Twitch: Is Tsui Hark Back On Form? The Trailer For DETECTIVE DEE Says Yes.



I don't know what Detective Dee's name is. Is there any connection with the fictional Judge Dee? After some seraching... Detective Dee is a fictional account of Di Renjie, upon who Judge Dee was loosely based.

30 Images from Tsui Hark's Detective Dee
Carina Lau

More on Judge Dee.
Judge Dee-A Homepage
Information on Di Renjie, Robert van Gulik, and Judge Dee
Rechter Tie / Robert van Gulik

Daniel Larison on Richard Goldstone. (Why attacks on Mr. Goldstone about being a judge in South Africa may backfire on those seeking to defend Israel.)

Gareth Porter, McChrystal's Afghan War Plan Unravels

I remembered receiving an appeal by Tom Monaghan for funds for Ave Maria University. I came across the letter tonight while cleaning. It is dated November 2, 2009. I thought he had admitted that Ave Maria was in dire need of funding, but I was wrong on this score. Here is the letter, slightly edited for the sake of brevity:

Dear Fellow Catholic,

My name is Tom Monaghan, and I am the founder of Domino's Pizza. Eleven years ago I sold Domino's in order to devote my time and assets to helping the Church.

Over these last eleven years, I have spent most of my time and money on advancing Catholic higher education through Ave Maria University, and I need your help to do it well.

During the last quarter-century, I have given to a lot of Catholic causes, and been asked to give to more than I can remember. Frequently, I have been criticized for both causes I have and haven't supported. I think the first such public example came in 1984 when I helped build the new Cathedral in Nicaragua. Some people said "Why put up a building, when there are poor people who need food?" So I then supported a mission in Central America that taught the youth how to farm to raise enough food for their families, and other people said "Why give them just food? You need to educate them so they can earn their keep." So I started a system of Catholic grade schools.

However, after building a number of schools, I realized that as worthwhile and important as this was, due to the expense of starting all these individual schools, I was going to run out of money faster than I had first thought. During this time, I realized that through Catholic higher education, we could train young men and women -- tomorrow's leaders, most importantly -- in the precepts of the Catholic Church, but also to be dynamic and successful contributors in our society and the Church. When this happens, people thrive, the society thrives, and the Church thrives.

Around the country, I've run into people who have said "Why should I give money to Ave Maria University, when you are giving so much?" I say, well when you're in Church, and someone puts a big check in the collection basket in front of you, do you put your money back in your pocket? Of course not. What they give has nothing to do with how your contribution can help the Church! That is the bottom line, and an important line.

[Some details about his spiritual life and some lessons about Christian spirituality, culminating in a paragraph on the importance of supporting the Church with our material reasources.]

In the late 80's and early 90's, I was approached by many Catholic causes asking me to support their efforts -- some I did and some I didn't. I wanted to be prudent with the resources at my disposal and I wanted them to have the greatest impact for the good of the Church. I learned that not everything that called itself "Catholic" was really Catholic. So I had to be discerning, as you do, in what I supported.

As I got more and more involved in Catholic causes, I developed what I thought was a fairly specific focus of what I thought was the most important work for me to do, because I knew I couldn't support everything that was good. Yet, I soon became convinced that I needed to get even more focused, and through this process I became convinced that investing in Catholic higher education would be the most efficient and effective way to train the next generation of Catholic leaders, both lay and clerical, who will carry on the vital work of the Church after you and I are gone.

So after various attempts and a lot of research and prayer, and I believe through the guidance of Mary, AMU is now in Ave Maria, Florida. In 2007 we moved into the permanent campus, and this year we have 640 students! I have been asking people coast-to-coast to donate so we can complete the Oratory, the classrooms, the dormitories -- we've come so far, but we're not done yet.

[My comment: His take on Ave Maria College? And other education debacles.]

Which brings us back to the surprise I sometimes get. People either say "You're 72, why don't you just retire and relax?" Or, they say "You have enough money, why don't you do it all yourself, why ask me for help?" Let me explain. First, I don't think God wants me to retire, and I feel driven to spend the balance of my time and effort not only in giving my resources to Ave Maria University, but also helping to raise funds from others like you, so that together we can make it possible for our graduates to go out into the world as Catholics who are well formed in the faith and academically equipped to be great in whatever they do -- as great Priests and religious, great pro-life doctors and lawyers, great teachers and great professionals of every kind. And great, great parents.

So, with the above said, I feel it is my responsibility to ask you, to implore you to join our efforts by praying, fasting, and making a gift today in support of Ave Maria University. It is easy for all of us to stand by and convince ourselves that someone else is going to do it, but I think we have to ask ourselves if this is something we are called to support in these different ways. We are attempting to build up the Church at Ave Maria by investing in the generations to come.

There is a saying, as the U.S. goes, so goes the world. As you know, the U.S. in this time and place is the superpower with the most possibility of spreading goodness to the most number of people around the globe. But it all begins here at home.

Perhaps some of your children have left the Faith. That is a tragedy. As Bishop Sheen said, very few reject the Church -- they reject what they think is the Church. And I would guess that their misimpressions were often through faulty religious education at some level. We need to change this. We must. By supporting Ave Maria University, we will have the troops needed to repopulate the high schools, grade schools, chancery offices, the Catholic hospitals, orphanages and other organizations with dedicated Catholics who are committed to the Church and committed to making a difference.

So as you see, Ave Maria University is more than just a school, and if you don't help, you'll never know how much good you could have been a part of. So really, in addition to whatever things you pray for or support, I know you won't regret it if you help us today with a gift of as much as you can to help form tomorrow's leaders in the great Catholic intellectual tradition of our Church.

[Here he makes an offer of a special gift for any donation sent by December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.]

Yes, we have made great progress in building Ave Maria University, but we need to make more progress now. Your gift today will help in several ways -- it will allow us to keep up the pace, it will show the broad base of support for Ave Maria which is so important to any national institution, and it will encourage others to support us too because they will see that they can be a part of a great awakening in our culture -- the new evangelization in our country that will so dramatically shape the future of the Church.

Please, I ask you to pray, fast and contribute today. You won't regret it. In fact, I have great hope that you and I will have an eternity to rejoice in the action we take today.

Evidence of... many things that are wrong with how American Catholics understand education, evangelization, and the political economy. And an egregious example of why modern mass marketing (including the use of biography), especially when applied to the things of God, cannot but sound insincere.

Celledoor Miscellany: The Evangelization of Matteo Ricci

Celledoor Miscellany: The Evangelization of Matteo Ricci

Sebastian Junger's book on the Korengal Valley

War. Harper Collins Canada. Junger is one of the creators of Restrepo. Review in the Miami Herald. Mr. Junger will be appearing in California this month. From the FB page for Restrepo:

Kepler's Books; West Menlo Park, CA
Sunday, May 23 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Commonwealth Club; Historic Hoover Theatre; San Jose CA
Sunday, May 23 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

Will he be giving a talk for the Commonwealth Club?

Elsewhere in the Bay Area:

KPFA public event; First Congregational Church, Large Assembly Room; Berkeley CA
Monday, May 24 from 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm

Commonwealth Club; San Francisco CA
Tuesday, May 25 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Sundance Film Festival Honors Sebastian Junger's ‘Restrepo’



One of his previous book, Fire.


Sebastian Junger Community
Afghanistan's Korengal Valley
US withdrawal from Korengal Valley a 'Taliban propaganda coup'

It is said that the taste of Romaine lettuce is mild, but today I really noticed the difference between produce purchased at a normal supermarket (in this case some local Chinese supermarket) and the organic romaine lettuce I bought at Whole Foods. The romaine lettuce I am eating for lunch has no taste! It doesn't even taste like a plant...

How can distributists get their message out?

John Médaille has claimed that now is an opportune time for distributism to make itself known to the public and to gather support for change.

John Michael Greer responds to a commentator: "I'm the one who keeps on suggesting that Distributists need to get their ideas out into the wider collective conversation of our time, and not just preach to the already converted!"

and

I'm not suggesting trying to publicize Distributism among the legions of get-rich-quick groupies! There are many thousands of people these days interested in alternative ways of thinking about economics, and the vast majority of them have never heard of Distributism -- for that matter, I had no idea there were still people promoting it until you mentioned it here a while back, and I'm pretty well informed on alternative ideas! If Distributists would put some energy into getting their ideas out into the alternative scene, I think you might find more interest than you expect.

Could distributism be transmitted through some sort of populist movement?



Practical Distributivism: The Just Wage vs. The Just Income

James Matthew Wilson, Personality, Conversion, and Being: On John Paul II’s “Fides et Ratio”

Christians have faith in God not chiefly as a first cause or unmoved mover, nor primarily as the ground of being in whom we move and who “moves” in us; while it is valid to name God as Goodness Itself, Beauty Itself, Truth Itself, and Being Itself, the Christian above all knows Him as Personality or Personhood Itself. He is a personal God not simply because he has a knowledge of individuals; that is, we call Him personal not merely as a means of contra-distinguishing Him from the mechanical Deist god of general rather than particular laws. But rather, because what He reveals about himself above all is His reality as the archetype, as it were, of Personality; as Three Persons in One Nature, the Trinity speaks to us of the intimacy of love, the philia between persons, as the fundamental principle of things. Love in this sense precedes being, and a person is one who loves another with a precision, complexity, and totality the full description of which it is beyond my ambitions here to provide. Our self-knowledge as persons is preceded by and modeled on the Persons of the Trinity; it is in this participation in the Divine Persons that our human dignity resides. While modern discourse often uses the terms “personal” and “subjective” to relegate something to the private sphere, to neutralize its authority or attenuate its reality, the Christian senses that it is precisely insofar as we are persons that we approximate to divinity. What is most personal is not most “private” but most real and most important. My “subjective” ideas possess a dignity, authority, and reality that makes the mere “objective” seem lifeless in comparison.

As such, God as the Person who gives of Himself without reducing Himself, and so makes things to be that had not been; Who loves what had not previously been there to be loved (and Who makes the “there” there–place–as itself lovable): He sets all things in being not of necessity but by grace, by the utter gratuity of caritas. This mystery of grace and creation, which Benedict XVI has elsewhere and powerfully described in terms of freedom, love, and reason, precedes everything–everything, that is, save God as Trinity, as a Perfect Community of Persons in One Nature. In the Trinity, grace and personality are perfectly one. As St. Thomas Aquinas underscored, this entails that God, as Personality Itself, is outside any species or genus: He is not a person like us, though we are persons insofar as we bear a likeness to Him. As such, there is no ground besides, outside of, or Before God on which to base our discussion of Him. There is no secular terrain on which the Christian God features like a mountain and another god or gods like rivers and forests, all of whom can be summed up, compared and contrasted, as so many individuals in a ginned up science of divine geography called Theology. Personhood and grace precede all things, because by grace things come to be, and by God as Person things are eternally known, loved, and given form.

Speaking of Personality as it relates to God irks me. Mr. Wilson identifies Personality with "Personhood" -- if this is the case than "Personhood" here cannot mean the same thing as the abstraction taken from "Person" as applied to the Three Divine Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. (Otherwise we would have the absurdity that God is both One Person and Three Persons.) How would a Thomist speak of the same thing? Is it the case that the Church Fathers spoke of the Divine actions, God's love of us and so on, or of the Three Divine Persons, rather than of abstractions pertaining to the Godhead?

Economics for the Story of Stuff

Rob Dietz, The Daly News

Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff, the explosive online video (now also expanded into a book), provides an entertaining explanation of a glaring economic flaw. The Story of Stuff takes a look at the economy’s linear system that runs from extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal. As Annie says, “… you cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely.” You especially can’t grow the size of that linear system indefinitely. But that’s the misguided aim of current economic goals and policies.

(original)

Get the Book - The Story of Stuff
Simon and Schuster

Elena Kagan

Washington Post: Solicitor General Elena Kagan nominated
USDOJ: Office of the Solicitor General

Jim Bovard links to this piece by Gleen Greenwald: The case against Elena Kagan. Today, from Counterpunch: Kagan Will Move the Court Further to the Right by Marjorie Cohn. And from Spencer Ackerman, Elena Kagan, a National Security Enigma, Has Embraced Executive Authority.

It seems that if we know anything about her, it is this: she will preserve the Federal government's usurpation of power (especially by the Executive Branch), along with whatever distorted reading of the Constitution that it requires.

Right Now - Elena Kagan, the Weekly Standard's choice
James Corum, Barack Obama's Leftist Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is a terrible choice
Glenn Thrush, What the Elena Kagan pick says about President Obama
Rick Garnett, Kagan Proves Elections Matter
10 Things You Should Know About Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan's (Non) Record

Edit. Daniel Larison, A Tale of Two Nominees

U.S. President Barack Obama announces Solicitor General Elena Kagan (R) as his nominee for Supreme Court Justice in the East Room at the White House in Washington May 10, 2010. (Reuters/Daylife)

WASHINGTON - MAY 10: Solicitor General Elena Kagan smiles after U.S. President Barack Obama announced her as his choice to be the nation's 112th Supreme Court justice during an event in the East Room of the White House May 10, 2010 in Washington, DC. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the former Harvard Law School dean would be the first justice to join the high court without prior judicial experience since William Rehnquist in 1972. Kagan was selected by Obama to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. (Getty/Daylife)

U.S. President Barack Obama waves goodbye next to Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Solicitor General Elena Kagan (C) after announcing Kagan as his nominee for Supreme Court Justice in the East Room at the White House in Washington May 10, 2010. (Reuters/Daylife)

The tension in Morgan Hill continues?

via PM.

Teenage angst coupled with perceived insults to one's identity and dignity -- my question is, will this linger into adulthood? Or will their sense of identity change as they grow older?

Sandro Magister, Fatima. The "Secret" Revealed

The writings of Sister Lucia, interpreted in 2000 by then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. On the eve of his return to this Marian shrine, as pope

Elusive Wapiti's take on Iron Man 2.

Zenit: Papal Address to New Swiss Guards
"Maintain the Legacy Received From Your Predecessors"




New recruits of the Vatican's elite Swiss Guard march during the swearing in ceremony at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican May 6, 2009. The Swiss Guard, founded in 1506 and consisting of 100 volunteers who must be Swiss, Catholic, single, at least 174 centimetres tall and beardless, celebrate their 502nd anniversary this year. New recruits are sworn in every year on May 6, commemorating the date in which 147 Swiss soldiers died defending the Pope during an attack on Rome on May 6, 1527. There are 33 new recruits sworn in for this year. (Reuters/Daylife)

One of 31 Swiss guard swears-in on May 6, 2010 in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. 31 Swiss guards were sworn-in on the anniversary of the sacking of Rome where 147 Swiss guards protecting Pope Clement VII died at castel San Angelo on May 6, 1527. (Getty/Daylife)

One of 31 Swiss guard swears-in on May 6, 2010 in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. 31 Swiss guards were sworn-in on the anniversary of the sacking of Rome where 147 Swiss guards protecting Pope Clement VII died at castel San Angelo on May 6, 1527. (Getty/Daylife)

A new recruit of the Vatican's elite Swiss Guard gestures during the swearing in ceremony at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican May 6, 2010. The Swiss Guard, founded in 1506 and consisting of 100 volunteers who must be Swiss, Catholic, single, at least 174 centimetres tall and beardless, celebrate their 502nd anniversary this year. New recruits are sworn in every year on May 6, commemorating the date in which 147 Swiss soldiers died defending the Pope during an attack on Rome on May 6, 1527. There are 33 new recruits sworn in for this year.

A new recruit of the Vatican's elite Swiss Guard gestures during the swearing in ceremony at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican May 6, 2010. The Swiss Guard, founded in 1506 and consisting of 100 volunteers who must be Swiss, Catholic, single, at least 174 centimetres tall and beardless, celebrate their 502nd anniversary this year. New recruits are sworn in every year on May 6, commemorating the date in which 147 Swiss soldiers died defending the Pope during an attack on Rome on May 6, 1527. There are 33 new recruits sworn in for this year. (Reuters/Daylife)

A Swiss guard swears in during a ceremony at the Vatican, Thursday, May, 6, 2010. The ceremony is held each May 6 after a commemoration for the 147 Swiss Guards who died protecting Pope Clement VII during the 1527 Sack of Rome carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. (AP/Daylife)

A Swiss guard greets his daughter during a ceremony at the Vatican, May 6, 2010, to pay tribute to the Swiss guards who died during the sack of Rome on May 6, 1527. (Reuters/Daylife)

Who's running for SCC Sheriff

I wanted to see who's running against incumbent Laurie Smith. There's Martin Monica (D) and Richard Calderon. Joe Charvez has dropped out of the race and is supporting Laurie Smith. Is Jose Salcido still running?

Related Links:
Richard Calderon FB
Martin Monica FB

I'll have to watch the following:

Santa Clara County Sheriff Candidate Forum

Mike Whitney, A Lost Decade Ahead for Housing

There is no housing market in the U.S. apart from the government. The Potemkin banking system is still on the rocks, so Fannie and Freddie have been forced to pick up the slack. But if the government is going to put up all the financing, then it should have a bigger say-so on the way things are run. The emphasis should be on helping people, not on more handouts for the banks.

The first order of business should be the launching of a National Bank that would help support the privately-owned banking system. This would ensure the availability of credit for prospective homeowners and small businesses without putting more pressure on Fannie and Freddie. The National Bank would operate as a public utility run by government employees. That would help to control salaries, eliminate the problem of bloated executive compensation and incentives, and reduce the incidents of fraud.

Naturally, the banks will oppose the move tooth and nail, so it’s up to Obama to guide the legislation through the congress. This is matter of national security. The banks now pose a threat to the material well-being of everyone in the country. They're a menace. While a National Bank won't undo the massive damage that's already been done; it will put the economy on the road to recovery by creating a reliable source of

I don't know what to think of Mr. Whitney's solution.

Sheriff Richard Mack - Oath Keepers Interview

It's sex o'clock in America By Raquel Welch (via VFR)

CNN: Why Amish businesses don't fail

Posse Comitatus

David Franke, Bypassing Posse Comitatus

What could be so wrong with the use of the US military on American soil to protect American lives? The TV show The Unit hinted that this might be happening with 1st SFOD-D. Should the Posse Comitatus Act be repealed? What is more consonant with a Federal system?

One might think that it'd be understandable for states to seek the aid of the national military to put down rebellions or defend against domestic enemies. But that touches upon the crux of the issue: should an agency of the Federal government (such as the FBI) or the military just assist state and local authorities, or should an agency of the federal government have ultimate authority over these matters? Even when a federal agency is investigating or prosecuting a federal crime, such powers have been delegated to it by the states, no? It seems like this is a question pertaining to state sovereignty. (Is it proper to state sovereignty that the states have the ultimate authority in enforcing federal laws?) Is the Constitution explicit enough on these matters?

This reminds me, Sheriff Richard Mack will be in town on Tuesday to give a talk for the Silicon Valley Campaign for Liberty Meetup.

The Myth of Posse Comitatus
by Major Craig T. Trebilcock, U.S. Army Reserve

The Origins of the Posse Comitatus
by Bonnie Baker

Last night I had dinner at Red Robin over at Watermark in Santa Clara with some high school friends. We chatted about politics and people we knew from high school. Pretty much the same old usual, as I thought would happen. We're planning on watching Robin Hood or Iron Man 2 relatively soon, but we may need to find some other things to talk about over lunch or dinner. I don't think it's me, since with other friends we can talk about other topics. This is especially true if they are Catholic. I haven't yet broached the question of peak oil; they're rather aware of the dismal economic news, but most think that things will get eventually get better. In fact, one of my friends said his company is looking to expand and is trying to hire some people. The other day someone told me that Youtube is hiring. Apparently there are many local companies that are hiring, but they are having difficulty getting enough applicants. Is it because a lot of people have decided to quit California or the tech industry?

If I were to claim that life in America as we know it is to come to an end in the near future, they'd probably be incredulous. At times I hope that it doesn't happen any time soon--it is not easy letting go of an easy life. When they talk about school districts and high schools... I can state my disapproval of the public school system. Xiao Jimmy's wife said that she didn't learn anything in high school. I responded by agreeing with her. Meanwhile, people continue to plan their children's education as if the current political economy could be maintained indefinitely. If things continue to worse in the next 5 years maybe they'll start to ask the right questions.

I was surprised that the Watermark shopping plaza wasn't packed as it was a weekend evening; apparently the restaurants there aren't so popular with the locals (or their families). The center is packed during the weekdays. A lot of workers from the nearby tech companies go there to eat.

On Thursday night, some of my mother's friends invited me to dinner at Fu Lam Mum in Mountain View. (I have no idea why they transliterated moon [door/gate] as mum.) The Cantonese food is more expensive there ($13-5 for each dish) but the quality was rather high; this is an assessment based on the dishes that we actually had. The Peking duck was rather small though, and normally costs $20+, iirc. I'd be interested in trying the yang chow fried rice there, but Fu Lam Mum is probably not a restaurant our family would visit regularly. Anyway, being there with my mother's friends moms I did feel a sense of belonging, if only because I could relate to my mother's social circle.

It looks like another affirmative action pick: Obama picks Elena Kagan as Supreme Court nominee. Obama may be a corporatist in so far as he is beholden to the corporations, but he is also a true believer when it comes to radical egalitarianism.

Photos: Bundeswehr in Afghanistan

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the Quick Reaction Force QRF stand in front of their Dingo armoured vehicle during a mission in Chahar Dara district in the outskirts of Kunduz, May 6, 2010. (Reuters/Daylife)


German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the Quick Reaction Force QRF observe the area during a mission in Chahar Dara district in the outskirts of Kunduz, May 6, 2010.

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 patrol at the Kunduz river look on during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby, on the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 patrol during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby on the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 leave a compound during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby on the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

A German Bundeswehr army soldier with the military police unit Kunduz monitors the area during a mission in a small village on the outskirts of Kunduz, May 4, 2010. (Reuters/Daylife)

A German Bundeswehr army soldier with the paratroopers company 313 gives thumbs up after searching a compound during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby on the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldier with the paratroopers company 313 aim their weapon as they searching a compound during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby in the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 and Belgian armed forces soldiers storm a compound during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby in the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

A German Bundeswehr army soldier with the paratroopers company 313 takes position with his weapon on top of a Fuchs armoured personnel carrier (APC) during mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby in the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 read a map inside a Fuchs armoured personnel carrier (APC) during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby in the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 monitor the area at the Kunduz river during a mine sweeping operation in Chahar Dara district near the village of Haji Sakhi Dedby on the outskirts of Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 pose for their deployment unit group picture in the shape of a parachute after they return from their mission at the German army camp in Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 pose for their deployment unit group picture before leaving for a mission at the German army camp in Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

German Bundeswehr army soldiers with the paratroopers company 313 gather after their mission at the German army camp in Kunduz, May 5, 2010. German Bundeswehr and Belgian armed forces took part in a joint mine sweeping operation to search for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). (Reuters/Daylife)

Janine Jansen Photoshoot 'Janine' Magazine