Training provides better appreciation for African weather conditions.

Civil Affairs Team Celebrates Fence Completion. Soldiers help villagers build fence around school.

Servicemembers Move into New Billets. Containerized living units improve quality of life for troops.

Be prepared, be alert, stay alive!

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     TNT has three of the best shows on TV, hands down.  If you have yet to catch Heartland, The Closer and Saving Grace get your TV listings out and make it a point to check out these great shows.  While the networks have continued to pump out bland, predictable sitcoms and dramas¹ cable has seemingly cornered the market on high quality programming.  With the possible exception of some of Fox's animated shows, HOUSE and 24 the best of everything is on cable.  The afore mentioned shows, plus Mind of Mencia, South Park, Rescue Me, The Shield, Rome, The Sopranos, Dirty Jobs, MythBusters, Dallas SWAT (and other cities) The First 48, The Bronx is Burning and Deadliest Catch all have homes on cable channels.  The networks have been left in the dust because cable is free to take risks that they can't or won't take.  More importantly the Cable channels have also hit upon the fact that you don't have to structure your seasons according to the flawed and highly questionable nielson ratings system.  If you wnat a season to begin June or July you can basically sieze the field and viewers well before the networks roll out their fresh episodes in the fall.  God save the Networks!*

¹ER is a prime example of a show that was once great that should have gotten the ax at least 5 years ago.

*The traditional call from the crowd at the coronation of a British monarch is to call for God to save the King (or Queen), who has died.

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From First Multinational Force Iraq

Three insurgents killed emplacing roadside bomb.

Statement from the Multi-National Force-Iraq to Iraq’s National Soccer Team.

36 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists detained.

Al-Qaeda cell leader killed, seven insurgents detained near Karmah.

Stallion Engineers lend hand to Iraqi Army counterparts in Al Awad.

Soldiers, NAC work together to refurbish School in Saliyih.

Mortar tube, cache seized in south Baghdad.

20 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists detained.

Keep the dreaded call from coming, Keep it to yourself!

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From First MNF-Iraq

     Soldiers, Marines pour their hearts into helping local Iraqi boys.

       AL TAQADDUM — In the United States things can be relatively simple. If someone is ill, he goes to the doctor. If a person is very ill, then they go to the hospital.

      In Iraq, on the other hand, it is not always that simple. Medical care is very expensive and many times the wait to be treated can be weeks long.

      While on patrol, soldiers from Company A, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), stumbled upon two boys who were truly sick, took a stand,  and decided to help them.

      One of them has a serious heart condition.

      “He has what’s called Tetralogy of Fallot,” said Spc. Eric Rasmussen, a medic with the company and Maple Grove, Minn., native. “It’s pretty much a hole that keeps the heart from receiving oxygenated blood.”

      Mohommed Yesier Abdula Essa has been living with the hole in his heart for quite some time.

      “Once we decided to help him we contacted a group called the National Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad,” said Army 1st Lt. Gordon P. Giswold, a civil affairs officer with the battalion.

      “They said they could sponsor these kids to receive surgery.”

      Once the ball began to roll, it was a matter of getting the children to Baghdad to receive treatment.

      “The (commanding general) made things happen,” said Giswold, a Cold Spring, Minn., native. “Pretty much everyone was trying to make this work.”

       Once they arranged for transportation, the company went out and retrieved the sick children and family.

Read it all here.

     The story speaks for itself.  It still amazes me what the average American service member is willing to do for someone he has never met before, with no expectation of recieving anything in return.  If you see a service member or veteran give them a thank you for their service, they deserve it.

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Pointless dirty picture post

Most assuredly not safe for work, view them in all their glory below the fold. more...

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     Steady progress on the still nameless 16DDH continues apace with new photos showing how work is progressing.

Here we can see that she has gained her mast and a number of antenas.  She also appears to have recieved her first coat of paint up to the flight deck edge level.

Here we see another angle giving us a better view of her mast, stack tops and bridge.  Also new are the covers on the phased aray radar appetures, indicating that her radar gear is being installed.

Finally I dug up this scan of a Japanese newspaper with this great overhead view allowing us to see that her elevators are assembled on deck prior to being fitted to their lifting gear.  Not readily obvoius is the location of her VLS cell though, just foreward of the bridge where several work vehicles are parked at the moment.

First two photos came from this Japanese blog.  Previous construction photos from the same source, wish I read Japanese sorry, no source for the newspaper scan.

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     Viz will be hammering North America with a virtual tsunami of Naruto beginning in September, with twelve volumes of manga being released between then and December, plus another DVD box set, and plenty of related merchandise.  So could this be too much of a good thing?  I don't think so, after all Naruto is insanely popular, and given that all of this will be hitting during the fourth quarter (christmass shopping season) Viz has hit upon a marketing master stroke that will please both their bean vounters by raking an insane amount of jack and hardcore fans by bringing the US releases of Naruto to be near concurrent with the Japanese releases.  I for one say bring it on, there can never be too much manga in US bookstores for me.

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The Yomiuri Shimbun

     The Defense Ministry will include in its fiscal 2008 budgetary request funds to develop a manned prototype fifth-generation fighter jet equipped with stealth capabilities and other advanced technologies, sources said Monday.

     With the production of F-2 support fighters, jointly developed by Japan and the United States, scheduled to end in fiscal 2011, the ministry apparently plans to maintain the foundations for future technological development, the sources said.

     The sources also said the ministry, by showing interest in developing jet fighters domestically, hopes to gain an edge in negotiations with the United States next summer when it selects Japan's next main fighter jets (F-X fighters).

     According to ministry officials, the envisioned prototype would be equipped with stealth technology and other advanced electronics that would make the plane difficult to detect by radar. As the prototype would not be installed with radars and weaponry, it is expected to be smaller than real fighter jets, the officials said.

Full Story

The Yomiuri Shimbun

     Japan's security environment has been becoming increasingly unnerving. The threats of North Korea's nuclear program and ballistic missiles, China's rapid military buildup, international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction all imperil our security.

     Politicians have a responsibility to squarely address the vital issue of how to secure the nation's peace and safety. However, diplomatic and security issues have barely registered a blip in the campaign for the July 29 House of Councillors election. We think each political party and candidate should be doing more to stimulate debate on such issues.

Full Editorial

     Japan continues to be skittish, and reasonably so, about its nieghbors.  Everyone in the region is making territorial claims, forming alliences and building up their military capabillities.  Ideally that would lead some sort of open forum where problems can be dealt with through diplomacy, but through out history all such attempts have failed.  Given the unpredictabillity of North Korea and China, Japan is doing the prudent thing, preparing for the worst.  No one wants to see war in the western pacific but it has to be the most volatile flashpoint in the world right now after the middle east.  As the Romans said, 'pray for peace, prepare for war.'

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        Australia, India, Japan and the United States will join in a Bay of Bengal naval exercise in September, hinting at progress in negotiations for a possible four-way alliance.
     The first high-level discussions of such an alliance came in May, when assistant secretaries of state and equivalents from the four countries met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum gathering in Manila, Indian Foreign Ministry sources said.
     The meeting was held quietly, but not secretly; just days before, China issued demarches to all four participants, formally asking about their intentions.
     Singapore will also play in the exercises, which will include submarines, naval aircraft and 20 ships, including the U.S. aircraft carriers Nimitz and Kitty Hawk and the Indian carrier Viraat.
     The exercise, announced July 11 during the visit here by Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, will be part of a joint maritime-security initiative for the Asia-Pacific region.

4-Nation Naval Exercise May Presage New Alliance

     The purpose of these exercises, and the US policy of strengthing ties with its Pacific allies and making new ones, like India is very clear.  It is meant to act as  bareak against any furture Chinese adventures in the region, and to ensure that no matter how much money China pours into its navy it will never be able to equal the naval power of the US and her regional allies.

Photos from RIMPAC 2006, clickable for massive high res versions.  Ships from the US, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, Chile and Peru.

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From first Multinational Force Iraq

Cavalry troops aid Iraqi farmers.

Iraqi Army succeeds using an ‘open heart.’

Engineers' efforts will have lasting impact in Iraq, general says.

New Iraqi Police Station opens in Wahida.

3rd HBCT nabs top insurgent.

Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces detain suspected Al Qaeda cell leader near Taji.

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From the Times of London via Fox News

     Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person’s face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of Al Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the U.S. military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood.

     The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other Al Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement.

     “They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for Al Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace,” said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area.

     Further proof that we have found a winning strategy and we now only need stay the course to ensure continued sucess.  Still we must keep our wits about us and watch out for a change in enemy tactics to counter our own changes.

Full Story Here

Remeber a seceret is only as safe as the person keeping it! So keep it to yourself!

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    I'm not sure why I'm writing this tonight but here we go.  I have had more than enough of people on the left for crying censorship or opression whenever some one has the gaul to air an opposing view point.  What the fuck is wrong with you people?  You think your being opressed, hardly.  A young man in Tehran who is dragged out of his house for blogging about how thing really are is being opressed, the Russian reporter gunned down in the elevator of her apartment building is being opressed in the most brutal way, ditto the North Korean who is locked away in a gulag to slave away their years for being related to someone who noted that the troll doll seems to be doing fairly  in the body fat percentage department well for the leader of a famine riddled country.  The are opressed, their media is censored.  Remeber that the right to free speech is the right to offend, and that no matter what it does not give you the right to be heard!!!!  I am disgusted by people who use the so called fairness doctrine as an excuse to attack opposing viewpoints and their means of dissemination.  That is censorship, the government has no right nor power to controll what is said by anyone, since it is a right given to us by nature!  Rights derive from the very act of being human, no one can take them away.  The only limit that nay be placed upon speech is that which will bring physical harm to others.  This is the so called fire doctrine, any other form of speech is protected no matter how repugnant it may be.  In the end we all have the right to say whatever we wish, but we may also be ignored, but that is the peril of speaking.  Better to try to be heard than remain silent.

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How can you tell a hard core otaku from a lesser, more normal otaku is a simple one word answer, Doujinshi.  These fan made comics are perhaps the least known but most fasinating bit of Japanese pop culture.  A prpoduct of a uniquely tolerant copyright law Doujinshi allows fans to create works with familliar carachters in new stories and enviroments.  Doujinshi litteraly means 'same people different story'  these stories can be anything that they creator of the Doujinshi wishes.  As a result a high proportion of doujinshi is, well the euphamism is male oriented, but a more accurate statement would be unashamedly pornographic.  Many well known manga artists create doujinshi of their own works, or those of others aqnd more than a few well known artists or groups of artists started in doujinshi, perhaps most notably CLAMP, which grew out of a doujin circle.

If your interested here is a link to the .rar of the Doujin pictured.  Not for anyone under 18 .  If you need a program to decompress .rar files I reccomend the shareware 7Zip.

Featured Doujinshi has been translated into english, no review as I have not yet read it for full disclosure.

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The U.S. Air Force has rebelled against the annoying late 20th century custom of creating many annual training courses to deal with persistent social or organizational problems. From now on, instead of spending nine hours a year attending training for things like suicide prevention, anti-terrorism awareness, handling classified data, sex related issues, and so on, only 90 minutes a year would be used for all these reminders. This move is very popular among those who have to sit through these sessions, and those who have to give them. The troops are also encouraged by such a bold move. In the past, every time another of these annual classes was added, there was grumbling about "spineless and clueless generals,"

USAF Cuts The Crap

That pretty much speaks for itself.  Air Force love photo time.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Best Hary Potter Book Ever.  It has been along time since I have read a book this good.  It kept me glued to its pages, seemingly disallowing me to stop reading.  I won't give any spoiler but I want more, I demand more.  Whatever J.K. Rowling writes next I will read it no doubt.  Now go, buy it, read it if you haven't already.

Rating =5 Tachikomas

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Barry Bonds belted homers number 752 and 753 today in Chicago, bringing him within two of tying and three of passing hammering Hank.  Good, I am Barry Bonds fan, I love that he treats the media with the level of respect that they have earned over the years, which is absolutely none.  I have yet to see a sports reporter that can be described as a serious journalist since Dick Schapp.  I, like most baseball fans give a rats ass as to wether or not Bonds used steroids, if he did so where a ton of other players, including pitchers.  So don't bring the tired crap about an unfair playing field.  Steroids don't give perhaps the best hitters eye in the history of the game, ridiculous plate discipline.  Bonds was, and remains a no doubt first ballot hall of famer, the numbers speak for themselves, 750+ home runs, 71 multi homer games, 500+ stolen bases, 7 mvps (4 consecutive), 8 golden gloves, 12 silver slugger awards, only 40-40 player (homers and stolen bases) 2900+(2901 as of now) hits and a life time average near .300 (.299 as of now) and the all time walks record.  Barry has only three seasons where he hit fewer than twenty homers (19, his first year in the leauge, 16 in 1989 and 5 in 2005 when he only played in 42 games because of knee problems)  yet some people acted surprised when he becam a homer hitting machine.  Hell he came into the 2001 season with 498 bombs, and he had 30 or more homers a season from 1992 to 2004.  That I believe is what they call consistent power.  We are lucky to be around to see some of the best ballplayers of all time playing, so why can't people just sit back and enjoy it?  I don't need the negativity and inuendo, much less the fscination people seem to have with wether a player used steroids in the past.  The past is the past, we sure as hell can't change it so why dwell on it. Records as they say are meant to be broken, so Go Barry Go!!

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