June 26, 2003
BEER FRENZY LATEST
Even the courtroom cops like Jake Ryan:
He said he was not told off by the Australian police in the court after his outburst at Samudra.
"As soon as I got out, I asked whether I had done the wrong thing," he said. "They were pretty supportive actually.”
The Jake Ryan Beer Fund now stands at $A1,179. Bloggers and writers who’ve contributed include The Wall Street Journal’s Robert Toth (“A few bucks from an office looking out on Ground Zero. Hey, Jake -- my sentiments exactly”), Charles Austin, Silent Running, Jack Strocchi, Roger Bournival, Silflay Hraka, Michael Gebert, Brian J., and the great Damian Penny. Apologies if I’ve missed anyone, but my inbox is crazy with the donations.
Many contributors want to send Jake a message. From Ernie Gudath: “I'd really like to shake Jake's hand, but this is the best I can do right now. I've got a Cooper's Sparkling Ale on ice to drink in his honor. (I need to thank Tex for putting me on to that - that's one righteous beer!)”
Prolific website commenters Jake D. and Miss Noosa “wish Jake Ryan and his family and friends the best and we hope in time you can rebuild your lives after this tragedy. Terrorism will not defeat us.” Fellow commenter ZsaZsa “takes great satisfaction from donating US$10 to help keep Mr Ryan in beer.”
Matt Crowe hails “Jake the Aussie anti-terror poet warrior”. Matt, by the way, was in the nightclub on the night of the blast, and missed the bomb by just 15 minutes.
From Barbara Skolaut in Richmond, Virginia: “Tell him thanks for me, too. And if he ever gets to the States, the beer's on me.” And Ward Anthony van der Veer has an idea: “Do you think we could get some beer into Imam Samudra as well? It may kill off those defective brain cells which cause him to think strange thoughts, like ‘Allah wants me to kill innocent people’.”
Posted by Tim Blair at June 26, 2003 03:50 PMI wish I could have afforded to send some dough. All's I can do is say the same thing -- if he ever turns up in my neck o' the woods (psst! Jake! I live near Disney World! And within forty-five minutes' drive of the beach!) the beer is on me.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at June 26, 2003 at 04:49 PMWhat about Bon Scott? Couldn't that elder of the Stern Gang take a crow bar and pry open his wallet just a little and send in a few ducats so a guy could have a litre bit of beer? Oh, what has this world come to?
Posted by: Charles at June 26, 2003 at 09:06 PMi'm just around the corner from toth, so we'll throw jake one helluva party when he gets to ny on the world tour
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 26, 2003 at 10:23 PMJake's outburst, while not being my preferred method for getting one's feelings known, rightfully shocked the pants off Samudra.
Like most pathetic bullying types, Samudra didn't know what to say when actually confronted by someone - as opposed to simply dictating his views at them hoping for blind faith in his bizarre ideals.
Good on you Jake. You said what most would be thinking.
Posted by: David Miles at June 27, 2003 at 12:30 AMIs it too late to make Jake the new G-G?
Posted by: Anthony from Chippendale at June 27, 2003 at 01:26 PMWhere's bon scroat's level-headed, fair-minded gospel when we need it? Perhaps he'd like Jake Ryan to "say sorry mr nice terrorist man" for being so rude?
Posted by: Jake D at June 27, 2003 at 09:30 PM