It was 7:30 a.m. too early on a school holiday when Sabrina Lisle roused her five children on Thursday morning. Normally, they might have grumbled a little, but when she promised them a present, they woke up right away. They yelled in excitement when they spotted the giant Christmas box on their front porch, wondering what could possibly be in a box so big. They ripped off the paper, then stepped back when someone began tearing the box from the inside.
When Capt. Brian Lisle emerged from the cardboard, his children shouted louder still and rushed forward to hug their father. It was the first time theyd seen him since February. It was a great reaction, actually, Brian said. My oldest daughter [AuBrianna, 9] and son [Jaden, 7] attacked me, and my daughter got a little teary-eyed, as did I.
Five-year-old Trinadi was in awe, Brian said, and it took Taxer, 3, a couple of hours to warm up to him. Koryanne, 1, took to her dad right away, probably because shed heard his voice every week on the phone for the last several months. Having Daddy home from Kuwait is the only thing her children wanted for Christmas, Sabrina said but the kids arent the only ones whose Christmas wishes came true.
When the Lisles purchased a home in Bigfork in January 2005, they hoped theyd found their dream home at last. Instead, they found an uninhabitable building with a daunting list of problems, just when Brian had to leave for the Middle East. But thanks to the generosity of the Bigfork community, led largely by members of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Lisles finally have the house theyve dreamed of just in time for Christmas and Brians discharge from the Army.
Before moving to Montana, the couple lived in Virginia for a few years, and in Georgia and Germany before that. They planned to move back to Montana when Brian was discharged in 2005. Sabrinas parents lived in Bozeman; Brian had family in Libby and Hamilton. But the Lisles wanted to make the Flathead Valley home for their four soon to be five children.
Ive always thought this is the prettiest place in Montana, Sabrina said.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Good football players, too. Ask the University of Oregon Ducks.
Posted by: mac ||
12/25/2006 2:41 Comments ||
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#2
Wonderful.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/25/2006 10:35 Comments ||
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#3
Funny what happens when you have a religion based on peace and love rather than the sword. Just a coincidence that everywhere Muslims rule there is death and destruction...Isn't it. Isn't it?
#4
It was all about them saying thank you to my husband, thank you for his service in the military, Sabrina said. They totally shocked me, because that doesnt happen very often.
That's something which has to change. Anytime I see a soldier in uniform or a vet wearing a VFW pin, I always stop and make sure to thank them personally and let them know why. I also take a moment to tell them that there are many Americans who feel the same way and not to listen to what the media says.
Saddest of all is just how many of them are shocked, pleasantly so, but shocked nonetheless at such a demonstration of sentiment. It speaks rather ill of our nation that we cannot find gratitude for those willing to make the ultimate sacfifice on our behalf.
Reporters Without Borders said it firmly and utterly condemns a ban that has been slapped on the Arabic-language weekly "Nichane" and legal action launched against it for "damaging Islam".
The paper carried a feature in its 9 to 15 December 2006 issue entitled, "Jokes: How Moroccans laugh at religion, sex and politics". The government banned the paper on 20 December.
The paper carried a feature in its 9 to 15 December 2006 issue entitled, "Jokes: How Moroccans laugh at religion, sex and politics". The Moroccan government banned the paper on 20 December and the king's prosecutor at the Casablanca High Court ordered police to investigate the article.
The prosecutor's office decided to take legal proceedings against editor Driss Ksikes and journalist Sanaa Al Aji for "damaging the Islamic religion" and "publication and distribution of articles contrary to morality".
"In taking this double step, the Moroccan authorities remind anyone who might have forgotten that the judicial arsenal is always available to curb the free expression of Moroccan journalists," the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
Despite promises and commitments made by Rabat in recent months, the "red lines" are still clearly there to constrain all journalist work, it said. Forbidden issues include the sacred status of the king, Islam as the state religion, Western Sahara, the army or morals. These bans are found as often in the 2002 press code as in the anti-terror law or the draft law on opinion polls, and always in terms vague enough to allow the widest interpretation. The same bans also appear in an ethical charter recently adopted by the federation of press editors.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2006 00:00 ||
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#6
Three strangers at Great Falls airport are awaiting their flights. One is native American on his way to Helena for a pow-wow. Another a ranch hand travelling to a stock show. The third passenger is a fundamentalist Arab, on his way to pilot training school.
To pass the time, the three engage in conversation. Soon the cowboy learns that the Arab is a radical Muslim, who supports "holy war" against White Americans. The native hears this and says, "Once my people were many, but because of the White Man, now we are few."
The jihadi hears this and says, "Once my people were few, and now we are many." He then puts on a tone of arrogance and asks the ranch hand, "Infidel, why do you suppose that is?"
The cowboy grins and says, "That's 'cause we ain't played Cowboys and Muslims, yet..."
Bangladeshs opposition announced Sunday they had called off a boycott of next months general elections, ending months of damaging and deadly protests over alleged plans to rig the vote. The about-turn came after the embattled interim government agreed to implement a raft of electoral reforms, and amid fears the crisis in the politically polarised South Asian nation could spiral out of control.We have decided to take part in the elections, a senior official from the main opposition Awami League, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, told reporters. We will now hold meetings with our alliance partners to discuss the sharing of parliamentary seats, he added, as the opposition parties said they would form a coalition with other opposition parties to fight the election.
The Awami League and its allies had vowed to stay away from the January 22 elections, complaining the polls would be rigged in favour of the BNP. Repeated strikes, blockades and protests have disrupted business life, costing the impoverished country millions of dollars each day. Pre-poll political violence has also claimed at least 35 lives, injured thousands and forced the interim government to call out the army to keep order. Earlier this week the countrys interim government made two key concessions, including sending a controversial election chief on extended leave and abandoning a voter list alleged to contain millions of fake names.
The Awami League had initially said the reforms did not go far enough, however, later agreed to participate in the elections after the government agreed to implement most of their demands for electoral reforms.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2006 00:00 ||
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A poll of likely Iowa Democratic caucus voters has Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and John Edwards tied at 22 percent with Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack in third at 12 percent. Where's Hillary Clinton? The New York senator was fourth, with 10 percent. What can we make of this poll? It was done by an outfit called Research 2000. If this poll is anywhere close to being accurate it is horrible news for the Clinton camp.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like those extra industrial poppers I ordered for the paleo un-civil war will come in handy in the run-up to the next election, too. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/25/2006 10:43 Comments ||
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#2
I never thought I'd say this , but Democrats may be slightly smarter than I took them for.
#3
Coming headline: Edwards, Obama killed in Campaign Plane Crash...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/25/2006 11:55 Comments ||
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#4
separate simultaneous plane crashes
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/25/2006 12:00 Comments ||
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#5
Nah...one plane crash and one mysterious suicide with murder weapon missing and two taps to the back of the head - in a park regularly patrolled by capitol hill police.
VietNamNet Bridge The virus H5N1 has attacked many fowl: killing 600 chickens and 2,100 ducks in Khanh Binh and Khanh Hai communes, Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau province from December 11 20, 2006. The epidemic has spread to Vinh Binh commune, Hoa Binh district, Bac Lieu province.
According to Ms. Chau Thi Kim Tuyen, Vice Head of the Ca Mau province Department of Veterinary Inspection, many local residents killed diseased poultry and threw the corpses into Hiep Hoa canal, which made the epidemic spread more rapidly among poultry breeding farms in Khanh Binh commune and others nearby.
The Chairmen of the Bac Lieu and Ca Mau province People's Committees immediately announced the bird flu outbreak in Khanh Binh and Vinh Hoa communes, banning the transportation of poultry out of restricted areas, and began spraying sanitary medicines into areas of high risk.
So far, the new outbreak of bird flu epidemic has appeared in three communes of Ca Mau and Bac Lieu provinces. The number of poultry killed and destroyed has reached 8,300: 1,000 chickens and 7,300 ducks.
In response to the spreading disease, authorities in HCM City have initiated emergency measures to prevent the epidemic from attacking the city. Accordingly, many quarantine stations have been reinforced to control the poultry transported into the city.
Staff at the quarantine stations will be on duty all day and night with modern preventive equipment for thorough inspections. All the slaughter houses in the city will be carefully checked to ensure that quarantine procedures are being strictly adhered to.
All other relevant agencies will strictly punish those found guilty of raising diseased poultry or transporting it into the city.
This stuff keeps happening and the answer's always "more shariah." Raging floodwaters on Sunday submerged houses and roads on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing more than 70 people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes, officials and reports said. The worst hit region was in Tamiyang district eastern Aceh province on the northern tip of the island, said Nurdin Jos, an Aceh government spokesman. "Rescuers have evacuated 60 bodies from villages in Aceh Tamiyang district, while dozens others are still reported still missing," he said. On Saturday, 14 people were confirmed dead in the floods. State news agency Antara reported 114 people had been killed, which were triggered by days of seasonal rain.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
I'm not going to rejoice in someone else's suffering on Christmas. Neither am I going to rip my heart out over it. Support a totally corrupt way of government and watch where the money gets spent. NOT on tsunami warning bouys. NOT on seismic detectors. NOT on reforestation projects. NOT on you, the Muslims who love nothing more that killing the kufir, even with the money needed to save your own lives. No rejoicing, but no sympathy either.
A moderate earthquake struck off western Indonesia early on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The 5.7-magnitude quake was centered 150 km southwest of the Indonesian capital Jakarta and 86 km beneath the Sunda Strait, the US Geological Survey said. The temblor, which struck at 5:59 am (0429 IST), said Navita Hendrastuti from Indonesia's meteorological agency.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/25/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Ummm, guys - here's a clue: Ignore the "scientific" explanation for all your natural disasters.
The real truth is - Allan doesn't like you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/25/2006 0:37 Comments ||
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#2
The real truth is - Allan doesn't like you.
I'm sure that's exactly that their mullahs tell them "Allah panishes you for not being dedicated enough to Jihad."
James Brown, the legendary singer known as the "Godfather of Soul," has died, his agent said early Monday. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized Sunday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital with pneumonia and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, Copsidas said. The agent said Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," Copsidas said.
Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, so good, I got you
Whoa! I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you
{ sax, two licks to bridge }
When I hold you in my arms
I know that I can't do no wrong
and when I hold you in my arms
My love won't do you no harm
and I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you
{ sax, two licks to bridge }
When I hold you in my arms
I know that I can't do no wrong
and when I hold you in my arms
My love can't do me no harm
and I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, well I got you
Whoa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would
So good, so good, 'cause I got you
So good, so good, 'cause I got you
So good, so good, 'cause I got you
#12
When I was in law school, our law school paper used to run an April Fools' page every year. The best gag we ever had was a mock announcement of a constitutional law symposium called "The Jurisprudence of James Brown," featuring a paper entitled "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, But Can It be Searched? a Survey of Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence Under the Rhenquist Court."
(Wish I could claim authorship on that one, but it was one of my classmates.)
Rest in peace, Godfather of Soul.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/25/2006 18:20 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Raging floodwaters on Sunday submerged houses and roads on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing more than 70 people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes, officials and reports said. The worst hit region was in Tamiyang district eastern Aceh province on the northern tip of the island, said Nurdin Jos, an Aceh government spokesman. "Rescuers have evacuated 60 bodies from villages in Aceh Tamiyang district, while dozens others are still reported still missing," he said. On Saturday, 14 people were confirmed dead in the floods. State news agency Antara reported 114 people had been killed, which were triggered by days of seasonal rain.
A moderate earthquake struck off western Indonesia early on Sunday. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The 5.7-magnitude quake was centered 150 km southwest of the Indonesian capital Jakarta and 86 km beneath the Sunda Strait, the US Geological Survey said. The temblor, which struck at 5:59 am (0429 IST), said Navita Hendrastuti from Indonesia's meteorological agency.
