Soldier Extends Iraq Tour to Finish work with Fallujah Womens Center

Spirit of America has an inspiring, even jaw-dropping story to tell:

"LtCol Gude took over work on the Fallujah Women's Center project upon her arrival in Al Anbar Province. A project of this type can often take many months for completion. With all our best efforts, there were still some pieces of the project left undone as LtCol Gude's deployment from Iraq approached. She decided to request an extension of her time in Iraq to follow the completion of the Fallujah Women's Center and to insure the delivery and installation of all donated equipment." (emphasis mine)

Lt. Col. Gude, US Marine Corps, has a family and two small children waiting for her at home. Unsurprisingly, Spirit of America sent her a letter of effusive thanks. She responded with the following letter:

Read the rest @ GNFF

SoA Broadcast

Today is Good News day at Winds of Change, when we set aside politics, current events etc. for a time. I consider it good news that the Internet and digital media allow us to learn about events around the world as they happen, especially those that might lead to greater freedom and dignity for people who have lived under terror and oppression. I especially consider it good news that thoughtful people with a variety of viewpoints can debate the meaning and purport of events this way. In that spirit, I wanted to pass along this notice:

We've just received confirmation that C-SPAN is planning to cover Spirit of America's Iraq election event this Sunday from 2pm to 4pm Eastern (11am to 1pm Pacific). Please watch. Your support has made this possible. Please forward this message far and wide and encourage people to tune in.

Iraq's elections are an historic event. This broadcast will provide a unique, more complete picture of the elections with ground-level news and views from the Iraqi people. You will get much more than the typical focus on violence and terrorism. We'll have reports, photos and video from all corners of Iraq. The broadcast event is described more here: http://www.spiritofamerica.net/site/blog/459

You can see reports and photos now at: http://www.friendsofdemocracy.info. And, during the show on Sunday, we will be publishing the discussion at http://www.friendsofdemocracy.info and asking for your comments.
Please visit the site and tell us what you think.

Spirit of America Challenge 04: Thank You

The Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge is officially ovah! (cue Iron Chef music...). While the totals don't show it yet, Winds of Change.NET and Team Pajamahdeen - Operation Viral Freedom finished 3rd with $5,755.56 raised for SoA Project Viral Freedom (Arabic Blogging).

Time for the overall totals, and a few thank-yous:

read the rest! »

Spirit of America: Status Report & Appeal

Tomorrow's the last day of the Challenge, so I moved this up to give everyone a last - minute nudge. Our team is at $4,704 right now; let's break $5,000...

As of noon Pacific Time time today (contest ends at midnight PDT), Winds of Change.NET has calculated that Spirit of America's Blogger Challenge has raised $75,856.51 for the varius SoA funds. The various teams have raised $29,343.45, while a larger swarm of individual blogs has raised a collective total of $46,513.06.

If you're not in the Spirit of America Blogger Challenge yet, join Team Pajamahdeen and support blogging in the Mideast as a tool of freedom! It's not too late to help us create more Mohammeds and Omars. If you're already in the challenge and want to support this important project (why it matters so), see our instructions at the end. And if you just want to contribute, you can donate right here:

read the rest! »

Spirit of America and Iraq the Model Do Silicon Valley

I've just returned to my office from the final, Northern California, stop on the US tour of Spirit of America in support of the Friends of Democracy project being mounted by the blogging brothers of Iraq the Model. About forty in all attended the get together at the Garden Court Hotel, including soon-to-be-ex-SJ Merc columnist Dan Gillmor, fellow VC blogger Jeff Nolan, Silicon Valley Redneck, Renee Blodgett and Vinod of the eponymous blog. Also some of Roger Simon's regular commenters who, alerted by his blog, had driven up to three hours to attend (Update: see comments). Quite a few attendees were simply Spirit of America contributors, wondering how all these people already knew each other, even though they didn't recognize each other's faces.

Dan introduced Spirit of America founder Jim Hake, Omar and Mohammed, and Marine LTC Al Burghard, who was one of the first to work with Spirit of America when he was posted in Al Anbar province. Jim reviewed a number of previous SoA projects, and passed it over to the brothers - Mohammed took the lead - to describe the next projects in which they will participate. Mohammed talked about the Friends of Democracy project which the brothers have helped catalyze with Spirit of America's support. The Arabic blogging project has already been much discussed - a new detail is the hope to have enough bloggers and tools in place by the Iraqi elections at the end of January to live blog them nationwide. With the MSM reporters mostly hiding in Baghdad, this would be a guaranteed scoop for the Iraqi blogosphere. (And yes, there is something you can do to help out.)

I am Iraqi. I can express myself - I can tell my own story. It's hard for people to be alone. If you can see others that share the same thoughts and dreams, you are stronger.

It being Silicon Valley, some of the Q&A concerned the Iraqi economy. Whereupon it developed that Omar can speak with authority about the benefits of exchange rate stability, and relative activity in the public and private sectors of Iraq. The educational program for Iraqi dentists must be wide ranging indeed - media pioneers, political organizers, economic analysts - what's next? In all seriousness, and as others have said, these are intelligent but ordinary guys, with enormous determination. That's something we will all need in the next few years, and they are an inspiration. Bon voyage, friends. Win it.

Good News Saturday - at Harvard with Mohammed and Omar

I'm having a very good-news Saturday here at Harvard. Jeff Jarvis says it perfectly, so I'll just point you over to his post:

Mohammed now says: "It's from person to person, from heart to heart. I did not have any trouble understanding people thousands of miles away from me in spite of language and distance.... We share many things. Media try to show only the differences between groups and countries but really human beings have many, many things to share.... Here in blogging, I learn from my readers.... I think through blogging we can spread love more than we can spread hate. I started blogging because I saw through the media that they just want to spread hate... I have a different story and many Iraqi people agree with me.

Asked why they called their blog Iraq The Model, they said, "Iraq will be a model for the Middle East region and the world...."

UPDATE: Judith has a roundup of blog posts and news links covering Mohammed & Omar's tour.

Spirit of America Challenge: Join Our Team!

As some of you know, we've formed a team called "A Mighty Wind" (we're also considering "Pajamahdeen", let us know what you think) for Spirit of America's blogosphere challenge.

Why that name? Because the focus of our efforts is the project to create Arabic blogging tools and hosting, so that more bloggers like Alaa, Zeyad, Big Pharaoh, The Religious Policeman, Chan'ad Bahraini et. al. can work to join us and make "citizens media" and the blogosphere a tool of freedom in their own societies.

Together, we and they can be a mighty wind for change. You can contribute money here.

We strongly believe that having one unified, thematic team of bloggers promoting the "Viral Freedom" blog tools project will really raise its visibility and give it the momentum it needs to succeed.

If you have a blog, we're asking you to become part of our team. Make a difference. Click here to join the team, and help our friends in the mideast join the pajamahdeen!

Blogosphere Akbar!!!

Build Freedom, One Blog At A Time

Spirit of America is launching a new service that will provide easy-to-use blogging tools translated into Arabic, along with free hosting. It's the first in a series of projects they say they want to do to open the doors to democracy in Iraq and elsewhere, by allowing average men and women to be heard.

It's a great project, and we're proud to be a part of a friendly competition among blogs to raise the funds to support it.

So click here to donate, or if you have a blog of your own, click here to join our team.

Tim Oren and I have both talked a lot about the impacts of citizen's media. Let's promote some citizen's media that builds freedom by letting Iraqis have their own voices.

Be A Friend To Democracy

Spirit of America is launching a new effort to promote democratic action in Iraq, through Iraqis who believe in their future as a free country.

The 'Friends of Democracy' project aims to put the tools for democratic dialog into the hands of Iraqis who will use them in their own ways.

We are supporting efforts by Iraqis inside Iraq that have two main goals: (1) increase voter participation in Iraq’s January 2 election; and (2) encourage the Iraqi people to make informed decisions on the candidates. Some of the projects that will be supported (with direct funding, equipment and technical assistance) under this initiative include:

read the rest! »

The No Vote

I've been making the rounds among my liberal and conservative friends, asking about their man for the election.

I point out to my conservative friends that President Bush is not strictly conservative, not in the traditional sense. Nation building, military expansion of democratic ideals and unbridled Federal spending are not the policies of most Republicans that I can remember. "Yeah but, Kerry's got to be defeated," my conservative friends say. "Bush has credibility, in spite of his mistakes. Kerry's a closet communist, he wants the UN to run the world."

Yeah, but.

I turn to my liberal friends and ask about Kerry's oddly conservative positions. JFK is no JFK, it appears. The late JFK was an idealist who understood the stakes of the Cold War, and fought hard to export democracy abroad. He never blenched before communism, or suffered for lack of democratic ideals. The JFK who currently runs on the Democratic ticket eschews idealism, perhaps unknowingly, promoting what amounts to an isolationist international policy that defers policymaking to 'the world.' He wants to focus on passivity abroad and tighter spending at home, if you can believe that. Kerry's voting record and grandiose speeches reveal little boldness, a dampened spirit and few new ideas---just a rebirth of the old ones. "Yeah but, Bush has got to go," my liberal friends say. "Kerry isn't who I would've wished for, admittedly, but given the fact we're under the heel of Bushitler, where's the choice?"

"Yeah, but."

read the rest! »

Tools for Iraqis

One of the neatest projects Spirit of America has done is the 'tools project' in which they provided tool belts to the graduates of the construction training program run by the Seabees.

Well, one of the graduating classes was covered by CNN, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to see that the tools mattered to the Iraqis who received them.

More Iraqi tradesmen are taking the classes, and more tools are needed. It doesn't take much, and at the end of the day it will mean a lot.

Adopt A Sniper!

Attention, all readers looking for a civilian involvement program that directly helps soldiers kick ass and save lives in the War on Terror... we have your program right here!

Reader Ron Wright of the Homeland Security Policy Institute Group hooked us up with a program to support snipers serving in the War on Terror. The goal at Adopt A Sniper (now American Snipers) is to "help real snipers get the real gear they need to help keep us safe." It was founded by Brian Sain, a police SWAT member for 15 years who works as a detective in the Port Arthur (Texas) Police Department.

This is a valuable program. Snipers are especially important in the current war, and I'm not just saying that because our Canadian snipers ruled in Afghanistan. The U.S. military is now pressing regular soldiers with high marksmanship ratings to take on sniper roles, but the specialized equipment they need isn't always available. Listen to a 1st Stryker Brigade sniper in Mosul:

read the rest! »

Spirit of America Offers Donors Their Money Back

...and this is good news. Jim Hake notes:

"We raised more funds than were needed for the first phase of the Marines’ request for equipment for Iraqi TV stations. So we asked our donors to tell us what to do with the surplus donations. They could even ask for a refund."

End result? Out of 3,057 donors responding, 3,044 (99.6%) have reallocated their donations. Which are going to new projects, like this one designed to make Iraqi women more independent and help them support their families:

read the rest! »

Spirit of America Update: June 18/04

Spirit of America.NET founder Jim Hake is back from Iraq with some stories to tell. Some key excerpts:

"Back at Camp Blue Diamond we met with the two officers (Maj. Chandler and Maj. Dunham) responsible for providing the TV equipment donated by Spirit of America to the 7 Iraqi stations in Al Anbar. When we met about 1/2 of the equipment had been delivered to the stations and technical training was being planned. With the new equipment Iraqi personnel at one of the stations took to the streets with camcorders to do "man in the street" interviews. When they broadcast the interviews they received numerous calls with positive feedback. Things like that associated with a free press that we take for granted are entirely new in most of Iraq.

Also back at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi we met with the Director of Economic Development for Al Anbar Province. He is spearheading the creation of women's sewing centers in the Ramadi-Fallujah region. These centers will provide women with a chance to make money, some for the first time, and improve their lives and their families. Marines Commanding General Jim Mattis is very enthusiastic about the project- both for its economic impact and because it will provide women a place to discuss women's issues (day care is provided). He has asked if we can help by providing the sewing machines. For starters we are looking for people to buy the first 50 sewing machines costing $475 each.... If things go well with those, we'll do our best to provide 950 more, thus helping 1000 women.

Jim concludes with a look at their future strategic focus and promises some updates:

read the rest! »

Spirit of America: Get Ready!

When Marc "Armed Liberal" Danziger came out as Spirit of America's new COO here at Winds of Change.NET, he spoke of big plans ahead. More on those in a few days.

Citizen (Lt.) Smash has a fine roundup of reactions and early efforts across the blogosphere. Meanwhile, famed techblogger Joi Ito calls SoA an "excellent example of the use of technology and grass roots organization." Hey, Joi, trust me - you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Marc isn't kidding when he talks about an army of volunteers for this non-partisan cause - be one of them. From Howard Dean campaign staffer Britt Blaser (fine set of SoA links) to Roger L. Simon (we love the graphics) to the invaluable Michele Catalano (we love her), this campaign is begining to roll right across the spectrum.

Some gave all. Now YOU can give some. If you're a blogger, email ltsmash, over @cox.net. If you just want to sign up, head over here and subscribe via the button in the upper left corner.

Jeff Jarvis on Spirit of America

"Think of it as open source nation building," he says. Something like that - I personally prefer Dr. Martin Luther King's "Everyone is great because everyone can serve," but you get the idea.

Jeff's entire post is a very worthwhile read, and explains how his efforts, and those of many other bloggers, have made Spirit of America.NET what it is today. Still, this is just the first step. We all have much more we can do. More on that tomorrow.

And lest we forget the British, have a look over at leftist blogger Harry's Place and his "Do Something" category.

Transparency: Armed Liberal Comes Out

I’ve been working with a bunch of people on Spirit of America, including Jeff Jarvis. In New York last week, getting ready for Jim Hake’s trip to Iraq (he’s there now) we set out some principles we thought would help organize this as quickly and effectively as we’d like and is necessary.

One of them was 'absolute transparency'.

That put me in a bit of a bind, because as someone behind a pseudonym – or someone who has done a lot around these issues from behind a pseudonym, I wouldn’t be keeping that commitment.

So in talking to Dan Gillmor, for his column in today’s Mercury-News, I made a decision.

“Ollie-Ollie Oxen Free,” is how the kids put it.

My name is Marc Danziger, I live in the Los Angeles area, and I am the new C.O.O. for Spirit of America. We have BIG plans in store, and the blogosphere will play an important role.

More to come later....

Spirit of America Update: TV Gear Arrives

As many of you know, the Winds team strongly supports a charity called Spirit of America, who recently raised over $US 1.5 million to help set up locally owned media in Iraq that can compete with Al-Jazeera (known to Kurds and Shi'ites as "The Sunni News Network" for its previous support of Saddam and ongoing hostility).

This drive built on earlier efforts to acquire, organize, pack and ship over $50,000 worth of school supplies, medical kits, and toys for distribution to needy Iraqis by the 1st Marine Division (Winds Links: organizing the event, after-event success report, early results in Fallujah).

Now, we have more good news to report: media gear for 7 Iraqi owned and operated TV stations has arrived at Camp Blue Diamond – the Marines Division Headquarters in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.

USMC Lt. Col. John Lutkenhouse reports on their plans:

read the rest! »

Frisbees over Fallujah

An email and photos sent to Spirit of America, from Lt. Col. Colin McNease, USMC. From Fallujah. Looks like our earlier efforts (big thanks to all attendees) are beginning to pay off on the ground:

read the rest! »

Put Me In, Coach!!

Only TWO bids!! The shame. The loss of face. I can't stand it.

[Updated Update: Forget the whole thing. It closes Thursday at midnight Pacific (GMT -0800).]

OK, I can't stand it any more.

I've been a worker bee for Spirit of America for a while, but haven't been a part of the recent blog frenzy to raise money for them. And I feel...lonely. Left out. Like I'm on the bench during the Big Game. They're so close to the $50,000 mark.

Well, put me in, Coach!!

Since I alwys root for the underdogs, we're going to join the Liberty Alliance.

I'm sure Joe (and Jan) will chime in with their own ideas, but I'm going to auction off one of each of these items:

• A genuine 'Armed Liberal' mousepad, in your choice of Deep Green or Red White And Blue;

• A genuine 'Armed Liberal' t-shirt, in your choice of Deep Green or Red White And Blue;

• Lunch or Dinner at a Favorite Dive With Armed Liberal and Tenacious G!! Yes, if you are in the Los Angeles area, and willing to eat at one of the following divine restaurants: The Pit BBQ, Zankou Chicken, Gallo's Grill, Tacos Delta, The Shack, or Riviera Mexican Grill (nondisclosure required. see my post here for more details).

• A Day At The Range With Armed Liberal!! Yes, nimrod or Nimrod (the great Biblical hunter), I'll take you to the range, provide safety gear, weapons, ammo, range fees, and - if you want it or not - instruction. (nondisclosure required.)

• A full package, including all of the above!!

Bids are in the comments below; I'll pick up all shipping on the goods, you're responsible for all damaged sensibilities. Please note which item you're bidding on...

Joe?? Jan?? Step up, step up...

• JK: Baseball game in Toronto's Skydome with Joe. Skyclub 200 level (padded seats) right behind home plate. 2 seats for auction x 2 games available = 4 tickets. Face value = $54 per.

The Challenge

Two more days, people.

In case you're wondering how the Grand Challenge Of The Blogosphere is playing out (raising money for Spirit of America), go check out the results a few times a day. Of course, you'll have a credit card handy...

Spirit of America Update

The charity fundraising challenge is on across the blogosphere, though the refocusing of Michele's blog has led to a few changes in the rosters. The Command Post has the details, and explains how you can help.

Spirit of America: $600k & Counting

A.L. is currently out doing the road trip thing, but he wanted y'all to know that Spirit of America raised USD $600,000 yesterday for its "Iraqi T.V." project, as a result of that Wall St. Journal article. Donations continue to come in, and they continue to be very welcome. This is an important mission.

Readers of our blog know that we've done a lot of work with Spirit of America, ever since Jim Hake sent me that Dec. 10 email inviting suggestions for the Marines and some help at Camp Pendleton. He got both, and he'll continue to get it. While we continue to publish and update our directory of ways to support the troops and people from many nations, Spirit of America has become the official cause/charity of our blog. Our involvement will continues to deepen - we are, to use my colleague Armed Liberal's words, "damn serious" about this.

On a personal note, there are other bloggers who have put a lot of time and effort into helping out in Iraq, through this effort and others. We've honoured Paul "Chief Wiggles" Holton, Michele Catalano, Dean Esmay and Matt Evans in a previous article - and Iraq remains a better place because of them. They are not alone.

To the bloggers, the donors, the volunteers, the Iraqis, and the Marines working to make Iraq a better place, our sincere thanks. We are, all of us, in this together.

[Update by A.L.: just want to point people to Dean Esmay, WizBang, or John Donovan, who will be having a competition to see who can raise more money toward SoA next week...may the best blogger(s) win!!]

Way To Go, Jim!!

Check out Dan Henninger's column in the Wall Street Journal today [no-registration link], about Spirit of America's efforts working with the Marines to get Iraqi TV stations running in Iraq!!

...well-deserved kudos to a guy who gets things done.

And don't forget to click here and help the Marines out. We also have our complete listing of how to support the troops (Australian, British, Canadian, Polish, U.S.) elsewhere on the blog.

Must-See Iraqi T.V.

I can't believe I forgot to blog this today...

We've been working closely with Jim Hake, of Spirit of America; Jim has fielded a new request from the 1st Marine Division - you know, the guys and gals in Falluja - they want to help set up a series of low-powerd TV stations, staffed by Iraqis, that will try and counter the two dominant themes in media coverage in Iraq:

• If it bleeds (or burns) it leads;
• If it makes the US look bad, it leads.

I'm not going to comment on how obvious this is, and how, instead of working with one guy in West L.A. and a bunch of bloggers, we should have been doing this as our troops moved North.

Instead, I'm going to comment on the wonderful flexibility of our people over there who will do what it takes to get what they need to do the job.

Click here to see what the Marines need, and help them (and us) out. And thanks to all the other blogs who are working on this as well, and to Jim for letting us help.

(and yes, I know I don't have a TV set; in this case, I'll make an exception!)

How Baseball Helped Children and Saved Lives in Afghanistan

Armed Liberal did yeoman's work this week on behalf of Spirit of America, working to recruit and organize volunteers who packed over $50,000 worth of medical supplies, toys, and school supplies for delivery to civilians in Iraq.

What you may not know, is that the Spirit of America charity owes its origins to baseball in Afghanistan:

"After Special Forces Sergeant Jay Smith and his team built a schoolhouse for the village, his wife Dianna sent him baseball gloves and balls for two boys helping in the troops’ kitchen. The boys were so excited that Smith called and asked her to send more gloves, balls and bats so they could form teams and play real games. Dianna called friends, co-workers and family, raised the money for the gear sent it to Jay."

Did it work? Did it ever. Read this article for the rest of the story (incl. pictures) - and consider helping Spirit of America with your involvement and contributions.

Spirit Of America: After-Action Report

Well, I'm tired!! A late night last night, and then up at 4:45am to get on the road to Pendleton.

And a great day packing swag for Iraqis.

I want to publicly thank Jim Hake of www.spiritofamerica.net for pulling this together, and more, for letting me do this. I can pack medic bags in my sleep now...and I'm looking forward to doing it again.

The crowd was far larger than I feared (am I the only one who worries for the first 20 minutes of my own party that no one else will show?), but still smaller than I hoped. I'd guess there were 20 volunteers, matched by an equal number of green-uniformed Marines, who ranged from a petite (really, she was like 5'1", there's no other word) blonde woman to a guy who had to be 6'4".

Both the Marines and the volunteers were amazing; energetic, always moving, swarming over the piles of stuff and reducing them to a stack of stuffed school bags and a pile of empty boxes. The Marine commanders, a Top Sgt. and Col. (I'll keep names out of this for now, but may add them in later) were impressive to me - arrogant as I am - because of their obvious intelligence and attention. They missed nothing the whole day. My cohort - the Chaya Venice-lunching crowd - doesn't understand the energy and intelligence that those who run the military have and that they somehow unlock in these kids. Or maybe it was always that way, and we just didn't know.

Celebrity sightings included Jim Hake, Lt. Smash (who thinks the frisbees will have the biggest impact), Da Goddess Her Own Self (who has a renewed appreciation for camouflage - and look what she's done to the place over at cat-hating Acidman's!!), and Gerard Van der Leun, who kept me in stitches the whole day.

But the accomplishment will show up on Gerard's blog, when he posts the picture he took (I spaced and left the camera home) of the giant pile of kits of medical equipment stretching across the yard toward the containers.

Each kit was sadly less complete than what I carry in my car (OK, they have a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff). But in many neighborhoods, they may well be most of the medical gear available to the families and kids who live there.

Kids who will now have school supplies (and frisbees!!).

And the Marines - the U.S. Marines - will have given it to them. I think stuffing bags and helping that happen is worth spending a day away from billable work to do.

And I'm dying to do it again.

Jan. 21st Event: Want to be on TV??

RE: Spirit of America volunteer project loading supplies for Iraqi civilians at USMC Camp Pendleton.

TV Opportunity: If you're an insomniac, or live near Oceanside, California, FOX News will be at the meetup place (in the Camp Pendleton parking lot by the main gate) at 6:00am and want to do some live feeds at 6:50, 7:50 at 8:00 and then a final live shot at 8:20am.

We'd love to have a dozen or so earlybirds there, so if you can, move your alarms up!!

Directions: Here's a link to a PDF map of the area. Page 2 is a map of Southern California. Take the Camp Pendleton Exit on Rt. 5 just N of Oceanside.

Volunteers will meet at the main gate parking lot no later than 9:00 a.m. to be escorted to the event.

What we'll be packing: $50,000 worth of toys, school supplies, & medical supplies. See full details here. Note that people who can't or shouldn't lift things won't have to.

Time Commitment: Volunteers should be prepared to help until 1:00 pm. If possible, we may need them longer. We'll provide lunch.

We'll be leaving Casa de Armed Liberal at 5:30am, so I ought to be there around 7:30am or so.

On Jan. 21st, Spirit of America Needs YOU!

I've been working to point people to Jim Hake of www.spiritofamerica.net, who is working - among other things, on putting together some materiel for a Marine division headed back to Iraq to hand out to Iraqi civilians. So far he's gathered mostly school supplies, low-level medical equipment, and some toys.

The first $50,000 worth is going to be delivered to Camp Pendleton here in Southern California next Wednesday, January 21st. He needs about 40 volunteers to help unload and assemble this stuff, which the Marines will put into a shipping container and take with them.

So if there's a chance that you can spend Wed. at Camp Pendleton, it'd be hugely helpful. Here are the details:

read the rest! »

The Real Spirit of America

I've been corresponding with Jim Hake, a local Los Angeles fella, who approached Joe about a plan he had to help the Marines perform the nation-building part of their role in Iraq by providing them with swag - toys and school supplies for children and basic medical supplies for Iraqi physicians.

He's pulled it together (brilliantly), and now is ready to accept donations. You can donate cash here , or go here to see what kind of goods are being sought and how to get them to him. Time is of the essence, as he is working with the 1st Marine Division - who were in Baghdad and who are about to redeploy back to Iraq. The first container leaves in two weeks.

Many of us are safe at home, affected by the events in Iraq, and passionate in our feelings - one way or the other - about them. Here's a chance to do some concrete good. For myself, I use the 'good dinner' metric in deciding how much to give; what does a good dinner out with Tenacious G cost me? For some, a good dinner out is Carl's, as opposed to Mickey D's. For some it's Ginza Sushi-Ko (a wildly expensive sushi restaurant here in Los Angeles).

Obviously, I see this as a Good Thing, and for those of us in favor of the war - even for those opposed, who I am sure want the Iraqis to get a break, and for our troops to be able to do something other than 'killing people and blowing shit up,' as my Ranger friends put it.

I love this quote from the Maj. General Jim Mattis, the commander of the 1st Marine Division:

"While we will move swiftly and aggressively against those who resist, we will treat all others with decency, demonstrating chivalry and soldierly compassion for people who have endured a lifetime under Saddam's oppression."

It seems to me that this could be the motto we apply to many of our more militant interactions abroad.

Troops, We'll Help You Help Iraqis

Thanks for the good job you do with the blog. I'd appreciate your help in making Americans serving in Iraq aware of Spirit of America, I thought you might know some. We may be able to help them in their time there. Following is some background information.

Spirit of America (SoA) is a nonprofit that helps Americans serving abroad make a bigger and more positive impact. We enable Americans serving abroad to make requests for goods that will help local people. SoA then finds donors in the United States to fulfill the requests, arranges shipment of the goods to the requestors and publicizes the results to donors and the broader public.

read the rest! »